Interstellar - In cinemas and IMAX November 7, 2014

[Dobber]

We have lift off with a cargo full of slaves for the new robot colony. Lol!

Chris

[glane21]

I liked this movie but it can be quite taxing emotionally if you have kids because:

Thinking about what it would be like to spend a couple hours on a planet and as a result miss 23 years of their lives at the same time. I also think that poor bastard they left on the orbiter while they were on the water planet would have been either batshit insane or long since committed suicide after those 23 years alone up there.

It was also very strange that Coop didn't have the slightest interest in meeting his descendents all gathered around Murph's hospital bed. Not even a hello. Hopefully it was filmed but just cut for time. Otherwise that is hella goofy

[Kanedas Bike]

We have lift off with a cargo full of slaves for the new robot colony. Lol!

Chris

TARS!

I'd love some merchandise (preferably from Aoshima or other company w experience in higher-end collectibles) from this movie, including a Ranger and TARS (and I guess CASE too).

-b.

[electric indigo]

There's actually a 1/72 model kit of the Ranger on it's way:

https://www.clubmoebius.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=960

[Seven]

I liked this movie but it can be quite taxing emotionally if you have kids because:

Thinking about what it would be like to spend a couple hours on a planet and as a result miss 23 years of their lives at the same time. I also think that poor bastard they left on the orbiter while they were on the water planet would have been either batshit insane or long since committed suicide after those 23 years alone up there.

It was also very strange that Coop didn't have the slightest interest in meeting his descendents all gathered around Murph's hospital bed. Not even a hello. Hopefully it was filmed but just cut for time. Otherwise that is hella goofy

I totally agree with how awkward the last part was.

I found it rather strange that the whole of humanity credits Murphy with saving humanity without anyone ever having any sort of reverence towards the members of the Lazarus Mission or subsequent mission or NASA. Murphy's efforts would've amounted to a whole lot of nothing without Coop going through all that he did. As for the weird reunion scene, I didn't feel like it was Coop that was disinterested but that all of the descendents looked like they could give two craps about who he is. You can forgive if Coop doesn't recognize anyone in the room (he's been away for crissakes), but how could they not know who he is? He's the integral part of Murphy's story even if you are totally fixated on her as everyone is. He's your ancestor that went away on a mysterious mission and has arrived like some ghost! Is that interesting? NO, apparently, lol.

I also agree that having kids, especially a daughter, allows you to form a certain connection with the movie, even if much of the other stuff is kind of forced down your throat, like YOU HAVE to feel this for them.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Seven

[big F]

I think you could transpose kids for anyone in your life you are attached to, but argree the kids thing helps you like to the film.

[Kanedas Bike]

There's actually a 1/72 model kit of the Ranger on it's way:

https://www.clubmoebius.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=960

Nice...now only if I had the skill sets needed to build a good representation of that kit. Ha.

I found it rather strange that the whole of humanity credits Murphy with saving humanity without anyone ever having any sort of reverence towards the members of the Lazarus Mission or subsequent mission or NASA. Murphy's efforts would've amounted to a whole lot of nothing without Coop going through all that he did. As for the weird reunion scene, I didn't feel like it was Coop that was disinterested but that all of the descendents looked like they could give two craps about who he is. You can forgive if Coop doesn't recognize anyone in the room (he's been away for crissakes), but how could they not know who he is? He's the integral part of Murphy's story even if you are totally fixated on her as everyone is. He's your ancestor that went away on a mysterious mission and has arrived like some ghost! Is that interesting? NO, apparently, lol.

Really good point, I think I was too "in the moment" to let that sink in as those are really good points/critiques.

-b.

[Dobber]

I totally agree with how awkward the last part was.

I found it rather strange that the whole of humanity credits Murphy with saving humanity without anyone ever having any sort of reverence towards the members of the Lazarus Mission or subsequent mission or NASA. Murphy's efforts would've amounted to a whole lot of nothing without Coop going through all that he did. As for the weird reunion scene, I didn't feel like it was Coop that was disinterested but that all of the descendents looked like they could give two craps about who he is. You can forgive if Coop doesn't recognize anyone in the room (he's been away for crissakes), but how could they not know who he is? He's the integral part of Murphy's story even if you are totally fixated on her as everyone is. He's your ancestor that went away on a mysterious mission and has arrived like some ghost! Is that interesting? NO, apparently, lol.

I also agree that having kids, especially a daughter, allows you to form a certain connection with the movie, even if much of the other stuff is kind of forced down your throat, like YOU HAVE to feel this for them.

I believe Murph says that she tried to tell people it was her dad that sent the info, but no one would listen. As far as most are concerned he was just a member of a crew that disappeared for nearly a century and while brave and admirable, Was of little consequence. Murph and the ground team where the "Real" heros as far as they where concerned. Also where was humanity going? Where they just surviving on the large space stations/Arks and still searching for a safe haven hence the new Ranger corp or are they going to Ann Hathaways planet? If they are going there then why have the Ranger corp?

Chris

Edited November 14, 2014 by Dobber

[Mr March]

Saw "Interstellar" this week. A very aggravating movie. I do appreciate very much that this is a type of movie we don't get much of anymore and it does offer so very much to enjoy. The film shows you scenes you've never seen before. The visualization of the Black Hole was astounding and I loved every moment of it. The gravity effects the black hole had on the ocean planet was so amazing and made for a unforgettable tidal wave sequence. And that wormhole...my gawd, the conception and visualization of the effects for it are so damned cool. There are some emotional moments that are genuinely affecting with some great performances. When they discover Dr. Mann, the film just breaks your heart. When Coop sees decades of his family life pass before him, its simply devastating. But then so much undermines the film. The beginning is atrocious; that first 30-40 minutes is just mind-numbing. At times it contains some truly awful dialog and I have to say - even being one of the converted to which this movie is claerly preaching - I found this movie almost insufferably pedantic. I don't know how, but the movie always feels rushed (how is that possible in a 3-hour movie?) and that tacked on ending was lousy, making so little sense the way it was hurredly played out and just truncated into pointlessness.

Then there's that sound mix. I felt blundgeoned by the sound, like someone was kicking a calculus text book into my face. I know this is an ongoing issue across the globe; some say they have no idea what sound problems people are complaining about while others are confirming by the thousands that there is clearly something very wrong with the sound mix at hundreds of theatres. While this may be unique to my experience, I also suffered an IMAX screening where the sound problems others have descrbied plagued my viewing of the film. The backgound music and sound effects often seriously intruded upon - or outright overpowered - the dialog of the actors.

I think this is a miss for me. One of Nolan's few but I honestly didn't get enough out of it. A real shame because I had the impression this was going to be one of my favorite space films of all time and quite possibly another Nolan masterpiece. It was not to be.

[Kanedas Bike]

^But...TARS

-b.

[Mr March]

See again, another great element that I wish was in a much better film. Initially, I thought the robots were so ridiculous, they felt like something out of Doctor Who (not all that surprising, since Nolan is English). And then the humor and personality of the robots began winning me over. By the time you get to the tidal wave action sequence and they pull out that great "cartwheeling" mode, I was totally on board with their execution. Then the movie hits you with more lameness and that offensively abhorrent monologue from Brand. ARRGGHH! It is so rare that a film achieves such great heights and plunges to such awful lows, I'd forgotten how truly infuriating flicks like this can be for me.

[Kanedas Bike]

See again, another great element that I wish was in a much better film. Initially, I thought the robots were so ridiculous, they felt like something out of Doctor Who (not all that surprising, since Nolan is English). And then the humor and personality of the robots began winning me over. By the time you get to the tidal wave action sequence and they pull out that great "cartwheeling" mode, I was totally on board with their execution. Then the movie hits you with more lameness and that offensively abhorrent monologue from Brand. ARRGGHH! It is so rare that a film achieves such great heights and plunges to such awful lows, I'd forgotten how truly infuriating flicks like this can be for me.

The curse of being a truly discerning movie-goer.

Movies have to be REALLY horrible to offend my intelligence, or in other cases disappoint - even when expectations are high because of previous works (as the case here).

I guess I'm "lucky" in that regard.

-b.

[big F]

I can't remember the last movie I saw and thought well that totally sucks. Paciffic Rim came close but I was more into the Macross inspired set peices anyway. I'll happily tear holes In the plot though of nearly sucky films.

Most sucky films I get to endure on TV, then I can turn them over or go do some thing more exciting, like counting the blades of grass on my lawn.

I too felt the sound mix sometimes lost the voice track. and the end bit although needed was disjointed, I felt I wanted to see more of the end bit. It's almost like when you have a film that's going to have a sequel, where they tease you with what's next.

The robots designs I thought at first were odd but totally made sense in the end, the designs felt familiar, I think I've seen somthing like them before. They were obviously more practical that bipedal ones would be.

Edited November 15, 2014 by big F

[myk]

Soundtracks overwhelming dialogue tracks is no mistake IMO. Any of you guys into home theater on whatever cost level? Cruise any audio video forum and many people cite similar problems, where the sound effects and music easily out-shout the dialogue. I contend that when movies are cut together for theater or home release a large emphasis is placed on the sound effects and soundtrack because let's face it: most moviegoers these days aren't looking for substance, let alone dialogue...

[VF-19]

That is my number one complaint from most movies (aside from audience interference). I am already partially deaf, and I place a huge emphasis on dialogue. I don't like it when I can't hear what the actors are saying when the background noise is too loud. I missed about half of what was being said in Guardians of the Galaxy, for this very reason.

While I loved this movie, I wish the soundtrack was about 5-10 decibels lower when there was dialogue going on. It wasn't hard to follow, but it took a couple of seconds for me to process what was being said.

Can't wait for the OST to be released on Monday.

[jenius]

I watch almost all movies with the subtitles on.

[chyll2]

I watch almost all movies with the subtitles on.

While I have no problem understanding english, I also does the same. Sound effects and background music easily overpowers dialogue that you cant even hear a them talking, some even whisper them

[jenius]

I've found it quite enlightening, sometimes background folks are saying relevant things the mix makes it almost impossible to hear... Especially if you're trying not to wake a toddler.

[Dobber]

Wow, I thought it was just me or the fact that I don't have a sound system. I can never hear dialog on blu-Rays unless I turn up the volume to nearly max and then you know what happens when the fx or soundtrack kicks in! It's quite irritating. What is really annoying is I just got the vol 1 blu-Ray of Attack on Titan. On the English track the dialog track is practically mute but has super loud fx, but if I put on the original Japanese track the dialog is loud and clear.

Chris

[VF-19]

I think the issue with blu-rays are that they're by default set for the surround mix. You might have success with using a 2.0 mix if the disk offers that particular track.

But yes, I too use the subtitles frequently. It's that or rewind the movie many times turning a 2 hour movie into a 5-6 hour marathon...

[ErikElvis]

Good movie. I agree the dialog was hard to hear a lot. And the movie lost me a few times but in general I had a good idea what was going on. It kept me interested the whole 3 hours

[xrentonx]

Loved it. A few nitpicks here and there but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Wasn't my favorite of the year but it's up there.

[Mr March]

The curse of being a truly discerning movie-goer.

Movies have to be REALLY horrible to offend my intelligence, or in other cases disappoint - even when expectations are high because of previous works (as the case here).

I guess I'm "lucky" in that regard.

-b.

It actually works in reverse. If a movie has no aspirations to be great and just wants to be trashy, disposable fun, all it's failings are easy to forgive and/or forget. But when a movie clearly aims for the top and expects you to take it seriously, every sequence has to be up to that level or it gets pulled down to dumb movie zone

[Thom]

Well, Murph explains how she tried telling everyone that she wasn't soley responible for the discovery, but that they thought she'd gone a little batty.

I mean, try and explain your falther being the ghost that messed with your book shelf as a kid - while he was still alive - and you got the clues from the second

hand of a watch...

And the reunion with Murph at the end was about Coop and his daughter. Unfortuneately, movies can't go into every minute detail of a scene.

It has to focus down to transmit the message it is trying to send. From the progression into the room, I got the sense that Coop was entirely seperate from

everyone else but his daughter, because he had been away for so long. Nevermid that their ages have reversed. In that scene, Coop is the child and

his daughter is now suddenly the wisened parent, advising him as to what he should do, blunty exposed when he simply asks her, like a child asking an elder

for direction.

He may have returned, but it's not his world anymore, much less his family. It wasn't his world the moment they lifted off to head for the wormhole. From that

point on, the only direction available was forward. And the people in that room were Murph's family, not Coops. Consider that if he had never

left, and Murph was still able to have that family, he would have been long dead by then anyway. EIther way you put it, he was seperate, as it always would have been so.

Personally, after that scene, I wish the movie had been just five minutes longer...

[close313]

I guess that's the way it was intended to be!

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/17/7234689/interstellar-sound-problems-addressed-by-christopher-nolan-sound-designer

[myk]

That is my number one complaint from most movies (aside from audience interference). I am already partially deaf, and I place a huge emphasis on dialogue. I don't like it when I can't hear what the actors are saying when the background noise is too loud. I missed about half of what was being said in Guardians of the Galaxy, for this very reason.

While I loved this movie, I wish the soundtrack was about 5-10 decibels lower when there was dialogue going on. It wasn't hard to follow, but it took a couple of seconds for me to process what was being said.

Can't wait for the OST to be released on Monday.

I loved the soundtrack as well. It was hauntingly beautiful and raptuous all at once; reminded me of the soundtrack for Solaris.

I watch almost all movies with the subtitles on.

As do I; I'm lost without them. Thank the heavens for anime in my youth, as it trained me to watch the animation, read the subtitles and comprehend all at once.

Wow, I thought it was just me or the fact that I don't have a sound system. I can never hear dialog on blu-Rays unless I turn up the volume to nearly max and then you know what happens when the fx or soundtrack kicks in! It's quite irritating. What is really annoying is I just got the vol 1 blu-Ray of Attack on Titan. On the English track the dialog track is practically mute but has super loud fx, but if I put on the original Japanese track the dialog is loud and clear.

Chris

I spent a fair amount of money on a 7.2 channel system and I had to turn the center channel up to maximum in order to remotely balance the dialogue and the sound tracks. Again, it's just how entertainment media is produced these days.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Interstellar quite a bit. Visuals, sounds and the idea of reaching across space and time to contact the one you love and subsequently saving the human race is a grand story IMO. Yes, there are the obvious problems so eloquently pointed out by Mr. March, but I enjoyed the experience anyway. I will probably see it again, and it already has a spot in my blu ray pile...

Edited November 19, 2014 by myk

[Beltane70]

I had no problems with the music and sound effects overpowering the dialog in the showing that I went to. I only saw the film in the regular 2-D version.

Overall, I totally enjoyed Interstellar. While the first 40 minutes wasn't the most exciting part of the film, I didn't find it bad enough to undermine all the positive aspects of the film.

[Knight26]

I finally got to see the movie with weekend with my oldest. I loved it. But then I like intelligent movies. Were there parts that bugged me? Sure. Did they ruin the movie for me? Not at all. No movie, book, show, is perfect, they all have their imperfections and little holes but Interstellar did a great job of taking some pretty high level science and boiling it down to a level that the average moviegoer could at least grasp at.

My two biggest nits:

Brandt's little speech about the power of love derailed the story a bit and made it seem like it was Coop's love for his daughter that made him her ghost. In a way it was, but it was also a casual loop created by the future humans ensuring their own creation/survival.

The Rangers/landers, while cool designs, how the heck did they have the fuel to make orbit, hover, etc... That was never explained properly, and if they could do that, why the Saturn-VX launch to get off Earth? Besides looking cool that is. A quick line of dialogue that they developed a minimally effective magnetic repulsion tech that could float the ship, and some kind of plasma engine would have been sufficient for me.

Also Mann's freak out was largely unnecessary.

[myk]

I'm guessing the Saturn rockets were necessary in order to help preserve the fuel reserves in the orbital vehicles; it would kinda suck to start your voyage with a partially drained fuel supply without having gone anywhere yet...

[Knight26]

I could see that, it also depends on the nature of the Ranger's engines, they could have a high rad output that is not wanted for Earth launches.

[myk]

I could see that, it also depends on the nature of the Ranger's engines, they could have a high rad output that is not wanted for Earth launches.

Good point. I take it that overall you were satisfied with the designs?

[Gerli]

I watched it today...

It was Amazing... beautifull, tearfull, exciting, marvellous and a lot more words than my poor english can express.... loved it

[Knight26]

Good point. I take it that overall you were satisfied with the designs?

Overall yes, I just wish they had explained the propulsion systems better. I especially loved how the seats were gambled for G-Force compensation.

[electric indigo]

Those gimbals soften changes in orientation, but wouldn't your body still be affected from the centrifugal g-forces and acceleration?

[Knight26]

You are able to absorb more Gs in a prone position then a seated or standing one. So the gimballed seat would actually lessen the load on your heart to pump blood so long as you were kept flat relative to the G Forces. For the sideways motion it helps as well by lessening any impact with objects to the sides. It would also help a lot with docking maneuvers.