Rapid Review: Interstellar (2014)

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interstellar poster

“We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.”
– Cooper

SYNOPSIS: In the near future Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen their lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage, into the unknown. Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.- via IMDB

interstellar

GRADE 8.5This has, undoubtedly, been my most anticipated movie of 2014. I have talked my other half’s ear off about how I cannot wait for it, so naturally I had to go the minute it pitched up here. I was not going to waste a second of my time waiting to get to it seeing how Gone Girl aired for only thirteen days in my useless cinema. If I missed this, someone was going to burn. So, what with all my excitement and anticipation, how did it stack up? I must say that I was extremely impressed. Visually it was absolutely gorgeous, though I didn’t expect anything less on that front. A solid cast carried this story for us, and I thought the performances were great all round. Initially I was not over the moon to see Anne Hathaway in such a large role for it, but she managed to not irritate me to the end. I was thrilled to see Matt Damon, I do so thoroughly enjoy the man, and McConaughey was fantastic as the lead, Cooper. The casting of the actors to play the children (Mackenzie Foy and Timothée Chalamet) was wonderful, and I was especially pleased to see Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck play their grown counterparts. They fit the bill and were realistic and believable. I know that some people have complained about the dialogue being clunky, and also silly at times with explanations (such as explaining to an astronaut about a black hole in space), but I did not find this to be the case. I enjoyed most of their conversations (though at times it did get a little convoluted), and I was grateful for the explanations sprinkled throughout the movie, and the way it was done. It did not feel like Nolan was treating the cinema-goers like idiots, but rather just ensuring we were all on the same page, and I appreciated that. Naturally Hans Zimmer created a fantastic score to accompany the film, building up tension and emotion in all the right places, and coming in as nothing short of complementary. Interstellar manages to recreate some exceptionally sad emotional scenes, many of them stemming from the tapes that the astronauts are receiving from home in space. There was some humour in this film, which was lovely, but was certainly focused more on the dramatic aspect. I thought the multi-purpose robots were extremely cool, and I felt for Cooper, trying to be the best dad that he could. John Lithgow, as always, plays a wonderful fatherly/grandfatherly figure, and I always like seeing him, no matter how small his part. I do feel that Michael Caine could have been used more, but I understand that there were a lot of characters and time constraints. Interstellar is a long movie, but it is certainly a wonderful journey, even with the flaws that it has – as much as I have sung the praises, there are things that fall a little short of the mark, but were definitely not enough to cripple and ruin this movie for me. Interstellar was well worth the wait, in my opinion, and is a really good movie overall – most importantly, it is an experience. Christopher Nolan has, once again, delivered another stunning film, though this will certainly not be in a high running for taking over and outranking some of his other works.

46 thoughts on “Rapid Review: Interstellar (2014)”

  1. One thing I really hated is how after 23 years Michael Caine looks exactly the same. I know he was old to begin with, but come on! They should have had him without a beard at least at the beginning.

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  6. 8.5! Good – decent rating (without being TOO high – I can’t always take a 9 or especially a 10 seriously). 😉 I’ll come back to read this after I’ve watched the film, though. Hopefully seeing it tomorrow. Glad it looks like you liked it?? 🙂

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    • Yep yep! 8.5! I agree with you there, I think I have only ever scored one film a 10 on here, and a few a 9… it must be excellent to get that!

      Yay! I hope that you enjoy it! 😀 You watching another ten million movies again? 😛

      It was well worth the watch, I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a journey!

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  7. Dearest JB,

    I hope to see this next weekend – I wasn’t prepared to commit four hours to it yesterday (with travel time and such). Next Sunday we might be covered in fucking snow that would be a perfect time to get out and be away from the weather.

    Sounds good!! I’ve been confused with all of the complaints I have been reading…. O _ o

    Love,

    PSC

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  9. Great review! Saw this at the weekend – IMAX naturally. Amazing film. Not his best film as I prefer The Prestige as my fav Nolan film but was impressed with his ambition and spectacle.

    Matt Damon – The Bourne Coward 😀

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  10. Pingback: Interstellar (2014) Review | Tim's Film Reviews

  12. Great review, Zoe and I totally agree. Parts of it are definitely a little off, but it’s one hell of an ambitious film from Nolan and one that we just don’t get to see very often. I’m already looking forward to seeing it again.

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  13. Best Exam Brain Bkushi
    I am so happy you loved this! You were waiting for this for decades and since Divergent was such a fail for you I am glad this one worked! Probably going to try and see it this weekend if I have time.
    Physiology Kidney of Poland

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    • Physiology Kidney of Poland,

      Hell yeah I waited an age! Unlike that other hogwash, this one was awesome! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek you MUST let me know!!!!

      Best Bkushi

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  14. Nicely done Zoe! I’m planning to finally review this movie later today after mulling it over since this weekend. I don’t know what rating it’ll end up being, but it’s probably a bit lower than yours.

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    • Thanks Ruth! Yeah, definitely the kind of flick you turn over for a while and then decide what to do with, I agree with you there! Looking forward to seeing what you thought about it!

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  16. Very well said there Zoe. Not gonna break the top three for me in terms of Nolan’s overall output, but man oh man was this a fun time! Lots of sadness for sure, but lots of humor as well. Freaking LOVED those special FX!!!!

    So sorry to hear you couldn’t get to Gone Girl. What is that, just a 13-day stint in your local cinema/??!! I would riot the theater if it were me!!!

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    • Thanks Tom. Yes, he certainly has better works, but this was a goodie to be sure. It was stunning, agreed! Loved CASE and TARS.

      Pfffff, The Dark Knight got like a whole WEEK on circuit. Pfffff, they are so useless here. Trust me, they got a rather snippy call about it. I was deeply unimpressed. Guess I will have to wait now 😦

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      • Of course I did! I don’t like having my parade pissed on, and I made sure they knew that! It’s insane. But they played Rush Hour 3 for three months… I am beyond confused…

        LOL! Have you been reading about all our protests currently going on? 😛

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  17. Okay! I’ve read it! Actually, we don’t fully disagree on things. 🙂 I’m glad your review was balanced and that you don’t think it’s Nolan’s best. Ugh! Anne Hathaway! I do admit I wish it had been someone else in the role. And, yeah – it’s a shame Caine was a bit wasted.

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  18. Pingback: Interstellar: Much more than 2014′s Gravity | Flashback/Backslide

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