Interstellar: Film Review

Interstellar (2014) Christopher Nolan

Interstellar is a beautiful sci-fi adventure story that despite its length, allows time to easily slip away whilst running brain aching ideas before our eyes. The plot although surreal remains grounded to its own reality. I think it is amazing how Nolan can run risks of unimaginably tall waves, spaceships gliding past the rings of Saturn and alongside these thrills and moments of intense danger we can still feel deeply for the everyday more human troubles the characters face.

Christopher Nolan begins Interstellar by immersing us into a futuristic earth, plagued with Blight and an ever shrinking food source for the remainder of the human race. In this future version of our planet there is no longer a need for engineers and pilots, farming appears to be the only career option. This is frustrating for ex NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) who despises working the land and longs to get back in his space suit. We then watch as the story unfolds of how he discovers NASA is secretly still operating and the heart-breaking moments when Cooper leaves his daughter, Murph.

This film can compare with some of Nolan’s other work such as ‘The Dark Knight’ with the intense action sequences and epic special effects. I think ‘Interstellar’ however has a more emotional feel due to the brilliant performance of Matthew McConaughey. He is portrays his role perfectly and has such a believable relationship with his on screen daughter, it is impossible not to feel with these people. Another father daughter relationship in the film is between Dr Brand (Anne Hathaway) and Professor Brand (Michael Cain). This father daughter relationship is very different to that of Coop’ and Murph with them being at a much older age. Yet Nolan is still able to portray the strong bond between them and allow us to see the pain they face due to the distance and time between them.

Visually, Interstellar looks amazing. Nolan understands special effects technology and uses it to its best. One of the best moments of CGI for me is coming into the second planet under a sky of frozen clouds and over icy mountains. The colours and landscapes in the film are all beautifully put together and look extremely believable. Nolan manipulates the senses brilliantly with his use of colour in the icy mountains you can almost feel a chill as you watch. The audio of the film is also good with Hans Zimmer delivering an intense soundtrack that, although occasionally drowns out dialogue, adds to the overall experience. This is proven in around the 45 minute mark of the film during the rocket launch and the bass is exploding out of the speakers. Music takes over in the more intense visual scenes like when Brand and cooper are about to enter the black hole. This allows you to focus on everything that is happening without the distraction of sound effects and dialogue.

Overall I think this film gives a brilliant experience and it is well worth sitting through the 169m running time.

☻☻☻☻☺