Jenny's Review:
Now that it has been a week since the IMAX opening of Interstellar, I thought this is a good time go back and review. The trailers had me interested the moment they premiered. I went into this already excited. In addition, it is a movie about science, space and time travel by a director that I already give a BIG thumbs up to.
This is always a dangerous way to see a movie since expectations have been known to tweak your overall perception.
Nolan is able to give you a good background on the characters providing an emotional base but he takes a good amount of time doing so. Although needed, I can understand where some viewers may get frustrated with the amount of time it takes to get into the “space adventure”. McConaughey does yet another great job on screen though. By pulling out that southern charm we love of him, he is able to show a likable father who’s emotional sacrifice is inevitable.
The science is believable even if it made my head hurt trying to figure it out. The idea of relativity within space and time is so extreme it adds an almost magical sense to the story. A good example is on the first planet 7 years equals 1 hour on earth. Doing the math, 2 hours would make people on earth age 14 years while our travelers remain just 2 hours older. Wow. With that said, I think the science may be a bit much for the average audience or cause them “space out” or vice versa: debating it as being false (search the internet and you will find a lot of people attempting to debunk the movie’s realistic base, some succeeding).
I love the science element of this movie (obviously). Every time I think of the story, I find my brain has a million questions I can’t seem to answer. How fast would they have to travel to get to Jupiter in (what I think was) 8 months? How does sling shooting around the gravitational pull of a planet give that much momentum? It seams they would have been traveling for hundreds of years to get where they got, but then again… I am no scientist. Fascinating!
The best comment I heard walking out was “Christopher Nolan is like our Stanley Kubrick, just a little less weird”. I guess you can say Matthew McConaughey’s a lot like Dave and there are other characters you can almost relate to Hal.
My only complaint was some visuals seemed to mimic Nolan’s “Inception” in some areas. I argue with myself on that because it is truly becoming Nolan’s style. So would that be considered a mimic? The scene within the book case and the fields wrapping a cylinder horizon truly resembled "Inception" in my honest opinion, yet still beautiful.
I recommend this movie. Heck, I feel I have to go see it again just to try to figure out some of the details I may have missed. It is a movie I may be watching multiple times trying to wrap my head around.
J.D.'s Review:
Like Jenny, i really enjoyed Interstellar. The whole story of an Earth that is slowly dying and the need to find a new home in space is immediately compelling for most people who enjoy science fiction. Recently taking a physics class, it was relatively easy to understand the science behind the film, but people who are not well versed in Einstein's Theory of Relativity might have difficulty following the films major plot points.
While the movie does take a while to get going, it is time well spent because of the great characterization. Nolan does a good job laying the groundwork for 3 dimensional characters that are not stereotypes of each other. He sets a very good, fracture dynamic between Murph and her father, which makes for many twists and turns in the overall plat. The biggest complaint i have with Interstellar is the ending, which seemed to drag on a bit. For the last 30 minutes of the movie, I couldn't help but think, "alright, this is all really cool, but where is the ACTUAL ending?" I have no problem with a long movie, it just felt like they artificially extended the movie for the sake of having a long movie. One thing that i would suggest is going into this movie completely blind. Don't watch trailers, don't read reviews (except this one), and STAY AWAY FROM SPOILERS. This is a movie the will be most enjoyed with very little expectations, because where the plot goes is truly interesting and wonderful.
That's what we thought, now let us know what you thought of the movie! Leave your comments below!