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Interstellar spoiler thread. All spoilers go in here.
- Thread starter SCULLIBUNDO
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When I saw that, I was grinning like a kid. I had big posters of those on my wall when I was growing up. They just seemed like the coolest things ever.
Technosteve
Banned
i think at that scene it was light acting as a particles as gravity is acting on light and slowing it to non relativistic speeds.
Anton Sugar
Member
The shot of the colony interior got scoffs in my second viewing lololol
People get on Nolan for telling instead of showing but this was one of the times where Nolan absolutely portrayed something visually. Note how Nolan zoomed out when Mann and Cooper started fighting. They looked small compared to their background and the whole point of that shot was to show how petty and insignificant our shit is compared to the world.
I wasn't fond of the Mann stuff the first time I watched it but I really appreciate what Nolan was doing with it now. It really does give a bigger thematic element to the work as a whole, much more so than the love aspect.
Mann acts in such a human manner and it's that basic behaviour and instinct of ours, that almost completely sinks the mission.
Zoe
Member
Woah.
GentlemanCrow
Member
Enjoyed it. Burst out loud laughing at the solid cloud for some reason. Also the name, Dr. Mann caught me off guard and I had to restrain a fit of giggles.
A bit too neat as Nolan's films tend to be. No loose ends.
Cooper stealing the ship at the end had me thinking Nolan really wants a go at science fantasy but he reputation won't allow it. Very Star Wars-like with Tars in the back seat.
A bit too neat as Nolan's films tend to be. No loose ends.
Cooper stealing the ship at the end had me thinking Nolan really wants a go at science fantasy but he reputation won't allow it. Very Star Wars-like with Tars in the back seat.
But that idea literally stands athwart the whole theme of the movie that the power of love transcends physics and shit. The Whole Thing is that humans aren't small and insignificant that we can force significance.
Maninthemirror
Banned
How is that the idea when Cooper rebuked brand and the sacrificed himself rather than go see his daughter
Orbis Tabula
Member
So, I'm trying to piece together some problems I had with the movie, but I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Someone let me know if I've got this right.
They send these crews out to find planets that may be habitable. Because of "wormhole problems" when the people find these planets, they can only send back very little information to Earth. Basically a "Yes, come here" or a "No, this place sucks" message. After sending crews to check 12 planets, 3 crews send back a "Yes, come here" message. So Coop and the crew fly through the wormhole to these planets, all orbiting around the same star. There's also a massive blackhole in the system that makes things trickier, especially on the Water Planet because of time dilation.
Good so far?
They send these crews out to find planets that may be habitable. Because of "wormhole problems" when the people find these planets, they can only send back very little information to Earth. Basically a "Yes, come here" or a "No, this place sucks" message. After sending crews to check 12 planets, 3 crews send back a "Yes, come here" message. So Coop and the crew fly through the wormhole to these planets, all orbiting around the same star. There's also a massive blackhole in the system that makes things trickier, especially on the Water Planet because of time dilation.
Good so far?
Our connections and emotions bind us to each other. As Brand stated, we didn't invent love. Love isn't insignificant in how it ties our race together but we as individuals are.
When we act with self-interest in mind, it isolates us into individuals.
Anton Sugar
Member
Yes.
Maninthemirror
Banned
1. They send 3 probes first to see which are habitable, they found out at that point that information can only go TO the probes but data cannot be passed back from the Probes
2. They send the Lazarus mission to 3 planets, one person per planet. 2 sent back a blip of existence and 1 did not.
3. They sent cooper and his team to see and verify what is going on with Team A B and C. They also sent embroys for growing on these planets
4. No one knew the planetary conditions of these planets as the data for what kind of planet it is was not passed back to earth so Coopers team was going in blind.
Orbis Tabula
Member
Okay, that's what I thought. So the people on Earth didn't know the situation on these planets because the information couldn't be sent through the Wormhole. However, was it impossible for Coop and the crew to communicate with the people on these planets before they landed? Like, once Coop et al. went through the Wormhole, couldn't they have radio'd down to the planets to make sure shit was cool?
Zoe
Member
Everyone was assumed to be in stasis.
Orbis Tabula
Member
Ah, that makes sense. I must have missed something. Still kind of a dumb plan, though. Wouldn't you want the stasis to be able to be deactivated by a person in orbit. Otherwise, there's no way for those in orbit to tell the difference between a planet that's dangerous and a planet where people are sleeping. But I guess then there wouldn't really be a movie, so it's whatever.
Maninthemirror
Banned
Yes its mentioned. Millers planet could not have proper communications because of the gravitational shift due to proximity of black hole nearby
On Mann's planet he was in statisis in sleep chamber and there was no response
On Edmunds Planet there was no signal and no communication
Anton Sugar
Member
Did they really have any other option?
Zoe
Member
They don't have a Star Trek-style view screen that will
Net_Wrecker
Member
The problem with all that is I don't buy into the movie critiquing itself at that point because the whole thing is played up for suspense leading into the ship stealing and docking scenes. He almost sinks the mission because it's the Crazed Stranded Human Scientist going crazy who almost sinks the mission. It feels tropey and undermines the more legitimate conflict of Man vs. The Universe on this planet finding mission that had a lot more heft and natural drama inherently built into it.
Orbis Tabula
Member
I suppose that's true. I missed a bit before they went down to this planet because I needed to use the bathroom, so that's why I'm confused on this part. It seems to me like a planet with a crew in an unknown status, so close to a black hole, with enormous relativistic effects at play should be the last planet you check, not the first. My girlfriend told me they argued about that, but I don't know how they reached their conclusion.
Zoe
Member
Their plan was that they would do a quick get in/get out. Grab Miller and her data, give the dude time to study the black hole while they were gone.
So what you're really saying is it's fat?
Anton Sugar
Member
Basically, Edmund's planet was 2 months away. If that didn't work out, they'd have to travel all the way back here, and, considering time, fuel, and life support as resources, they decided to just check in on Miller's planet as quickly as possible, rather than risking spending four months total going to Edmund's planet, where they hadn't received a signal from in a while.
Not an entirely unreasonable decision, considering they were trying to save the human race. Four months worth of life support and fuel is monumentally higher than a few hours worth, of course; they weren't planning on getting stranded down there for a couple hours.
Orbis Tabula
Member
Ah, okay. That makes sense. Disagree with their decision, but I have the benefit of knowing how much they were fucked by it, so I'm a bit biased.
Wait, if that's their logic, than it doesn't make sense. They knew about relativity, right? It's risking a possible loss of four months against a definite loss of at least 7 years. You should take the four months every time. Even if they were in and out of the planet in 10 minutes, the people on the ship would lose more than a year.
The film really wasn't about Man vs. the Universe but rather man undermining himself. NASA had been trying to save the human race but the public is too shortsighted to see what needs to be done. While there are definitely dangers involved with space travel and nature in general, we as humans fucked ourselves over more than nature did.
If male Brand had been more honest for example, NASA might have tried to come up with some strategy to get the data Brand needed for the gravity equation.
Do we have any idea what caused the Blight?
Maninthemirror
Banned
So the mission didnt sink when they nearly lost themselves to the wave
or lost 23 years of their lives relative to their loved ones
or manns planet explosion
or ship explosion
or sacrificing cooper for endurance to maintain the slingshot orbit.
The data coming from Miller's planet was apparently the most promising by far, as it contained organic compounds and water. Then again, it's orbiting a black hole and experiences relativistic effects at 61,320x that of Earth. I still maintain that it should have been a last resort, not the first stop.
Brand even mentioned that Edmunds' planet was a better option than Mann's because of the black hole, and that "not enough can happen" to support life when the planet is so close to a gravitational singularity.
Zoe
Member
I was under the impression that there's a minimal loss of resources when the people on the big ship are under stasis and not really going anywhere.
Garrett Hawke
Member
Matt Damon
Like damn
Serious? Thought he looked fat and tired
No, the film and 2008 script never give a reason.
Mann wasn't crazy or maniacal. In fact, he was more rational and pragmatic than any other character aside from Brand. He was simply doing what he thought was absolutely necessary to preserve the future of the human race.
Orbis Tabula
Member
This is how I feel. I'd be annoyed if the characters didn't even mention the problem and were surprised afterwards, but since they argued about it, I'm happy. Even if they made the wrong choice.
True, you do save a lot of fuel not going anywhere, but there's still life support and stuff that needs to be provided. I don't know how much fuel you would need to use just to not fall into the black hole, either. But I'm willing to give the characters the benefit of the doubt and say they did the calculus and it made sense for them.
There is no way you could have watched the movie and think these points are correct. They showed a wall with photos of all the astronauts that went and said how many went. They also did have data about the planets once they passed the worm hole which is why they argued over which one to go to. The first planet's data was the best for life but they had only received 1 or 2 readings because of the time issues. The astronaut got there sent back readings showing water and then got wiped out. Mann faked the data and then used the robot to keep transmitting it so people would come to his planet. They went to his planet because the data looked the best but it was a lie.
Zoe
Member
Not if he's in stasis most of the time.
Of course he didn't stay in stasis the entire time (even though he should have), and they never addressed the effect there.
Anton Sugar
Member
Anyone ON the ship can stay in stasis, if they want.
If they traveled to Edmund's planet and it was inhabitable, that's four months worth of fuel and life support, used up.
If they had only spent an hour, or two, on Miller's planet, they would have only lost 7-14 years, and 1-2 hours worth of fuel and life support.
They can't save the human race if they don't have fuel/life support to do anything.
EDIT: Yeah, it was a risk they took, and they paid the price. I'm glad they at least discussed it.
SJRB
Gold Member
Complete miscast for sure. All the buildup of the amazing, brilliant genius and it's fucking Matt Damon.
I feel like John Lithgow should've been Mann.
InsaneZero
Member
Nothing explicit, but it's made pretty clear that the blight was an inevitability. Most likely scenario is that most of the crops that humanity grew slowly died out from a variety of reasons, leaving them with a small variety of plants that they could actually grow. In that situation, when everybody's growing the same stuff, a single disease would end up wiping out that entire species.
BrettWeir
Member
Just went and saw it. Went into it blind, not knowing what it was about. Was expecting a "Space movie where the earth is dying, so humans have to find a new planet to live. Adventure will be had in space, and on different planets trying to find a new world for the humans. There will be drama. Maybe aliens. Some neat planets."
It was pretty decent up until they found Matt Damon. Completely shit the bed after that.
It was pretty decent up until they found Matt Damon. Completely shit the bed after that.
Miles Quaritch
Member
There's something I didn't quite understand, why was Coop's son such a dick when he grew up? His condemning his wife and son to basically die seemed to come out of nowhere, especially with him losing a son.
And the Matt Damon character. Why didn't he just tell them when they got there that his initial readings were wrong or that his theories about the planet didn't pan out? Why go on a murderous rampage? Seemed stupid really.
And what was the deal with the planet and the blight? Desertification? Shame that wasn't elaborated upon as it seemed like a really important aspect of the story. The teacher claiming the moon landing were fake was also completely bizarre as was the reasoning behind why Nasa had to hide their operations.
The Nasa thing kind of makes sense, but you'd think that people would also understand that perhaps it's time to look for new home when no crops are growing...
The fake moon landings was really bizarre. No explanation behind why that was suddenly a theory that had gained enough traction to be taught in schools.
I really disliked the whole 'love trumps all' aspect of the story. What's wrong with a sci-fi movie just being about sci-fi, why do they invariably end up going in a spiritual garbage direction?
And the Matt Damon character. Why didn't he just tell them when they got there that his initial readings were wrong or that his theories about the planet didn't pan out? Why go on a murderous rampage? Seemed stupid really.
And what was the deal with the planet and the blight? Desertification? Shame that wasn't elaborated upon as it seemed like a really important aspect of the story. The teacher claiming the moon landing were fake was also completely bizarre as was the reasoning behind why Nasa had to hide their operations.
The Nasa thing kind of makes sense, but you'd think that people would also understand that perhaps it's time to look for new home when no crops are growing...
The fake moon landings was really bizarre. No explanation behind why that was suddenly a theory that had gained enough traction to be taught in schools.
I really disliked the whole 'love trumps all' aspect of the story. What's wrong with a sci-fi movie just being about sci-fi, why do they invariably end up going in a spiritual garbage direction?
Orbis Tabula
Member
Alright. Thanks for clearing these things up for me. Did they say how much time passed between sending the original probes to the planet and Coop et al. going out to find them? I assume it must have been a long time.
Anton Sugar
Member
The original Lazarus Mission was forty years prior, I think.
EDIT: Correction, it was "only" ten years.
Net_Wrecker
Member
I meant "man vs. the universe" in terms of facing the difficulties of the mission with the pressure of relativity breathing down their necks. That part of Interstellar is way more compelling than watching Matt vs. Matt on Ice Planet Wrestlemania 45. I've seen humans be dumbass humans and butt heads in countless sci-fi movies, I wanted this one to be different.
But it's pragmatism played up to the point of villainy right after Mann's spiel about being isolated and expressing his excitement for seeing human faces. It feels like something I've seen time and time again, and robs the movie of its real tension. He even dies, almost comically, by his own hand right in the middle of his final villain speech. It's a subplot that maybe could've worked with better execution but absolutely torpedoes the movie in its current state.
Dr. Mann asked about the "others" after waking and Cooper told them they didn't have the resources to find or save any of the others, and that they had basically devoted everything they had left to get to Mann's world.
Anton Sugar
Member
I saw this earlier. Fantastic movie.
I don't think Damon was miscast. I thought he did a good job, and was of a believable age to have been an accomplished scientist and yet still physically able to lead and embark on this kind of voyage. Though I think he may have telegraphed his intentions a little too strongly, but that very well possibly could have been under Nolan's direction. In any case he was effective.
I like to think Cooper reaches Brand about four years into her future, and they return several years later as the now even more increased legends that they would have become. Brand goes into politics and continues Murph's tradition of focusing on science and advancement, leading to an eventual meeting between various alternate versions of human history hundreds of years later - one of them being the ones who created the tesseract. TARS went on to star in a series of films created to cater to robots, who had by that time advanced to full consciousness.
I don't think Damon was miscast. I thought he did a good job, and was of a believable age to have been an accomplished scientist and yet still physically able to lead and embark on this kind of voyage. Though I think he may have telegraphed his intentions a little too strongly, but that very well possibly could have been under Nolan's direction. In any case he was effective.
I like to think Cooper reaches Brand about four years into her future, and they return several years later as the now even more increased legends that they would have become. Brand goes into politics and continues Murph's tradition of focusing on science and advancement, leading to an eventual meeting between various alternate versions of human history hundreds of years later - one of them being the ones who created the tesseract. TARS went on to star in a series of films created to cater to robots, who had by that time advanced to full consciousness.
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