The original screenplay makes it sound like it would have been even worse (and more bloated).
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Lets Look Back At Nolans Interstellar.
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The original screenplay makes it sound like it would have been even worse (and more bloated).
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
The original screenplay isn't something Spielberg was willing to pull the trigger on. He was waiting for it to be reworked.
The way the black hole was rendered was supposedly pretty accurate, but everything else makes even Armageddon look downright reasonable
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
What is everything else and how should have it been shown (last 15 min aside)?
DarkJediKnight
Member
Can someone explain to me the point of Dr. Mann turning psycho? Would he not have a better chance leaving with the crew rather than kill them?
I only saw this once and it wasn't clear to me in the theater.
I only saw this once and it wasn't clear to me in the theater.
Spiritwalker
Member
This has become my favourite Nolan movie. It's just incredible. Would kill for a 4K blu-ray release or something.
The OG script was really kinda awful. Maybe it's time to give the third Nolan bro a chance. The one that is in prison.
Secret Fawful
Member
They wanted to go home. He wanted to continue the mission. Also he's a really unsubtle personification of all of mankind.
Mann.
Man.
Mammoth Jones
Member
One of my favorite movies of all time. I adore it. Great film.
Outtrigger888
Member
One of these the only movies to make me cry, damn good movie.
Liked it (even the part with Marky Mark) all the way up to when Cooper went into the black hole. I've never seen a movie go from good -> awful that quickly. The docking scene was probably my favorite of this decade, and the scene where they used the black hole as a slingshot was great too (gravity assists FTW!). Too bad the scene in the black hole was so fucking eyeroll inducing.
Still, good film, if not my favorite by Nolan.
Also, the scene where they skipped forward all those years was great. it reminded me a lot of a similar scene in Moon, just done a little less well.
Still, good film, if not my favorite by Nolan.
Also, the scene where they skipped forward all those years was great. it reminded me a lot of a similar scene in Moon, just done a little less well.
Buba Big Guns
Banned
They exaggerated the effects of time dilation, along with things like frozen clouds. I would hardly classify that as pseudoscience, more like slightly overstating the laws of physics to fit the story. The general effects of what things of look like and how they would behave are there, just exaggerated in some cases.
Top 3 Nolan movie for me, but unlike 1 and 2 (Memento and The Prestige), which are near-perfect, Interstellar is quite obviously flawed. Still, we're lucky there's someone still making heady, singular, ambitious non-franchise movies on this scale and budget (it's the main reason I can't hate Inception too much, despite being lower-tier Nolan imo).
I mean, is there even a movie opening this summer that meets those criteria? I suppose the closest is Dunkirk. Figures.
I mean, is there even a movie opening this summer that meets those criteria? I suppose the closest is Dunkirk. Figures.
UnemployedVillain
Member
This is ridiculous to the point of being offensive and makes it hard to take you seriously
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
-- I think it's a perfect film and will go down as an overly picked-apart classic.
-- I think you're all entirely too critical of one of the best filmmakers of our generation, and arguing with a straight face that Nolan should have done more to explain why humans needed to leave the planet while also getting more to the point is kinda hilarious. And sad.
-- I think the entire criticism around the love speech and the ending in the wormhole are equally sad. You all would have picked Casablanca apart because it doesn't move fast enough, T2 apart because the laugh lines were too forced / the entire thumbs up bit too saccharine. You would have hated everything Kubrik did for trying too hard, and don't get me started on how y'all would've trashed Godfather I & II for bad choreography and spending too long in Sicily. smfh.
-- The point is that yes, all these separate things are important to film critics and film makers but you are not considering the cohesive whole, the sum experience in the theater. You're not missing the forest for the trees, you're focused on the bark.
-- It was a simply wonderful film. Simple premise, the earth is in trouble and we've secretly scouted a few locations to rebuild our population. That Murphy's entire life happened while we spent 10 minutes on a planet happened will never not punch right in the emotions. I loved Damon's betrayal, leading to the docking scene, which leads to the dive into the black hole. I held my breath for the entire film, heart pounding, led from utter to despair, to suspense, back to despair, and finally to a glimmer of hope at the end. I LOVED the ending, which was profound.
Amazing film.
-- I think you're all entirely too critical of one of the best filmmakers of our generation, and arguing with a straight face that Nolan should have done more to explain why humans needed to leave the planet while also getting more to the point is kinda hilarious. And sad.
-- I think the entire criticism around the love speech and the ending in the wormhole are equally sad. You all would have picked Casablanca apart because it doesn't move fast enough, T2 apart because the laugh lines were too forced / the entire thumbs up bit too saccharine. You would have hated everything Kubrik did for trying too hard, and don't get me started on how y'all would've trashed Godfather I & II for bad choreography and spending too long in Sicily. smfh.
-- The point is that yes, all these separate things are important to film critics and film makers but you are not considering the cohesive whole, the sum experience in the theater. You're not missing the forest for the trees, you're focused on the bark.
-- It was a simply wonderful film. Simple premise, the earth is in trouble and we've secretly scouted a few locations to rebuild our population. That Murphy's entire life happened while we spent 10 minutes on a planet happened will never not punch right in the emotions. I loved Damon's betrayal, leading to the docking scene, which leads to the dive into the black hole. I held my breath for the entire film, heart pounding, led from utter to despair, to suspense, back to despair, and finally to a glimmer of hope at the end. I LOVED the ending, which was profound.
Amazing film.
It's a shitty fucking movie with no real heart and terrible characters. When the robot is the most compelling/lively character, that says it all. Really don't like it in the least. And all the fancy visuals and set pieces don't mean squat when I care little for the people involved.
And that's what Gravity nails. There's heart and real warmth and emotion to everything which ties to its visuals even though its just one character floating through one unbelievable scenario after another. It earns its art.
Interstellar is just cold and doesn't earn what it sets out to do.
And that's what Gravity nails. There's heart and real warmth and emotion to everything which ties to its visuals even though its just one character floating through one unbelievable scenario after another. It earns its art.
Interstellar is just cold and doesn't earn what it sets out to do.
It's a Spielberg film that should have stayed a Spielberg film. It's not in Nolan's wheelhouse to make a Spielberg film, because even if the ending stayed the same, Spielberg would have kept the tone consistent throughout so the "fantasy" elements didn't feel so awkward moving from more science elements.
First 2/3 of the film I liked but that last third just turned me completely off the movie in the theater. It didn't help that the film was so long and self-indulgent. Rewatching the film several times since, I still basically feel the same way about the film and while I don't feel the same visceral repulsion to how stupid it gets, it's still stupid.
Spielberg might not have made it into a classic, and the "power of love transcends all" could have still come across as sappy, but I doubt we'd have to suffer through all the talk about the magic scientific 4th dimensional power of love like it's an MCU scientific explanation of Asgard magic.
I don't even have a problem with Brand's love speech or the fact that Murph's love for her father kept her trying to believe in finding something to save the world, even if it was through some supernatural seeming means. I just think the space bookcase, the thing with the least explanation for why it exists, being the vessel through which they some how communicate is a stupid twist. My suspension of disbelief is completely maimed after keeping me on this short leash the whole film and force feeding me scientific explanations. Then it's like "yeah, space bookshelf!" No, fuck you!
First 2/3 of the film I liked but that last third just turned me completely off the movie in the theater. It didn't help that the film was so long and self-indulgent. Rewatching the film several times since, I still basically feel the same way about the film and while I don't feel the same visceral repulsion to how stupid it gets, it's still stupid.
Spielberg might not have made it into a classic, and the "power of love transcends all" could have still come across as sappy, but I doubt we'd have to suffer through all the talk about the magic scientific 4th dimensional power of love like it's an MCU scientific explanation of Asgard magic.
I don't even have a problem with Brand's love speech or the fact that Murph's love for her father kept her trying to believe in finding something to save the world, even if it was through some supernatural seeming means. I just think the space bookcase, the thing with the least explanation for why it exists, being the vessel through which they some how communicate is a stupid twist. My suspension of disbelief is completely maimed after keeping me on this short leash the whole film and force feeding me scientific explanations. Then it's like "yeah, space bookshelf!" No, fuck you!
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
Huh? No, he wanted to kill them because they were going to learn the planet was dead and he fibbed all the data in order to get rescued.
But yea, the personification of unlimited selfishness still works.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Omg, people are seriously arguing for the scientific validity/plausibility of a human crossing an event horizon of a black hole TWICE and not being instantly vaporized.
I'm done.
Edit: This is coming from someone who would have even put up with Cooper's "consciousness/mind" crossing the event horizon in tact.
I'm done.
Edit: This is coming from someone who would have even put up with Cooper's "consciousness/mind" crossing the event horizon in tact.
Secret Fawful
Member
Hmm, now I feel like I need to rewatch it, but I don't want to. I'll just listen to the soundtrack again instead.
I found visually and overall conceptually that it's absolutely fantastic. Narratively, though, it tries way too hard to find a central theme and the characters lacked personality (or maybe the performances, outside of MM, were a little flat). I think it wanted to be sentimental but Nolan's style comes across as cold and perfunctory to what's on the page rather than something he can emotionally draw out of actors or a scene.
Still enjoyed the film immensely, though. I think it's visually and in terms of its artistic design one of the most impressive films I had seen in a while.
Still enjoyed the film immensely, though. I think it's visually and in terms of its artistic design one of the most impressive films I had seen in a while.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Honestly anytime I go into a Nolan movie thread on GAF I wonder why he even bothers attempting to address the real elements of his movies. People are just going to nitpick like crazy because for some reason science fiction means must be 100% scientifically accurate.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Hey, at least we agree on that much.
And no, humans surviving a black hole is mind-numbingly stupid. There are literally no reputable pie-in-the-sky scientific theories that account for that. That scene completely jumped the shark from the rest of the (surprisingly) grounded film.
Jarring is putting it lightly.
Edit: The problem is the rest of the film took unexplained* phenomena and very cerebral theory and asked "what if" questions. This was cool to see on a high budget. The final act threw this motif out the window.
Edit 2:
This is such an incredibly cop-out. Just because a director says something, doesn't make it consistent with the narrative.
There's a reason why terms like "Deus ex Machina" are such despised occurrences in literature/visual media.
They're cop-outs.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
You're not doing your part to willingly suspend your disbelief in honor of the director's vision. You're the one breaking that contract, not Nolan. That's on you.
Legend of Aims
Member
Loved it, even the 3rd act. Maybe it's because I'm a dad now. It hit me hard.
CarlisleDavid1979
Member
A white hole?
The One Who Knocks
Member
I felt almost the exact same as the OP. I was extremely excited about the movie pre-release; the combination of the director, the pre-release material, and the subject of the film all made confident it'd be a film I would really enjoy, but aside from the docking scene (which was certainly impressive, and the only part of the movie I honestly find very memorable) there really wasn't that much which I enjoyed.
The writing was a very off-putting mix of being far too on-the-nose with too much exposition while simultaneously being much too shallow (with respect to the characterisation and being too blunt with its themes; this also resulted in some of the moments with should have been heavy-hitting to fall flat) and melodramatic for how serious the tone was throughout. The pacing was not well-managed and the conflict in the second act of the movie felt entirely inappropriate and unnecessary. The audio mixing just didn't work for me and it was much too 'loud' for the style the film was aiming for, which is a shame when the score in isolation is quite strong.
I tried to watch it again about a year after release to see if my impression would improve if I was more distanced from the initial theatre experience, but I ended up not being able to sit through it a second time and turned it off. Overall, I was very disappointed with the film, and I really don't like it; I definitely think it's his weakest film by a considerable margin and it has me skeptical about Dunkirk.
The writing was a very off-putting mix of being far too on-the-nose with too much exposition while simultaneously being much too shallow (with respect to the characterisation and being too blunt with its themes; this also resulted in some of the moments with should have been heavy-hitting to fall flat) and melodramatic for how serious the tone was throughout. The pacing was not well-managed and the conflict in the second act of the movie felt entirely inappropriate and unnecessary. The audio mixing just didn't work for me and it was much too 'loud' for the style the film was aiming for, which is a shame when the score in isolation is quite strong.
I tried to watch it again about a year after release to see if my impression would improve if I was more distanced from the initial theatre experience, but I ended up not being able to sit through it a second time and turned it off. Overall, I was very disappointed with the film, and I really don't like it; I definitely think it's his weakest film by a considerable margin and it has me skeptical about Dunkirk.
The only Nolan movie I couldn't finish. I like his films but I could not get through this shit. I checked out like 2/3 in.
I don't think one stinker after a string of successes means you've turned to shit. But DKR was the movie he did before this and that awful, too.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but if Dunkirk sucks he might be done for me.
BTW, saw The Prestige again not too long ago, underrated film!
I don't think one stinker after a string of successes means you've turned to shit. But DKR was the movie he did before this and that awful, too.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but if Dunkirk sucks he might be done for me.
BTW, saw The Prestige again not too long ago, underrated film!
I don't know why he even bothers either because there is always this pretentious air of the need for exposition dumps so the film can prove how smart it is. What makes it worse is all the Nolanites that watch his films for the complexity and only want to talk about the genius of the work and talk about how it should be studied for decades and is too brilliant to be fully appreciated today, but can't handle when elements just can't hold up to scrutiny and run back to "it's a work of fiction, don't think so hard about it".
To me, while I can appreciate his ability to craft intricate stories, his execution doesn't allow the work to stand on it's own merits or trust the audience much and I think that's a weakness in film making. There is too much of his own ego wrapped up in transmitting his ideas from his head to the audience, so I'm sure if you are okay with how he presents his fully formed world you'd love all his films unquestioned, but something about how his films tell me to think about things just can rub me the wrong way when the execution feels off.
Agreed.
Interstellar is way too long and some of it very boring on rewatches.
I like the text of it but the way you hear it in the movie feels weird.
It's a warm and humanizing speech but it's delivered so coldly and clinically, a suffocating quietness that seemed to overemphasize that Hathaway knows it sounds insane (and in that moment it definitely is) rather than sell it? That may be why it feels off.
IIRC the entire reason the blackhole was spinning in the film was because there is a theory that if a blackhole is spinning fast enough the event horizon might be crossable.
The One Who Knocks
Member
While that is fair, I think the thing about Interstellar in particular, even without considering his previous films, which makes me most apprehensive is how with a lot of work/adjustments it had the makings of a very strong film but was completely let down by the quality of the writing and the apparent lack of cohesion in the execution. They type of films which Nolan has made and written (from Memento onwards) often can compensate for this being either a film with a very unique concept/hook (Memento, The Prestige, Inception) which can detract focus from any questionable writing choices (or be justified as part of the overall atmosphere) or in a genre in which naturally blunt or (arguably) shallow/questionable writing can hide more easily (superhero films).
While one could make the argument that Interstellar is a film with a unique hook (given that not many attempts are made at a high-budget science fiction film), it was also a film where the quality of the writing was put into a much starker focus and couldn't as easily be compensated for by the type of film it was. With Dunkirk a seemingly more 'typical' film than Nolan's typical fan in a genre where the quality of the writing (and the direction of the action, which also isn't a strong point) is very important, it's Interstellar which gives me the most cause for concern (which could totally be unnecessary in the end) even if he has a number of other strong films under his belt.
EDIT: I should also probably add that at least with The Dark Knight Rises, it has the 'excuse' of how the initial plans for the movie could have been completely disrupted by the tragedy which occurred following its predecessor, and a potential discomfort on Nolan's part returning to the franchise after Ledger's passing. I feel Interstellar doesn't really have an 'excuse' with which one can as easily use to rationalise many of the choices which were made for the movie.
old
Member
I loved it. The time dilation aspect of the plot was intriguing.
Now that I think about it, it is weird that a secret base could be stumbled upon like that. I used to live near an army base. There's constantly military vehicles on the roads heading towards and away. Plus you see the people who work there patronizing the bars, diners, cafes, bakeries..etc. Plus their kids go to the local schools, so kids and parents meet up...etc.The people working there are integrated into the local society.
There's no way you could move that much equipment into and out of there without anyone seeing it or have that many people working and living in the area and not have shopkeepers or teachers take notice.
Now that I think about it, it is weird that a secret base could be stumbled upon like that. I used to live near an army base. There's constantly military vehicles on the roads heading towards and away. Plus you see the people who work there patronizing the bars, diners, cafes, bakeries..etc. Plus their kids go to the local schools, so kids and parents meet up...etc.The people working there are integrated into the local society.
There's no way you could move that much equipment into and out of there without anyone seeing it or have that many people working and living in the area and not have shopkeepers or teachers take notice.
Robot Pants
Member
Extremely disappointing movie. Right behind Prometheus as most disappointing of all time.
I was SO excited for this movie. I watched the teaser trailer and that was IT. Went on media black out until the movie was out because I didn't want to know anything about it and I wanted to be completely surprised and blown away. I mean it was Nolan, how could it be bad right?
Me and my best friend got midnight showing tickets at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In my opinion, the best movie theater ever. How could this not be an amazing event and movie?!
I walked out of that theater so disappointed. This movie rang so completely hollow for me.
Again, like the Dark Knight Rises, Nolan bit off more than he could chew I think. Too much to cover and rushed it way too quickly. The "Eureeka" scene had me rolling my eyes. Also the audio was horribly mixed. Hans Zimmers organs were so ridiculously loud sometimes, and other times the dialogue was way too quiet to hear over the music.
Docking scene was cool, the rest I can't really say was.
Also the robot offscreen explaining that Coop was in the 4th dimension but the aliens were arranging it so it looked like he was in the 3rd dimension so he could understand was the point I had had it with this movie. Even the audience groaned and laughed at that part.
This movie sucks. I'm very skeptical about Dunkirk but I'll still see it.
I was SO excited for this movie. I watched the teaser trailer and that was IT. Went on media black out until the movie was out because I didn't want to know anything about it and I wanted to be completely surprised and blown away. I mean it was Nolan, how could it be bad right?
Me and my best friend got midnight showing tickets at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In my opinion, the best movie theater ever. How could this not be an amazing event and movie?!
I walked out of that theater so disappointed. This movie rang so completely hollow for me.
Again, like the Dark Knight Rises, Nolan bit off more than he could chew I think. Too much to cover and rushed it way too quickly. The "Eureeka" scene had me rolling my eyes. Also the audio was horribly mixed. Hans Zimmers organs were so ridiculously loud sometimes, and other times the dialogue was way too quiet to hear over the music.
Docking scene was cool, the rest I can't really say was.
Also the robot offscreen explaining that Coop was in the 4th dimension but the aliens were arranging it so it looked like he was in the 3rd dimension so he could understand was the point I had had it with this movie. Even the audience groaned and laughed at that part.
This movie sucks. I'm very skeptical about Dunkirk but I'll still see it.
nekkid
It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
I liked it far more on subsequent viewings. I don't think I was quite prepared for it being really hard sci fi, which tends to lean towards a slower pace.
But once I knew what it was and what it was about, I absolutely love it.
One criticism:
The "love" thing never seemed that bad to me as a concept, but the way Brand just happens to casually pluck the love theory out of thin air, which goes on to be the thing that ends up saving humanity, felt too rushed.
But once I knew what it was and what it was about, I absolutely love it.
One criticism:
The "love" thing never seemed that bad to me as a concept, but the way Brand just happens to casually pluck the love theory out of thin air, which goes on to be the thing that ends up saving humanity, felt too rushed.
No, I agree with you entirely.
All Possible Ways
Member
I liked it a lot back then, it felt really inspiring, and the rendering of the black hole is absolutely stunning. It is not without flaws, of course, the love speech is the super cringy and I also didn't like how he was all Murph! for the whole movie, then meets her at the end for a minute and goes: "ok, bye".
The scientific accuracy of the movie, excluding silliness like frozen clouds is actually quite good, they just took some liberties with the size of the time dilation effects and made it really easy to decelerate and accelerate the ship from one orbit to another, for the convenience of the plot. The time travel/tesseract thing is completely speculative, of course.
The scientific accuracy of the movie, excluding silliness like frozen clouds is actually quite good, they just took some liberties with the size of the time dilation effects and made it really easy to decelerate and accelerate the ship from one orbit to another, for the convenience of the plot. The time travel/tesseract thing is completely speculative, of course.
The changes to the ending of the Martian to make it more "cinematic" killed it for me. A damn shame because it was so good until then.