Movie Review: Interstellar
Interstellar Poster
What can you say about a movie co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan? You can only say that it was great, another master-piece from one of the most acclaimed contemporary film makers in Hollywood. But Nolan’s latest offering, ‘Interstellar’ has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye. No doubt it is an excellently thought out and made movie, and it has an excellent cast which includ Academy Award winners; but the point that I want to make is that, it has taken the bridge between science and fiction to a whole new level. One of the executive producers of the movie is Prof. Kip Thorne of the California Institute of Technology, who is widely known for a bet he placed with Stephen Hawking. The movie is actually based on Prof. Thorne’s work and imagination. He was also the scientific consultant of the movie, and as such the movie contains almost perfect and authentic scientific depiction of numerous phenomena.
The plot in brief is that Mother Earth is failing and is about to die with it wiping out the existence of the human civilization. In a top secret mission of NASA, a crew of astronauts, scientists and pilots make way into the universe to find a suitable place for us to sustain. The most amazing part is that they use a wormhole near Saturn to travel to the farthest corners of the universe in search of a suitable habitat. The people at NASA have identified three potential planets orbiting a black hole that might be a good place to take humanity into, and the onus of collecting data from the ground to report back on earth falls in the hands of Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey), Brandt (played by Anne Hathaway) and others. This starts an epic journey into the deepest recess of the universe by means of exotic travel forms including wormholes and blackholes.
The movie follows this journey and the team’s fortune in a tale that spans for more than 50 years on earth, but is just a few short years for the crew of Cooper, Brandt and others. This is explained by means of general relativity and gravity. The mixture of physics and fiction with a strong blend of exquisite story telling, makes this a gripping tale for any physics or for that matter any science lover. Theoretical concepts like wormholes, fifth dimensions, changing the past or the future are shown in realistic details in the movie. Owing to the fact that an actual physicist is consulting for the movie, makes this one of the most real scientific movies of all time. Although, there will certainly be some exceptions and creative licenses taken.
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From the point of view of acting and direction, this is certainly not the best movie for the people involved, but it still counts as a great performance. If you want a movie that soothes your appetite for science and imagination, then certainly this one is for you. But on the other hand, if you want a movie that will make you scream on top of your lungs that this is the best movie you have seen, then definitely Interstellar is not that one. Overall, an exciting movie to watch, but some plot holes and loose ends remained which should have either been tied up or cut off. The movie, definitely brings in a new sense of purpose into the art of scientific story telling.
For the people who are wondering whether the science shown in the movie is real or not, Prof. Kip Thorne has written an wonderful book called The Science of Interstellar, which we plan to review soon in the coming few days.
Name: Interstellar
Director: Christopher Nolan
Lead Actors: Matthew McConaghey, Anne Hathaway
Rating: 4/5
Running Time: 169 min