Interstellar

 1-27-26

Dear Movie goers,

    Recently I watched the Interstellar movie, and I was left utterly amazed and in awe, so join me as we uncover everything that there is to know about Interstellar. Firstly, let’s talk about who made this astounding movie. It was directed by Christopher Nolan, and Starred by Mathew Maconaughe, released in 2014. Matthew Maconaughey, stage name Cooper, is an ex space pilot, living in a volatile climate created by extensive global warming. Additionally, His son is brilliant but seems destined to be one of humanities farmers, but on the other hand, his daughter is infatuated with science and salvation, aspiring to save the human species one day, named Murph. Over time, she starts thinking that there is a ghost in her room haunting her through her bookshelf, and during a dust storm her window was left open, but peculiarly, the dust fell in lines rather than randomly. Deciphering the lines to Morse code, she soon finds the message, “STAY.” Quickly, she tells this to her dad after Nasa recruits him to fly one of their missions to continue a family on another planet. This kicks off the main events of the story that all intertwine into one of the best films of the 21st century so far. After the slow but intriguing opening the true movie starts.

    After meeting his crew, Cooper soon learns that they are trying to find the optimal of three planets to land on and start a new colony. However, the only problem is that there is a supermassive black hole near all of the planets, slowing time down variously from planet to planet. Soon, going to the first planet they explore how differentiating gravity affects the rate at which time passes, so an hour down below on a planet, is several years on earth and their spaceship, which is complex, but intertwines complex physics theories with intriguing story lines. On that planet they come across they find wreckage of a previous ship which in their time crashed a decade ago, but on gravitational time crashed mere hours ago. It is truly brilliantly wrapped around concepts of ethical dilemmas, along with inter dimensional travel.

   Not only that, but soon we find Dr.Mann (Matt Damon), on a 2nd planet. Not only being a big stage name, but also being a vital part of the plot, as he soon tries to kill Cooper, and eventually destroys their mother ship. Truly, this is masterful story telling, talking about the depression and loneliness of Dr.mann, whose last attempt at salvation and not perishing alone, was diverting a mission focused on saving humanity. Finally, throughout this entire piece, it inspires deep and poignant thinking that in my opinion has a much greater impact than almost any other movie.

   This is all intelligently written, but in my opinion one aspect stands out over the rest. The sound track of this piece was truly next level, being on par with other greats such as the K-pop demon hunters, another massive hit. The music of Interstellar inspired powerful emotions, and won the show several awards for the writing. Regarding the cover, it showed Cooper walking alone stranded in the void, and this seemed to be an accurate representation of himself, but the entire human race all together. Now, moving on to more emotional topics, this movie excelled as well.

    I have come to view it as two separate parts of the story, equally intriguing. The first is the immense knowledge of the universe and the way it works, while the second dives into immense character development and connection. A scene that particularly impressed me was when Cooper saw videos of his children, he watched and started balling, but with genuine emotion. It wasn’t fake or put on. He made that entire scene solely on expectations, and was not shown the videos before, generating a completely human and natural response to the videos. It gave him a level of humanity and connection to the audience that is unparalleled by most movies. 

   However, on the opposite side, the movie has some serious downsides as well. The movie seemed like it never ended. It dragged on for hours past normal, and I can’t say it wasn’t interesting, however it may have been even better if the story was slightly expedited. 

     On another note, the piece had an underlying theme of dread throughout. You could feel the literal and metaphorical gravity of the situation, but it barely felt light hearted and fun at any point, and this could have made the emotional rollercoaster more dramatic, thus making the movie more emphatic. Overall, the entire piece had a sense of depression, but slight hope, and by the end it made a full circle turning motivational and hopeful. Furthermore, this was particularly impactful on me, and the way it left you after finishing the movie was very empowering and strong, generally a better sensation than other movies.

    Another powerful point was the way the plot tied into later scenes. The entire movie seemed “decent” for the majority of the piece but by the end the mysterious “ghosts” throughout the story wrapped brilliantly into the main piece. 

   At the climax of the story, the ship was running on fumes of fuel and leaking air because a hole was blown into the ship by Dr.Mann. They needed to use propulsion to leave some mass behind to the black in order to sling around the gravitational pull of the celestial object before they were all consumed by it. So Cooper volunteered himself and went flying into the black hole. Drawing out the scene, his copilot, Brand, not wanting to have to sacrifice him, talks to him personally for a good amount of time before he departs. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."- Dylan Thomas, read by Brand. After going through the hole, instead of Spaghettification, the literal term of being stretched out thin, he entered a 4 dimension universe, being able to go through time. He found himself on the other side of his daughter's book shelf, tapping Morse code to tell her in the past to stay. Eventually seeing the ship that he was on where he saw “ghosts” and much more, as Murph got older she eventually realized that her dad was the ghost all along being with her from the start, communicating through a wrist watch, causing another dramatic scene. Not only being a large sense of irony throughout the piece with all of the mysterious and scary “beings” becoming explained. With his help, she figured out the solution of saving mankind, by finding a way to manipulate gravity in a way to save the entire population.

    All these traits that sum to the entire movie combined, amounted to major critic notice and many nominations and awards. It won an Academy award for best visual effects, and the BAFTA award for best special effects. Along with those it received 5 Oscar nominations for the production design, original score, sound mixing, and others. Going even further it received 6 41st Saturn awards including best science fiction movie.

Only seeing the movie once, I was astounded how it tied all the themes together in an ultra complex plot and I remember it vividly, with the ending being a spectacle to watch. Sadly, Christopher Nolan decided along with many of his other movies to not make a sequel, so it remains a standalone. Ultimately the entire movie was beautifully written and intertwined together, and I heavily recommend it to anyone who may be interested. 

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

 Max Wofe