re: The official Interstellar thread (spoilers)

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






I really don't find the ending to be all that lazy and convenient, anymore so than 2001. I feel pretty damn confident that if 2001 was released in this day and age, it would be initially largely panned by the world at large, while also being praised for being ambitious. I can imagine that an ending with a fetus floating out in space and no real main character would not come across well initially.

I really liked the final 30 minutes of the movie. When the film first started, I really hated the fact that aliens opened the wormhole for us, but when it is revealed that fifth dimensional evolved humans did it, I couldn't help but appreciate it and think that it was absolutely fricking brilliant. It shows simultaneously the depth of the human spirit and our true potential as a species. And whose to say fifth dimensional beings wouldn't have these powers? They're well beyond a Type 3 Civilization, which is as far as the human mind can currently comprehend, and they should be capable of warping reality as a whole, to where I don't find it as preposterous as it seems. I bought it, and don't see why it's completely impossible for that to happen.

Anything is within the realm of imagination. That's the point and I'm completely on board with that, believe me, but the ending presents a paradox, and I thought that the conclusion was an arrogant, ambitious contrivance based on impossible to detail, intellectual musings.

As I said, they (storytellers) just imagined humanity's way out of impending extinction, right out of thin air, much like we do in dreams. I suppose that's acceptable. It's art, after all, but they could have been more fluid about it.

But also again, the shot of the ship crossing through Saturn's orbit was in itself, well worth the price of admission. That was truly breathtaking. Some real David Lean shite right there.

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As I said, they (storytellers) just imagined humanity's way out of impending extinction, right out of thin air, much like we do in dreams. I suppose that's acceptable. It's art, after all, but they could have been more fluid about it.

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They imagined humanity's way out of impending extinction by showing the absolute pinnacle of evolution that we could become one day, and having that save us. As far as we're aware, that is the highest level of consciousness that MAY be possible, so I really liked that.

In fact, it may make me somewhat reanalyze 2001. I'd say it's likely that the aliens that sent the monoliths were fifth dimensional beings. What if instead of extraterrestrials, it was ourselves sending the monoliths back in time to awaken our own evolution.

Another subtle reference to 2001, did you notice what the robots were shaped like in this movie? I'm thinking Nolan is implying that TARS and CASE are both predecessors to monoliths, and TARS I think was intentionally designed to be the exact opposite of HAL. Just came up with that on the fly, and I'm sure we'll come up with a lot more when we all discuss this film further.

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Another subtle reference to 2001, did you notice what the robots were shaped like in this movie? I'm thinking Nolan is implying that TARS and CASE are both predecessors to monoliths, and TARS I think was intentionally designed to be the exact opposite of HAL. Just came up with that on the fly, and I'm sure we'll come up with a lot more when we all discuss this film further.

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Good observation. The 2001 Monolith does indeed resemble the computers of Interstellar. I hope somebody has a chance to ask Nolan about this. It seems unlikely to be pure coincidence.

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I don't have a problem with the concept of that, in and of itself. I have a problem with the fact that the characters and their world went from the not too distant future, instantly to the realm of evolution where we can just wish our way out of things. The reviewer I posted a week or so ago was right. It a deus ex machina, an overly convenient and somewhat random way to resolve a plot.

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With 5th dimensional beings though, there is no present, past, or future for them, or even a current position in reality. They encompass almost all portions of reality that are possible within the parameters in a given reality. Humans in this film are still likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years from achieving that. There's nothing that's implied about it being instant, just the hopefully future pinnacle of our evolution.

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Matt Damon's character, to me, is the soul of the film. No matter what cold calculation and dedication to logic you say governs you, in the end, your animal humanity and basic instinct to survive will dominate your life and your choices, oftentimes in a very selfish way. Anyone can relate to that. What is hard to swallow is a world suddenly imposed that allows any and all possibilities because the storytellers have an overpowering will to survive, despite the fact that they will not.

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I disagree. Yes, Mann is part of what humanity is, but he's the darkest parts of humanity. Cowardice, betrayal, pessimism, and dishonesty. Mann represents the foundation of evil in humanity. Yes he's not evil, but all evil from man comes from some corner of the mind that Mann represents. Look out on your rewatch for Cooper and Hathaway talking about Mann before going to Saturn, and how they think they've left evil behind for good.

The real soul of the film though is mankind's capability to love and its resilience through anything. That is the good of mankind at its core. Cooper and Murph both well represent this, and that's what I think is the true soul of the film.

I missed what happened before the school office. Can someone fill me in on the opening minutes?

Why were the Lazarus folks so limited in their communication back home while Coopers crew had a good bit of communication with earth?

Hathaway was terrible. The "love transcends space and time" monologue produced several annoyed groans in the theater. I was waiting on McConaughey to laugh and tell her how dumb she sounded.

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With 5th dimensional beings though, there is no present, past, or future for them, or even a current position in reality. They encompass almost all portions of reality that are possible within the parameters in a given reality. Humans in this film are still likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years from achieving that. There's nothing that's implied about it being instant, just the hopefully future pinnacle of our evolution.

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No, I get that, as I've said, but narratively and conceptually, in this case, it is instant. As viewers, we are taken from a familiar world with very specific parameters to one with none, right at the end. I can accept the basic concepts in another context, and generally in a theoretical sense, but in this story, it is a mechanism for resolution of the plot.

To me, it's not evil that they think they've left behind. It's human frailty and the selfish, individual will to survive. Personally, I would have preferred that Mann had had one moment of weakness that led to his deception, rather than something ongoing. That's more human than what was presented, especially given the time frame the characters were supposed to have endured.

The ambiguous love aspect, to me, possibly cynically, is a cop out, at least in the sense that it is a quantifiable solution to a mortal threat. It reminded me of The Fifth Element, in that sense.

You funny

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You funny

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I don't get it.