Page 15 • Interstellar • Non-Gaming • Film • Eurogamer.net

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 15:23:09 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

MOON IS THE FUCKING STEAK.

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 15:23:28 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Ahhh new page.

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 15:25:53 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

Mr_Sleep wrote:

Mola_Ram wrote:
-a tendency to tell and not show, and to explain everything verbatim several times so that everyone in the audience gets it, which I eventually find pretty annoying

My favourite example of that is when one of the crew was explaining wormholes to Mcconaughey, he is piloting a spaceship but he has no idea about basic scientific ideas? Didactic, patronising and pointless in the context of the film. The spherical nature of the wormhole did not need explaining.

To be fair. there are going to be a lot of people watching this movie who don't know a wormhole from a hole in the ground. I don't begrudge a few minutes spread across the movie giving a simple explanation for these topics. Not if it means more of the audience is allowed to follow the journey.

It could be handled more elegantly to my eyes but I've been interested in space and wormholes since before I had pubes, so my judgement is far from objective.

spindizzy 20 Nov 2014 15:27:02 7,755 posts
Seen 1 month ago
Registered 17 years ago

It wasn't perfect (some plot holes, some obvious twists), but I absolutely loved it. And it definitely made me an emotional mess in various places. I would love to go and watch it again tonight ... there were some amazing cinematic moments there (him driving off as the countdown started was amazing).

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 15:27:19 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

re - the Salon article; If the names given to characters are one of the biggest problems you have with a movie, the problem isn't with the movie, pal.

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 15:33:27 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Yeah, the names thing is a minor gripe amongst some fairly major problems.

disusedgenius 20 Nov 2014 15:34:36 10,677 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 14 years ago

Steve_Perry wrote:
Where did those planets get light and heat from? Was there another star there? I can't remember seeing one.

IB4T It's a film not a documentary.

It's a black hole that is eating a star iirc. No idea whether that stands up or not though!

Edited by disusedgenius at 15:36:28 20-11-2014

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 15:35:25 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

Why didn't NASA send robots to investigate the monolith?

Why are all the women in 2001 dressed like space-sex toys?

Why does the only character who makes it through the whole movie have seven lines of dialogue?

I mean, I think 2001 is a fine piece of cinema but by fuck it is one boring movie.

Deleted user 20 November 2014 15:35:55

Was I just hungry or did a lot of the space-doors have the word NACHO signs beside them

mmmm space nachos

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 15:37:16 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

It was actually MACHO because Nolan is such a misogynist.

ISmoke 20 Nov 2014 15:39:44 1,700 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 14 years ago

@Steve_Perry Endurance!?

Why on earth did I think it was called Endeavour. I did watch it last night. Honest!

CosmicFuzz 20 Nov 2014 15:57:03 32,632 posts
Seen 57 minutes ago
Registered 15 years ago

Isn't Endeavour the name of the shuttle in Armageddon?

Edited by CosmicFuzz at 15:57:20 20-11-2014

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 15:59:02 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

@Khanivor - It isn't, but yeah. You can criticise any movie, the validity of those criticisms can be called into question though.

2001 may lack dialogue, but that is one of its main strengths. It shows rather than tells (Nolan seems to love clunky leaden exposition), and it leaves the viewer in a state of confusion: you think about it, you're puzzled, you draw your own conclusions.

Interstellar aligns itself with 2001, and pails in comparison on every level. It is not a good film.

Your mileage may vary, obviously.

Edited by HarryPalmer at 15:59:11 20-11-2014

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 16:01:51 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

You see, I don't think it aligns itself with 2001 anymore than the Boy with Stripped Pajamas lines itself up with Shoah.

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 16:09:03 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

I'd say it clearly references 2001 throughout, right down to the model work. I seem to remember Nolan talking about it in interviews too, although that may be because he was prompted.

Either way - you brought it up.

Edited by HarryPalmer at 16:09:40 20-11-2014

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 16:10:44 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

in 50 years time 2001 will most likely be viewed as we view Metropolis right now; groundbreaking for its time and ushering in a new era of genre film-making but of little interest outside of its historical relevance.

Interstellar may not be remembered at all by that point.

But in the here and now, I think Interstellar is a phenomenal piece of film-making and one which angers the internet because of what it does. It turns sci-fi space movies away from worshiping technology and goes to a place many nerds aren't comfortable with, human emotion.

Which is why I think 2001 and Interstellar are complimentary movies. The first deals with the nature of identity, the second the nature of relationships.

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 16:12:16 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

It's an interesting point. But I think the reason a lot of people have taken against it is because it's not very good.

CosmicFuzz 20 Nov 2014 16:16:13 32,632 posts
Seen 57 minutes ago
Registered 15 years ago

I absolutely loved Interstellar myself. I can see why people are comparing it to 2001, obviously, but as others have said they're very different films in a lot of ways. I don't really think it's fair to compare them; one is a seminal piece of filmmaking for its time (that I don't like, personally) and the other is a blockbuster thrillride that tackles some big topics.

CosmicFuzz 20 Nov 2014 16:18:20 32,632 posts
Seen 57 minutes ago
Registered 15 years ago

spindizzy wrote:
It wasn't perfect (some plot holes, some obvious twists), but I absolutely loved it. And it definitely made me an emotional mess in various places. I would love to go and watch it again tonight ... there were some amazing cinematic moments there (him driving off as the countdown started was amazing).

Yeah I liked that bit too. The trip through the wormhole was incredible as well, my seat was shaking with the bass, felt like I was almost there! Was actually a little scary. The trip through the black hole was similar.

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 16:21:36 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

I can say with a high degree of certainty that if this movie was identical in every way but the name of the director the internet would be lavishing a lot more praise upon it.

I think it's fantastic. Lots of people in this thread think it's fantastic. Plenty think it sucks. The strong impression I get when reading why it sucks is that I'm reading an opinion that is from many, not just the person doing the typing.

Sure, there are some plot issues with the film, the primary one for me being why Cooper finds himself piloting the ship. But in a movie whose story is about inter-dimensional time travel through wormholes and blackholes I'm willing to give a fair bit of lee way. It takes little imagination to conjour up plausible ways the events can transpire the way they do, paradoxes be damned.

But I suppose ya'll would prefer if Nolan tacked on another 15 minutes to the run time for chunks of exposition explaining it all...

HarryPalmer 20 Nov 2014 16:30:21 6,357 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

There is no way to make that decision makes sense, on any level. It's representative of the film as a whole - because it doesn't work.

In a more light-hearted film, possibly - but not one so concerned with spelling every out and being so po-faced about it. Inception got away with it because the concept was interesting, it was better paced, and the actors were better.

I love Nolan, I really like all his films, but Interstellar is a mess, in my opinion, of course.

There is a consensus of opinion on both sides - just because I agree with the people who criticise it, doesn't mean I'm copying them. I went to see it on the opening weekend, and the criticisms I had then are unchanged now.

Jeepers 20 Nov 2014 16:38:54 16,616 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Khanivor wrote:
... But in the here and now, I think Interstellar is a phenomenal piece of film-making and one which angers the internet because of what it does. It turns sci-fi space movies away from worshiping technology and goes to a place many nerds aren't comfortable with, human emotion.

I don't think that's why people don't like it - more that it was logically inconsistent, often incoherent[1] and offered some of the most *dreadful* dialogue I've heard in a long, long time. And I'm looking at you, Sue Perkins.

[1] And it wasn't even incoherence from complexity - the plot had all the depth of an episode of Noddy. But less charm and fewer racial stereotypes.

Khanivor 20 Nov 2014 16:41:22 44,800 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 20 years ago

When I make note of people regurgitating the rants they've read on the internet I don't think everyone does it. More akin to attribute it to those who make lists and focus on the shit so trivial it's depressing.

Now, to open up a can, Gravity had some wonderful shots in it but on just about every other level was woeful. You can pick that shit apart with your eyes closed, just going by sense of smell

I just don't get criticisms that the film is unemotional and flat. To me, that's like saying The Raid is dull to watch. MccoonneyhHEY does indeed help carry this movie but I thought the supporting case were all fine and the direction was knowing and deft. It was obvious to me a family member had died in the Nolan's watching Caine's deathbed scene.

I'm genuinely curious as to what makes Interstellar a mess, outside of concerns about Cooper and NASA.

Jeepers 20 Nov 2014 16:48:11 16,616 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Gravity was fine, in much the same way that a roller coaster is fine. You don't get on the ride to uncover deep human truths, more to go "Whoah" when things start spinning wildly.

Khanivor wrote:
I'm genuinely curious as to what makes Interstellar a mess, outside of concerns about Cooper and NASA.

We can start with the dialogue?

Not-a-reviewer 20 Nov 2014 16:51:06 7,686 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 7 years ago

Comparing it to 2001 is silly, one was aimed at being arty and ignoring Hollywood, the other is very much within that machine.

Comparing interstellar with other modern blockbusters is probably a better measure of what it is otherwise you might as well start comparing things like Saw with The Shining.

Interstellar • Page 15