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NFT: Interstellar (again). Spoilers alert

Spock : 11/28/2014 9:07 am
I know you guys have already discussed this, but you can't pull this out of archives, and I just saw this and need to get this off my chest.

First off let me give this movie a 8 out of 10. It was not perfect. I will only discuss my questions or complaints:

1. My biggest complaint was the Matt Damon scene. Nothing against Matt Damon, but the whole wrestling match in space suits was kind of comical. I'm not sure why Damon had to kill everyone in the first place to accomplish whatever he wanted- return to Earth or Edmunds planet?

2. Here is my number one question after watching this: Who built the tesseract that enabled Coop to communicate with his daughter? My neighbor says they were future humans. Really! How could that be? They would not have survived to be able to do that. The planet was heading toward extinction. I would like to think this was supernatural, where some Divine being is looking out for the human race. Any thoughts?

3. The ending where Coop is reunited with daughter seemed comical too. No drama here at all, in fact daughter didn't even want to see him. This could have been better In my opinion.

4. Too much time spent in the beginning with Coop and Murph before he found NASA.

Otherwise, I loved it.
I agree w/ your points 1, 3 & 4  
Bockman : 11/28/2014 9:19 am : link
For future humans, there's a few great explanations I found on Reddit -

In 5th dimension, time is a constant. For us there might be a past or a future, but time is as physical as a wall or a the floor. We just can't control it, but it's a constant. It simply exists. So, at the time you're reading this, somethin in "our future" is also happening right now. We just didn't reach it yet, but it's happening. "Whatever can happen, will happen" (because it's already happening).

So, in the film, there is no past Cooper or present Cooper or future Cooper. It's just Cooper messing with spacetime (our 4th dimension). It's not a matter of "when he does it". He simply does it. And it affects the past (in our perspective) even though for the 5D beings on the film, everything's happening at the same time. No past or future.

.  
Bockman : 11/28/2014 9:19 am : link
Think of time as occurring all at once, every instance in the past and future simultaneously, instead of one after the other... The Cooper in the future is sending messages at the same moment that Cooper in the past is discovering those messages. They're just located at different points in the chronology.
Also  
Bockman : 11/28/2014 9:28 am : link
Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining it (rather well, IMO)


youztooobz - ( New Window )
Thanks Bockman  
Spock : 11/28/2014 10:18 am : link
That video was great. Yes, I can see that once Coop entered into the Black Hole in that tesseract, time was unlimited and that the past and future were at his disposal. Of course this is not possible for humans living in our flesh of today, so somehow, "they" helped him to transcend these limitations humans experience in the flesh today. I would like to believe the "they" who helped him are Divine Helpers since my mindset favors these kind of interpretations. That's all.
just a few points  
PetesHereNow : 11/28/2014 10:38 am : link
1- Damon's character lost all sense of rationality. I think that was the point of him going nuts, faking his data, getting a rescue crew out there, and then in his mind, he kills everyone. You've got to remember that the three scientists who went up to these various planets were engaged in almost a suicide mission. I guess it sounds all good and noble when you're safe on Earth, but when you're on this frigid planet, I guess you'll do anything to get off it. You're right though. He wouldn't have had time to get back to Earth anyway. 30+ Earth years had passed already and 30+ more would have passed trying to get back. Maybe, his idea was to get to Edmonds' planet to see if there was any chance at life there. If he kills everyone, he can just say, "well, everyone died, and I somehow found my way here, I discovered it!" Not that rational, either, I know.

2 - I thought it was pretty well confirmed by Coop in the bookcase thing that it was future humans who built the tesseract to save humanity. See link below for a far better explanation than I could give. My problem is you're betting a whole lot on the communication between the father and daughter. What if Coop couldn't get Murph to look at the watch and decode the Morse? Humanity's over, I guess. I just think our future descendants wouldn't leave much to chance.

3 - She only didn't want to see him because she thought he just left the planet and left her and her brother to all die alone. Once she figured out he was trying to save them all, she forgave him. That was the point of her hugging the brother and saying, "Dad's coming, he's going to help us."

4 - Yeah, I agree, a little tedious, but I guess it makes you care about the characters more if you flesh out the father-daughter relationship.

Great movie, wish the other thread was still active as I just saw it this past week and would love other viewpoints on it.
Link - ( New Window )
I  
jtfuoco : 11/28/2014 10:38 am : link
Totally agree with your first point if he lied to get picked up well just say his calculations were wrong and go with them to the next location. My other complaint is why if the future humans builds the worm hole why build it all the way by Jupiter why not a lot closer?
there's another question  
PetesHereNow : 11/28/2014 10:41 am : link
wtf happened to Edmonds? In the movie, Anne Hathaway's character lands on his planet, touches his little spacesuit and stuff, and presumably sets up the colony so that humanity will live on.

Got it, but where's fricking Edmonds? Then, old lady Murph tells Coop to go to Edmonds' planet to be with her. Well if Edmonds is still alive, wouldn't he have a problem with that since they were allegedly in love?
Question  
Spock : 11/28/2014 10:41 am : link
How much better do you think watching this in 70mm IMAX C's. Normal theatre experience?
Edmunds  
Spock : 11/28/2014 10:42 am : link
I think Brand was burying him when we see her on the planet.
RE: Edmunds  
PetesHereNow : 11/28/2014 10:45 am : link
In comment 12004446 Spock said:
Quote:
I think Brand was burying him when we see her on the planet.


if he's dead which I assume he is, how'd he die? If he's dead, how's he sending out the "ok" signal? Is it just a repeat of the first water planet where we kept getting the same signal?
Yeah  
illmatic : 11/28/2014 10:45 am : link
Edmunds was dead by the time Cooper left for that planet. But I don't think they ever explained how or when he died. I'm assuming time kept passing for Edmunds while it went slower for her, so he was likely either old or dead when she got there. Since she still looked the same. That's just my guess though. If it's not that then I have no idea.
The big theory on the future humans is they are  
ligmen : 11/28/2014 10:50 am : link
The embryos doctor brand brought with Her on the mission. So it is a paradox the embryos need to create the worm hole and humanity needs to survive for them to exist as well.
70 mm imax enhanced the experience big time  
ligmen : 11/28/2014 10:51 am : link
He shot the movie on 70 mm film and 90 mins of imax cam footage
Don't forget  
Spock : 11/28/2014 10:51 am : link
It was 60-90 yrs later earth time before he went up there a second time.
RE: 70 mm imax enhanced the experience big time  
Spock : 11/28/2014 10:52 am : link
In comment 12004475 ligmen said:
Quote:
He shot the movie on 70 mm film and 90 mins of imax cam footage


Thank you. This is the confirmation I needed. I will go back tonight.
The full Interstellar timeline  
armsteadeatslittlekids : 11/28/2014 10:58 am : link
.
Link - ( New Window )
My thoughts on it  
giantsfaninphilly : 11/28/2014 11:35 am : link
I had a really tough time with the Tesseract. I walked out at the end of thinking it was kind of a mess.

1) The Tesseract was only meaningful to Coop's life. This means that only Coop could have set up the chain of events to tie the plotline together.

2) The dependence on Coop in the beginning of the movie to interpret his Binary coordinates of NASA and for Murph to return to her old room and recognize morse code on the watch was dicey at best. Mechanical watches can't work that way.

3) considering what we theorize about Black Holes, Coop should have been destroyed trying to enter one.

I guess I expected something less esoteric. Anne Hathaway is always nice to look at though.

The Tesseract  
armsteadeatslittlekids : 11/28/2014 12:33 pm : link
The fact that it was set up by beings removed from time means that they would know the plan works immediately. I didn't have a problem with it being a big bookshelf specific to Coop and Murph's experiences. In the movie Coop comes to the realization that it was all designed to help Murph save civilization, not Coop (IIRC).

Now from our perspective, how did the future humans become so advanced the first time around without the wormhole to save humanity? Still trying to wrap my head around that one.
Simpleton's review:  
mrvax : 11/28/2014 12:42 pm : link
The movie was enjoyable to me but about an hour too long.
Giantsfaninphilly  
Spock : 11/28/2014 12:43 pm : link
I'm not so sure Coop set up the Tesseract just because it pertained to him. I got no indication from the movie that was so.

In fact, it makes more sense to me that "they" helped him reach that point. After all, that was an underlying theme-who the "they" are? I think Nolan left that up for the individual to decide. Some think God, some think future humans, some think aliens with great intelligence, you think Coop.
I guess it isnt so much  
giantsfaninphilly : 11/28/2014 12:54 pm : link
that there's an explanation for how the conclusion made sense; I didn't pick up on it at the time and the only way I could have realized how it all worked is through discussion. I guess I wasn't in the zone throughout the movie and wasn't concentrating on all the details.

The second time I watch it I'll be able to appreciate it more. I hated the second Kill Bill the first time I saw it; the second time I loved it.
I'm going tonight  
Spock : 11/28/2014 1:43 pm : link
Just watched it tuesday. I've never done this before, back in 3 days.
RE: I'm going tonight  
Giantology : 11/28/2014 1:59 pm : link
In comment 12004725 Spock said:
Quote:
Just watched it tuesday. I've never done this before, back in 3 days.


Not bad for an 8/10 movie that isn't perfect!

I saw the movie opening weekend and it hasn't left my mind since. Need to go for a second viewing myself
RE: RE: I'm going tonight  
Spock : 11/28/2014 2:19 pm : link
In comment 12004741 Giantology said:
Quote:
In comment 12004725 Spock said:


Quote:


Just watched it tuesday. I've never done this before, back in 3 days.





Not bad for an 8/10 movie that isn't perfect!

I saw the movie opening weekend and it hasn't left my mind since. Need to go for a second viewing myself


8 is pretty good. It was sooooo cold in the theatre, I was not focused, plus it was not IMAX 70mm. I hear this makes quite a difference.
Saw in 70mm which is must see  
UConn4523 : 11/28/2014 2:42 pm : link
the expanded view swallows you up into space. That isn't an exaggeration either, it was an incredible experience.
RE: Saw in 70mm which is must see  
Spock : 11/28/2014 5:47 pm : link
In comment 12004821 UConn4523 said:
Quote:
the expanded view swallows you up into space. That isn't an exaggeration either, it was an incredible experience.


Awesome UConn. My wife just informed me we are not going tonight to the mall- BLACK FRIDAY! She said lets put this off a bit, maybe Sunday. I suppose I can replace the exciting Giants- Jax game with this. Lol
I'd definitely do that  
UConn4523 : 11/28/2014 6:16 pm : link
I may try and go again over the weekend as well but will only see it 70mm.
One question I have is  
Dr Pepper : 11/28/2014 6:47 pm : link
Did Anne Hathaways character know it was Coop she had the cosmic handshake with?

I know it's not very relevant in the long run to the story. Just curious if you could interact that way why they needed morse code. Seems there should of been a more reliable and efficient way other then the watch.
Just watched it again as promised  
Spock : 11/30/2014 5:05 pm : link
This time it was at IMAX 70mm and yes, it did make quite a difference. My wife and I were also prepared for a cold theatre so that wasn't going to deter us either. Ok, here are my second thoughts after seeing it a second time:
1. The Matt Damon scene no longer bothers me. Mann showed his humanity by not wanting to die so he falsified everything to get his butt out of there. I can live with that.

2. The "abrupt" ending with Murph no longer was abrupt. It now makes sense how it was handled and in fact, I respect Nolan for not dragging it out appealing to our emotions.

3. The movie was not too long as I previously thought. I was okay with the 45 minutes before liftoff backdrop.

4. The only problem I now have is the explanation Coop gave to Tars as to who built the tesseract. How does he know why "they" are? I'm not aware of him receiving any revelation regarding this. If Nolan purposely wanted the answer to be "future man" then I think he created a plot hole because how did future man do that when clearly planet earth was on its last breath. Who from earth was able to do that? When did they do it?
Besides, it seems to me he should have left it open to ones interpretation- God, aliens, Angels, future man, whatever.

So, my score is no longer 8 of 10. I give it a 9.5.
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