Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Bill Irwin, Mackenzie Foy
Director: Christopher Nolan
Number of discs: 3
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: March 31, 2015
Run Time: 109 minutes
Film: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4 out of stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars
When I first heard news for “Interstellar”, I pegged it as being one of my favorite films of the year. Boy, was I wrong. I don’t think I was so disappointed from a film this year as I was with “Interstellar”. The first half of this film had me really intrigued wondering what was going to happen next…and wondering and then wonderful what the hell I was watching as it took a giant nose dive during the second half. Missed opportunities is what ruined this film for me. The visuals were definitely impressive but the story was way too convoluted for me and it never came together for me in the end. Christopher Nolan tried a little too hard on this one and should focus less on making a confusing/ridiculous story and focus more on making an interesting and convincing story for his next film.
Official Premise: With time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history: traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars. From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight” films, “Inception”), “Interstellar” stars Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”), Anne Hathaway (“Les Miserables”), Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Bill Irwin (“Rachel Getting Married”), Ellen Burstyn (“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”), and Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”). Also includes Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy and Topher Grace.
Paramount is releasing this film as a combo pack with a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD copy. This Blu-ray Combo Pack will also include an authentic film cell from an original 70MM IMAX print of the film. Even though, the film was “blah” at best, the 1080p transfer was very impressive. It features a blend of widescreen at 2.39:1 and an IMAX Blu-ray full-frame 1.78:1 throughout the film. The cuts are seamless and flow well to benefit the film. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is certainly a strong track but lacks the full 7.1 experience that most epic big films are getting today on Blu-ray. I am surprised that Paramount didn’t step up a bit with this track.
The special features are definitely weighty but lack any commentary options. First up, is a meaty feature called “The Science of Interstellar”, which runs about an hour in length. It reaches out to scientists talking about the truth behind some of the themes in the film and is narrated by Matthew McConaughey. There is some interested discussion points here for sure. I did like the science in the film, except for the third act when it just got plain weird. Next there is a 14 part feature called “Inside Interstellar”. It breaks down pretty much the entire film piece by piece. Here are the including segments: “Plotting an Interstellar Journey”, which talks about the origin of the film. “Life on Cooper’s Farm” discusses the farm shooting locations.
Some of the other featurettes include “The Cosmic Sounds of Interstellar”, which looks into the sound design. “The Simulation of Zero-G” is a featurette that interested me dealing with the absence of gravity in the film. Also other featurettes included are “The Space Suits”, “The Endurance”, “Shooting in Iceland: Miller’s Planet/Mann’s Planet”, “The Ranger and the Lander”, “Miniatures in Space”, “Celestial Landmarks” and “Across All Dimensions and Time”. Lastly there are some trailers/teasers included as well.