The eye-filling, brain-twisting science-fiction spectacle of the century so far. You might need to see this twice. The story of a small space crew in a doomed future who scout a new home for the human race on other planets in another galaxy isn’t convoluted, but it turns on a few physics class loop-de-loops that might throw you if you’re like me and you still have problems understanding how rainbows are made. What makes it great is that it’s enthralling even when you can’t always pass a pop quiz on what just happened. Director Christopher Nolan rides high here. He’s got a nine-figure budget and a vision that justifies every dollar. He’s one of those meticulous artists who enjoys every inch of the frame and every sound in the mix. Nolan lifts us into the far reaches of space gracefully—the intended 70mm IMAX presentation blows your head off—and down to Earth carefully. Meanwhile, composer Hans Zimmer hears the cosmos in church organs and yawning oscillations. The central theme of the film is why aren’t we interested in space like we used to be. It’s the biggest subject imaginable (and unimaginable). Real science fiction used to be edgy. It asked hard questions without apology. Literature is decades ahead of film when it comes to this. As a result, there’s nothing in Interstellar that isn’t covered in books and stories that date back to the 1950s (and even the 1930s; see Robert H. Wilson’s “Out Around Rigel” from 1931). Part of the power of Nolan’s work here is that it intelligently brings it to the movies with real gravity. It’s a beautiful film that might make you cry (as I did, when I first saw it) and might creep you out. Both are valid responses to the mysteries of the universe.
Also, most great science fiction is made by maniacs and Nolan goes wonderfully loony here in his insistence on making an analog science fiction film in the digital age. There’s not a single green screen effect here. Everything is practical. The robots are real, not CGI animations. None of the alien planets here are digital landscapes. Kubrick didn’t have CGI when he made 2001: A Space Odyssey, which still looks good today. Nolan wisely follows in those footsteps.