Released in 2014, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar ranks as one of the greatest contemporary science fiction films. In my 2015 release of the Blu-ray, I wrote that seeing it “at home on a television will not have the same effect as seeing it in the sprawling space of a darkened theater.” While that statement still has some validity, the 2017 release of the film on 4K UHD, and the continuing proliferation of bigger televisions in homes makes it less necessary.
The film opens on an unspecified date in America’s farm belt. Faced with overpopulation, Earth has fallen victim to a famine. Disease is killing crops and creating massive dust storms. With nitrogen on the rise in the atmosphere, eventually, total asphyxiation is unavoidable and life on Earth, impossible. Former NASA engineer and test pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) now farms vast acres of corn with family: son Tom, daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy), and father-in-law Donald (John Lithgow). Still deeply interested in elements of the career that the New World Order forced him to leave behind, Cooper finds himself drawn to a fenced off area, obviously a top-secret location. Cooper finds himself confronted by what remains of his former employer: a kind of underground think-tank, tasked with saving humanity. Led by Professor Brand (Michael Caine,), NASA has come up with two plans of action. The first involves building a huge space vehicle to transport as many people as possible to outer space. The second would use frozen embryos to colonize a distant world. There are problems with the first plan—primarily overcoming gravity to launch the massive vehicle—but Cooper believes he can Dr. Brand and his daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) have discovered a wormhole near Saturn.
Understanding this is a potential path to survival, Cooper makes the gut-wrenching decision to leave his family behind and pilot a mission in search of another inhabitable planet. Unfortunately, Cooper has no idea how long he’ll be gone and the weight of leaving his family versus the hope for future generations is a heavy one; overcome the issues and save his family and others currently living on Earth.
Interstellar is a film that demands the viewer’s full attention. At 169 minutes, it’s long, but not a minute felt wasted. Anchored by an incredible cast that includes not only Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway, but also Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Topher Grace, and Matt Damon. It’s fascinating to watch this high-level talent handle the dialogue heavy film. Even so, the payoff is some of the most stunning and surreal visual effects seen on film today. The sound too, is crucial to the experience. At times, the sound is appropriately loud and scorching. However, similarly to Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, some of the most effective moments in space occur when there’s no sound at all. Compared to the sequences when Hans Zimmer’s score literally assaults the senses, Interstellar keeps the viewer invested.
Matthew McConaughey continues to show why he’s one of the best actors working in Hollywood today. McConaughey’s performance is emotionally taxing, but he makes it look easy. The scene that takes place after the visit to the water planet where they lose so much valuable time is proof of his tremendous ability.
While the transfer is the same one released on 4K in 2017, Interstellar still looks phenomenal, allowing every detail to stand out. The aspect ratio varies between 2.39:1 and 1.78:1. I just couldn’t get over how good the color is on this release, and I don’t think I’ve seen blacks that deep. The level of detail is so fine, you can see the tiny rivets on the spacecraft, and individual grains of dust on the Cooper farm. While the Blu-ray offers a fine transfer, the clarity of the image offered up in 4K is on a whole different level, leading to greater feeling of immersion. Interstellar is a visual masterpiece in 4K.
From an audio standpoint, the 4K disc includes the exact same English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track found on the previous 4K release. It’s rich, detailed, and immersive. The track offers stunning balance, with crisp dialogue and the heart stopping thump of Hans Zimmer’s score. While the music is overwhelming at times, this is intentional, and Paramount is to be commended for creating a truly immersive audio experience.
English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are included.
The 10th Anniversary Edition of Interstellar comes in a rectangular box that houses the 3 discs, along with a booklet of storyboards, 4 posters, a note from Christopher Nolan, and a set of patches that match those on the space suits seen in the film.
While there are no extras on the 4K disc, all the extras from the original Blu-ray release have been included on the second Blu-ray in this package with optional English, French, and Spanish subtitle options. All the legacy extras available with the 2017 release are included. Information about those can be found on an earlier review of the 4K.
There is one new extra included, The Future Is Now: A Look Back at Interstellar (HD, 23:16) features Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Jonathan Nolan, among others discussing the film from a current day perspective. While the additions to this Limited Edition are minimal, it could be the perfect holiday gift for superfans of the film and/or Christopher Nolan!
