‘Interstellar’ is a sweeping, audacious effort by a filmmaker whose reach inevitably exceeds his grasp. But how can you not applaud its sheer sense of scale, drama, and fearlessness? Now forget everything you’ve read and heard and go experience it for yourself!

Interstellar is an incredible ride, a film that will scare and stupefy and drop jaws and make us weep, the kind of film that makes our hearts thump against our ribs for forty straight-minutes and makes us believe in the glory of the movies…

THE height of dramatic tension in ‘Interstellar’ involves two spaceships competing to dock onto the same space station. That’s how cerebral Christopher Nolan’s latest film is. That’s after he has taken a swirl through a twister of a wormhole, but before he rolls into the unfathomed depths of a blackhole. And while other filmmakers would be content imagining just one other world, he gives us three — with own skies, gravity, surfaces, and climates.

Despite the complaints, this is one intergalactic trip the audience needs to take. It may not match up to those touchstones of sci-fi cinema – Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey but it finds its place in pantheon of films which dare to dream.

The movie has some superb visual effects, making it a must-watch on an IMAX screen. It won’t blow you away like Gravity but it’ll certainly make you feel like a part of the intergalactic adventure. With Hans Zimmer’s background score giving it the typical grandiose that he’s known for, the film takes you on a ride through the vast, infinite space making you face the unknown. Somewhere in that journey is also one of a father and daughter who go on a ride at different times and face a hitherto unknown part of their lives. The project is ambitious and Nolan gives it his all. He reached for the stars and in a long, slowly paced way got as close to it as possible cinematically.

The terminologies and mathematical formulae might confound some, but you will nonetheless be dazzled. Subtexts abound: the individual vs. the good of mankind, love’s overarching influence over time and space and so on.

Nicely done, Nolan, but maybe I was expecting more… But one thing is for sure, fans of his work are gonna love it. The rest of us, vaguely familiar with his other works, might not find it as accessible. Maybe because its nowhere near as cheesy as an Independence Day? Or maybe because it will come to mean different things to different people. But whatever you think about it, just “don’t go gentle into that good night”.

This film is likely to down in history as one of the best science fiction films ever made along with the likes of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is hard to ignore the influence of that Kubrick classic in terms of scale and opulence. It is a one of its kind experience at the cinema theatres. And on a side note, remember what Dylan Thomas said about not going gently into the good night.

Despite all its thrills and brain teasing, Interstellar doesn’t seem as exceptional as it tries to be. Last year, Gravity showed us what filmmaking craft can do to a simple tale of survival. Nolan’s film is no less in its ambitious execution. But it never quite manages to deal that final blow. It’s audacious, it’s intriguing but it’s also very convenient. Much like theoretical physics, it rationalizes it’s subject to the point where it seems like it’s real. Perhaps it takes its own assumptions a bit too seriously.

Regardless of its faults Interstellar offers enough big screen thrills and even has a few interesting questions to ponder over. Is it humane to abandon everyone on this planet to continue life on another? How morally sound are you to sermonize about not abandoning people if you are perfectly okay with abandoning a humanoid to save your own self? And how much would you pay to keep the magic and market of 2D IMAX alive?

It’s a human drama, it’s an end-of-the-world thriller, it’s a spacetime odyssey, it’s a big-budget action spectacle, and by the end, it’s also a mind-bender. The only thing it’s not is Memento, by far my favorite Nolan film. But considering the bar that the latter film set, that’s not something that I could hold against Interstellar, and neither should you. So, clear 3 hours from your schedule this weekend and be prepared to get your mind blown.

With a 169-minute run time, the film drags in parts, but never fails to intrigue.

Interstellar gives space travel a whole new dimension. But even with all the scientific jargon, the film bears a lot of soul. The love that connects a father and his daughter transcends time, and eventually, the space. This is a beautifully shot film from an ace director that succinctly captures what inter-galactic travel would feel like. Its only flaws, as pointed out, are weak acting and a lived-in storyline. But you will definitely leave the theatre with your mind blown and a desire to watch it once again. If you do, make sure you get the IMAX experience.

There’s plenty in Interstellar for a geek and much for the passionate movie-goer willing to surrender to a space opera, a magnificent cauldron in which time, love, mortality, parenthood and astrophysics bubble and elegantly spill over.

Some of humanity’s greatest achievements have been finding the answers to questions that confounded generations, and these answers came as a reward after many moons of toil. Patience, it seems, is always rewarding. Interstellaris quite like that. As it twists around time, space and everything in between, it rewards you for patience, attention and curiosity. It also serves a measure of these for each individual, because like all of cinema, Interstellar isn’t for everyone.

The movie’s multilayered narrative makes a second viewing essential for serious viewers. While it would be a bit early to call it Nolan’s best film till date, Interstellar is certainly a worthy addition to his decorated body of work. A must watch!