Interstellar 2 - My God, it's full of SPOILERS

[Corvinus85]

I just watched it a 2nd time. I really liked it, and this time I think I understand most of the stuff in the movie.

Does anyone have an idea what that dust is that hits Coop's Ranger when he goes in the black hole? My thought is that it's what Lander 1 became, and that TARS, much like Coop, was saved by the 5D beings, since it was needed to collect the "quantum data".

I still don't know what caused Mann's robot to explode. Did he program it to do so? And if so, he must have done it before going to sleep.

[Shryke]

I just watched it a 2nd time. I really liked it, and this time I think I understand most of the stuff in the movie.

Does anyone have an idea what that dust is that hits the Coop's Ranger when he goes in the black hole? My thought is that it's Lander 1 became, and that TARS, much like Coop, was saved by the 5D beings, since it was needed to collect the "quantum data".

I still don't know what caused Mann's robot to explode. Did he program it to do so? And if so, he must have done it before going to sleep.

Yes, he programmed it to explode. He rigged it as a trap for anyone who was trying to uncover his lies.

[Sixshells]

This is not even close to Star Trek levels of science. This is not really much more then what we could put together now levels of science, with a few tweaks like the escape-velocity-capable shuttle craft to make the story work.

I meant that a science idea like time dilation, more particularly caused by massive gravitation, is nothing new in science fiction. It has been done by several writers as well as tv shows, like Star Trek. It's not a groundbreaking concept. In consequence, it needed a better narrative motivation for going on the Gargantua planet than that it's just there and they got a signal from it (which they shouldn't be able to get). I admit that those scenes, as all those set after the wormhole and before the black hole, are awesome. But even as watched it it felt like needless trepidation. It's a basic Terk away mission, complete with the death of a Red Shirt, but with a flimsy excuse for its existence. It's not like they were out exploring space for the glory of it, or because they have encountered something they absolutely don't know: they know they will waste time and energy going to a planet they cannot possibly gather enough information on in time (in the best case scenario). Yet they go anyway and (surprise!) there was nothing there to be found, mainly because of the time dilation.

As for saying that it's not much more technology than we could put together today... that might be true for the most part (except the part where they have vastly superior escape-velocity capability), but again we are in the softest of sci-fi wonderland when it comes to the parts about going through the wormhole, and being pulled saved from the black hole by the deus ex machina.

In narrative terms, the way the movie handle science concepts and technology are quite conventional. What puts it ahead is the ooomph those conventional narrative devices are given, using the proper amount of money and movie-making techniques. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. But in this case the story, the world building, and even the narrative exploitation of the science concepts at the heart of the movie are sloppy and disappointing in the face of the awesome visual means deployed. In short, the movie looks and sounds astonishingly beautiful, but the story and the characters themselves are flat, as many people have noted. And there is too much use of idiot plots.

[Shryke]

I meant that a science idea like time dilation, more particularly caused by massive gravitation, is nothing new in science fiction. It has been done by several writers as well as tv shows, like Star Trek.

Has it? Star Trek has never touched the subject afaik. The last show I can think of that ever talked about it was Andromeda.

Time Dilation is one of the things most sci-fi (at least in movies and television) completely ignores.

The movie does the best job I've seen in movies or TV of covering the sheer power and horror of the concept.

But even as watched it it felt like needless trepidation. It's a basic Terk away mission, complete with the death of a Red Shirt, but with a flimsy excuse for its existence.

Oh fucking please. A Star Trek away mission has never come anywhere close to surprise and awe that sequence and it's there in the narrative for a ton of reasons.

In narrative terms, the way the movie handle science concepts and technology are quite conventional.

No, it really doesn't. There's very few movies or TV shows that come anywhere close to handling space travel and exploration in the way this one does. the time dilation, the time it takes to get anywhere, the grounding in mostly realistic space travel technology. This is anything but conventional.

[felice]

Yes, he programmed it to explode. He rigged it as a trap for anyone who was trying to uncover his lies.

I thought it would have made more sense if he'd actually gone crazy, and convinced himself that the planet really could support life; if he knows it isn't viable, there's no reason to keep up the pretence at all once rescue has arrived, let alone kill the very people he was so desperate to bring to the planet.

[Shryke]

I thought it would have made more sense if he'd actually gone crazy, and convinced himself that the planet really could support life; if he knows it isn't viable, there's no reason to keep up the pretence at all once rescue has arrived, let alone kill the very people he was so desperate to bring to the planet.

There is a reason to kill them for exactly the reason you see in the movie. If they are fucking with the robot it means they are questioning his story and that means they need to be eliminated so he can get off the planet and back to the main spacecraft. It's why he tries to kill Cooper.

[felice]

If they are fucking with the robot it means they are questioning his story and that means they need to be eliminated so he can get off the planet.

But at that point, his story is the only reason they haven't taken him off the planet already. They'd be pissed off if he admitted what he'd done, sure, but they're not going to maroon him for it, and he can hardly expect to keep up the deception long term.

[Shryke]

But at that point, his story is the only reason they haven't taken him off the planet already. They'd be pissed off if he admitted what he'd done, sure, but they're not going to maroon him for it, and he can hardly expect to keep up the deception long term.

Sure he can. Kill the people who come, start the colony telling them "They rescued me but all died in a terrible accident". You are now a hero.

Or return home and do the same.

[Corvinus85]

There is a reason to kill them for exactly the reason you see in the movie. If they are fucking with the robot it means they are questioning his story and that means they need to be eliminated so he can get off the planet and back to the main spacecraft. It's why he tries to kill Cooper.

But at that point, his story is the only reason they haven't taken him off the planet already. They'd be pissed off if he admitted what he'd done, sure, but they're not going to maroon him for it, and he can hardly expect to keep up the deception long term.

Sure he can. Kill the people who come, return home saying "They rescued me but all died in a terrible accident".

Not quite. Here's a rundown of things:

Mann wanted to be rescued, hence the false data transmission, but he also knew that going back to Earth was a death sentence, too. Unless he had instruments that allowed him to detect Edmund's signal, he could not have known that Edmund's was a viable solution for Plan B. But there were 11 other chances that a viable planet would be found, so he took a chance. When he was woken up, he definitely learned that Edmund's planet still offered a possibility for the implementation of Plan B. When Cooper announced he was intending to take the ship back to Earth, Mann knew he had to kill him right away. Of course, at that point, Cooper was basing his decision to go home on the false knowledge that Mann's planet was good. Mann never gave him the chance to decide whether to go back home or try to save the species and proceed to Edmund's planet. There was only fuel enough for one of the two potential trips.

But this still doesn't really explain why he rigged the robot to explode. For one, he would not have had the chance to rig it after he was woken up, there were too many eyes on him. So he would have had to do it before he went to sleep. But that suggests that he was simply unhinged, and everything I just said above become moot. He simply lost his mind.

There is also the possibility that the explosion was an accident, not premeditated. He overworked and destroyed the robot, which made its power source unstable, and when re-activated, it exploded.

[Veltigar]

Didn't he just rig the robot because anyone who checked it out would realize he was lying? If the persons who discovered that died, it would be easier for Mann to get back on the ship. With the explosion he creates room for himself on board of the ship and one hell of a distraction.

[Shryke]

Didn't he just rig the robot because anyone who checked it out would realize he was lying? If the persons who discovered that died, it would be easier for Mann to get back on the ship. With the explosion he creates room for himself on board of the ship and one hell of a distraction.

Yup.

He took the robot apart when it started to question his decisions and because it would be a witness to his lies and then rigged it to kill anyone trying to expose those lies.

He seems to have every intention of killing the whole crew and moving on with the ship to another available planet to start the colony.

[Steelborn]

I just watched this movie and it's definitely one of the best of last year. Some people told me it was even better than 2001: a space odyssey, but frankly, nothing can beat 2001.

But leaving it alone, it was still a great experience. I didn't like the way they handled the ending, only.

[lojzelote]

I finally saw this last night. My ears are still recovering. So LOUD.

I actually liked the plot and dialogue. Even the part at the end. I'm a sucker for reunion-on-deathbed scenes, I guess, because me and the random woman sitting next to me started crying at the same time.

It wasn't the dealbreaker for me, but I thought it was funny how Murphy's children and grandchildren didn't spare a glance for their young greatgrandpa, who, as their (grand)mother has always claimed, helped her to save humanity. Perhaps they were all angry that they had been sentenced to the life in space cages instead of oblivious non-existence, heh.

[Mithras]

I could not resist more and watched the movie recently.

 

Compared to scientific travesties like Star Wars, Insterstellar took certain things correctly.

 

In Star Wars universe, when a spaceship flies by in the space, you hear its roar. When that same spaceship explodes in the space, again you hear the explosion.

 

In real universe, there is no medium in the space to transmit sound waves. So, you do not hear anything in the space. Interstellar understood that correctly as we have few POVs from space where you hear no sound.

 

In Star Wars universe, in a spaceship or on a random planet, characters move exactly the same way as they move on the surface of the Earth where we have constant, vertical 1g gravitational acceleration.

 

In real universe, there is no gravity in a spaceship travelling at space. In order to have a feeling of gravity, making use of rotation is a very old concept. However, the gravitational acceleration in that case is always towards the axis of rotation. It never becomes vertical to the ground as it is on the surface of the earth because the spaceship is not as big as the earth. That is why the direction of gravitational acceleration will change when you stand in the middle of a room or by the window.

 

I liked the way Interstellar included the gravitational acceleration on the surface among the parameters of a habitable planet. However, there are some important concepts ignored in the movie.

 

First of all, atmospheric pressure is a very strong indication of a habitable planet. We basically live at the bottom of an ocean of air just like fishes living at the bottom of the ocean of water. The only difference between us and the fishes is that their atmospheric pressure is much higher than ours. You all know how it is very hard to move under the water like you move on the surface of the Earth. So, it would be extremely difficult to move on the surface of a planet with extreme atmospheric pressure. For example, the atmospheric pressure of Venus is nearly 100 times higher than Earth. On the surface of Venus, it would be an extremely hard (if impossible) task to lift your arm and touch your nose (at least as fast as you do it on the surface of the Earth).

 

Another important concept left out in the movie is the radiation in space. The space is full of radiation in many wavelengths to which our defense is Earth’s magnetic field. This shield deflects away most of the harmful radiation and some of that radiation is accelerated towards the magnetic poles of the Earth. As those high energy particles move towards the poles, their energy is dissipated in Aurorae.

 

Without a magnetic shield, the atmosphere of Earth would be lost to space due to the colliding high energy particles coming from the space, something happened to Mars long time ago. So, the life on Earth would not survive long if we lose our magnetic shield. If there was never a magnetic shield, the life on Earth would not even get started. In fact, until the formation of Ozone Layer, the UV radiation reaching the surface of the Earth (which is not affected by the magnetic field) would not allow the life as we know to exist. The only life would be under a safe distance from the surface of the oceans where UV radiation is filtered by the mass of water above.

 

Both in the space and on the surface of the planets, no consideration was done regarding radiation in the movie.

 

I also guess that it would not be a bright idea to build a colony on a planet near universe’s strongest attractors (i.e. Black Holes).

[polishgenius]

It seems a bit odd that you're railing about the scientific accuracy of something that openly aims to be a fairytale.

[felice]

It seems a bit odd that you're railing about the scientific accuracy of something that openly aims to be a fairytale.

 

It's an odd mix of fairytale and far greater attempted realism than most space movies.

[polishgenius]

 

It's an odd mix of fairytale and far greater attempted realism than most space movies.

 

 

I meant Star Wars.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

I meant Star Wars.

Na uh! Star Wars has a princess and a wizard, knights, magic and sword fights and shit!
Dunno what kind of fairy tales you read when you were younger.

[HexMachina]

Yeah, we all watch Star Wars for its realistic portrayal of Space Travel and so on :p

[Relic]

I could not resist more and watched the movie recently.
 
Compared to scientific travesties like Star Wars, Insterstellar took certain things correctly.
 
In Star Wars universe, when a spaceship flies by in the space, you hear its roar. When that same spaceship explodes in the space, again you hear the explosion.
 
In real universe, there is no medium in the space to transmit sound waves. So, you do not hear anything in the space. Interstellar understood that correctly as we have few POVs from space where you hear no sound.
 

 

I call bullshit. first of all you have never been to space, so how do you know? second of all God created space and God created sound, so why would they be mutually exclusive? third of all its star wars, silly. lighten up.