Interstellar

Every now and then a movie comes along of astounding proportions and epic pretentions. James Cameron did it with "Titanic" and the Academy went wild. So why did they overlook "Interstellar?" The ego behind it is every bit as vast.

Some pretty common themes of science fiction are explored on an uncommon scale in this story about a farmer Cooper (Mathew McConaughey) who receives messages from interplanetary beings. These send him to a secret group of astronauts (Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine). With their help Cooper travels through a wormhole in search of a planet to relocate humankind. As you can imagine, this heroic effort is painful on the family he leaves back on earth (Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow).

This three disc Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack comes with "The Science of 'Interstellar,'" a 50 minute-long extended cut of the documentary broadcast special. This informative piece may actually be more interesting than the film itself; it's certainly more informative.

There's also over 2 hours more bonus content detailing all aspects of the production. Christopher Nolan and the talented production team behind this film use far less CGI than would be expected in a film of this genre, and the results definitely show up on screen.

Acres of corn were grown in a part of the world where corn doesn't grow, and planetary surfaces were replicated in the most forbidding areas of Iceland, so that the camera crew could shoot actual objects rather than create them in the core of a computer processor.

The art direction is phenomenal, and the visual effects (which did receive an Academy Award) are astounding because they are largely filmed in camera.

As a tribute to the actual and tangible (as opposed to worlds of ones and zeros), this Blu-ray combo pack comes with a 70mm frame from an IMAX print of the film (for a limited time). It's an exciting collectable on a medium that will soon be a thing of the past.

"Interstellar"
Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack
Rated PG-13 / 168 min.
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