Epic, Immense, Passionate, Gripping

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 2014)

Ignore the reviews by people confused by science fiction ~ this is an epic film in every sense. Despite the mindblowing physics on show (courtesy of science consultant Kip Thorne, no less), Nolan never forgets to ground the spectacle in human, emotional terms.
It is wonderful to go to the cinema and to see a pure, hard SF film where only a few tweaks have been made for the sake of drama. Like Kubrick, Nolan knows that no space opera histrionics can compare with the true terrible and awesome beauty of the raw universe. Like Gravity, this makes the viewer into an explorer.
Couple that with brilliant performances all round and at least one scene that made me cry and you have that rarest creature: a hard SF film that also knows how to play emotion. I love that Thorne was also science consultant on Contact, which starred a young McConaughey. This time round, he's the explorer.
A tour de force from a brilliant, powerful director.