Love Is Greater Than Time And Space In These Interstellar TV Spots

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

A week from today, we’ll all be watching Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Just in case you forgot that it was happening, which you probably couldn’t do even if you tried (massive head trauma excluded), as this film is everywhere right now, Paramount Pictures released a trio of new TV spots for your perusal.

Stitched together in this single, handy-dandy, one-stop-shopping video, these spots are peppered with tidbits of new footage. There are some explosions and high-flying space adventure bits to tickle your more adrenaline-fueled side, as well as some pieces designed to play up the smaller scale drama, individual stories, and family plot lines that run throughout what is purportedly Nolan’s most personal film to date. Fair or not, the Dark Knight director is often criticized for making cold, detached, objective films.

The evolution of the critical response to Interstellar has been interesting to watch. A few of the bigger film critics, as well as some industry types, saw the film first, and the response was almost universally glowing (Edgar Wright was one who adored the film). Last week, embargoes for a larger selection of press were up, and the result was something entirely different. While there are still those singing the films praises, many reviews were wildly mediocre, including some downright negative ones that totally trashed the film. A great number disparaged what has been call the sappy, Hallmark sentimentality, and that “Love is the one thing that transcends time and space” line from one of these new TV ads gets pointed at rather often.

If anything, this makes us even more curious to see Interstellar. In situations like this, you always have to wonder if it’s a critical backlash to absurd levels of praise early on. Recently you saw a similar thing happen with Birdman, though not quite to this degree. Regardless of what anyone says, we’re still damn excited for this movie, and no one can dampen that.

Set in a near future, Interstellar shows a world where no one believes in the Moon Landing and where global climate changed has rendered Earth uninhabitable. In order to ensure our continued survival as a species, a group of explorers, including Matthew McConaughey (that’s who we’d send) and Anne Hathaway, embark on a journey through a newly formed wormhole, looking for a new place to call home. Travelling as they are, time passes differently for the astronauts, and moves much faster back home. Even if they do succeed, it may be too late by the time they return. That’s a big issue for Cooper (McConaughey), because he has two kids, one of whom grows up to be Jessica Chastain, and he’s apparently very sad about that.

Interstellar opens in select theaters November 5, everywhere November 7, and you can even win a chance to go to space.