History Trivia / Interstellar

** [[spoiler:Creator/MattDamon typically plays heroic characters. Here, he plays a cowardly antagonist who wants to leave Cooper and his friends to death]]. Examined [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Why-Interstellar-Secret-List-Cameo-Worth-Celebrating-68127.html here]] in this article (spoilers herein).

** Several familiar faces show up again, such as Creator/MichaelCaine and Music/HansZimmer. One notable absentee is cinematographer Wally Pfister (who was busy with his own film ''Film/{{Transcendence}}'' with Creator/JohnnyDepp) who had shot every one of Nolan's films since ''Film/{{Following}}''.
** Creator/AnneHathaway, Josh Stewart, Creator/MichaelCaine, and William Devane all return to work with Nolan here after first collaborating with him on his previous feature (''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'').

* DoingItForTheArt:
** Despite many studios pushing for digital cinematography, Creator/ChristopherNolan's preference for film stock still prevailed. ''Interstellar'' could very well be the last [=IMAX=] film projected on 70mm prints, due to the rapid conversion to digital the company has been going through; indeed, as [=IMAX=] is rolling out its new laser digital projectors, which can project films at a higher resolution than the older "LIEMAX" (as detractors have been known to call them) digital projectors (and with the additional advantage of otherwise behaving more like a 15/70 projector, complete with the original IMAX aspect ratio, in terms of giving viewers the IMAX experience), after this the distinction will no longer be between IMAX and "LIEMAX", but between traditional digital IMAX and miniature digital IMAX.
** A subversion came from the cornfield. Christopher Nolan grew 500 acres of corn for the scenes they'd be required for. Then when they were done with it, the corn was sold and actually made a profit.

* NamesTheSame: Like Matthew [=McConaughey=]'s character, one of the two protagonists in the sports comedy ''Film/{{BASEketball}}'' is also named Joe Cooper, played by ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' co-creator [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Trey Parker]].

* NamesTheSame: Like Matthew [=McConaughey=]'s character, one of the two protagonists in the sports comedy ''Film/{{BASEketball}}'' is also named Joe Cooper, played ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' co-creator [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Trey Parker]].

* ActorAllusion:
** Creator/JohnLithgow says "I want a hot dog" exactly the same way that Roy Scheider said it to him in ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact''.
** This is not the first time Creator/AnneHathaway has played a character named [[Film/ThePrincessDiaries Amelia]].
** This wasn't the first time Creator/MattDamon played a [[Film/TheDeparted cowardly traitor]] [[Film/TheTalentedMrRipley interested in staying alive]].
** Blink and you'll miss it, but [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001137/?ref_=tt_cl_t13 William Devane]] is once again involved with [[Series/StargateSG1 a hush-hush government organization based under Cheyenne Mountain that secretly sends people to other solar systems, much farther than most people think possible, through use of an alien-made stable wormhole they don't fully understand, in hopes of saving humanity from an existential threat also kept hidden from the public.]]
** Director allusion - Amelia says to Cooper "try to breathe as little as possible" - a line that was said by Cutter to Olivia in Christopher Nolan's ''Film/ThePrestige''.

** Timothee Chalamet was eighteen playing Tom at fifteen.

* FakeAmerican: David Gyasi and David Oyelowo are British.

** Also [[spoiler:Creator/MichaelCaine. In all the many Nolan movies he appeared in before he was always completely reliable and trustworthy, which makes it completely unexpected that he deceived everyone the whole time (though it was still for what he saw as a good cause, though in a ColdEquations sort of way).]]

** Also [[spoiler:Creator/MichaelCaine. In all the many Nolan movies he appeared in before he was always completely reliable and trustworthy, which makes it completely unexpected that he deceived everyone the whole time.]]

* AllStarCast: Creator/MatthewMcConaughey, Creator/AnneHathaway, Creator/JessicaChastain, Ellen Burstyn, Creator/MichaelCaine, Topher Grace, Creator/CaseyAffleck, Creator/MattDamon, Creator/JohnLithgow, David Gyasi and Wes Bentley.

** Several familiar faces show up again, such as Creator/MichaelCaine and Creator/HansZimmer. One notable absentee is cinematographer Wally Pfister (who was busy with his own film ''Film/{{Transcendence}}'' with Creator/JohnnyDepp) who had shot every one of Nolan's films since ''Film/{{Following}}''.

* StockFootage: The pre-recorded interviews with the old folks, who talked about the harsh farming conditions of their time, were actually from KenBurns' documentary ''The Dust Bowl''.

** This wasn't the first time Creator/MattDamon played a [[Film/TheDeparted cowardly traitor interested in staying alive]].

** Cooper is said to be around thirty-five. Matthew [=McConaughey=] was a full ten years older.
** Murph is ten years old at the start of the film, and Mackenzie Foy was twelve when she filmed her scenes. Jessica Chastain however was the same age as her character for scenes where Murph is older.

** Despite many studios pushing for digital cinematography, Christopher Nolan's preference for film stock still prevailed. ''Interstellar'' could very well be the last [=IMAX=] film projected on 70mm prints, due to the rapid conversion to digital the company has been going through; indeed, as [=IMAX=] is rolling out its new laser digital projectors, which can project films at a higher resolution than the older "LIEMAX" (as detractors have been known to call them) digital projectors (and with the additional advantage of otherwise behaving more like a 15/70 projector, complete with the original IMAX aspect ratio, in terms of giving viewers the IMAX experience), after this the distinction will no longer be between IMAX and "LIEMAX", but between traditional digital IMAX and miniature digital IMAX.

** [[spoiler:Matt Damon typically plays heroic characters. Here, he plays a cowardly antagonist who wants to leave Cooper and his friends to death]]. Examined [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Why-Interstellar-Secret-List-Cameo-Worth-Celebrating-68127.html here]] in this article (spoilers herein).
** Also [[spoiler:Michael Caine. In all the many Nolan movies he appeared in before he was always completely reliable and trustworthy, which makes it completely unexpected that he deceived everyone the whole time.]]

** Anne Hathaway, Josh Stewart, Michael Caine, and William Devane all return to work with Nolan here after first collaborating with him on his previous feature (''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'').
* RealLifeRelative: Matthew [=McConaughey=]'s two children cameo [[spoiler: as Murph's family at the end]].
* RealitySubtext: The school that Murph and Tom attend is called Longview School, and is an actual school in Alberta where the movie was filmed. Matthew [=McConaughey=] had also attended a Longview school in Texas.

* ThrowItIn: Christopher Nolan decided to be more spontaneous with IMAX in this film. With previous projects, he would carefully select scenes that he felt would be enhanced by the format and map them out in detail in order to work around the IMAX cameras' weight (which limited camera movement) and loud noise (which limited dialog). With ''Interstellar'', Nolan decided to have an IMAX camera and film stock on standby just in case he felt that a scene required it at the last minute. Cinematographer Hoyte de Hoytema was able to add to the looser feel of this film's IMAX sequences by simply ignoring the camera's weight and carrying it around on his shoulder. Also, because the actors were often wearing helmets with interior mics, Nolan was able to shoot a lot of dialog heavy scenes in IMAX because he didn't have to worry about the camera noise interfering with audio pickups.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: An interesting version of this trope. In an attempt to create a visually-astounding black hole, Kip Thorne (producer, and theoretical physicist) used the most accurate, currently-known equations to simulate it. What came out was unlike anything any previous depiction has shown, and was initially thought to be a rendering error. [[http://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/ Instead, it was so accurate Dr. Thorne thinks he can get a research paper published from the results.]]

* AllStarCast: Creator/MatthewMcConaughey, Creator/AnneHathaway, Creator/JessicaChastain, Ellen Burstyn, Creator/MichaelCaine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, Creator/MattDamon, Creator/JohnLithgow, David Gyasi and Wes Bentley.

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*** Chinese astronauts as antagonists. [[spoiler: They reach the planets before Cooper and his team does.]] On top of that, [[spoiler:the Chinese had droids of their own that tried to stop the team.]]