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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Interstellar (Hans Zimmer)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you appreciate scores that appeal to your gut rather
than your head, because Hans Zimmer attempts to compensate for an
extremely simplistic set of musical constructs by conveying them
stylishly through his unique methodology.
Avoid it... on any album presentation other than the long overdue "Expanded Edition" of 2020 if you do not own the score as of yet and wish to zone out to the best of its predictably ambient series of repetitive crescendos.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Interstellar: (Hans Zimmer) Truly thought-provoking
science fiction bonanzas on the big screen are a relative rarity in an
age when any low budget production can throw together some space-faring
fantasy or nightmare, yet director Christopher Nolan manages with 2014's
epic Interstellar to combine the realms of science and
entertainment to outstanding critical and popular results. Long in the
making, Interstellar owes much of its production origins and a
substantial amount of its plot to 1997's Contact, and out of that
inspiration, Interstellar was conceived in the early 2000's as a
project destined for direction by Steven Spielberg. Later in the decade,
the shifting of Spielberg from Paramount allowed Nolan and his brother,
Jonathan, to step in and guide the project to its ultimate success. With
the shadow of Carl Sagan still looming large, the scientific accuracy of
the plot of Interstellar remained tantamount to that success for
the Nolan brothers, and while the core of the story remains one of
familial relationships, many pains were taken to ensure the plausibility
of the science in the movie as well. The story postulates that when
Earth eventually becomes inhospitable for humanity in the future,
astronauts will seek out suitable planets to explore and inhabit based
on instructions from friendly "aliens." Small groups of NASA astronauts
travel through a wormhole to explore three possible candidate worlds,
with varying results. The scientific concepts incorporated into
Interstellar are among its highlights, though it's no surprise
that interpersonal relationships are ultimately the key to humanity's
survival. After all, the most likely threat to humankind is itself.
Let's hope that by the time we have the technology to execute the escape
depicted in this film, people aren't still killing cartoonists over
their drawings of some archaic religious figure. As Interstellar
meandered through development, it was long believed that the Spielberg
project would yield a monumental score from none other than the maestro,
John Williams. When Nolan took the helm, however, attention immediately
moved to the more contemporary media darling, Hans Zimmer, who had,
whether intentionally or not, revolutionized the film scoring industry
with his music for Nolan's Batman Begins trilogy and
Inception.
Hence, with Interstellar, the Zimmer media spectacle commenced once again and the composer obliged his adoring fans with all the obligatory quotes about producing a score that is radically different in some way. The resulting music confirms, more than any other in his career, that his style of composition has either evolved or devolved into a "love it or hate it" proposition. His methodology here may seem different on the surface, but it really isn't. There could not be an artist further in process from the likes of a John Williams, and there's nothing wrong with that if you experience the proper emotional response from Zimmer's music. There will remain an entire generation of film score listeners, however, for which this Zimmer music does not connect, and it's important for the generally younger crowd of fans and reviewers to remember that. For this aged constituency, Interstellar will be among the most boring film scores to ever exist, further steering the genre as a whole towards ridiculously slow tempos, repetitive structures, and, as a result, the feeling of emotional guidance via sound design. It is fascinating to witness the nearly universal praise that Zimmer's score for Interstellar has received from reviewers from within and outside the film score community, because these accolades seem to suggest that the basic structural techniques utilized nowadays by Zimmer are not only acceptable but praiseworthy. This review will analyze the music from a cold and purely technical perspective, not with the intent of eviscerating Zimmer for the purposes of simply aggravating his enthusiasts (though, with the number of juvenile comments these reviews generate, this trouble-maker admits to occasionally being tempted by his reliable capability to spawn such astonishingly amusing folly), but because there are listeners out there for whom this music produces no emotive response, no gut reaction, no connection, and no interest to hear it again. Why would anybody not feel any significant reaction to Zimmer's Interstellar? Zimmer has done a great many things right with this effort, correcting some perceived wrongs in his methodology. If he remains a genuinely great and influential personality in the film music world, why would Interstellar land with a thud for some listeners? Let's first discuss the basic aspects of the score at play and then analyze the important positives of the work and possible detriments that may drag it back down to Earth for some listeners. When you hear Interstellar described as a combination of Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi and Ennio Morricone's Mission to Mars, you have to accept these comparisons as only the most obvious ones. If you dig deeper into the score, you are confronted by interesting and possibly coincidental relationships between this and prior works by Michael Giacchino, James Horner, and even Vangelis, the last of which the most telling of the lot and perhaps not so surprising when considering that Blade Runner was an inspiration to the Nolan brothers for Interstellar. It's tempting to say that if you found little emotional connection with the thought process behind the music for Koyaanisqatsi and Mission to Mars, then you might be in for a rude surprise when exploring Interstellar. But even this tired listener can recognize that Zimmer and Nolan made some outstanding choices with this score that need commended. First and foremost, this is a Zimmer score. Not Zimmer with 12 ghostwriters. Not Zimmer themes with adaptations by five others. Not a Zimmer library mock-up. Not Zimmer channeled through aliens. He is solely credited for the mass of work on this score, and while it may be sad to actually have to point this out, it's good to once again hear a largely solo Zimmer score. Many (if not most) of the composer's best music came from his own hands back in the 1990's, and it's easy to get the sense that his guidance has become diluted in the years since his fame and production prowess really took hold. Likewise, the composer didn't shy away from expected but still strong decisions about instrumentation. In Interstellar, the film's emotional heart exists in the familial relationships, and thus the trusty old piano becomes the equivalent in the score. For the awe of space, the composer went to great lengths, aided by the ever-talented Richard Harvey, to find the right musicians for the score, and that included the pairing of a pipe organ and a massive woodwind section. The former instrument receives all the glory in the score, but the latter is employed to denote the trepidation with which humanity has to venture into space. The rhythmic element is also played towards the omnipresent concept of time in Interstellar, and the woodwinds sometimes figure into that method of movement as well. The composer very explicitly dropped the bass-heavy string ostinatos and expansive drums that had come to define his prior blockbuster scores, instead expending much effort in populating the treble region with a string and woodwind presence while diminishing muscular brass to just a few token appearances behind the organ. There is definitely a refreshing feeling to the ambient tone of Zimmer's Interstellar. So many of the composer's scores of the 2000's and 2010's for major projects end up hopelessly interchangeable, and with this effort he has devised a personality in the music that is clearly meant for Interstellar alone. The composer had promised for years that each of his successive works was bound to be "radical" or "different" and yet they disappointed when they sounded largely the same as prior entries; that is finally not the case here, and one has to wonder how much of the seemingly endless praise for this music results from the distinctiveness of the score's basic sound. There's also the issue of Nolan's use of the music in the film, pushing the boundaries of its presence and occasionally emphasizing it to the detriment of the dialogue or scenery. Such was a major problem with Morricone's Mission to Mars, which also used a pipe organ prominently for space scenes, and the instrument was so intrusive in the end result that it was painful. Texture, ambience, and volume all come into play in both the Morricone and Zimmer works, and this leads to most important question of this review: Why is it that the music for Interstellar simply doesn't connect with some listeners, including this one? Is it an issue of changing tastes? Crotchety old age? Grudges against a composer for indulging himself as a media spectacle? While some readers will claim it's the last one, that's certainly not the case. Music is, at its root, a mathematical and scientific endeavor that ultimately aims for an emotional response. The lack of a positive response is typically rooted in some analytically observable aspect of the music, and the case with Interstellar is no different. There are structural elements in this music that both its supporters and detractors will be able to recognize, and hopefully the former group will be able to understand why the latter views these same elements as a potential negative. You have issues of tempos, progressions, instrumental presence in the mix, cue development, process of storytelling, counterpoint, volume, synchronization points, and numerous other technical aspects that could be (and indeed are) problematic in Interstellar, and together these detriments might even be fatal for some listeners. Zimmer's most loyal collectors will recognize these characteristics in the composer's works from previous projects, exposing Interstellar as work only superficially "different" in its whole. He has a tendency to seek the proper audience response via resonance of sound rather than complexity of thought, and this technique practically sums up the entire issue some will have with this score: it's irritatingly simplistic. The first observation anyone can make about Interstellar is that its tempos are excruciatingly slow. Even in the rare moments of excitement and action, Zimmer restrains the pace of the score and simply elevates its volume. Coupled with the tempo issue is the lack of adjustment to meter. The music plods along at the same general pace without maneuvering around to a different rhythmic formation on any regular basis. The development of each major cue follows the same route as well, starting softly and adding volume and bass depth on the march to a crescendo that typically falls off abruptly. This pattern is repeated over and over again with the same thematic structures, partly a result of Zimmer's tendency to remix the same idea for multiple, marginally unique presentations. Sometimes, it's subtle, as in "Day One," whereas in other cues, it overwhelms, as in "Coward." Whether or not this repeated device is influenced by Steven Price's popular score for Gravity remains an interesting debate. So you have a slow, repetitive score that accesses the same set of rhythmic structures and applies volume to them in identical ways in most cues. What about the themes? Zimmer does indeed provide several of them in Interstellar, including identities for the family relations, the expanse of space, and the larger human journey. For the family relations, the composer applies the piano most frequently, but even here the rendering of a melody is so slow and sparse that it fails to connect. Michael Giacchino has a history of yielding much more out of the instrument in the solo environment, and neither can touch Williams' mastery in that area. As in Man of Steel, Zimmer exposes his weakness when utilizing the piano in such a way as to truly involve the listener. Beyond the humanity and exploration ideas, the family melody proves to be the score's main theme and services the father/daughter relationship; it is extremely slow to develop, very simplistic, and oddly reminiscent of James Horner's The Land Before Time. These themes are not only wanting for better progressions, but they lack secondary phrases of any significance, once again exacerbating the tiring and repetitive nature of the score. To hear the main theme over and over and over again in "Stay" may function for some listeners, but Zimmer only boosts the theme's volume and depth in its repeated statements rather than taking the idea in any meaningful direction. The simplicity is remarkably transparent. Cues largely stripped of the thematic material and instead emphasizing purely rhythmic character aren't much better developed, with "The Wormhole" a good example of a cue that serves up a generic crescendo over 90 seconds that relies solely on the resonance of texture. Some listeners may commend Zimmer for addressing the concept of time and space through sound effects integrated into the score for Interstellar, and while the use of wind and water is a nice touch at times, the overt tapping and clicking of higher range effects for time itself in a cue like "Mountains" is no less a transparent or simplistic application than the purely instrumental counterparts. Of more importance, once again, is the decision by Nolan and Zimmer to approach this project's music before the shooting even began. It's been said many times in the Zimmer score reviews at Filmtracks and it needs repeated: you cannot fully and properly tailor a score to a film without having seen at least its rough edits. Without that context, the composer is left to write a concept album rather than a film score. And that's what Interstellar really is... another album of Zimmer ideas vaguely inspired by the general concepts of family and space. No matter what album presentation you get for this score (and there are many, unfortunately), you hear self-contained ideas without synchronization points, conceptual counterpoint references, or meter changes to denote any kind of shift in action or realization on screen. As such, this score flies blind throughout the film, relying upon the editors to dial it in appropriately. On album, Interstellar sounds like any other concept album you hear from all those artists that put out general instrumental compilations hoping they will be picked up for placement in movie trailers. Rather than develop the narrative over the course of the album, which is impossible because of Zimmer's methodology, you have development only within each cue, thus leading to these inevitable crescendos over and over again. What little manipulation of theme that exists is tied to basic logic rather than anything specific to the story; in other words, the composer realizes he needs a solo piano version of the main theme, a wishy-washy string version, and a fully glorious organ rendition simply to cover all the expected bases. Thus, the process of storytelling in this score is significantly stunted. Finally, you have issues of volume and instrumental presence in the mix that cause problems in Interstellar. On the first part, the loud portions are overbearing in relation to the soft portions, with little integration of the two halves. Either this score bubbles along in the background or it totally consumes the soundscape, the median existing only in the middle of the long crescendos. The huge woodwind section intentionally produces ambient sound effects rather than any truly complex representation of technology. Why not use a synthesizer rather than asking them (and the occasional voices) to produce otherworldly noises that are held so far back in the mix that they are indistinguishable? One of the most artful counterarguments to this review will come from Vangelis enthusiasts who know very well that there have been multiple simplistic, album-first kinds of hybrid Vangelis scores that have been nominated for awards at Filmtracks. And that's a good point, until you realize that Zimmer never has been and never will be Vangelis. Their purposes are completely different. If Zimmer's results are starting to sound like those of Vangelis because of his methodology, it's not necessarily by intent. The reason Vangelis excels is because he enunciates his simple structures with harmonic resonance so overwhelmingly tonal and magnificent that you can't help but admire the resulting bravado. Zimmer doesn't offer much of that kind of glorious sound to Interstellar, but when he does, as in the outstanding conclusion of "Coward" and the brass-aided interior of "Detach," you do hear Vangelis being channeled to a degree. There is little doubt that these moments of unrestrained grandeur in the score are its selling points, especially in context, and you have to love how Zimmer does maintain the volume when he finally gets there during these highlights. The piano work specifically needs praised in these parts. But without more such moments, this score is left to languish at agonizingly slow speeds without the depth of sound and harmonic complexity in its majority to keep some listeners entertained. The organ, for all its advertised presence in this score, is not always an effective tool of resonance. No better an example is "S.T.A.Y.," in which its exploration is neither resounding nor intensely personal, an honestly bizarre surprise given the capability of the instrument. At the end of the day, Zimmer's trademark has become the droning of a bass note on key, and it is that persistent technique in Interstellar that serves as the greatest clue to Zimmer's continued stagnation despite all the hoopla about innovation in this work. Sometimes the droning is barely noticeable, but at other times the organ lets it boom for minutes at a time. There are better ways to engage an audience and denote gravity than the droning bass note on key. Themes can indeed have secondary phrases. Progressions don't all have to recall 1980's power ballads. Movies can be scored to suit after shooting. Counterpoint can enhance conflict or resolution. Meters or key really can change when a scene transitions to a new location. All of these techniques are known to work, and yet they are largely absent in Interstellar. So if you seek the technical reason why this scores sounds juvenile to some listeners, despite all the efforts to innovate by Zimmer, look no further than the composer's attempts to rewrite the basic rules of film score composition. Taking risks is good, but you won't always connect. There is no joy in where this review of Interstellar must go next. Zimmer has enough control over the album releases of his music to prevent such marketing shenanigans from happening, but he repeatedly allows labels to screw over consumers with fragmented, multiple album releases of his work and thus encourage piracy. He had a direct hand in these decisions in the case of Interstellar, and the overall rating for this score must be deducted as a result. Until 2020, an avid collector needed to seek out multiples of four sources, if not all four, to achieve a full presentation of the work. In official albums, you have the "Star Wheel Constellation Chart Digipak" featuring 16 tracks, the "Digital Deluxe Album," which offers 24 tracks, and the fullest "Illuminated Star Projection Edition" of 29 tracks that debuted at $40 after the others and proved initially hard to obtain. Then there was the lone "Day One Dark" remix track that was featured only as a bonus download from a movie ticket. Finally, Paramount released 33 tracks in an online streaming awards promo. There are a couple of ways of looking at this mess. First, those seeking a lossless version could pick up the 2-CD "Illuminated Star Projection Edition" product. But why waste the money on that if you already have the original CD (digipak) version? The additional music is mostly a series of remixes of the music you already heard on the shorter album; Zimmer only covers so much ground in this score before having to repeat himself with different mixes. The problem is that the unique material on the 2-CD set truly represents some of the best presentations available for this score. Both "Murph" and "Tick-Tock" are absolute must-haves for enthusiasts of this score, the latter's full choir begging for Vangelis comparisons. And then there's the film version of "No Time for Caution" that is clearly the best rendition of that idea but not initially available on album. Finally, the fuller albums include recitations of the "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" poem that figured prominently in the film. However, for whatever nonsensical reason, these renditions are by a range of the film's actors rather than Michael Caine himself, as heard in context, a tremendous disappointment. In 2020, WaterTower finally merged all this music into one "Expanded Edition," a long overdue 2-CD set that otherwise offers nothing new. When labels sucker money from fans by withholding some of the best renditions from the recordings for intended later editions, you have to deduct from ratings for that transgression. Zimmer and his ardent enthusiasts can talk about innovation until they are blue in the face, but the composer and the labels distributing his music are doing little more than exacerbating the plague of piracy that prevails online.
TRACK LISTINGS:
2014 Regular "Star Wheel" Album:
Total Time: 71:38
2014 Digital Deluxe Edition: Total Time: 92:28
* narration performed by John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Mackenzie Foy 2014 Illuminated Star Projection Edition: Total Time: 131:52
* narration performed by John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Mackenzie Foy 2020 WaterTower "Expanded Edition" Album: Total Time: 139:03
* narration performed by John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Mackenzie Foy
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the "Star Wheel Constellation Chart Digipak" has a custom-cut
interior to line up with star contellations pictured on the CD itself. Its insert contains
long notes about the music from the director and the composer, as well as a partial list
of performers. The "Illuminated Star Projection Edition" comes in a box that includes
a "decodable light message" (perhaps a definitive list of Zimmer's ghostwriters?) and
some additional booklet material. It also offers a method of downloading the score in
surround sound. The insert of the 2020 "Expanded Edition" album includes the 2014 notes
from the director and composer, a list of performers, and session photography.
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2015-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Interstellar are Copyright © 2014, 2020, WaterTower Music/Sony Classical (Regular/Digital), WaterTower Music/Sony Classical (Illuminated Star Projection Edition), WaterTower Music and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/17/15 and last updated 4/16/21. |
