The Antipodean

I know there's a review thread but this seemed like it might be interesting to focus solely on the sound mix for Interstellar, which has been getting mixed responses...

What's your take on it? I found it ear-shatteringly loud, in a bad way, during some of the rocket scenes, although I didn't really find much of the dialogue hard to understand...

RichC2

I think you should also be asking how people saw the movie.

The Antipodean

Oh yeah, you can add that in your comments but frankly there's so many different ways you can see a movie (not just the formats, but how well the theatre itself is run and set up) that I didn't think that would really work in a poll.

Why So Blu?

It was fine. I saw the 35 mm version.

Solid Snake

For the most part it was solid. My only issue is in like a couple bits where it was too high for me to understand what was said sometimes. Otherwise.... amazing sounds when they were traveling through. Made me fucking tense.

Mabuse

I vote "None of the above".

I saw it in true 70mm/15perf IMAX and didn't have any trouble hearing or understanding the dialogue. I think the problem is stemming from standard def and lie-MAX theaters not being able to handle the dynamics of a film optimized for IMAX.

Solid Snake

hrmmm. Could anyone back that up?

Why So Blu?

Just read the article where Nolan said that he turns up the audio. They posted it here yesterday.

Solid Snake

I got that. But.... I was referencing Mabuse's comment about the mix not being able to be handled out of IMAX.

Hazel Motes

I don't see it any different than the way Altman had overlapping dialogue in a lot of his films. It's his style and adds something to the overall ambiance of the film.

hanshotfirst1138

I saw the film on 70mm IMAX. I thought the mix sounded fine. Once or twice I had trouble hearing stuff, but not enough that I gave it much though .

Shannon Nutt

I don't know why it would be "innovative" - Nolan did the same thing for THE DARK KNIGHT. I remember I couldn't even understand Gary Oldman's ending voiceover until I saw the film on a non-Imax screen.

...and we all know about the sound issues with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

I think Nolan's sound preferences make his movies LESS entertaining than they could be. Unlike, say, David Lynch, whose love of sound makes his movies MORE entertaining.

Why So Blu?

Indeed.

Deftones

i saw it the same as you and had several issues with hearing dialogue. usually the scenes in space when they are flying and something tense was going on.

inri222

This

Solid Snake

I'm willing to argue that.

I'm not discussing style in so much that I'm talking about the intended and unintended effect from it.

Overlapping dialogue is one thing. One can still make sense out of it. And maybe it is how some theaters haven't been optimized for the mix but also... if the music at some point gets too high for dialogue. That is an issue. I've never had an issue w/ the mixes on Nolan's films but in that one or two times for Interstellar I do think should have been taken down a bit. Granted. The moment(s) I did have issue...the film was bombarding you w/ the crazy ass nature of going through the wormhole. Which, wonderfully, is a terrifying thing w/ its visual depiction of the stress from it but granted... the dialogue said during it....I don't think it was important either. TARS related. I think to properly convey the inability to listen to TARS, if intended, and be bombarded like Coop was would have been better conveyed if Coop had issue hearing TARS too.

That one or two times I had issue with was very very minute of in terms of lost moments in comparison to how I was totally fine in following the film overall.

Hazel Motes

In all instances where the dialogue was drowned out I thought the more important aspect was the visceral experience of the spectacle the characters and ultimately the audience were going through. It brought a sense of immediacy to those moments, where what they were saying wasn't nearly as important as what they (and us) were experiencing. And I thought the muffled dialogue highlighted that.

If Nolan wanted the dialogue to be heard crisply, he could have accomplished it. It was a calculated decision. One that I thought added to the film.

Nick Danger

Too loud. I'm glad I brought earplugs. It was a standard digital presentation. I don't think I missed any important dialogue, but I had trouble understanding Matthew McConaughey throughout the movie. It was as if he never enunciated.

The person we went with said that the sound system in another theater couldn't handle the volume and it was distorting.

kefrank

The poll options are kind of odd. I didn't mind the sound mix at all, but I wouldn't call it "innovative" either.

I saw it in IMAX 70MM.

Why So Blu?

Agreed.

rennervision

Enjoyed the movie, but I think my ears are still hurting from watching it on opening day.

Decker

The sound mix was fucking awful and I hated it more than anything else in the movie (though I had plenty of other problems with the movie). I saw it in IMAX, don't know if that made it worse.

RichC2

It definitely makes it louder.

stvn1974

So creating a sound mix where the dialogue is buried and the audience's ears bleed is innovative. Jesus fucking Christ.

DaveyJoe

It's so we can't hear the plot holes!