The shadows of several films loom large over Interstellar. The Abyss, The Right Stuff, Sunshine and Contact to name but a few.
However, Christopher Nolan's latest epic is still a force to be reckoned with.
Matthew McConaughey is on good form as Cooper, the cowboy pilot with the right stuff.
Anne Hathaway is as mesmerising (as ever) as Brand, his fellow explorer, while solid support comes from Michael Caine and John Lithgow.
In an attempt to save the world from starvation, Cooper and company head into space to enter a wormhole in search of a new home for the species.
Several scientists had already gone through to set up a base camp, one of them is Brand's lover, which begs the question: should they follow her heart at the cost of the mission or opt for a different planet?
Nolan's latest is an eye-popping, tear- jerking, bum-numbing, yet absorbing epic which may slip into similar territory to AI, The Abyss and Contact, but it's still a sight for sore eyes.
Okay, Michael Caine may be a tad wooden as the head of NASA (and I love Caine as much as the next movie buff), and the POV shots of the spacecraft are a little repetitive, but it scarcely matters.
Boosted by stunning scenes involving Cooper driving away from his young daughter, the wormhole itself, and thousand foot high waves, Interstellar is light years ahead of the competition.