Version I saw: UK IMAX release

Actors: 7/10

Plot/script: 6/10

Photography/visual style: 8/10

Music/score: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

Christopher Nolan is one of the most trusted directors in the film industry, with a flawless record of large box-office profits. As a result, when he asks for $160 million to make an epic sci-fi original project, studio execs set aside their usual reservations and stump up the cash without question.

Interstellar is visually spectacular, with digital imaging grounded in the hard physics equations of scientific consultant Kip Thorne. However, it also marries this with human drama by exploring the personal impact of the phenomena discussed. As a result, we get dramatic close-up scenes of both star Matthew McConaughey and major support Anne Hathaway, highlighting their considerable acting talents.

Admittedly, it isn't Nolan's best, as high a bar as that is. Interstellar starts too slowly, and the climax is just preposterous, arguably throwing away all the scientific credibility it had earned up to that point. It is suitably poetic though, with the right emotional impact (supported by Hans Zimmer's excellent church organ score), and as I say, visually breathtaking.I am grateful to Nolan for using his industry cred for pushing through work like this, of a type we don't see much any more.