What is your interpretation of the ending? SPOILERS AHEAD

Christopher Nolan's 2014 grand scale science-fiction story about time and space, and the things that transcend them.
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Rodney Johnson wrote:
Sky007 wrote:What is the significance narratively and thematically of
the ending with Brand on the planet. Why end there exactly? I mean it was powerful for me, but did she find Edmunds there or did Cooper come to her?
She found Edmunds dead body there. She is covering and marking his grave at the end. Old Murph tells Cooper to go to Brand... to live his life. We can only assume he will find here and they will have a nice cup of coffee at a cafe somewhere like in TDKR.
Haha nice.
Btw, Chris Nolan did keep the ending from the original script.
If I recall correctly however, Cooper meets his great great grand daughter and not Murph in the end (Murph is dead) and Chris added the terrific final scenes with Hathaway on another planet.

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Probably more appropriate here than in the general film discussion
When McC drops into the 5th dimension, why did he give himself in the past coordinates to NASA, when he wanted his past self to stay?

Did the earth not get saved and everyone on the planet got out of dodge? Hence the space colony.

What did the actual formula Brand/Murph actually do for humanity? Especially when McC got the data from being directly in the black hole

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BETA. wrote:Probably more appropriate here than in the general film discussion
When McC drops into the 5th dimension, why did he give himself in the past coordinates to NASA, when he wanted his past self to stay?
Because if he doesn't give himself the coordinates he never board the Endurance and never get the singularity's data, thus humanity can't leave Earth. He does that to save humanity.
BETA. wrote:
Did the earth not get saved and everyone on the planet got out of dodge? Hence the space colony.
The plan was never to save the Earth, it was to build space colonies so that most peoples could leave the Earth.
BETA. wrote:
What did the actual formula Brand/Murph actually do for humanity? Especially when McC got the data from being directly in the black hole
The formula and the singularity's data are heavily linked. Without the formula, you can't make sense of the data and without the data the formula is useless. One way to understand it is to imagine the formula as being the famous equation E=mc^2 and the data as being c, the speed of light in a vacuum. The speed of light is useless on its own - as is the formula, since you can't evaluate anything with it if you are missing the value of c - but if you combine the two you can use the formula.

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Thematically I think most everything that happens links to
Dylan Thomas' poem. I'm gonna start analyzing it now.

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Juliui wrote:
BETA. wrote:Probably more appropriate here than in the general film discussion
When McC drops into the 5th dimension, why did he give himself in the past coordinates to NASA, when he wanted his past self to stay?
Because if he doesn't give himself the coordinates he never board the Endurance and never get the singularity's data, thus humanity can't leave Earth. He does that to save humanity.
BETA. wrote:
Did the earth not get saved and everyone on the planet got out of dodge? Hence the space colony.
The plan was never to save the Earth, it was to build space colonies so that most peoples could leave the Earth.
BETA. wrote:
What did the actual formula Brand/Murph actually do for humanity? Especially when McC got the data from being directly in the black hole
The formula and the singularity's data are heavily linked. Without the formula, you can't make sense of the data and without the data the formula is useless. One way to understand it is to imagine the formula as being the famous equation E=mc^2 and the data as being c, the speed of light in a vacuum. The speed of light is useless on its own - as is the formula, since you can't evaluate anything with it if you are missing the value of c - but if you combine the two you can use the formula.
I understand the whole tidbit about giving himself the coordinates and all to go on the mission, but again... McC went through the Black Hole, and in this order, First he gave the coordinates to his past self. But shortly after he did he was trying to get himself to stay. Hence why in the beginning Murph was trying to convince McC to STAY(when she deciphered the morse code message) after they came home from NASA. That part didn't make a whole lot of sense. It is VERY clear also when he was in the 5th dimension, he wanted his past self to stay too. So again, my question is more in line if his future self wanted his past self to stay on earth, why give yourself the coordinates to NASA at all? To me this was more of a plot device flaw I wanted to point out. But I'm not gonna scrutinize it, I was just asking to see if anyone else caught this.
I totally understand that the data was to complete the formula, but again, what did the complete formula actually do for earth? Some others said it granted mastery of gravity to a unifying theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, however there's no explicit answer given in the movie that shows or eludes to anything other than "Eureka!" In regard to the mastery of gravity does that mean that is how they got the colony in space? Or is there more...

In regards to the "we gotta leave earth thing" i just keep feeling after the formula being complete they managed to save earth. Because how did they get the resources to create such thing, the space colony? Cooper mentioned before that MRI ceased to exist, implying other types of medical equipment would also cease to exist, this is also further reinforced by the people's cough and lack of medical care readily available. But yet in the space colony we are presented with decent medical care equipment when McC awakes in the hospital bed. This is why I assume earth has been saved thanks to the complete theory and we are able to gather resources/energy through quantum manipulation to create something on a scale as a space colony, because the condition the earth and mankind was in at the beginning of the movie, it would be quite impossible to pull off. I think the space colony idea in the end wasn't to flee earth but to expand outside beyond earth to new potential homes, to not risk the same fate again and well because humankind has harnessed the power of gravity. But again, it never is explicitly stated concretely at the end.

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BETA. wrote:
Juliui wrote:
BETA. wrote:Probably more appropriate here than in the general film discussion
When McC drops into the 5th dimension, why did he give himself in the past coordinates to NASA, when he wanted his past self to stay?
Because if he doesn't give himself the coordinates he never board the Endurance and never get the singularity's data, thus humanity can't leave Earth. He does that to save humanity.
BETA. wrote:
Did the earth not get saved and everyone on the planet got out of dodge? Hence the space colony.
The plan was never to save the Earth, it was to build space colonies so that most peoples could leave the Earth.
BETA. wrote:
What did the actual formula Brand/Murph actually do for humanity? Especially when McC got the data from being directly in the black hole
The formula and the singularity's data are heavily linked. Without the formula, you can't make sense of the data and without the data the formula is useless. One way to understand it is to imagine the formula as being the famous equation E=mc^2 and the data as being c, the speed of light in a vacuum. The speed of light is useless on its own - as is the formula, since you can't evaluate anything with it if you are missing the value of c - but if you combine the two you can use the formula.
I think that the idea was not to save earth and that everything they needed was inside the NASA compound and not shared with the people in general because NASA itself was an underground entity performing clandestine activities that nobody knew, that's why Brand's father was treated in a hospital at the NASA compound I believe, and that's why the only doctor Murph knew was a NASA physician (Topher Grace was seen working at the NASA compound/potential space station later) so therefore, NASA had the resources for themselves and whoever they tried to save (another reason why Murph tried to save his brother and his family) and not the rest of the people, and the people who populated the Cooper Station are the ones that made the travel. Earth was not meant to be saved by to be departed, and the solving of the gravitational relativity equation made it possible for them to actually develop interplanetary or interstellar technology capable of sustaining human life in space, at least that's what I got
I understand the whole tidbit about giving himself the coordinates and all to go on the mission, but again... McC went through the Black Hole, and in this order, First he gave the coordinates to his past self. But shortly after he did he was trying to get himself to stay. Hence why in the beginning Murph was trying to convince McC to STAY(when she deciphered the morse code message) after they came home from NASA. That part didn't make a whole lot of sense. My question is more in line if his future self wanted his past self to stay on earth, why give yourself the coordinates to NASA at all?
I totally understand that the data was to complete the formula, but again, what did the complete formula actually do for earth? Some others said it granted mastery of gravity to a unifying theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, however there's no explicit answer given in the movie that shows or eludes to anything other than "Eureka!" In regard to the mastery of gravity does that mean that is how they got the colony in space?

In regards to the "we gotta leave earth thing" i just keep feeling after the formula being complete they managed to save earth. Because here did they get the resources to create such thing? Cooper mentioned before that MRI ceased to exist, implying other types of medical equipment would also cease to exist, this is also further reinforced by the people's cough and lack of medical care readily available. But yet in the space colony we are presented with decent medical care equipment when McC awakes in the hospital bed. This is why I assume earth has been saved thanks to the complete theory and we are able to gather resources/energy through quantum manipulation to create something on a scale as a space colony, because the condition the earth and mankind was in at the beginning of the movie, it would be quite impossible to pull off. I think the space colony idea in the end wasn't to flee earth but to expand outside beyond earth to new potential homes, to not risk the same fate again and well because humankind has harnessed the power of gravity. But again, it never is explicitly stated concretely at the end.

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I totally understand that the data was to complete the formula, but again, what did the complete formula actually do for earth? Some others said it granted mastery of gravity to a unifying theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, however there's no explicit answer given in the movie that shows or eludes to anything other than "Eureka!" In regard to the mastery of gravity does that mean that is how they got the colony in space?

In regards to the "we gotta leave earth thing" i just keep feeling after the formula being complete they managed to save earth. Because here did they get the resources to create such thing? Cooper mentioned before that MRI ceased to exist, implying other types of medical equipment would also cease to exist, this is also further reinforced by the people's cough and lack of medical care readily available. But yet in the space colony we are presented with decent medical care equipment when McC awakes in the hospital bed. This is why I assume earth has been saved thanks to the complete theory and we are able to gather resources/energy through quantum manipulation to create something on a scale as a space colony, because the condition the earth and mankind was in at the beginning of the movie, it would be quite impossible to pull off. I think the space colony idea in the end wasn't to flee earth but to expand outside beyond earth to new potential homes, to not risk the same fate again and well because humankind has harnessed the power of gravity. But again, it never is explicitly stated concretely at the end.
[/quote][/quote]
I think that the idea was not to save earth and that everything they needed was inside the NASA compound and not shared with the people in general because NASA itself was an underground entity performing clandestine activities that nobody knew, that's why Brand's father was treated in a hospital at the NASA compound I believe, and that's why the only doctor Murph knew was a NASA physician (Topher Grace was seen working at the NASA compound/potential space station later) so therefore, NASA had the resources for themselves and whoever they tried to save (another reason why Murph tried to save his brother and his family) and not the rest of the people, and the people who populated the Cooper Station are the ones that made the travel. Earth was not meant to be saved by to be departed, and the solving of the gravitational relativity equation made it possible for them to actually develop interplanetary or interstellar technology capable of sustaining human life in space, at least that's what I got

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Thanks for the reply willyjoel, definitely an interesting perspective, something I had not thought of and sounds very plausible. Can't wait to read more explanations from others as we move closer to the official release.

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BETA. wrote:Thanks for the reply willyjoel, definitely an interesting perspective, something I had not thought of and sounds very plausible. Can't wait to read more explanations from others as we move closer to the official release.
Hey my pleasure, I'm too eager to ready other fellow fans discussed their theories!, All I can say is that my love for science fiction has ben 500% revitalized by Nolan and Interstellar.

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BETA. wrote:
I totally understand that the data was to complete the formula, but again, what did the complete formula actually do for earth? Some others said it granted mastery of gravity to a unifying theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, however there's no explicit answer given in the movie that shows or eludes to anything other than "Eureka!" In regard to the mastery of gravity does that mean that is how they got the colony in space? Or is there more...
You are right, they don't say exactly what the formula / theory is. As they are talking multiple times about the quantum data of the singularity I would guess it is about unifying general relativity and quantum mechanics - much like string theory. However, we do know what they want to use it for: to manipulate gravity fields. They were able to send into space such big stations by simply lowering the gravity around the launchpad, making liftoff easier.

I think the movie make it quiet clear Murph solved / created the whole theory. When she says "Eureka" she has obviously integrated the singularity's data in the equations - and it works. As the station is named after here, she has became a hero for making mankind able to manipulate gravity at its own will.
BETA. wrote:
In regards to the "we gotta leave earth thing" i just keep feeling after the formula being complete they managed to save earth. Because how did they get the resources to create such thing, the space colony? Cooper mentioned before that MRI ceased to exist, implying other types of medical equipment would also cease to exist, this is also further reinforced by the people's cough and lack of medical care readily available. But yet in the space colony we are presented with decent medical care equipment when McC awakes in the hospital bed. This is why I assume earth has been saved thanks to the complete theory and we are able to gather resources/energy through quantum manipulation to create something on a scale as a space colony, because the condition the earth and mankind was in at the beginning of the movie, it would be quite impossible to pull off. I think the space colony idea in the end wasn't to flee earth but to expand outside beyond earth to new potential homes, to not risk the same fate again and well because humankind has harnessed the power of gravity. But again, it never is explicitly stated concretely at the end.
You make a good point, but I don't really see how this whole theory would help the situation on Earth. My bet would be that it took sometimes to build the colony ships - at least 60 years if we follow the movie time-frame - and the idea that we could all survive boosted fundings back on Earth for the ships. Humanity hasn't forgot how to build MRI, it's just that they decided to stop making them because they were too expensive. Since there is now hope, everything is different. Moreover if you are able to manipulate gravity, you could easily imagine making asteroid mining a reality on a very large-scale, bringing in more resources than we would ever need.

Also, the original script - even if the movie is vastly different from it - makes it clear everybody left the Earth.
EDIT: willyjoel's theory also makes a lot of sense.

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