Today I had the pleasure of checking out a cool and unique first look at Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Interstellar at the AMC Lincoln Square in NYC. Paramount and IMAX are inviting fans to take a virtual reality trip into the film’s starship, the Endurance, via this one-of-a-kind traveling exhibit called the Oculus Rift DK2.
When you walk onto the exhibit stage, you are placed in one of three comfy recliners and provided with a virtual reality pair of goggles and sound cancelling earphones. Once the three-minute show beings, you pretty much find yourself fully immersed in the ship piloted by Matthew McCounaghey’s Cooper. The exhibit transports you into the film’s mission moments before traveling through a wormhole in search of a new world for humanity to live on.
The VR allows you to visually explore the ship a full 360 degrees as you make your way to the cockpit. Take a look behind, you see where you just were. Look up, and you can peek past the windows that show you what’s above outer space. At the half way point, zero gravity is simulated and you feel like you’re floating towards the ship’s control center. The 3D and simulated floating movement is impressive, and you will find yourself trying to touch the walls of the cramped space or reach out for various objects floating by in zero g.
No spoilers here saying the three simulated minutes in the ship won’t spoil any major plot points of the story, but it’s a unique trippy experience that gives us more to look forward to for a film that has a lot going for it already.
The tour kicked off in NYC today (and will be here until Wednesday) and will be making stops in Houston and Los Angeles before landing at the Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. on November 5th.
Directed and co-written by Chrostopher Nolan, Interstellar stars Matthew McCounaghey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine. Advance screenings at 240 locations begin on November 5th in IMAX as well as both 70mm and 35mm film prints.
The Oculus Rift exhibit will be open to the public from 11am – 11pm at these locations:
Oct. 6-8: New York, AMC Lincoln Square 13
Oct. 17-19: Houston, AMC Gulf Pointe 30
Oct. 25-27: Los Angeles, AMC City Walk
Nov. 5-19: Chantilly, VA, Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center
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