Not the commenter you're replying to, but for me the ending of "2001: A Space Odyssey" is clearly some abstract artsy metaphor, so it's ok that it has zero scientific basis. Like ending on a dream.

The ending (the falling into the black hole part) of Interstellar is actually part of the plot, it actually impacts the other characters. If you want to sacrifice all logic for some emotional ending, there's plenty of fantasy movies like that, but it's not my cup of tea.

I wouldn't so much say "pays tribute" to as arrogantly rips off.... I may have given myself away as a 2001 fan and Nolan very-much-not-fan, though.

I have seen 2001 and that one didn't bother me at all.

The whole ordeal with HAL is over, the story arc has essentially closed. They just need to reveal what they find. They get to the artifact. Then... stuff happens. Nothing is explained. I always assumed it was supposed to visualise things that are beyond our comprehension, but that's already my interpretation.

Is it a good ending? Dunno, I like it, but I can see that it's controversial. But is it something that goes against the movie until that end? Absolutely not. The movie started with 20 minutes of monkey business.