Gravity

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Hell yeah. Five distant, cold, untwinkling stars from me.

I've never heard a rowdy weekend crowd go as quiet as during the 13 minute long opening take of this movie. The hype is true. This is the prettiest and most immersive space movie since 2001. It's also butt-clenchingly tense. Given the pelvic floor workout I got, it could be marketed as a treatment for incontinence.


Some thoughts:

Where does 3D go from here? James Cameron is the only other director, in my experience, to have shown an inkling of thought into its use and justification in modern cinema. Now
Cuarón has waltzed in and shown everyone else what it can be. I hope Hollywood takes stock, and realises that their migraine-inducing marketing gimmick can, in fact, be used to enhance a film! It definitely does the trick here. See it in 3D if you can.

The physics throughout checks out thoroughly, EXCEPT for during one pivotal plot point. Spoiler: Kowalski had come to a stop. They were in free fall; Stone should
have been able to pull him in gently without losing her foothold. Overall this didn't impact my enjoyment, but it was a bit annoying.

The brief reappearance of Kowalski was superbly done. In a lesser film, that scene would have been corny. But Alphonso Cuarón don't pop no corn.

The Soyuz is my favourite spacecraft. It's nice to see it get some screentime.

Where's that splashdown? I want to holiday there.
 

itsmary

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I kind of want to see it. Outer space scares the life out of me.
 

Manuel Royal

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Great movie. Really sets a new visual standard for space movies. I imagine it's great in 3D; that does nothing for me since I don't have stereoscopic vision.

It's getting good reviews just for how well that works. A lot of directors make 3D movies -- either as originally shot, or in crappy post-production conversion -- without changing how they edit. Fast cuts with different camera angles are terrible in 3D, and give people headaches. Almost all the movements in Gravity are continuous and fluid, carrying us smoothly from one perspective to another.

For some reason, there hasn't been a movie set in LEO since 1969's Marooned. This has got to be the most visually realistic one, thanks to brand-new movie technology.

The director is Alfonso Cuaron, who, you may remember, did the movie Children of Men. So you already know he likes lengthy shots. The first 17 minutes of the movie are one continuous shot, and it's amazing. I've seen hours of footage from orbital missions, and it's hard to tell this isn't the real thing.

Now, this is being referred to as a sci-fi movie, but it isn't science fiction; it's just fiction. We've been a spacegoing people for over half a century now, and a story about events in orbit, using existing technology, is no more science fiction than is a story about a bus trip that goes awry.

It does, though, present a sort of alternate history of space programs: it's ostensibly STS-127, a Shuttle mission to service the Hubble Telescope (using the fictional shuttle Explorer); but contemporary with the mission, the planned Chinese station (CSS, or Tiangong) already fully built and operational, in an orbit not far below that of ISS.

In our world, although there was an STS-127 (in 2009) it was an ISS assembly mission. There were five Shuttle missions to the Hubble (following its initial deployment by STS-31 in 1990), the last being STS-125 in 2009. The final Shuttle mission was STS-135 in July 2011.

The CSS currently consists of a small lab module and a propulsion module.

The physics of the movie look really good -- until they get to some of the major plot points, which require Movie Orbital Mechanics rather than real-world orbital mechanics. But the movie works so well, and is so gripping, that didn't really bother me..

Anyway, I highly recommend the movie. I'll have to get a job so I can buy this movie when it comes out in Blu-Ray.

George Clooney is good as always -- one of the most likeable actors, I think, and believable as a capable veteran astronaut. I bet Sandra Bullock gets an Oscar nomination.

Thematically, and in terms of characters, there's nothing really new -- but it's a great survival story. People at the limits of their abilties in overwhelming circumstances, acting in believable human ways.

And it's important to note that the ground-breaking special effects work in the service of the story, not vice versa. Well done.


You'll probably be reminded of Ray Bradbury's story "Kaleidoscope". Go see it.
 
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nighttimer

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I have never seen a film in IMAX with Real 3D. Never wanted to wear those stupid glasses over my own glasses and never wanted to pay the extra dollars for the experience.

I'm going to lose my IMAX virginity over Gravity. When critics and publications whose opinions I respect say, "You Have Never Seen a Movie Like Gravity" I tend to pay attention.

So I want to see for myself (and if Sandra Bullock should get a Best Actress nod for something other than drek like The Blindside, so much the better).
 

Zoombie

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I want to see it, but all of my friends are convinced it is going to be 80 minutes of two people dying in space. Guess I'll go alone...
 

Perks

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I saw it last night. It's good. I think the hype had trumpeted a bigger reaction than the film actually delivered for me. It's very tense and certainly worthwhile, but it won't really linger in my mind.
 

JimmyB27

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I want to see it, but all of my friends are convinced it is going to be 80 minutes of two people dying in space. Guess I'll go alone...

You're going to be sat in a dark room for two hours without any talking, because you're paying attention to the film. Exactly how would friends add to the experience? Never understood how one of the least social activities we participate in requires companions.

Anyway, I can't decide whether to see this film or not. On the one hand, it looks interesting and all that, but on the other, it taps into what would be my worst fear in going to space. And I'm not a fan of scary films.
 

CrastersBabies

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I saw it last night. It's good. I think the hype had trumpeted a bigger reaction than the film actually delivered for me. It's very tense and certainly worthwhile, but it won't really linger in my mind.

My reaction as well. It was good. Though I'm not sure it was "hype" that diminished it for me. I think this was one time when being a writer works against me. It was harder for me to turn off my internal critic.

Sometimes, I felt like a reader that never gets a break,

"Oh, the protag. is in trouble. TROUBLE! Okay, things might be okay. Let me breathe. WAIT! THERE IS A FIRE. Okay, get the fire out. WAIT, HERE COMES A GIGANTIC SASQUATCH. Oh..... hold up, he's friendly. OH NO, HERE IS A PACK OF REDNECK HUNTERS! I HAVE TO SAVE BIGFOOT! We're safe! You okay, Sasquatch? OH MY GOD, we're in QUICKSAND. Let's get out! We almost don't get out! But we make it. The sky darkens. A class 100000 hurricane is coming and the antichrist has risen.... there's a CAVE! We're inside! THERE IS A BEAR! We try to get out. IT CAVES IN!"

Do you see what I'm saying? I kind of get that the whole point of the movie was to keep people on the edge of their seats, but it just felt so transparent and purposeful in some parts. "WE NEED MORE EXTERNAL CONFLICT." (And then come P.A. runs out with a can of "Conflict" for everyone.)

BUT (seriously, I did like the movie), once I resigned to the fact that it was going to be that kind of movie, I let myself get more sucked in. Then, during one scene, the guy behind me (and his wife) completely ruined what was supposed to be a truly deep and important moment....

(highlight to see text... sorry, this is the only way I know how to make things hidden)

When...

<<<Sandra B. was drifting in the ISS pod and she's out of fuel and about to run out of air, George Clooney opens up the hatch and gets in. And you know something is "off," because she would have been chewing absolute zero vacuum had he done that and probably exploded from the lack of compression/decompression (Sorry, I AM NOT A SCIENCE PERSON). But you go along with it. Until she turns away to check something and you know when you look back, George Clooney will be gone! And you give yourself permission to float into that moment....

And the dude and his wife behind you say (loud enough for 4 rows to hear).... "HE'S NOT THERE. HE WON'T BE THERE. I KNEW IT."

And you cry inside because you want to slap that person.
>>>

Okay, stupid theater-movie-goer rant over.

The ending was intense, though. I really got choked up. Then again, I got choked up when they were torturing Bumblebee in Transformers, so that gives you an idea of how easy it is for me to lose it.

The score was truly breathtaking. Subtle and unnerving.

I do recommend it. Highly. Just don't sit in front of someone who looks like the, "Hey, I have to comment on what I think I know because everyone else around me will GET that I'm a good guesser" type. :)
 
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Zoombie

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You're going to be sat in a dark room for two hours without any talking, because you're paying attention to the film. Exactly how would friends add to the experience? Never understood how one of the least social activities we participate in requires companions.

It is not for the film you go with friends.

It is for after the film.
 

CrastersBabies

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Shared experiences. :) Memory-making. The "what if" conversation leading up to it. The "wow, let's talk about that" conversation that takes place after.

That said, I love going to films alone. I'm there to completely get lost in a story. I don't have to answer to anyone. I don't have to justify my choice. I'm there to experience it completely alone and without the worry (however small) that my experience won't match my viewing partner's.

Sure, I can handle it when I come out of the theater LOVING Avatar, and having a friend blather on about how it was "Dances with Wolves in space." But, coming out of a film that you blows you away and being able to ride that "high" as long as you like? A lot to be said for that.
 

quickWit

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Beautiful effects didn't make up for a very predictable story and stereotypical characters. I found it disappointing, but certainly nice to look at.

On the plus side, it was only about 90 minutes long, so that's good. Factor in the 40 minutes of previews and you're home in 2-1/2 hours! Woo Hoo! :)
 

robjvargas

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Sure, I can handle it when I come out of the theater LOVING Avatar, and having a friend blather on about how it was "Dances with Wolves in space." But, coming out of a film that you blows you away and being able to ride that "high" as long as you like? A lot to be said for that.

There's even a kind of high to being alone and savoring the burn of a bad movie, too. :evil
 

nighttimer

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I want to see it, but all of my friends are convinced it is going to be 80 minutes of two people dying in space. Guess I'll go alone...

Gravity is 91 minutes long and if your friends are convincing you not to go see it, I have one suggestion: make new friends.

My wife did not want to see the movie. She consented only to keep peace in the family (which probably means I have to accompany her to something I'd rather give a miss to). Neither of us had ever seen an IMAX Real 3D flick before.

Sat through the opening trailers with our glasses in our hands until The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug came on (bet some of your friends want to see that, huh, Zoombie?) and I nudged my wife and said, "Put the glasses on."

I could care less about the movie itself, but I had to give it up for how it looked.

Then Gravity started and I forgot all about hobbits and dragons.

The movie is beautiful, visually gorgeous, tense and suspenseful. It's a story of survival 250 miles up, but I was never bored, totally engaged and while I won't call Gravity the best movie of the year, I'll bet dollars to space debris it's on the list of Academy Award nominees for Best Picture.

As for my wife, she ducked into the powder room as the credits rolled. She came out grinning from the conversations she had with other women in the restroom.

Did you see Gravity? I can't believe how good it was. I want to see it again.

Every now and then I make the right call and surprise my wife when she thinks she can't be surprised anymore.

There is a second viewing in my future. :hooray:
 

mccardey

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My wife did not want to see the movie.
I'm also a wife who didn't want to see it. (Sometimes a marriage requires a bit of give and take and watching-of-movies). I have to say butt-clenching sums it up pretty well. I don't know how many times I jumped in my seat, but it was more exercise than this little old body has had for quite a while. I don't remember much of the script, but the visual thing is lodged in my brain for at least the next week. That, and the idea of peace and space and peace and peace.

ETA: Spoiler (only a bit) Note to self: if you ever have to choose between an American space satellite, a Russian space satellite and a Chinese space satellite - you know what to do.
 
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Zoombie

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It was really damn good! I'm no expert on orbital mechanics (though I did try my hand at writing a hard-SF young adult novel), but to me, the film felt...close enough!

Also, just like my book, Gravity involves a Kessler Cascade.

...buy my book! The link is in the signature!
 

cornflake

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When this was originally being talked about, months and months ago, I thought it'd be a total joke, and the actors had done it for the lolz. Bullock and Clooney in space?

Then it began to be clear they were serious. Then it got great reviews. Then it looked pretty. So I went because I'm a sucker for space shots on the big screen.

It was definitely pretty. It was gripping. It was, however, more premise than plot. I was very meh about it.

The level of unbelievability got worse each 'oh noes!' not only complication but just-in-time save. The 'characters' such as they were were kind of offensively stupidly manipulative and simple-minded. The whole thing with Bullock's background irked. I thought the acting was ok but I didn't really buy her whole thing. She seemed less panicked than Sandra Bullock being panicked, if you know what I mean.

Also, a bunch of the 'wait, what...' things bugged me during the film, and I hadn't read or seen anything about it beforehand - I'm totally spoilerphobic. That's also one of the reasons I wanted to see it, seemed it'd be hard to avoid knowing the plot. Little did I know there wasn't really a plot.

I thought the end was dopey too, in a Forrest Gump, obvious, overdrawn cheese way.

Good to see in the theatre, but I don't get the hype besides the visuals.
 

juniper

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Just saw it this afternoon, in 3D. Visually stunning. Yeah, there some obvious points in the storyline. There were also some nice moments. I liked character Ryan howling with the dog. You might think it was cheesy. :Shrug: I'd recommend it to almost everyone.

Just curious, how much did your ticket cost, wherever you are? I'm in Oregon USA, an afternoon 3D ticket cost $12.00. I think a regular afternoon ticket is $8.50 or $9.00.
 

cornflake

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Welcome to NY. A regular 3D ticket costs $19, IMAX 3D is $21 iirc. There is no matinee pricing that I know of at any local theatre. A regular, non-3D ticket is $15-16, depending on the theatre.

I just paid whatever I paid for the pass ($7-8) +$4 though.