Gravity (2013)

[Plain Old Tele]

Don't let go.

[Plain Old Tele]

It's easily the movie experience of the year. Absolutely insane; you will be gripping the seat of your IMAX chair for 90 minutes.

 

A

[ChD]

You did this 2 days early just so you could make us jelly that you've seen it already, huh? 

[Plain Old Tele]

You did this 2 days early just so you could make us jelly that you've seen it already, huh? 

 

Hey, I've been itching to talk about details for weeks.

[baumer]

Oh yea? Well Avengers 2 is so much fun youll be dancing in the aisles. Just as good if not better than the first.

[Jake Gittes]

Contains spoilers, just in case. 

 

It's a pretty cool feeling to be sitting in the cinema and watching an $80 million* October release with two actors blow away pretty much all summer and holiday blockbusters of the past couple of years.

 

Gravity is the kind of film where it's especially important not to judge it for something it's not trying to be in the first place. Cuaron doesn't aim to moralize, or to go philosophical, or to embark on a modern space odyssey. What he does here is a masterful survival thriller, in which the characters are ironically trapped in the most open of all spaces. 

 

In terms of character development and storytelling it stands out as a refreshingly economical film; enough so that some people (and there will be more, I'm sure) have already dismissed it as nothing more than a theme park ride. It's true that Cuaron doesn't saddle the movie with flashbacks, cheesy monologues or a romantic subplot between Bullock and Clooney (how awful would that be?) - but him and Bullock still achieve all emotional connection that's needed with just a few scenes. The potentially drama-heavy dialogue, like Bullock talking about her dead daughter, or her talking to detached Clooney, both knowing he'll be dead soon, is instead short, quiet and restrained, which is precisely why it ends up being very affecting. When Bullock is in tears and on the edge of losing it, she doesn't deliver a big devastating speech, she does something a lot more primal, real - she tries to imitate a dog's bark, in the process giving the film perhaps its most touching and powerful scene. 

 

In an age when so many films, both big- and small-budgeted, suffer from bloatedness and their creators' inability to say "enough" before it's too late, Gravity is truly a breath of fresh air, a film that works as well as it does precisely because Cuaron never stretches out any moment for more than is needed. He takes the few essential elements of his premise - three astronauts, a shuttle, some debris, the ISS, the Chinese station - and gradually gets rid of each one, until all that's left is Bullock on a beach, slowly rising and walking as if taking her first ever steps. Indeed, considering what she's just gone through, you might as well say she is reborn. Cuaron doesn't linger for too long on her triumph, either - allowing the audience to experience and share just enough of it, he cuts to black at the earliest affordable opportunity. Doing that, he cements his own triumph.

 

*of course, considering the movie had two years of pre-production and two years of post-production, we'll probably never know how much it really cost to make. It's still damn impressive, though.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Jake Gittes

[Plain Old Tele]

all that's left is Bullock on a beach, slowly rising and walking as if taking her first ever steps. Indeed, considering what she's just gone through, you might as well say she is reborn.

 

Someone pointed out that her final moments are a microcosm of evolution, from swimming underwater to crawling (gasping) onto land, to staggering to her feet and finally taking those microgravity-weakened final steps of triumph. There's a lot of visual metaphors layered into the very simple story.

[Fanboy]

Someone pointed out that her final moments are a microcosm of evolution, from swimming underwater to crawling (gasping) onto land, to staggering to her feet and finally taking those microgravity-weakened final steps of triumph. There's a lot of visual metaphors layered into the very simple story.

That's what I thought instantly when I saw that shot of her crawling out of the water. There's something brilliantly poetic about floating above earth with absolutely nothing to hold you and trying to find something worth returning for. 

[Deep Wang]

This movie!Holy shit!!Cuarón, you magnificent bastard!!

[Crusader]

I don't wanna rain on everyone's parade here but this year can suck my dick movie-wise 

 

Its not bad but its just soooooo overrated IMO 

 

I liked the components ( director, actors, scope, music etc ) but the film was such a predictable manipulating affair that I was actually defending some of the aspects of it given how much most of the group I went along with hated it ( I talked them into going of course ) 

 

4/10 

 

Clooney was the brightest spot of the film by a mile 

[Fanboy]

I love how it seems like the movie is going to end at numerous different times. 

[Deep Wang]

I don't wanna rain on everyone's parade here but this year can suck my dick movie-wise Its not bad but its just soooooo overrated IMO I liked the components ( director, actors, scope, music etc ) but the film was such a predictable manipulating affair that I was actually defending some of the aspects of it given how much most of the group I went along with hated it ( I talked them into going of course ) 4/10 Clooney was the brightest spot of the film by a mile

I have no idea how you could find it predictable. I thought it could go either way up until her dream.

[lilmac]

A-I came into this movie somewhat blind. I avoided reviews. Only saw the first trailer. Whether that made a difference or not I don't know but I found the movie thrilling. I cringed involuntarily a few times during some of the tense moments so I know the movie was working in that regard. The score also stood out for me, especially at one point early on. Technically Gravity is a lock for Oscar nominations in the fx and sound (ironic huh?) categories.  Also, the 3D REALLY adds to the movie.  What I didn't like were some of the decisions made by Clooney's character early on. Having started my career at NASA and being familiar with that world, I kept shaking my head. Also, the positions of the debris field, other space stations, etc were a little too convenient. I also didn't think Bullock was a strong lead.Overall the pluses outweigh the takeaways. I expect several Oscar noms in January

Edited October 4, 2013 by lilmac

[lilmac]

This is the specific score theme I was referring to.  Very effective when you hear it in the film

 

 

http://youtu.be/6M6Y2jSICmU

[vc2002]

This is the specific score theme I was referring to.  Very effective when you hear it in the film

 

 

http://youtu.be/6M6Y2jSICmU

 

[CloneWars]

I thought this was an amazing film. Better than Argo, better than The Artist. I foresee this becoming a classic of cinema and making the AFI top 100.

 

This film is a masterpiece.

 

A+

 

See this in the biggest screen you can and in 3D. Absolute best 3D ever put to film.

[Crusader]

I have no idea how you could find it predictable. I thought it could go either way up until her dream.

 

really ? 

 

I thought as soon as Clooney was gone it was obvious who's gonna make it ... from that point on the movie suffered a great deal IMO as it lost all the tension about who makes it out. It was just a bunch of obstacles the main character was supposed to overcome both physically and emotionally and you already knew the outcome. That's how I saw it at least  

 

Buried was a movie that handled this kind of survivalist story much better in that regard 

[Crusader]

Judging by the comment section on coming soon's FB page ( my only way to see how people from all over the world are reacting to a certain movie ) I am not alone in my thinking 

 

I would also like for any of you guys to tell me did you really find it 'nerve-wrecking' or whatever the reviews called it ? 

 

I thought that after Clooney it was just your average task-filling ( insert emotion here and there ) thing 

 

I am really surprised I didn't like it given all the hype and general reception but I am firmly standing by my opinion 

 

As an art film it failed to move me and as a mainstream movie it failed to excite me 

 

Children of Men wasn't all that hot in the first hour but the final act of that film was amazing which turned around my opinion of the movie ... here both second and third acts are a choir to sit through 

[lilmac]

Judging by the comment section on coming soon's FB page ( my only way to see how people from all over the world are reacting to a certain movie ) I am not alone in my thinking 

 

I would also like for any of you guys to tell me did you really find it 'nerve-wrecking' or whatever the reviews called it ? 

 

I thought that after Clooney it was just your average task-filling ( insert emotion here and there ) thing 

 

I am really surprised I didn't like it given all the hype and general reception but I am firmly standing by my opinion 

 

As an art film it failed to move me and as a mainstream movie it failed to excite me 

 

Children of Men wasn't all that hot in the first hour but the final act of that film was amazing which turned around my opinion of the movie ... here both second and third acts are a choir to sit through 

 

 

I agree that Clooney played Clooney in this movie.  We get the same upward chin jerk we come to expect, witty easy-going banter, etc.  Not that all that is a bad thing - for me.

[Deep Wang]

really ? I thought as soon as Clooney was gone it was obvious who's gonna make it ... from that point on the movie suffered a great deal IMO as it lost all the tension about who makes it out.

See, I knew Clooney died going into it. The tension wasn't about who made it out, it was ARE they going to make it out. You assumed she was going to survive, I didn't. This isn't 127 Hours where we ultimately know the outcome. It could have gone either way and you had a 50/50 chance to guess correctly and you did.