Posted on 10/04/2013 1:47:26 PM PDT by NYer
We see so many big-budget science-fiction spectacles — so many painstakingly realized fantasy worlds and lavishly rendered alien landscapes and environments, inhabited by extravagantly imagined extraterrestrial species, with fantastic spacecraft and starships traveling through hyperspace and all manner of wormholes, nebulae and so forth.
Yet simple weightlessness, though no more exotic than the space shuttle, remains among the most fascinating, captivating effects in any Hollywood production of recent years.
It’s an effect put to mesmerizing use by Alfonso Cuarón in his action thriller Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts on a space walk that goes terribly wrong.
Gorgeous, nerve-racking, literally awesome, Gravity takes us to a world much nearer in both time and space than Duncan Jones’ Moon; nearer even than the layer of satellites that our mobile phones and GPS devices talk to every day: only about 350 miles away, in the low Earth orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope. Roughly the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco — but oh, that’s far enough.
Far enough for the Earth to be, not a location, but a silent third character in what is largely a simple, relentless two-character survival story. The familiar blue-and-green orb looms large in the background or reflected in space-suit visors. It is home, a place of life, of human connection — so close, yet so inaccessible.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
I feel it will lose a lot on a small screen. Of course, if you have a 60” sitting on the TV stand at home...well.
Small spoiler ahead!!!!!
Visualy this movie was a masterpiece. The directors style was very different, and that gave it some variety. Not all may care for it. A bit plodding and overly faux suspenseful at times as we all know Sandra will no die. Not much plot, you just bounce from one crisis to the next, rinse repeat.
As an avid space/NASA buff, and as an engineer, I despised it. It was chocked full of “Hollywood Physics”, that made me want to scream, since it could have been made more that exciting enough without resorting to this, including the old “two climbers hanging from a single rope not strong enough to hold both of them for long” trope. Ug! YOU'RE WEIGHTLESS MORONS!!!!
And there are some nice shots of Sandra as well. Nothing with a lot of skin, but very nice none the less. I believe they tried a bit to hard to write that long pause with her in the back light (you'll know it when you see it) into the screenplay. But I suppose they had to given who it was. But it realy needs to be seen on the big screen.
Not at all.
Thank you for your review. I had not considered such an equation but that makes perfect sense. Thanks again for the post and ping.
I’ve seen them all. In fact, just watched “Roman Holiday” on Netflix. Saw “Romancing the Stone” years ago. Too bad it’s Michael Douglas, but yeah, it was a fun romp. And “It Happened One Night” is a true classic. Bawdy without being dirty, and funny all at the same time. Capra was a genius.
Too cute and sweet.
To be sure, there were definitely some doubtful physics, but some of it made more sense than I expected -- there were elements of "hanging on to the edge of a cliff with one hand" and then getting badly shaken (but not letting go). Totally fake looking (how strong a grip does she have??) until you realize that everything is weightless. Then it seems to make sense. But, yes, in some ways it was very much "Hollywood".
I thought it would have been nice if they had referred to the Kessler Effect, which is basically what the movie is about. But I suppose no one cares about terminology. Bottomline: space debris is not a minor problem.
Also, Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman is the best drama I've seen in a very long time.
I highly recommend it. It reminded me of Apocalypto, which was all about a guy running through the woods, but what a journey it was. This was the same way for me.
Heh. Well said.
I might have to go see it. I saw three of the big sci fi blockbusters over the summer — Man of Steel, Republicans in Space, and the one with the giant robots — and nearly fell asleep in all three. Maybe this one can redeem them.
Go see Prisoners, as well.
Enders Game comes out next month. Can’t wait for that one....
Republicans in Space? Which one was that? I missed Europa Report, if that’s the one you’re referring too.
I saw it. I won’t say much about it except that I enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun to see a movie with a shuttle and the ISS (for starters) in a disaster/survival film. For me, it seemed to be a fictionalized summary of several real-life events that have occurred in since the 60’s.
I’m reminded of the astronaut, several years ago, that lost a very expensive tool kit in space because the astronaut forgot to secure it before letting go of it.
I’m going to have to make an effort to enlarge my collection of hard-sci-fi films. There was one movie I saw as a kid about an American stranded on the moon. At one point he finds a dead cosmonaut. At the end, he finds an empty return ship that he can use, IIRC. Anyone remember that one?
Everyone I know says it MUST be seen on a big screen, the bigger the better. Ain’t gonna get the same effect from netflix.
It was the one with Matt Damon about a future where the wealthy had moved to a space station leaving the poor to live miserable lives on Earth. It was billed as non-political but was in fact overtly, boneheadedly political. I’m blanking again on the actual title.
Elysium.
That’s it.
Ah, yes! “Elysium!”
No, I personally called that one “Idiocracy: the Prequel.” Now that you have me started, I must explain! Feel free to laugh!
That movie had Matt Damon begging to be allowed to work on a factory floor with a broken arm while his boss kept saying, “I can’t let youse woik like dat!” But, being a movie, he relents and then, naturally, Matt finds himself in a dangerous, work-related situation and needs help. Boss doesn’t care, “Ay! If youse don’t ged in dere and figs it, I’ll finds somebuddy WHO WILL!” Which leads to all the high-action shenanignas because Matt is nearly killed.
For their part, the people on Elysium basically took all their marbles and went home into space. “There! The earth is yours! ALL YOURS! Make the best of it!” But of course, they’re the big meanies because they the have magic beds that heal people miraculously and instantaneously. But, strangely, many of them still have to work on earth and, if they have a life-threatening owie where seconds count, the goodies are 20-30 minutes away. Because the big meanies wouldn’t have any of those devices on earth! NO WAY!
Stupid from beginning to end.
Yep, that’s it in a nutshell. A few freepers made the good point that the unspoken (and possibly unconscious) premise of the film is that the 99 percent are complete idiots who can’t manage their own lives, making it a perfect expression of the liberal worldview.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.