LogFAQs > #913302140

#12 - Gravity (2013)
Inviso - 4
Scarlet - 4
JONA - 7
Wickle - 10
KBM - 14
Genny - 16
Stifled - 17
Snake - 24
Charon - 26
Johnbobb - 27
Karo - 27
Total: 176

"This movie combines a bunch of elements that I LOVE in sci-fi movies. You have the disaster movie, where the main character/s are thrown into an unwinnable situation due to circumstances beyond their control. You have a sole astronaut trying to survive and deal with the fear and crippling loneliness of having everyone else taken away and being forced to fend for herself. You have just this AMAZING production design with not only the visual effects, but the audio effects as well. That opening scene with Ryan strapped into the extension arm and flying off into space triggered my claustrophobia and made me feel panic for her. Thats such an untenable situation to find yourself in. And the rest of the movie just keeps hitting her over and over again. When the ISS pod runs out of fuel, I teared up, because that resignation and willingness to give up and let death take her was such an emotional moment. But she perseveres and she improvises, and you just cant help but root for her to pull off a miracle and make it back to Earth. Its just a touching ending to a beautiful film." ~Inviso

"What It Is: The deadliest son of a bitch in space.

Why It Matters: Gravity was the first in a string of big-budget blockbusters to be released in October, and it fared so well that we've been doing it ever since. It also was a major advancement in the special effects department for science fiction films... and it's the movie that pretty much put Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the map for Hollywood.

What I Think: Mission Control, I have a good feeling about this mission. It reminds me of the time I first saw Gravity years ago. I can count on my hands the number of movies that truly require a theatrical viewing. Gravity stands out among these films, so for my rewatch, I went to a friends house and commandeered his home theater for the evening. I also brought one of my best friends so I could watch it through new eyes. The experience Gravity creates is just so utterly unique. I think a great word to describe the opening 20 minutes is "disorienting". Very few movies cause you as a viewer to palpably feel the panic and tension of a main character. But Ryan is presented as an everyman character, on her first mission and still a little bit green despite her clear qualifications for repairwork. The smooth, charismatic Clooney eventually steers her in the right direction and, although he disappears partway through the movie, she channels him in such a simultaneously sweet and constructive way. But in the meantime, my God, the feeling of weightlessness this movie gives you. Have you ever been on a rollercoaster and right after tipping over the top edge, you begin the plummet down a large hill? There's a tingling sensation I get in the bottom of my feet, a sort-of apprehensive and futile feeling that causes them to scream out that they have no purchase. This movie actually gave me that exact feeling, and it was magnificent. I didn't think that sort of experience could be duplicated, but the sound editing, the visuals and music all contributed to a movie that is experiential.
---

"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful