Buy Gravity (2013)

Customer Ratings:

ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Just moments after this movie ended my daughter leaned over to me and declared, "This is the most perfect film I have ever seen in just about every way."

I had to agree.

GRAVITY gives you everything: thrilling action, awesome visuals, incomparable cinematic spectacle, a terrifying scenario, an exciting adventure, and a masterpiece of minimalist characterization. They all combine in one pedal-to-the-metal slam-bam technically perfect movie that gives you equal shots of hope and hopelessness from the first frame to the very last.

It is as electrifying a film as I have ever seen, with scarcely a down moment in it, hardly a misused frame. I won't spend time telling you anything about the plot; if the trailers haven't told you enough about why this film is a must see, then I can give you two words that should do it...

Sandra Bullock.

She is not only in practically every frame of the movie, but she exposes herself emotionally here in more ways than I could count: she is equal parts victim and heroine, emotional and calculating, frightened and bold, wounded and powerful. She is a tortured soul who reveals herself in dribs and drabs, revealing her emotional torment when it will have the most effect. The movie is as much about what HAS happened to her as what IS happening to her. She is able to make herself as interesting and captivating as the events that occur during the film, and this is important: rather than simply being a movie about a series of cascading terrors, it is equally about the human spirit, the "stuff" that lies inside us that drives us to go on when going on seems impossible.

GRAVITY is amazing. See it in IMAX 3D if you can; it is worth the money. The technology depicted in the movie is stunning--but I imagine I will be as amazed when I finally get the DVD and find out HOW these truly amazing scenes were shot. Alfonso Cuaron does remarkable job as director, co-writer and co-editor of this absolutely wonderful accomplishment. His technically perfect movie never loses track of the actor within it--I won't be surprised if this achieves Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Acting nominations this year, notwithstanding a half-dozen other technically-related ones.

There have been some critics who have found fault with the movie's accuracy when it comes to the positioning of the space stations, the likelihood of a debris field causing a "Kesslar Syndrome" this devastating, and some other technical flaws, but I will leave these people to their respective perturbations. To me it doesn't matter if GRAVITY is science fiction or simply fiction about science. What it definitely IS is a tour de force balls-to-the-wall spectacle that will leave you gasping. Don't miss it.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Many people don't take science fiction seriously, but here's a movie that might work for those who don't usually like the genre. There are no aliens, unknown worlds, monsters, or laser shootouts. This is a movie that's set in the real world, or more accurately, above it.

The story opens with a George Clooney voice-over. We meet astronauts working to repair a satellite. This shows how calm such a silent world can be. I reluctantly saw the movie in 3D, but this was one occasion that I came away feeling that it added to the experience. It almost made me dizzy seeing Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (Clooney) go about their routine business with Earth looming large in the background. Indeed, the cinematography was breathtaking throughout the 90 minutes.

I don't want to give away too many details, but if you have seen the trailer or even looked at the poster, you'll know that this movie is far from being a calm ride. An accident sends debris racing toward the astronauts like some kind of deadly shrapnel. What follows is a story about the strength of the human spirit, and the will to survive against all odds. Remember that the word gravity has more than one meaning.

While I enjoyed Sandra Bullock's performances in The Blind Side and Speed, I would hardly describe myself as a fan. However, I left the theater thinking that she carried the whole movie, and it's easily the most accomplished performance of her career.

Alfonso Cuarón directed Y Tu Mamá También, Children of Men, and the best Harry Potter movie (Azkaban), but this is comfortably my favorite from his impressive portfolio. The story is lean, gripping, thoughtful, thrilling, scary, breathtaking, beautiful, and emotional, and feels perfectly paced at every point. He doesn't insult us by giving too much exposition, and that draws us deeper into the story. His use of extreme close-ups is another reason we are drawn to these characters. It's hard to avoid feeling that you are a part of the movie.

As I watched, I thought of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, Apollo 13, Cast Away, Alien, and a few other great movies. Cuarón lets us see his characters thinking, and that's a good thing. Remember that astronauts are not selected because they are stupid or incapable of adapting in extreme situations. I'm always impressed when I see a movie which takes the trouble to show how people really think. It's not an easy thing to do well. This choice works perfectly and helps the whole story succeed because it's so believable.

Although the visuals dazzled on a regular basis, my favorite shot in the whole movie was Sandra Bullock in the fetal position. It jumped out at me as being so appropriate for the scene, and it was a stroke of genius. You'll know what I mean when you see it. The opening titles remind us that there is no sound in space, just as Kubrick depicted almost 50 years ago.

I admire this movie so much that I would happily watch it again tomorrow. It's a wild 90 minutes. I left the theater feeling as if it was an effort to be back in the real world. I was totally immersed in the story to the point of being almost unable to function when it was over. I'm glad I had a long walk back to the car so that I could catch my breath.

There are so many reasons to see this movie, even if you hate science fiction. It won't be forgotten when the awards season arrives. See it immediately. I would even go as far to say you should see it in 3D.

Best Deals for Gravity (2013)

(2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)The irony of the film's title is that there isn't any, gravity that is, but that's not to say it lacks gravitas. It does in ways both unexpected and transcendent. It's been seven long years since Alfonso Cuarón's last film, 2006's emotionally propulsive thriller, Children of Men, which was a masterful work of suspense in the midst of one seriously dystopian vision of the apocalypse. Somehow, the less-than-prolific filmmaker manages to surpass that impressive work with this terrifying yet genuinely profound 2013 science-fiction thriller that buzzes by in a fleet 91 minutes. Although Ang Lee effectively used 3-D CGI effects to enhance the magical realism of Life of Pi, I have never seen a film use them as purposefully and powerfully as Cuarón does here within the dramatic structure of the story. Co-written with his son Jonás, the screenplay, by contrast, is life-size in its intimacy and even with all the technical jargon, at times poetic. This combination gives the film an almost mythic reach and at the same time, brings insight into the way the human spirit works against the overwhelming emptiness of space. The story takes place about 372 miles above Earth, and the alternately ethereal and scarifying setting is captured in brilliant detail by ace cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and special effects master Tim Webber.

Pay particularly close attention to the uninterrupted seventeen-minute sequence that opens the film. It's a bravura piece of cinema by anyone's standards. In brief, bio-medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone is on her first space mission studiously installing a device to fix the Hubble Space Telescope on the U.S Space Shuttle Explorer. Mission commander Matt Kowalski is a veteran astronaut who devilishly spacewalks around her in a jet pack. Mission Control reports that the Russians have blown up one of their own satellites which transforms into a massive attack of hurling debris that arrives in a matter of seconds and will continue to make an orbital return causing massive destruction every ninety minutes. There is no time for the crew to return to the shuttle much less Earth, and the damage to the craft and nearby International Space Station is extensive. It's enough to say that Stone sets off on a journey not only of physical survival but spiritual awakening as her character has been in a listless state since a senseless personal tragedy occurred back home. If you don't count the voiceovers at the beginning, there are only two actors who make up the entire cast, and they are grade-A stars who bring their personal charisma to the fore.

George Clooney has the smaller of the two roles as Kowalski, and he uses his natural insouciance to great effect as his wisecracking gives way to a character who provides the knowledgably becalming tone that Stone needs at the story's most critical points. He makes one particularly risky scene work by the sheer magnitude of his character's life-affirming bravado. He also impressively wrote the scene. Even so, this is Sandra Bullock's film from start to finish, and it amazes me how she wasn't even among the top casting choices for the role (Angelina Jolie turned it down twice). Although Stone may come across as emotionally stunted, Bullock offers her natural likeability as a necessary counterbalance. However, that observation short-changes her stellar work here, especially the pure physicality of her performance. Intriguingly, her character is not that far removed from the one she played nearly twenty years earlier in While You Were Sleeping in that both deal with personal losses with an emotional alertness that wins us over completely. Only this time she does it with a graceful maturity that deepens the catharsis of the incredible odyssey she experiences, this in spite of a few overtly sentimental moments thrown in for good measure. Regardless, this is Cuarón's towering cinematic achievement, and the movie truly stands on its own.

Honest reviews on Gravity (2013)

I came out of this film thinking "This is the best film I've ever seen in my life!" (And I'm over 70 so I've seen a lot of films). And then I read the reviews here and find that a lot of other people felt the same way. This isn't a movie that people just like. All the reviews say something like "The best film of the year", "The best film ever of its genre", "This film is the most perfect film I've ever seen in just about every way", "an extraordinary film", "I'm in awe,"etc. There aren't many movies that get reviews like this.

You just have to see this film in 3D with the silly glasses. And don't think "Oh I'll wait and see it when it comes on on DVD, etc", because you will get just 10% of the experience. The experience of seeing this movie on the big screen, in 3D, is what you want. Please don't miss it because you will regret it forever. An extraordinary film!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Gravity (2013)

When the movie was finished and I walked out of the theater, I was still holding my breath. It took me some time to begin breathing normally, and for the next several hours I reflected on this incredible thrill-ride.

The effects are staggering. The views are mesmerizing. The soundtrack is grand. But Ms. Bullock's acting is what really makes this film the ride of the century.

Sandra Bullock's emotions come through in a way that brings me close to her. I feel her fear, her anguish, her hopelessness. It's her acting talent that brings me into the story and gives me a part in the film.

Yes, the special effects tell a compelling story, as does the soundtrack. But Ms. Bullock's acting puts this film over the top. It is clearly the best movie this year; and for this genre, it's certainly the best ever.

Screenplay, cinematography, acting, and soundtrack are all absolutely first rate.

I watched it in 3D. For most films, I think 3D detracts (and distracts) from the story but this film is better for being in 3D. I also think that the experience in the theater is well worth it.

See it. And for once, I say see it in 3D.