James Cameron introduced us to 3D with Avatar in 2009. And, he set a benchmark -- the 3D visual effects in Avatar were unimaginably mind blowing. There have been scores of movies ever since that were released in 3D, but none were even a patch on Avatar. Four years hence, today in 2013, finally we've entered another era of scintillating 3D visual effects -- brought to us by Alfonso Cuaron through his visual masterpiece, Gravity.
Gravity is not your regular movie. It's an experience, something that has never ever been thought to be presented the way it has been, leave alone anything coming close to it. The biggest pull of gravity is how seamlessly natural it makes you feel a part of astronauts' life up in space and at the same time wondering at the stunning visuals of Earth from up above. It's difficult to imagine how a 90 minute movie can be exciting enough with just two actors. That's until you sit through marvelling the way everything has been so excitingly and grippingly woven in those 90 minutes. You actually can feel the haunting loneliness and perpetual darkness of outer space, interspersed with bright and colorful Earth.
The movie opens with a breathtaking single shot of around 10-15 minutes with astronauts aboard a US satellite working on doing the regular repair works on the satellite. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is the Mission Specialist doing the repairs as is another Engineer, Shariff, while the mission commander, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), while doing the rounds around the satellite, indulges funny chit chat with the Houston Mission Control. And that's when Houston informs them to immediately abort the mission as there had been a report of a Russian Satellite being destroyed and its debris approaching towards their satellite at extremely high speeds. A slack in their response, and they pay heavily, resulting in their satellite being completely devastated. Amidst the pandemonium, Ryan is thrown away into the deep dark space, until Kowalski manages to brings her back only to find nothing remains of their satellite, with all other crew members dead. And now, they have to reach the International Space Station (ISS) if they want to return back to Earth. That's just the start of their troubles as the satellite debris keep on wreaking havoc with all their efforts. That's all I am going to reveal. The movie brings some dramatic twists and unexpected moments.
Talking about 3D, I have to admit this is the most stunning movie ever set in 3D. I'll put it this way - 3D deserves this movie. I have a simple parameter to judge how effective are 3D effects of a movie - the number of times it makes me feel something is going to pop out of screen into my face and makes me twitch back to avoid being hit by that something. The count was 2 for Avatar and about 7-8 for Gravity. It's for those very moments you go to watch a 3D movie, and gravity delivers it over and over again.
The movie belongs to Sandra Bullock - start to end. George Clooney fits the role to a Tee, and he is as charming up in space as he is when walking down on Earth. Although I felt Ryan Stone's character was a bit hurriedly taken through a rollercoaster ride of so many emotions, the length of the movie is spot on. Anything longer would have probably killed the movie. The ending too seemed deliberately set in the surroundings to evoke a certain type of emotion and give it that lonely look that has been portrayed throughout the movie. I think, a bustling backdrop would have given it a more dramatic end. But, no more nitpicking for it was the best visual cinematic treat in many years.
And yes, before I end, even as the movie is set in upper space, there is hardly any rocket science stuff that the characters talk about. It's mostly about their emotions and how to survive. So, if you go with the expectations of finding more about black holes, dark matter, and dark energy, Gravity is certainly not your Astronomy 101.
If you miss this, you don't deserve to be called a movie fan. And if you are not a movie fan, this is the only movie in 2013 I would recommend you to see. Go feast your eyes and senses.
Gravity is not your regular movie. It's an experience, something that has never ever been thought to be presented the way it has been, leave alone anything coming close to it. The biggest pull of gravity is how seamlessly natural it makes you feel a part of astronauts' life up in space and at the same time wondering at the stunning visuals of Earth from up above. It's difficult to imagine how a 90 minute movie can be exciting enough with just two actors. That's until you sit through marvelling the way everything has been so excitingly and grippingly woven in those 90 minutes. You actually can feel the haunting loneliness and perpetual darkness of outer space, interspersed with bright and colorful Earth.
The movie opens with a breathtaking single shot of around 10-15 minutes with astronauts aboard a US satellite working on doing the regular repair works on the satellite. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is the Mission Specialist doing the repairs as is another Engineer, Shariff, while the mission commander, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), while doing the rounds around the satellite, indulges funny chit chat with the Houston Mission Control. And that's when Houston informs them to immediately abort the mission as there had been a report of a Russian Satellite being destroyed and its debris approaching towards their satellite at extremely high speeds. A slack in their response, and they pay heavily, resulting in their satellite being completely devastated. Amidst the pandemonium, Ryan is thrown away into the deep dark space, until Kowalski manages to brings her back only to find nothing remains of their satellite, with all other crew members dead. And now, they have to reach the International Space Station (ISS) if they want to return back to Earth. That's just the start of their troubles as the satellite debris keep on wreaking havoc with all their efforts. That's all I am going to reveal. The movie brings some dramatic twists and unexpected moments.
Talking about 3D, I have to admit this is the most stunning movie ever set in 3D. I'll put it this way - 3D deserves this movie. I have a simple parameter to judge how effective are 3D effects of a movie - the number of times it makes me feel something is going to pop out of screen into my face and makes me twitch back to avoid being hit by that something. The count was 2 for Avatar and about 7-8 for Gravity. It's for those very moments you go to watch a 3D movie, and gravity delivers it over and over again.
The movie belongs to Sandra Bullock - start to end. George Clooney fits the role to a Tee, and he is as charming up in space as he is when walking down on Earth. Although I felt Ryan Stone's character was a bit hurriedly taken through a rollercoaster ride of so many emotions, the length of the movie is spot on. Anything longer would have probably killed the movie. The ending too seemed deliberately set in the surroundings to evoke a certain type of emotion and give it that lonely look that has been portrayed throughout the movie. I think, a bustling backdrop would have given it a more dramatic end. But, no more nitpicking for it was the best visual cinematic treat in many years.
And yes, before I end, even as the movie is set in upper space, there is hardly any rocket science stuff that the characters talk about. It's mostly about their emotions and how to survive. So, if you go with the expectations of finding more about black holes, dark matter, and dark energy, Gravity is certainly not your Astronomy 101.
If you miss this, you don't deserve to be called a movie fan. And if you are not a movie fan, this is the only movie in 2013 I would recommend you to see. Go feast your eyes and senses.
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