Gravity (2012)

From Alfonso Cuaron, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. In theaters Oct. 4.



I think this and Elysium are the only movies I'm going to see this year, though Sandra Bullock in a sci-fi lead is a bit of a head-scratcher.

It looks stunning, and genuinely scary to boot. What could be more terrifying than being surrounded on all sides by immediate, crushing death, even under controlled conditions? For that to go wrong is frightening.

So, I'm wondering how the whole film will play out. It's a very interesting concept.

I just found out I should be able to get 20min on the phone with Cuaron tomorrow a.m. Have enough questions to go for triple that, just based on the three trailer bits released. VFX look 99% convincing and in terms of how ambitious the approach is, I'm just flabbergasted by results, like SPACE COWBOYS on steroids, with genuine respect for inertia and very convincing lighting.

It certainly looks the business, though I must confess the concept is one that gets to me even without seeing it play out on screen, could be very intense.

Straight from the horse's mouth - no sound in space (unless she is touching something, in which case you have a kind of an aural vibration) except musical score. He is seriously downplaying comparisons to 2001, saying the length of time the films took from idea to release are about the only similarities.

My anticipation for this DWARFS what I had for PROMETHEUS ... but I don't think I'm going to be disappointed this time.

Control wrote:

So, I'm wondering how the whole film will play out. It's a very interesting concept.

Yeah, if there isn't more to it than it seems, then I wonder if the film can really sustain itself.

I love the idea of this film, but I wish the film were starring lesser-known actors. The fact that it's Clooney and Bullock takes me out of it a bit.

trevanian wrote:

Straight from the horse's mouth - no sound in space (unless she is touching something, in which case you have a kind of an aural vibration) except musical score.

I hope the score doesn't end up defeating the (admirable) purpose of the film's no-sound-in-space aspect.

Loomis wrote:

trevanian wrote:

Straight from the horse's mouth - no sound in space (unless she is touching something, in which case you have a kind of an aural vibration) except musical score.

I hope the score doesn't end up defeating the (admirable) purpose of the film's no-sound-in-space aspect.

I think it may depend sequence to sequence. I mean, you can go for awhile cutting from 'inside' her suit to outside to go sound and silence, and do it rhythmically to build suspense, but I don't think you could go like that for extended periods (and he wouldn't anyway, because he doesn't like cutting.)

I like the model used in the Kaufman BODY SNATCHERS where the sound effects and the music composing were done in concert, so there are times when the handoff between them isn't really distinct. You could have a certain tone of music that builds to the friction sound of somebody beginning re-entry ...

All of a sudden I'm imagining the 2001 spacewalks without the breathing sounds, hmm.

Is there anything more to this, or any hint to anything more to this, than what's in the trailers? Because so far that seems like the whole story.

I like to believe there's more to it, and that this is simply an attempt at only giving you an idea without giving too much away. I'll wait for the word of mouth on that.

Reviews from test screenings suggest there isn't really much more to the story.

I read a script summary a few days ago. What you see is what you get.

How does it end?

Largo's Shark wrote:

How does it end?

With a whimper.

Just as Clooney realises the meaning of life his oxygen runs out.

Critics in Venice were impressed.

http://www.slashfilm.com/early-buzz-alfonso-cuarons-gravity-stuns-critics-at-venice/

Have any of our Merican cousins seen this yet?

Loved it. A great theatrical experience and a film that finally takes real advantage of all the digital technology to really put us in another environment. The story is very simplistic, the joy and novelty is in seeing this physics problem writ large across the screen sprinkled with human drama. I dont know if it really stands up to repeat viewings because its so simple but that first viewing is a knockout.

Digital technology? Ho-hum, it's the fall of great cinema. [/bondandbeyondcrankmode]

Really though, I look forward to it. Dunno when I'll get to catch it, but hopefully soon. I liked some of Cuarón's past flicks.

CHILDREN OF MEN was one of the worst films of the last decade, I tell you.

You're one of the worst films of the last decade, I tell you.

How did it end?

I don't give away spoilers.

Saw it Friday night and thought it was quite incredible. I'm not a fan of 3D at all, but Cuaron really did it right with this one because the visuals really are downright stunning. I agree with Sykes about the story being very simple, but I don't think the film was really trying to be anything other than a survival story in the most spectacular of places (space). In that regard, I think GRAVITY succeeds brilliantly.

Curious to see what the rest of the board's take on it is (especially Harms and trevanian). What's the release date for your folks on the other side of the pond?