Schmucks, I meant Gravity is out of this world in both a literal and figurative sense.
If Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón fails to win the Oscar in February for this electrifying film, there will be a river of blood in Los Angeles!
Written with great élan by Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón, Gravity is proof that in the right hands movies can still create magical moments when the lights dim.
A mesmerizing story, relentless action punctuated by dry wit along with an unmelodramatic ultimate sacrifice by one of the characters and extraordinary photography make Gravity one of the top entertainers this year.
This review is based on the 3D version of the film.
Remarkable Movie
Gravity’s theme is highly engaging even for jaded minds like SI who think they’ve seen it all or read it all!
What can be more exciting, more thrilling than to watch two astronauts stranded in the dark, silent, gravity-less space after their spacecraft is damaged by debris from a missile hit to a Russian satellite.
A catastrophe that’s compounded when debris from the Russian satellite subsequently damages several other satellites, in a chain reaction.
Gravity begins on a deceptively slow pace.
Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), on her first space mission, is doing component repair on the exterior of the Explorer space shuttle.
Mission commander Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) is engaged in banter with the ground station crew in Houston while simultaneously trying to set a world record for space walking.
Then comes a cautionary squawk from ground station crew on Earth about debris from the Russian satellite. A couple of minutes later, the ground station puts out a frantic “Abort Mission” warning.
Moments later, heavy debris pounds their spacecraft.
From then on, it’s nonstop high octane action in space like you’ve never seen above.
Astronauts get untethered from the mother ship, visibility is zero, oxygen supply gets dangerously low, their spacecraft is severely damaged, the sole survivors Ryan and Matt have to spacewalk 900 meters to a different space station, there’s a fire in the other spacecraft.
And all the time debris is hurtling through space.
How much action can you handle?
Any more and you’ll be breathless, requiring an oxygen mask! 😉
And you desi putzheads thought movie thrills emanated only from high-speed chases or fights a la Dabanng or Rowdy Rathore! 🙁
Gravity’s photography is so beautiful you won’t believe the movie was shot on terra firma at a location in England.
There’s a nice twist in the middle. For a few seconds, I was aghast! What the hell, has this turned into a Bollywood film, I wondered.
But all’s well!
Made for Sandra Bullock
As Sandra Bullock starts to look like a hag with the ravages of age, I find her more tolerable than in her high estrogen days!
Her “OMG, My Pussy is on Fire” panic style of acting suits her character in Gravity, although director Cuarón has made the actress tone down her style.
It takes a director of Cuarón’s caliber to make Sandra Bullock’s acting look appealing. 😉
Dependable Clooney
With George Clooney around, the odds of a good movie are very high.
And he is his usual charming, impressive self in Gravity, not disappointing for a moment.
First Class Entertainment
Gravity is a terrific movie that no movie lover should miss.
The movie is playing in theatres across the U.S.
Go for it!
Gravity Review – Out of THIS World added by SearchIndia.com on
View all posts by SearchIndia.com →
I bet this is really good. Planning to watch it soon.
Alfonso Cuaron made “Y Tu Mama Tambien” as well.
Looking forward to see his sci-fi persona.
Not yet released here yet. Scheduled for Oct 11 🙁
Theaters here are busy screening Besharam and Raja Rani, and movies such as Elysium and Prisoners are screened only as night-shows. Heard good reviews for Onaayum aatukutiyum (the Wolf and the lamb). Did it release there?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Surprising…I thought Hollywood movies release earlier there these days. Gravity is doing well here …the hall was 80-90% full yesterday!
Onaayum Aatukutiyum was playing here but not any more.
Attarintiki Daredi is going strong (6 shows today in North Bergen (just outside NYC)…that could be a reason why Onaayum Aatukutiyum has already been pulled.
Early release if and only-if the movie features one of the below.
1. Aliens attacking earth – either from sky or emerging from Ocean.
2. A superhero – called a xxxx-man (superman, batman, xmen, spiderman, what-not-man, etc)
3. Zombies or a ghost
4. Machines trying to take over earth.
5. Adult comedy sequences
The rest of the hollywood movies fall into the category of Good movies which find limited late release or no release.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Talking of comedies, Bad Grandpa is coming soon.
For a moment I thought you were making a sarcastic remark about Amitabh Bachchan. 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Speaking of Amitabh Bachchan, the most vivid memory I have of the wig-wallah is the fella screaming into the telephone:
I’m speaking of the days when India did not have direct dialing between cities and even superstars had to book “trunk calls” using the services of operators belonging to the telephone department.
Amitabh Bachchan was staying at a leading 5-star hotel in a major Indian city and making a call to his **********.
Every time Amitabh Bachchan booked a “trunk call,” there would be a frenzy among the telephone operators to listen in on his conversations.
Amitabh knew the operators were listening in on his calls but was helpless to do anything because the only way to call another city those days was to book a “trunk call.”
I’m speaking of telephone calls that go back several decades, an era before the advent of STD (no, no, not Sexually Transmitted Diseases but Subscriber Trunk Dialing).
So I suppose given his past telephone calls and present status as a grandpa, one could call Amitabh Bachchan a Bad Grandpa! 😉
Speaking of sexually transmitted diseases, have you heard about “this” brand of lungies?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiiRQbvizZA
Don’t miss the last part — “The symbol of manlihood”
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Ha ha ha! Nice ad!
I wonder why Lungis have never caught on with Americans!
BTW, who’s the babe? Just asking, to boost my General Knowledge 😉
Even though the plot line is weak (it is hard to believe that the debris will hit everything but Sandra Bullock’s escape route), and the dialogues border cheesy at times, you have to hand it for the direction and visual effects.
This movie will be a milestone in visual effects.
This movie is what theaters are built for – to be watched in IMAX 3D, wherever possible.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. I didn’t think the dialogs bordered on cheesy vis-a-vis both Ryan and Matt.
Remember, Ryan is in panic mode while Matt is a veteran of space missions with a degree of rapport with the ground station folks (that explains his bantering with them).
It could also be a cultural thing.
What we Indians think of cheesy or odd is natural to Americans. I have often sat in on meetings with Americans where they talk of stuff (particularly music, stars, live performances, entertainment etc) that appear silly to me.
2. Ryan does have one close shave with the debris (I think when she’s near the International Space Station or is it the Chinese station?).
3. Why are some objects (Ryan, Matt, tools, her helmet etc) floating slowly while debris is moving fast?
Am I missing something?
1) Well, it’s just my observation. No big deal, but just did not feel genuine.
2) Yes, she has numerous close shaves – that is what is hard to believe, especially given that she is not a real space walker and this is just her first time.
3) The velocity of an object is space (with near-zero gravity and near-zero friction) tends to remain constant. The debris being generated due to explosion of the Russian missile would travel at far greater speeds, since there is nothing to slow it down. Whereas the tools, helmet etc are not given the thrust by any means, and so tends to remain slower.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Thanks.
The movie seems to be setting the BO on fire……apparently the highest opening for an October film.
This is related to the film.
A guy called Paranjothi is claiming rights to the story of Gravity.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/hollywood-film-gravity-is-lifted-from-my-script/20131003.htm
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Interesting!
I was not aware of this angle to Gravity!
Gravity had a good opening – $55.785m in U.S.
Worldwide – $84.185m
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gravity.htm
One of the comments on the rediff page 🙂
please stop kidding yourself..
by samir gupta (View MyPage) on Oct 04, 2013 12:31 AM | Hide replies
mr paranjothi… have you seen Starflight..a Hollywood movie made in 1983 about a commercial flight with passsengers getting stuck in space.. If anyone has a right to sue these makers its the Producers of Starflight who thought of this idea and made a film 30 years ago…so please dont waste yours and others time saying this is an original idea.
also a regular plane cannot sstand the pressure of space..and space doesnt star till at least 300,000 ft above.. and not at 60,000 feet. take a refresher course in science first..haha
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086357/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
he fictional story of the first “hypersonic” commercial passenger plane, which can make the flight from New York to London in a mere four hours. On the maiden flight of this plane, a minor disaster occurs resulting in the plane actually leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and orbiting around the globe. A lack of heat-resistant tiling prevents the plane from simply re-entering the atmosphere. With oxygen (and therefore time) running out, the crew of the plane and the crew on the ground must figure out a way to return the plane and it’s passengers to safety.
– Written by Afterburner
This is the story of Starflight One, the world’s first “hypersonic plane,” which flies faster and higher than any other commercial jet. On the night of its maiden flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, a freak accident incolving an unauthorized rocket launch sends Starflight One out of the atmosphere and into a decaying orbit around the Earth. With no heat shielding and limited oxygen, it is up to the bravery of the crew and the ingenuity of NASA and the plane’s designers to save the passengers trapped on board.
– Written by nogimmicks
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Interesting.
Unfortunately, I don’t have Netflix (I subscribe to Hulu Plus now).
If I had NFLX, I’d have checked out Starflight.
If you have time, would you mind checking this film:
http://www.hometalkies.com/lucia/watch/?utm_source=Distrify&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=Widget-3254&distrify_affiliate=169875#distrify-player-3254
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Sweetie, I have all the time for you and your recommendations. 😉
But paying $10 for a movie rental is obscene, unheard of. That’s what I call Indian Greed at its worst!
In Kannada, they have a term for such people – Halka Baddi Makalu (lousy fellas).
RedBox is $1 per DVD, M-Go is 99 cents-$1.99, Netflix is $7.99 per month for unlimited movies, Hulu Plus for the world’s greatest classics is $7.99 a month for unlimited viewing, and Viki is free.
By the way, I paid $8.50 for the 3D version of Gravity in the theatre. To pay $10 for a month-old film rental on my PC sounds ridiculous to me.
If you get me a free legal promo code, I’d be glad to watch and review Lucia.
I watched the Lucia trailer and it looks interesting!
Sorry, I didn’t know about the rental charge. I was provided a link by my friend only to find that it’s available only outside India.
I saw Gravity today. The visual effects were fantastic but I felt the movie a bit dragging. it felt a lot longer than 90 minutes.
May be they should have added an item song or a Kuthu song with astronauts in all space stations performing synchronized dance steps. 😀
Have you seen ‘back to the future 2’, guess you haven’t.. then you wouldn’t recognize this… http://www.haltekindustries.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkyLnWm1iCs
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You’re right…I’ve only seen Back to the Future 1.
It was alright….but it seemed a bit dated when I watched it a couple of years back.
Rare are the movies that don’t age.
2. BTW, skateboards aren’t that big even in the U.S. these days. I seldom see kids on them. Probably once in 3 or 4 months.
Present day kids are likely playing skateboards on their iPads or iPhones. 😉