Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

This movie only just opened in the UK, about.... like.... like.... 14 years after you guys in the USA have already seen and forgotten it.

But, bloody hell, that was fantastic! Saw it in IMAX 3D - the long takes and suspense and cinematography and fancy camera moves were just amazing. Makes all those endless superhero movies boring by comparison. Movie of the year so far!

not long to go now...

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

I saw it in 3D, which I usually do not like but I absolutely loved this film. It was so bloody good.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Just saw it today and wow, is this the best movie of all time ever in the history of the universe or what?

Sure you can quibble and nitpick (I did on a couple of things) but what a spectacular, beautiful, tense movie. I literally cannot remember the last time I was so enthralled by a story and in sheer awe of what I was seeing. That I saw it at the IMAX in 3D was the cherry on the proverbial icing.

Loved all the details and most of all how it trusted the audience to understand what was going on. There seemed very little pandering to idiots. I would bet that in any other movie, Stone would have commented to herself on how she was feeling the effects of gravity as she lay on that beach trying to get up.

To borrow a phrase; Gravity is a perfect movie and if you don't agree then you're Hitler.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

redxavier wrote:

To borrow a phrase; Gravity is a perfect movie and if you don't agree then you're Hitler.

Perfect? No. That scene where she talks on the radio is awful. It just doesn't work at all. It's a very good movie, but that scene knocks a few points off for me.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Well, I've only seen it the once and didn't notice anything especially egregrious about that scene. I thought Bulloch's performance was pretty great throughout, it seemed like a real, genuine character - her voice would break a little when she raised it and the range of emotions that played out on her face on her journey home and in her eyes was exemplary.

Do you really mean it was awful, or was it actually just less awesome than the rest of the movie?

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

redxavier wrote:

Well, I've only seen it the once and didn't notice anything especially egregrious about that scene. I thought Bulloch's performance was pretty great throughout, it seemed like a real, genuine character - her voice would break a little when she raised it and the range of emotions that played out on her face on her journey home and in her eyes was exemplary.

Do you really mean it was awful, or was it actually just less awesome than the rest of the movie?

I really thought it was awful. When she started howling along with the dog, I cringed. A few people in the audience started to giggle, and I don't blame them. I don't think the movie needed a scene where she connects with Earth, let alone a scene this awkward.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Doctor Submarine wrote:


I really thought it was awful. When she started howling along with the dog, I cringed. A few people in the audience started to giggle, and I don't blame them. I don't think the movie needed a scene where she connects with Earth, let alone a scene this awkward.

I think that scene works precisely because it's so cringeworthy and pathetic what she's doing. When she realizes how pathetic it is and breaks down weeping, it's a very real and emotional moment.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Darth Praxus wrote:

I think that scene works precisely because it's so cringeworthy and pathetic what she's doing. When she realizes how pathetic it is and breaks down weeping, it's a very real and emotional moment.

I'm not entirely sure I buy that interpretation, but okay.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

That was the way I saw it as well.

So... perfECT!

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

In fact, that's my favorite scene in the movie, and elevates it over just being a genre disaster movie.

Also, just an observation, but between Gravity and Europa Report, I'm really loving the resurgence of secular scientists as movie protagonists.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Wow, that scene actually worked for all you guys? It seemed obviously bad to me. Whatevs. I'm never going to love this movie as much as most people. It's a visual marvel with some cool symbolism. Not the greatest sci-fi movie ever, or even the greatest movie of the year.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

The scene worked fine for me. It's an awkward beat but it's also a human beat, which is what matters. It's not my favorite scene -- that would be the scene where she's trying to detach the parachute while the world ends around her -- but it didn't strike me as false.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Dorkman wrote:

The scene worked fine for me. It's an awkward beat but it's also a human beat, which is what matters. It's not my favorite scene -- that would be the scene where she's trying to detach the parachute while the world ends around her -- but it didn't strike me as false.

I just didn't see the point of it, and if it was a better scene that wouldn't have mattered. Like I said earlier, I don't think we need a scene of her talking to that random guy. Cuaron was kinda jumping through hoops to get some lines in there for Bullock, to give her someone to talk to. It would have been so much bolder to just cut the bullshit and have almost NO dialogue after the first few scenes. All Is Lost did this perfectly.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Well, I strongly disagree. It's a beautiful meditative moment, where in this dark void of space when she's at her lowest point, she's able to get comfort and solace from a human being in a completely different culture and language. This idea of humanity as one entity in a universal sense.

It's exactly the kind of scene you would almost never get in this kind of movie, and it gives the movie a greater weight than just being a procedural space movie with no larger ambitions.

Edit: Also, the short-film on the blu-ray will have the story of the character on the other end, which I'm really curious to see.

Last edited by bullet3 (2013-11-15 00:49:21)

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

bullet3 wrote:

Well, I strongly disagree. It's a beautiful meditative moment, where in this dark void of space when she's at her lowest point, she's able to get comfort and solace from a human being in a completely different culture and language. This idea of humanity as one entity in a universal sense.

It's exactly the kind of scene you would almost never get in this kind of movie, and it gives the movie a greater weight than just being a procedural space movie with no larger ambitions.

I guess this gets back to the idea that I was expecting a much more minimalistic movie, and I got a relatively dense and layered one instead. I'd like Gravity a lot more if it was the former instead of the latter. Because come on, we see this kind of scene all the time. The lone hero, at his/her lowest point, reaches out to someone to spill their guts right before the climactic sequence. It's in Die Hard for god's sake.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

I just think what you're describing isn't as interesting for a story set in Space. Space is this giant landscape that makes it ripe for metaphor and larger statements about humanity. Particularly with a movie taking place around the orbit of the entire planet. If you're purely going to use the setting for just a minimalist survival thriller with no larger context or statement, there's no real reason to set it in space in the first place, aside from challenging yourself technically. It becomes just another Open Water or Buried, with just the gimmick of Space being the hostile force around the character instead of water or dirt. I think it's a waste of time to spend 4 years making a photo-real space drama like that with no larger human context and nothing to say.

I think I was the reverse of you, where the 1st trailer made me think it was just gonna what you describe, and then I was pleasantly surprised that the movie was much more humanist and layered than it originally looked.

Last edited by bullet3 (2013-11-15 01:00:05)

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Yeah, but the other problem is that Gravity doesn't have a whole lot to say. There's some conception/birth imagery which is interesting but I don't understand what this whole "grand vision about humanity" is that you're talking about. What did you get out of it that I didn't?

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Well, just off-hand, I'd say the whole thing works as a depression metaphor, the idea of being adrift and wanting to retreat away and give-up, and the importance of "planting your feet" back in reality and living your life despite the hardships, because it's worth the ride. As you point out, this whole process is also framed with the rebirth imagery. There's also a theme of cross-cultural connection, we are one humanity. Whether it's the shared moment on the radio, or the different religious relics we prominently see on each country's ship. There's definitely a bit of a religious message running through it actually, with the astronauts transmissions to Houston "in the blind" acting as a form of prayer. "Just because you can't hear them doesn't mean they can't save your life".

I'd need to see it again to dig into it, and you're right, none of this is cutting edge, but I don't think it has to be, and it's definitely there.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

I like all of those interpretations a lot. It's still not what I wanted the film to be, but for what it is, Gravity kicks ass 99% of the time.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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95

Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

It's absolutely one of the greatest movies I've ever seen — but not because of the writing. Certainly not. The dialogue is downright second-rate, if you ask me, but it doesn't ruin the movie for me, obviously, since I've gone back to see it three times.

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Apart from the stunning VFX (those render times must have been horrendous), I enjoyed the fact that the movie was NOT about saving humanity. There was no portal to close that was about to let an alien invasion take place. There was no evil super villain.

Having only two characters and lots of still scenes and long takes make excellent use of the 3D. Other 3D movies suffer by having too many edits, shaky cam, and too much action for the brain to process.

A couple of minor downsides: the 'gotta get back on the horse' character-arc sub-plot was a bit forced, and a couple of physics quibbles (fire extinguisher, Clooney sacrifice).  Not enough to ruin the movie though. No where near it.

not long to go now...

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

Framestore's Tim Webber (VFX Supervisor) on Gravity...

http://www.fxguide.com/fxpodcasts/fxpod … n-gravity/

not long to go now...

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

avatar wrote:

Apart from the stunning VFX (those render times must have been horrendous), I enjoyed the fact that the movie was NOT about saving humanity. There was no portal to close that was about to let an alien invasion take place. There was no evil super villain.

Yes, that did make it refreshing. Just plain old real adversity.


The one major inaccuracy that I've not seen anyone talk about? All EMUs have SAFERs attached to them, even when attached to the arm. These Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue packs are a little propulsive unit that fits onto the main backpack and are designed specifically to allow astronauts to move around and return in case of trouble. So Stone should have been able to stabilise and return to the shuttle on her own. I looked, she's not wearing one.

Now one could have made the argument that this was before these were introduced, back when the bigger MMU was being tested - that famous picture of Bruce McCandless doing the first untethered EVA looks remarkably like what Clooney is doing (and he says he is testing it) - in the 80s I think it was and following a typical old Hubble repair mission profile, except the film is much more likely to be set in the future with the Tiangong station completed, the ISS completed, and shuttle missions at STS-157 (we ended at 135).

Also, the station tends to have railings and handles all over it, ideally an astronaut can move across most of its surface without ever untethering (in actual fact, astronauts always remain tethered), so I was quite surprised to see Stone take numerous risks leaping from one rail to the next. Considering that she was always missing things, I would have thought that she'd be clinging on for dear life. Granted she was in a bit of a hurry.

And airlock doors wouldn't fly open like that, that would have smashed an astronaut's helmet or sent him/her flying away.

Finally, I'm pretty sure the Soyuz flight suit has to have an external power source etc. and whilst when she's detaching the parachute she has the umbilical, she doesn't later have it when she's transfering to the Tiangong. In fact, technically, she'd be wearing the Sokol suit, which isn't designed for EVA at all. However, maybe in this near future they are?


Yep, I wish I hadn't spend the last 2-3 years or so researching about this stuff for my own story, I wouldn't have noticed stuff like this.



Edit - conversely, I buy that Kowalski decides to detach himself, since Stone doesn't have an adequate anchor to pull him in. The act of pulling on the tether would have exerted force on the ropes around her leg and at the other end, which would likely have come loose as a result. You know, for every force there is an equal and opposite reaction?

Last edited by redxavier (2013-11-16 12:30:33)

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

redxavier wrote:
avatar wrote:

Apart from the stunning VFX (those render times must have been horrendous), I enjoyed the fact that the movie was NOT about saving humanity. There was no portal to close that was about to let an alien invasion take place. There was no evil super villain.

Yes, that did make it refreshing. Just plain old real adversity.


The one major inaccuracy that I've not seen anyone talk about? All EMUs have SAFERs attached to them, even when attached to the arm. These Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue packs are a little propulsive unit that fits onto the main backpack and are designed specifically to allow astronauts to move around and return in case of trouble. So Stone should have been able to stabilise and return to the shuttle on her own. I looked, she's not wearing one.

Now one could have made the argument that this was before these were introduced, back when the bigger MMU was being tested - that famous picture of Bruce McCandless doing the first untethered EVA looks remarkably like what Clooney is doing (and he says he is testing it) - in the 80s I think it was and following a typical old Hubble repair mission profile, except the film is much more likely to be set in the future with the Tiangong station completed, the ISS completed, and shuttle missions at STS-157 (we ended at 135).

Also, the station tends to have railings and handles all over it, ideally an astronaut can move across most of its surface without ever untethering (in actual fact, astronauts always remain tethered), so I was quite surprised to see Stone take numerous risks leaping from one rail to the next. Considering that she was always missing things, I would have thought that she'd be clinging on for dear life. Granted she was in a bit of a hurry.

And airlock doors wouldn't fly open like that, that would have smashed an astronaut's helmet or sent him/her flying away.

Finally, I'm pretty sure the Soyuz flight suit has to have an external power source etc. and whilst when she's detaching the parachute she has the umbilical, she doesn't later have it when she's transfering to the Tiangong. In fact, technically, she'd be wearing the Sokol suit, which isn't designed for EVA at all. However, maybe in this near future they are?


Yep, I wish I hadn't spend the last 2-3 years or so researching about this stuff for my own story, I wouldn't have noticed stuff like this.



Edit - conversely, I buy that Kowalski decides to detach himself, since Stone doesn't have an adequate anchor to pull him in. The act of pulling on the tether would have exerted force on the ropes around her leg and at the other end, which would likely have come loose as a result. You know, for every force there is an equal and opposite reaction?

Tangent: A story about space? I'm curious now smile

Also, Gravity. I like the way it was film and struck me as a very interesting to me. I look forward to learning all about how it was made smile

God loves you!

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Re: What's your verdict on GRAVITY? (*SPOILERS* are likely)

I just read on another forum a dude saying the FX in Gravity weren't all that special. Doesn't seem to matter that most of the bloody film was CG and he probably didn't even notice.

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