Gravity Movie Review

For the last post of the semester (already?!), I’m going to include a few of my favorite things: movies, space, and Chris Hadfield.

The day before break, I finally watched the sci-fi thriller Gravity. In case you haven’t heard about this movie, here’s a one sentence summary from IMDb: “A medical engineer [Sandra Bullock] and an astronaut [George Clooney] work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.”

GRAVITY

When I first saw previews months ago, I thought the movie looked interesting because of its setting, if a little corny. I was very excited when the movie first premiered and generated positive reviews. Then, as the accolades rained down, I became slightly incredulous. So many people (my parents, Chris Hadfield*, movie critics, etc.) were saying it was so good that I knew I had to see it.

But, like these things often do, it slipped to the wayside. (Part of the problem was that I would have had to figure out how to get to the theater. Turns out it involves a bus, and it’s very simple.) Eventually, though, I saw it (good thing it was still in theaters!), and I even paid the extra $2.50 to see it in the 3D because I had heard it was worth it.

So, what did I think? I don’t want to ruin the plot, so I’ll stick to some general remarks: I thought it was fantastic. There were certain parts of the plot that I thought were probably slightly inaccurate (but then again, what do I know?). [Turns out most of the movie is pretty accurate. Look here for a fact check.] The visuals were really, really stunning, though. The movie was psychologically stressful for me, because the scenes seemed scarily real. I totally agree with the 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

*For an astronaut’s take on the movie, I obviously looked to Chris Hadfield. Here are a few snippets of Gravity-related posts from various dates of Hadfield’s Facebook page:

  • “Gravity opens today. It’s a very fun ride, beautifully shot. After seeing it, let me know if you’d rather fly in space w/ Sandra or George.” (October 4th)
  • “From the New York Post – If you’ve seen Gravity, you’ve got to read Col. Chris Hadfield’s description of what space is really like: nyp.st/18KSSvi” (October 7th)
  • “Gravity was so beautiful it was almost real. This SpaceX test rocket is beautiful in real possibility: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkItO-0a4” (October 13th)

Here’s “Astronaut Chris Hadfield On Sandra Bullock’s ‘Gravity’ Underwear” from Hadfield’s appearance on Conan.

 

Have any of you seen this movie? If so, what did you think?