The movie Gravity

I fell for both Forbes and Todo Bramble's comments about the movie Gravity being the best movie of the year and maybe that one of them had ever seen.

So I went to see it in 3-D, the only way one should really see it.

Without giving much away, I must say that this film is explosive, suspenseful, and touching in a very small way.  Who will survive the destruction of not only one but two international space stations?  How could one survive these horrific events?

That is the plot of the movie.  A female scientist who has been trained to walk in space to perform some tasks is finally left on her own to save her skin and get into a safe place where she  can survive.  The movie is a study in building tension, heightening suspense, and setting nerves on edge. It achieves all this very well when using special effects with 3-D.  This is a very in your face movie, addressing the needs of a single person surviving a catastrophe.

It is not too philosophical as such.  One has to choose between life and death at some point, and at one point, one comes to grips with the fact that only one's own will and instincts will get you out of the problem that you have.

One of the reasons I decided to see this film is that someone on Facebook had suggested that if you were contemplating suicide that you should see this film. I wondered what on earth could be in this film to assist someone who has suicidal tendencies.

The film is absurd in many ways.  No way could anyone really survive any of the disasters that confront this modern Perils of Pauline drama.  But it is after all a Hollywood flick so all kinds of dreadful things happen to make you realize that you are being played for a fool.  She discards a space suit to readily find another in an otherwise defunct space station. Out of nowhere she is fully clothed again after having peeled off her previous suit, and so now she is fitted into a Russian suit.  She wanders from space lab to space lab a bit too easily but with enough freaky disasters to keep one wondering what is next and how in the world can this be happening.

So after she nearly succumbs to the icy cold grip of death for some reason or other her former partner appears to revive her and keep her on track, trying every trick in the book to get her on the move again to safe territory..


(SPOILER ALERT)

The film did make me nervous and edgy. It is a frightening film. The guy sitting next to me was on the edge of his seat the entire run of the movie. I had laughed at the destruction of the second space station for it was ridiculous to believe for one minute she could hang on for dear life while everything around her was exploding in midair.  It was frankly silly at that point, but I got back into the gist of going on the ride with her through her personal hell and went along to see her nearly drown in the end, but faithful to all the other peel off all your clothes to come up swimmingly fine, she doe it again...At last, she can claw her way to the top on the beach with good earth in her hands.

Do I think that this movie is great?  Hardly!  It is nervewracking and frankly, the scenes of earth and space were not nearly as exciting as they could have been and should have been.  A few sunsets and a few glimpses of earth as it may appear did not really impress me very much.  I have seen better on the internet. I suppose they have to get permission to use really beautiful views...

The interiors of the space stations were the most interesting because of the 3-D effects where loose objects are spinning wildly and floating towards you, some even coming straight to you.  The 3-D is excellent for showing perspective and giving a sense of what life may be like for the astronauts aboard these space labs.

It does make one value the work that the astronauts do much more than any other film has done.  The idea that someone may float away to a lonely death in space has been done before.  There is nothing new there.

The banter between George Clooney as a cute and romantic astronaut who is in love with himself and the hardworking and serious but independent scientist was fairly natural enough. Most everyone agrees that astronauts probably over value their own allure to women.

I say that because I have met up with people who have worked at Cape Canaveral with the astronauts.  I have heard stories.  Probably a lot of truth in their egos being worse than that of athletes and actors.

At any rate, I saw why Todo suggested that if you are contemplating suicide you might want to see the film.  It makes one want to stay alive for awhile and especially on earth, and not in space.  The fact that there are men and women who have spent so many days and months in space makes me wonder about their psychology as well.  


I deleted all the references to myself in this  after I realized that I had sent this to facebook without correcting the title Graviry to Gravity.  What was I thinking?