Gravity

[pg240]

Highly recommend this movie, especially in 3D. Great effects, sound and acting.

 

[KylieJacobs]

It looks really good! Not sure if I'll watch it in the theater, but definitely when it comes out on DVD.

 

[pg240]

This movie is going to be great no matter the format, but I'd really recommend the big screen in a theater if you get the chance. Lots of really cool shots of the earth from space that really benefit from that big-screen impact. And a lot of "how in the hell did they do that" moments.

 

[Crumb]

recent tweets from @neiltyson has confirmed for me, that I won't be watching this film.

I probably wasn't going to watch anyway, but now it's confirmed.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

recent tweets from @neiltyson has confirmed for me, that I won't be watching this film.

I probably wasn't going to watch anyway, but now it's confirmed.

Which tweets? The one where he says...

My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.

 

[AliciaLeigh]

recent tweets from @neiltyson has confirmed for me, that I won't be watching this film.

I probably wasn't going to watch anyway, but now it's confirmed.

Which tweets? The one where he says...

My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.

You beat me to it, Jerry. Alfonso Cuaron is an AMAZING director and the cinematography ALONE is worth seeing this movie. I wouldn't let the opinion of one person to sway your decision, Crumb.

Also, if you haven't seen Children of Men I highly recommend it.

 

[Crumb]

it's these tweets...

Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.

Mysteries of #Gravity: How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.

Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock's hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.


inaccuracies annoy me... I can suspend belief in something but in others, I can't... besides, as I said, it was highly unlikely I was going to watch this movie in a theatre anyway

 

[Sevrin]

I was a little unsettled by this review, tbh.

 

[pg240]

I'm able to allow for some creative license in the making of a film like this. My wife and I discussed it and both agreed it would have been terribly annoying to have her hair floating freely.

 

[Crumb]

what is a medical doctor doing out on a space walk anyway?

 

[pg240]

What was a school teacher doing in the shuttle?

It's fiction ... it's a movie, not a documentary.

I know where you're coming from, because I'm sometimes not that tolerant of blatant misrepresentations either. But in this case they had to pull in the masses with a good story and had to take some liberties.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

what is a medical doctor doing out on a space walk anyway?

Why not?
Kathryn D. Sullivan - the first American woman to walk in space. Geologist.
Kathryn C. Thornton - currently the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs.
Linda M. Godwin - currently a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Missouri. (I've met her)
Peggy Whitson - Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rice University (prior job, not currently).
Tracy Caldwell Dyson - taught general chemistry laboratory at UC Davis.

All have taken space walks, many have done so multiple times. There's more women on the list with a wide variety of backgrounds. Medical doctor isn't a stretch in the least. Makes more sense than a geologist and she was first! Basically to get that level of education they have to be smart. I'm thinking that's the first criteria nasa looks for.

Note: i read pg240's reply before posting this so i fixated on teachers. But there are a lot of professions represented in astronauts.

 

[Crumb]

ok you guys got me. it's plausible for a MD to be out taking a space walk when whatever happens, happens
but...
I'm still not going to see the movie lol and I'll tell you the main reason (was just having a bit of fun before)..

I live in a small town of 4000 people, my small ass nothing of a place to live does not have a movie theatre. no movies, whatsoever.
the closest theatre is 2½ hours away (one way). currently, $60 (gas, round trip) + $14 (1 3D ticket price) + $10-20 (food since it's usually an all day affair and I get hungry) = a really expensive movie to watch on the big screen.
can sometimes cut this down a bit if I convince someone to come with, but not always since I'm a lonely old goat and no one likes me

in the past I have taken trips to see movies, but usually I save these trips to see the big blockbusters (lately they have been movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Elysium etc).. the ones I really want to see.
a George Clooney and Sandra Bullock flick just isn't enough to get me to make the drive.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

ok you guys got me. it's plausible for a MD to be out taking a space walk when whatever happens, happens
but...
I'm still not going to see the movie lol and I'll tell you the main reason (was just having a bit of fun before)..

I live in a small town of 4000 people, my small ass nothing of a place to live does not have a movie theatre. no movies, whatsoever.
the closest theatre is 2½ hours away (one way). currently, $60 (gas, round trip) + $14 (1 3D ticket price) + $10-20 (food since it's usually an all day affair and I get hungry) = a really expensive movie to watch on the big screen.
can sometimes cut this down a bit if I convince someone to come with, but not always since I'm a lonely old goat and no one likes me

in the past I have taken trips to see movies, but usually I save these trips to see the big blockbusters (lately they have been movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Elysium etc).. the ones I really want to see.
a George Clooney and Sandra Bullock flick just isn't enough to get me to make the drive.

I completely understand. Small town here and the only theater is only offering it in 3D. That rules it out instantly for me.

 

[pg240]

ok you guys got me. it's plausible for a MD to be out taking a space walk when whatever happens, happens
but...
I'm still not going to see the movie lol and I'll tell you the main reason (was just having a bit of fun before)..

I live in a small town of 4000 people, my small ass nothing of a place to live does not have a movie theatre. no movies, whatsoever.
the closest theatre is 2½ hours away (one way). currently, $60 (gas, round trip) + $14 (1 3D ticket price) + $10-20 (food since it's usually an all day affair and I get hungry) = a really expensive movie to watch on the big screen.
can sometimes cut this down a bit if I convince someone to come with, but not always since I'm a lonely old goat and no one likes me

in the past I have taken trips to see movies, but usually I save these trips to see the big blockbusters (lately they have been movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Elysium etc).. the ones I really want to see.
a George Clooney and Sandra Bullock flick just isn't enough to get me to make the drive.

I completely understand. Small town here and the only theater is only offering it in 3D. That rules it out instantly for me.

I'm generally not a 3D fan, but this was excellent. Not gratuitous, not distracting or annoying, just part of the experience. And it didn't make my wife lighted-headed or nauseated as she feared it might.

 

[yossarian]

I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but when scientists get all huffy and demand 100% accuracy in movies it reminds me of that old Far Side cartoon where the scientist stands up during Star Wars and screams "Stop the film! Explosions don't go boom in a vacuum!"

If it bugs you that much, don't ever watch movies ever, because most of them are somehow inaccurate. I watched a movie set in my hometown and they got the locations all wrong (the character turned a corner and ended up on a street that's about two miles away). So I suppose that makes it a bad movie somehow.

By the way, Gravity was a great movie and I was able to suspend my disbelief about the scientific accuracy because the fact that I was wearing 3-D glasses, sitting in a theater seat, and surrounded by other people clued me in to the fact that I was watching a movie and not actually in outer space with Sandra Bullock.

 

[Catpaws]

I absolutely loved Gravity! I knew from seeing Children of Men that it'd be beautiful, but I was caught off-guard by just how beautiful it was. It draws you in with its magnificent looks, and then... THE HORROR. If anyone reading this has anxiety issues, be careful because at a certain point I had to leave the theater to sit in the bathroom shaking and whisper "Space is the fuckin' worst." :-D

(Yes, yes, I know. My mother lured me to the theater with food. I don't regret seeing it, though!!)

 

[JerryBoBerry]

ok you guys got me. it's plausible for a MD to be out taking a space walk when whatever happens, happens
but...
I'm still not going to see the movie lol and I'll tell you the main reason (was just having a bit of fun before)..

I live in a small town of 4000 people, my small ass nothing of a place to live does not have a movie theatre. no movies, whatsoever.
the closest theatre is 2½ hours away (one way). currently, $60 (gas, round trip) + $14 (1 3D ticket price) + $10-20 (food since it's usually an all day affair and I get hungry) = a really expensive movie to watch on the big screen.
can sometimes cut this down a bit if I convince someone to come with, but not always since I'm a lonely old goat and no one likes me

in the past I have taken trips to see movies, but usually I save these trips to see the big blockbusters (lately they have been movies like Avengers, Iron Man, Elysium etc).. the ones I really want to see.
a George Clooney and Sandra Bullock flick just isn't enough to get me to make the drive.

I completely understand. Small town here and the only theater is only offering it in 3D. That rules it out instantly for me.

I'm generally not a 3D fan, but this was excellent. Not gratuitous, not distracting or annoying, just part of the experience. And it didn't make my wife lighted-headed or nauseated as she feared it might.

For me it's mostly the glasses. I can't stand wearing them. They don't fit over my regular glasses well and give me headaches.

 

[yossarian]

Yeah, I agree with you on the 3D glasses. I only see the 3D show if I think the 3D is going to enhance the experience (i.e. if it's a real filmmaker who will use the 3D in a creative way). Otherwise, I opt for 2D. This one was worth the 3D, but it's not like you need it to experience the movie. It just adds something to it (I almost said "adds a dimension," but ugh).

 

[JerryBoBerry]

I completely understand. Small town here and the only theater is only offering it in 3D. That rules it out instantly for me.

My theater finally started playing it in regular old 2D so I was able to go watch it. Got to say I liked it quite well.

 

[KyraFortune]

Seen this last week with a friend. We both had incredibly shitty days at work and were excited to go relax to watch this.

....This movie made me sit in pure stress/tenseness for the whole duration.

Afterwards reflecting, our days weren't as bad in comparison.

 

[Starling]

Just saw it a couple nights ago and wasn't expecting much, but holy hell, I thought it was amazing.

I love 3D anything, and this used it extremely well!

 

[Lintilla]

I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but when scientists get all huffy and demand 100% accuracy in movies it reminds me of that old Far Side cartoon where the scientist stands up during Star Wars and screams "Stop the film! Explosions don't go boom in a vacuum!"

I didn't think he was being huffy. I thought he was having a laugh. Phil Plait does the same thing all the time. He has a whole series of movies he's reviewed for their bad astronomy. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the movie, and Neil deGrasse Tyson did tweet that he enjoyed the film. So no big deal about that.

I liked it a lot, personally, but that soundtrack everyone is going on and on about because it's so awesome... I wish there would have been less of it. More 2001: A Space Odyssey style. But who these days would watch that? So I don't blame them. I thought it took away from many of the scenes, though. Silence would have had much more of an impact.

 

[inkydoo]

I hadn't read Neil's tweets before going in, though I pretty much knew there would be inaccuracies. In most science fiction movies (those that demonstrate technology or knowledge well beyond the near future), I've learned to ignore most of this stuff. But Gravity isn't really sci-fi, so much as it's speculative fiction based on the current state of technology, and the basic premise that kicks of the plot is quite plausible. As such, I expected the world around them to behave like the world I know. Which brings us to...

Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.

Most of the other "problems" in the film are not so much basic scientific inaccuracies as convenient editing of facts (like placing the various craft in the same orbit; not explaining why an MD is working on the Hubble) or limitations of filming / editing choices (her hair not floating, though it's cut quite short; Clooney's insane use of fuel in the beginning space walk). But the tether release scene, because it's so crucial to the plot and the course of the rest of the movie, really needed to be accurate. Instead, for anyone who knows science (and that's a lot of sci-fi fans), it's so painfully wrong that I wanted to scream. At the moment it happened, I absolutely thought the movie was ruined.

What's a testament to everyone who made the film, but especially Cuaron and Bullock, is that within a few minutes the cinematography, acting, and pacing of the movie had me forgiving (though not forgetting) what otherwise would have seemed an unforgivable sin. So, in the end, I think Neil's final tweet (that he enjoyed it very much), conveys what's really important about the film.

 

[Crumb]

I downloaded this movie last night and watched it.
I was unimpressed.
I did enjoy watching Bullock strip out of her space suit though lol

even forgetting everything I quoted that was said in this thread while watching the film

Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.

is one of the few things that jumped out at me, even if I never knew about Neil's tweet in the first place.

 

[CharmingLucy]

Aside from all of the obvious inaccuracies, I liked the movie. I legitimately cried for the last like half hour. :crybaby:

 

[BBellvue]

I liked this, but I also know absolutely nothing about space so you coulda told me it was a documentary and I wouldn't have known the difference :lol: I did have to look away for a part towards the beginning of the film because the mere concept of what had happened was way too gruesome for me.

It was just SUCH a stressful movie to watch, I had to watch another movie afterwards to relax.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

Bumping this thread because of interesting news.

Turns out the director Alfonso Cuaron wrote his original screenplay for the movie that wasn't so original. More like completely stolen from an author.

http://www.tessgerritsen.com/gravity-lawsuit-affects-every-writer-sells-hollywood/
There's more to the article, but here's the gist.

In 1999, I sold the film rights to my book GRAVITY to New Line Productions. The contract stipulates that if a movie is made based on my book, I will receive “based upon” credit, a production bonus, and a percentage of net profits. The book is about a female medical doctor/astronaut who is stranded aboard the International Space Station after the rest of her crew is killed in a series of accidents. A biological hazard aboard ISS traps her in quarantine, unable to return to earth. While my film was in development, I re-wrote the third act of the film script with scenes of satellite debris destroying ISS and the lone surviving female astronaut adrift in her spacesuit.

Alfonso Cuaron was attached to direct my film — a fact I did not know at the time. My project never made it out of development.

In 2008, Warner Bros acquired New Line Productions. The takeover was rumored to be brutal, with numerous New Line employees losing their jobs overnight.

Sometime around 2008 – 2009, Alfonso Cuaron wrote his original screenplay “Gravity” about a female astronaut who is the sole survivor after her colleagues are killed by satellite debris destroying their spacecraft. She is left adrift in her space suit, and is later stranded aboard the International Space Station. I noted the similarities, but I had no evidence of any connection between Cuaron and my project. Without proof, I could not publicly accuse him of theft, so when asked about the similarities by fans and reporters, I told them it could be coincidence.

In February 2014, my literary agent was informed of Cuaron’s attachment to my project back in 2000. Now the similarities between my book and Cuaron’s movie could no longer be dismissed as coincidence. I sought legal help, and we filed a Breach of Contract complaint that April. Please note: this is not a case of copyright infringement. Warner Bros., through its ownership of New Line, also controls the film rights to my book. They had every right to make the movie — but they claim they have no obligation to honor my contract with New Line.

 

[pg240]

Bumping this thread because of interesting news.

Turns out the director Alfonso Cuaron wrote his original screenplay for the movie that wasn't so original. More like completely stolen from an author.

http://www.tessgerritsen.com/gravity-lawsuit-affects-every-writer-sells-hollywood/
There's more to the article, but here's the gist.

In 1999, I sold the film rights to my book GRAVITY to New Line Productions. The contract stipulates that if a movie is made based on my book, I will receive “based upon” credit, a production bonus, and a percentage of net profits. The book is about a female medical doctor/astronaut who is stranded aboard the International Space Station after the rest of her crew is killed in a series of accidents. A biological hazard aboard ISS traps her in quarantine, unable to return to earth. While my film was in development, I re-wrote the third act of the film script with scenes of satellite debris destroying ISS and the lone surviving female astronaut adrift in her spacesuit.

Alfonso Cuaron was attached to direct my film — a fact I did not know at the time. My project never made it out of development.

In 2008, Warner Bros acquired New Line Productions. The takeover was rumored to be brutal, with numerous New Line employees losing their jobs overnight.

Sometime around 2008 – 2009, Alfonso Cuaron wrote his original screenplay “Gravity” about a female astronaut who is the sole survivor after her colleagues are killed by satellite debris destroying their spacecraft. She is left adrift in her space suit, and is later stranded aboard the International Space Station. I noted the similarities, but I had no evidence of any connection between Cuaron and my project. Without proof, I could not publicly accuse him of theft, so when asked about the similarities by fans and reporters, I told them it could be coincidence.

In February 2014, my literary agent was informed of Cuaron’s attachment to my project back in 2000. Now the similarities between my book and Cuaron’s movie could no longer be dismissed as coincidence. I sought legal help, and we filed a Breach of Contract complaint that April. Please note: this is not a case of copyright infringement. Warner Bros., through its ownership of New Line, also controls the film rights to my book. They had every right to make the movie — but they claim they have no obligation to honor my contract with New Line.

I've read most of Tess Gerritsen's work, so was really interested when I saw your post. Writers tend to get shit on quite a bit. It's nice to see her take a stand for her intellectual property. Often, movies are made that little resemble an author's original work. Here, it looks like the guy completely ripped off her premise and didn't deviate from it much at all. Be interesting to see if she has any standing as this legal battle continues.