The Gravity movie is intense. As in, I declined to join c2cDad at an advance showing of Gravity with Popular Mechanics for fear that I'd suffer an immediate onslaught of anxiety watching an irrational fear of mine play out before my eyes.
C2cDad's text to me as he walked out of the theater:
"That was one of the most intense movies I have ever seen."
Quickly followed by:
"Dolby Atmos theater was AMAZING"
Then:
"Be sooo glad you weren't with me"
He came home raving about the movie as I struggled with missing out on the incredible experience. Everyone I know who's seen it in advance has LOVED it. I may work up the nerve if enough friends and family convince me to overcome any of my anxieties. Otherwise, I plan to see it when it comes out on Blu-Ray next year when I can control the intensity in my own living room.
I do think that hands-down it could be the most amazing movie going experience of the year. Gravity, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, tells the story of the risks and dangers that astronauts face, and what could go horribly wrong in space.
C2cDad said the movie was intense from the get-go as the action pans to nervous scientist Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) who’s miles above the Earth on a space walk to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronaut Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney) is zipping around the Space Shuttle on a jet pack, his last mission, enjoying the stunning view of Earth, while calming down a clearly tense Bullock who’s not used to operating in the zero gravity of space.
But then things turn bad, quickly. Word comes in from Mission Control (the voice of Ed Harris) that the Russians have destroyed one of their satellites, which creates a devastating chain reaction of hurdling space debris that turns Clooney and Bullock’s space shuttle into swiss cheese and renders them the sole survivors on a desperate mission to find a way home before the debris makes its 90 minute circumvention of the Earth and comes backs around for another round of complete decimation of everything in its path.
The premise is loosly based on a real life event in 2007 when the Chinese conducted an anti-satellite missle test against one of their own, raising among other issues, the threat a "debris cloud" created for other satellites in the same orbital path.
The action was very realistic, what you expect the weightlessness of space would be like. At times the music and sound was an intense assault on your senses, and at other times there was dead silence, and you had this peaceful drifting sensation like you were right there in the movie, floating in space.
Dolby Atmos theater for Gravity showing
A lot of this can be attributed to the way the film was shot, edited, and the fact that Gravity was created using Dolby Atmos, a next-generation surround sound technology that creates an added realism to the movie going experience. The movie was also in crystal clear 3D, and viewed through Dolby glasses. That added an intense realism to the film which almost became a critical part of feeling like you were right there in space alongside Sandra Bullock. In watching Gravity, 3D wasn’t a gimmick, it was an integral part of bringing the realism of the film to life, in a way that seeing in 2D wouldn’t have nearly been as impactful.
3D Glasses at the Dolby Atmos Theater
After the film concluded, everyone was pretty amazed by what they had just seen. The film shots and scene views made people feel like they were right there, along for the ride and everyone I spoke with said they feel like that was the closest thing to being in space and experiencing the absence of gravity.
Gravity Q&A with Tom Jones, Astronaut
The movie was followed by a brief Q&A session with Tom Jones, a former NASA astronaut. He agreed that the movie had a true realism when it came to the “free fall dynamics” of how objects behave in space, for instance how the tethers that connect George Clooney and Sandra Bullock snake and wrap around with the tugs of movement. While there were certainly unrealistic moments in the movie (for instance you can’t hopscotch from one station to another), there was absolutely a realism to the movement and behaviors of how objects and people float, move and interact in zero gravity space.
Gravity was an amazing theater going experience, and the first movie c2cDad saw in the Dolby Atmos theater in NYC. He said he'll happily go see it again there (a not-so-subtle nudge to me ;-)).
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