Gravity (BD) [Blu-ray]

Gravity is a masterpiece!WARNING: the following, is filled with SPOILERS. So if you haven't seen this film, you might not want to read the rest of this review.All the harsh critics who love pointing out the scientific "flaws" in Gravity, are missing the entire point of the film.It's important to note that Gravity is NOT a documentary or even a docudrama about astronauts and a tragic EVA mission. It was never intended to be either of those things. This film is an amazingly conveyed story about a parent recovering from the death of her child. All of the "peril in space" is incidental.The action largely serves as metaphor for the obstacles Sandra Bullock's character must overcome, in order to let go of her crippling grief and to move forward. It depicts her struggle to regain control of her life, using the action as a storytelling device.Clooney tells her that she needs to "learn to let go". Indeed, letting go is the primary theme of the film. She's a woman adrift in her own life, and this is reflected by her plight in orbit. The director uses "poetic license" for a lot of the science, in order to tell her story and make it visually thrilling for the audience.At one point, she exclaims "The tether broke! I'm detached! What do I do?!" This dialogue is very important. In fact, from the very first moment her character appears, she exhibits a personality which is emotionally "detached" from everyone around her.When Clooney sacrifices himself, it might not be scientifically accurate, but it does serve two important purposes. It demonstrates that she is unable to "let go", even when she's told that her very life depends on it. And it places her in the position of being alone, having to cope with everything on her own. Again, this was poetic license on behalf of the writer/director.I also love how it repeatedly shows her pouring through instruction manuals. These sequences depict her "learning" how to make progress, until she decides that she's not going to give up.The scene where she finally reaches this decision is beautifully realized. They show her in a state of oxygen deprivation, in which she hallucinates the return of Clooney (who represents her unconscious mind). It's essentially Bullock telling herself that life is worth living, and remembering previously compartmentalized information that will allow her to survive (prompting her to re-purpose the soft landing jets).During the conversation, she's told that she needs to "plant both feet on the ground and start living life". And this is what we see in the final shot of the film. Her water landing, sinking and resurfacing (after nearly drowning), symbolizes her "rebirth". This is further illustrated by the shedding of her spacesuit, and emergence from the water in a near nude state.Of course she wouldn't be able to immediately walk, or even stand, after spending so much time in a zero gravity environment (more poetic license). But the final shot is really a beauty, showing a close-up of her feet, as she firmly plants them, and takes several steps forward (moving forward with her life)...just as she unconsciously instructed herself, only minutes earlier.Gravity is a beautifully crafted and exceedingly well told story. In this sense, it IS a perfect film. It's very sad, that so many people dismiss the film as being overrated, boring or scientifically inaccurate. And I'm sorry to see that Neil deGrasse Tyson has failed to embrace the poetry, by nitpicking it. As I said, the movie was never intended to be a documentary.I did see a video, where he DOES say that he enjoyed it. But in the same video, he craps on the director's decisions, regarding the scientific inaccuracies...basically shrugging off the symbolism and poetic license.I hold scientific accuracy to be very important. But in the case of Gravity, I truly believe it deserves a pass.And now, I will humbly ask all the Gravity detractors to give the film one more view. Only this time, please look at it with my review in mind. Naturally, this is just a request. I would never attempt to impose on anyone, a task they have absolutely no desire to undertake.If anything, Gravity is very underrated. As I said at the beginning of this review, it's a masterpiece!

What a stellar movie this is. First off, I am a fan of Sandra Bullock and she didn't disappoint in this film. AND, what's not to like a George Clooney???? Not a thing in my book. LOLThis film is almost non-stop action and a lot of it heart pounding at that--at least for me. I found the initial premise of the movie quite plausible given the vast plethora of "stuff" (George Carlin would like that!) that is orbiting our beautiful planet. Other parts of the storyline might have been conveniently stretched to make it work but to me if felt like a super smart, intelligent, courageous woman used all her faculties to overcome the many, HUGE obstacles that she faced to survive. I really LIKE movies with strong female leads, e.g. Sigourney Weaver in Alien and Aliens. Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone in this film did not disappoint.Aside from the storyline, I marveled at just "how did they do that?" I had read a review that explained in the briefest of descriptions but I still couldn't fathom how it was done. Well, the good news is that this purchase has two DVDs and the second one shows all that was done to make this film work. The second DVD was as interesting as the movie itself. Every single part of the movie making process was profiled and every one of them was fascinating. I was SO impressed with the courage, determination, time and talent that went into the making of this film. The innovation of the production team was amazing. They broke new ground on so many levels. They have raised the bar and set a new benchmark for future such films. The second DVD made me like the movie even more and I've watched the "making it" DVD twice--it was that interesting and good.Finally, some information that I wish all movie sellers would put in their descriptions:- It is rated PG-13- It is widescreen "letterbox" format so you won't miss anything. You will see it just as it was presented in the theater. May I also add here, that this film is best viewed in 3-D but that said, I found nothing lacking watching it at home on my HDTV without 3D.- It is a Digital Ultraviolet movie that you could download from the "cloud" which means you can watch it on a variety of devices--a very nice feature, indeed.YOU WILL LOVE IT!KLM