So, what do you like about being up here? ✵ Gravity - SMALL WORLD ✵ 1992–PRESENT - The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

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IN CONTEXT

GENRE

Thriller, science fiction

DIRECTOR

Alfonso Cuarón

WRITERS

Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón

STARS

Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

BEFORE

1995 Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, about the disaster-stricken space mission of 1970, evokes a mix of claustrophobia and desolation.

2006 Children of Men, Cuarón’s first science-fiction movie, is set in a future in which all people are infertile.

AFTER

2014 Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar follows mankind’s urgent quest to leave dying planet Earth and find a new home among the stars.

On one level, Gravity is a simple affair—the tale of astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) stranded in orbit after her shuttle is destroyed, surviving on her wits in the hostile environment of space. However, while its story of a lone adventurer trying to get home could have been told in any movie since the medium began, director Alfonso Cuarón uses the very latest in filmmaking technology, including stunning 3D effects, to create an experience that physically pulls in the audience. The result feels like a landmark in cinema history.

Gravity features action sequences shot in long, unbroken takes. When Stone, trying to reach the safety of the International Space Station, is pelted by orbiting debris, the camera follows her every move, swooping and spinning as she tumbles through space. These nonstop sequences allow the audience to see with pin-sharp clarity the endless expanse around her—and to feel exactly what she’s going through.

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Before the disaster that destroys their shuttle, Stone (Sandra Bullock) and her colleague Kowalski (George Clooney) collaborate on repairs to the telescope.

What else to watch: A Trip to the Moon (1902) ✵ 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) ✵ Alien (1979) ✵ The Right Stuff (1983)