Gravity

Released in 2013 under the direction of Alfonso Cuarón ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Children of Men") on a budget of $100 million with distribution from Warner Bros.; "Gravity" is the ambitious Science-fiction space drama that combines the celebration of life with the fear of dying alone. Never before has a movie like this been filmed and it's all thanks to the creative mind of Alfonso Cuarón.

It's just another day above orbit for STS-157 Explorer, performing some maintenance work on the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the final mission for veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) who hopes to break the 75 minute spacewalk record and the first for Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock). Things go horribly wrong when debris from a destroyed Russian satellite causes a chain reaction that makes the debris into flying death missiles that destroy the Explorer and leave Matt and Ryan floating in space, running low on oxygen and fearing the possibility of returning home starts to seem unlikely sets in for Dr. Stone as all Kowalski can do is comfort her with the sound of his voice.

Critics and audiences all around have praised this movie to no end and rest assured, I'm with you. 

This movie is one of the BEST movies of 2013.

Alfonso's direction is still outstanding as ever. The movie's opening sequence is proof to that as it manages to show everything that happens in Alfonso's brand of using computer effects and cameras to film in one long take. It's an outstanding use of computer effects that perfectly uses the 3D to it's advantage. From the beginning, we see the Explorer, Kowlaski floats around it with his thruster pack telling some story about his wife leaving him and this time he was in Mardi Gras, the camera following him as it settles on Dr. Stone trying to repair some thingy on the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston (voiced by Ed Harris, very nice choice by the way if you saw "The Right Stuff") comments on her vital signs. All seems normal. Then Mission control orders them to get back on the Explorer when the debris begins to fly in, the pieces of the ship fall apart, Dr. Stone is still attached to the robotic arm of Explorer, she frees herself of the arm and starts spinning around in space, breathing frantically, the camera still continues to follow her, looking at her face from outside her space suit to the camera literally going inside her suit to see her view before gently going back out to look at her face. 

Everything about this movie left me speechless. The visual effects work wonders with the 3D, something I hadn't seen done since "Hugo," the acting, especially from Sandra Bullock who carries the movie, is strong, the direction is fantastic and the visual metaphors employed throughout will stick in your mind.

If you haven't seen "Gravity" yet, why are you still reading this?

Final Rating: 4/5