Gravity [Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray] [2013] [Region Free]

Alfonso Cuaron's film is that rare thing - a genuinely suspenseful film that does not waste a second of its spare 91 minutes running time. Add in cutting edge CGI and terrific performances from Clooney and Sandra Bullock plus a bump to 7.1 audio and loads of intelligent extras, and this is an easy 5 star recommendation all the way.

After watching this movie I have got to say the special effects are awesome and I found myself on the edge of my seat, body tense and quite caught up in not knowing what was coming next. In my opinion Sandra Bullock pulled off the character portrayal to a tee. Sure as hell had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Scary to think something like this could actually happen with or without astronauts having to fight to save their lives with all the space junk out there.

This is a must have even if you enjoyed the movie just a little bit. The Atmos track is amazingly emersive. Real good LFE. Highly recommend if you have a mid to larger size theater system.

So glad this came out with Dolby Atmos True HD at a great price, scalpers do darned on eBay. Sounds incredible, big boost of bass and overall sound quality from earlier standard digital purchase. Plays like a dream and sounds great on my 4K UHD player. Grab it, you won’t regret it.

I have never done a review of a film quite like "Gravity." It would be hard to place it into any one recognized film genre. This is a story of survival that may be similar to those you have heard of, such as Aron Ralston's story in the film "127 Hours." But this is placed way above our own familiar environment, in a setting usually reserved for aliens and futuristic galaxy travel: the vast emptiness of space. Words cannot fully justify the extent of this experience, though I will try my best. But this is really something you have to see for yourself.Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer, currently on her first mission in space aboard the space shuttle Explorer. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a longtime astronaut, is her commander. While attempting to fix a telescope, they are suddenly warned by Houston of an impending crisis: a Russian satellite was blown up, and its debris has spread into other surrounding satellites, all of which is now heading in their direction. No sooner do we hear their warning when, like a speeding bullet, the crew and ship is suddenly torn into by an intense hurricane of smashing satellite-parts, from which only Stone and Kowalski emerge unscathed. And, to make matters worse, the satellite connecting the astronauts to Earth has also been destroyed, leaving them alone in the dark. Think of "Apollo 13," but with no Houston to guide them home.As the film's opening lines state: in space, there is no sound, no light, and no gravity. If separated from your spacecraft, as Stone soon is, you will continue to drift endlessly, unless something manages to stop you. So, after being knocked out of reach from the ship, Stone continues to spin out of control. And director Alfonso Cuarón, with no regard for nausea-induced audience members, takes us right along with her. On one side, we see nothing but desperately empty blackness; on the other, an illumination of the bright orb of our own blue planet, which is now drifting farther and farther away.Throughout the length of "Gravity," there is really no single moment (maybe one) that the camera remains stationary. We either drift along with our two principle cast members, see POV shots through their space helmets, or travel in circling arcs, perceiving them as tiny dots in the distance. In Cuarón's last project "Children of Men," there is a long tracking shot towards the end of the film, in which we see the characters wander through a hectic war-zone. In "Gravity," the extended camera shots are used to similar effect, though, as mentioned, the atmosphere is soundless here. So, as the giant arm of a satellite swings around and smashes into the side of a space shuttle, there are no explosive bangs or crashes. The intensity of these moments comes only through the reactions from Kowalski or Stone: heavy breathing, upset voices, or the labored screams of a person desperately fighting for their life. And, at all times, it is intensified by the electronic spirals of Steven Price's form-fitting musical score.Not since "Life of Pi" or "Avatar" has digital technology so seamlessly fit a movie. Yet unlike these two previous films, the CGI in "Gravity" is not meant to create an alien or dream-like effect. Instead, it serves to create as realistic a world as possible. A tiny droplet of water seeps from Stone's eye, and sails gently out in front of her. A pen floats gracefully around her head, as pieces of satellites soar through the air outside the space module, reflecting on the glinting sun, which has just started to peak its face from around the corner. As harrowing as much of this movie is, this is also, at times, a poetic experience."Gravity" is, essentially, an allegory of the many cycles of human life. There is birth, struggle, companionship, loss, and, through it all, the will to survive. At one moment, Stone is shown floating in a fetal position when first coming inside a space module, her arms wrapped around her legs, as if still inside the mother's womb. This one shot shows Stone's renewed strength of survival after the start of her ordeal. She will soon emerge from this experience, reborn and ready to fight for her life rather than lay down and accept this as the end. It is the influence of Kowalski's calm confidence at the start that finally convinces Stone that she must survive, and that she must take control, despite her losses in her life back on Earth. With the exception of the first twenty minutes with Clooney, this really is a one-man (woman) show, and Bullock manages to carry the full weight of "Gravity." This is the type of performance that deserves Academy recognition, which would make it the second nomination for Bullock in only the last couple of years.At once a virtual roller-coaster simulator ride, "Gravity" is also the most visually splendid film of 2013. And it's unlikely that another film will come close. It is a dizzying, entertaining, terrifying adventure.

Bullock and Clooney take you on one of the most exhilarating yet terrifying ride an astronaut could ever encounter. Working outside the space capsule on space walk rendezvous can be disastrous, even deadly, if you become untethered as Clooney did. He would have slowly drifted away without an attached propulsion system. Even with self-propulsion, the system can fail or run out of its limited propellant supply, and the astronaut will keep floating off into space.The International Space Station (ISS) is not able to chase someone down. If the shuttle were docked, it would take too long to undock and mount a rescue. In that nightmare scenario, Clooney would likely have several hours of oxygen to contemplate the end. As long as the suit is intact, pressure will not be an issue. Either oxygen will run out or the system that removes exhaled carbon dioxide will stop working. Either way, Clooney would suffocate and continue on his way out into the vast, empty space. Another hazard that could hasten his demise is if a micrometeoroid (4mm or larger), traveling over 22,000 mph, hit and penetrated his suit. If he could not reach and patch the hole in time, oxygen rushes out. Without pressure in the suit, the liquid parts of the tongue and eyes begins to bubble and all saliva, blood, and internal fluids begin to boil. What causes blood to boil in space? The idea that blood would boil is a misnomer, because it has nothing to do with heat, it's the sudden loss of atmospheric pressure - a vacuum. Without pressure, liquid fluids convert into a gaseous state. From industrial accidents in vacuum chambers, we've learned that you cannot survive much beyond a minute. In a vacuum, there is not enough oxygen, so the nitrogen that is saturated in your blood and tissues comes out of solution (forming nitrogen gas). This causes bubbles to form, known as decompression sickness. Also if you hold your breath, you can get what is called pulmonary over-inflation and your lung ruptures into your blood stream, known as an embolism. In the movie, the team have been on a week-long sojourn, performing exacting maintenance repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. New instrumentation was installed, including the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) with enhanced infrared sensitivity. The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) were repaired. The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) was restored to its near full functionality. Basic maintenance such as the replacement of the gyroscopes and batteries were done. The milieu was halcyon until NASA suddenly declared an exigency and commanded that their operation be truncated or aborted, immediately. Reports have come from NORAD that a Russian satellite has incurred a strike from their own missile. The impact has created a cloud of debris orbiting at 17,000 mph and making a complete orbit every 90 minutes. The blasting and destruction of this defunct Russian spy satellite dispersed its remnants into fragments. The high velocity travel of these fragments impact still other satellites in propinquity. This, in turn, led to a disastrous series of cascading, chain reactions of annihilating more and more satellites and the circulation of fragments/shrapnel in larger expanses (it's sci--fi). This debris or shrapnel was on a trajectory path in the direction of the Explorer Shuttle. The storm of shrapnel passing caused catastrophic damage and decimated the Explorer, rendering it vitiate, inoperable and all bedlam, pandemonium broke loose. Their equanimity, virtuosity, and volition are put to the ultimate test, and their only hope is in reaching the ISS. The ISS varies between 205 and 270 miles above Earth, and it orbits 15 times in a 24-hour day. Due to the retirement of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, Russian rockets are the only means of travel to the ISS.

Sound of Atmos was fantastic, it will be better if it is on 4K. Worth collection

Came in great shape.

A must-watch in 3D as only then do you experience the effects of space. First saw it in the cinema and this DVD was equally enjoyable

The media could not be loaded. Eine Frage, die ich mir (und wahrscheinlich viele andere auch) schon oft gestellt habe:"Was steht eigentlich im Handbuch eines Astronauten, wenn er bei einem Weltraumspaziergang über Bord geht und im schwarzen NICHTS verschwindet?"Einfach ein furchtbarer Gedanke! Ganz alleine mit dem Wissen irgendwo im NICHTS entweder zuerst zu ersticken oder langsam zu erfrieren.Die Story sind ausschließlich die gewaltigen Bilder!!!Eigentlich ein MUSS für einen sehr großen Bildschirm oder Breitwand. Wie hier schon in Rezensionen erwähnt, glaube ich, das ein Beamer nicht geeignet ist, da etliche Takes bewusst sehr dunkel gehalten wurden.Die Story dieses Films von 2013 ist schnell erzählt. Nachdem Russland aus Versehen einen eigenen Satelliten mit einer Rakete abgeschossen hatte, lösen dessen Trümmerteile eine Kettenreaktion aus, da sie weitere internationale Satelliten auf der selben Umlaufbahn zerstören. Auch die verlassene ISS und die Chinesische Weltraumstation werden nicht verschont.Die Astronauten Dr. Ryan Stone und Matt Kowalski werden bei einem Ausseneinsatz am Hubble Teleskop von diesem Ereignis überrascht. Ihr Shuttle zerstört!Der Film kommt mit zwei Darstellern aus. Eigentlich unwichtig, dass diese keine geringeren als Sandra Bullock und Georges Clooney sind. Wobei Clooney nur die kleinere Nebenrolle hat. Sandra rockt den Film quasi fast ganz alleine! Alleine landet sie zum Schluss auch wieder auf der Erde und ertrinkt dabei fast noch.Ständiger Begleiter durch den ganzen Film ist im Hintergrund unsere wunderschöne Erde 🌎 mit ihrer leuchtenden Atmosphäre. Immer im Kontrast zum schwarzen NICHTS!Das ganze wird noch authentischer und lebendiger, da etliche Kammeraeinstellungen aus dem Astronautenhelm heraus gefilmt wurden.90 rasante, durchgehend spannende Minuten. Wie eine Fahrt im Roller Coaster.Schnell! Ruppig! Adrenalin!

ゼロ・グラビティ…重力なし？無重力？日本語に訳すとそんな感じでしょうか。人は、重力がなければ生きていけない。「重力」とは？地面に引き寄せられる力…そういうことではなく。人が「人として」生きていくために、必要なもの。原題は『Gravity』重力、なんですよね。日本語のタイトルに引っ張られて見すぎると、映画の主題がぼやけるかもしれません。最後まで見終わったとき、人間っていいな。そう思える映画です。ちなみに…音響(サラウンド)の評価が高い作品です。「ドルビーアトモス」での発売(以前は出ていましたが今は廃盤のようで…)を切に希望します！

While I saw Gravity in theaters during its initial run, I've now had the opportunity to re-watch it on Blu-ray. This review is for the 2D version of the movie as I do not currently own or have a 3D-capable HDTV at my convenience.The movie:Gravity is Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's latest feature (for which he received the Academy Award for Best Director), and what a ride it is! An emotional rollercoaster as well as a triumphant display of technical wizardry at its absolute best, Gravity is a true cinematic and sensory experience that is best experienced on the silver screen for the first time. It boasts a story that might seem barebones to some, but in actuality it benefits from this very aspect. NASA astronauts on a seemingly routine spacewalk to install a new component to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) are imperiled when calamity strikes in the shape of satellite debris, destroying their Space Shuttle, and leaving the surviving astronauts adrift in the dark void. Thence on, with what little hope (and delta-V) they have in reserve, they attempt to make their way to the International Space Station (ISS) to use one of its Soyuz craft as a means of escape back to Earth.As mentioned above, the story's premise is simple enough: Stay alive, and try to get back home safely. What it lacks in complexity (which this type of story does not require) it abounds with in depth, as the struggle for survival becomes a personal journey of choosing life over mere survival; to live life because it is worth living, to move on from past tragedies which have embedded themselves onto, and dominated one's will to go on. All this as opposed to just drifting through life on auto-pilot, existing but not really living. For this, Sandra Bullock plays rookie astronaut - chiefly medical engineer - Ryan Stone, on her first Space Shuttle flight as Mission Specialist, and this is unquestionably the actress's finest performance. A role that could've been overplayed to death is instead handled with realism in Bullock's hands, and her emotional cues are the heart of the movie. But the performance is just as much a physical one as it is an emotionally cathartic one, as she has to move about acrobatically in the most limited way possible (check out the extras for more details). It's no wonder she received an Academy Award nomination, and although she did not win it, she clearly proved herself worthy of it. George Clooney's veteran astronaut Commander Matt Kowalski provides some levity in some of the movie's bleaker moments and is occasionally joking about so as to calm Stone after their initial encounter with the debris. Charming as ever, Clooney is perfect for the part, and comes off as confident and focused despite the circumstances.But the other star of the movie - which makes the movie possible in the first place, is the visual effects (least surprising Oscar win ever). British VFX company Framestore's artists should pat their shoulders for their impeccable work on Gravity which can be described with a plethora of positive adjectives, but most fittingly as 'The Best Effects Work In Any Movie. Ever.' 'Convincing' hardly does them justice, but the important thing to remember is that they never upstage the movie or assume the spotlight, so to speak. They are there in order for the story to be told, and to be told well, and yet never are they overdone. Everything, the tech on display (the HST, the Space Shuttle, The ISS, the astronauts' suits), and every visible nut and bolt, fully immerse you into the outer space setting, with the Earth - so close and yet so far away - looming beautifully in practically every shot. And let's not forget the way things move in a micro-gravity environment. In short, Gravity is awe-inspiring to look at, for which I must also give brief mention of the immense contribution of the virtual cinematography by Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Again, Oscar win for Best Cinematography).Gravity attempts to emulate the silence of space, but not without employing a few neat tricks. Sound is heard, but it is the sound coming from inside the astronauts' suits; the voices and breathing, the beeping alarms, the thuds felt as they come into contact with one thing or other. As such, the sound design is creative and very useful in establishing the claustrophobic interior of the suits contrasting with the endless - and soundless - vastness outside.Last, but not least, is the amazing soundtrack by British composer Steven Price (also Oscar for Best Original Score), which plays throughout almost the entire movie and doesn't sound like any typical score I've heard, either. Since sound is used mainly for the interior of suits, the soundtrack is allowed to compensate for e.g. when debris impacts with a spacecraft, and the bass is prominent at such moments. Everything from mysterious and ambient, dark and terrifying, to outright inspiring is covered in what must be the best soundtrack in years (I've listened to it several times since the movie's theatrical run).Video quality:The Blu-ray's video transfer is fantastic, and so is the audio. Colour seems accurate, and the picture appears crisp and clean with the exception of a few instances where a mild level of grain or noise crops up a bit more than it does throughout the rest of the movie. It's not an issue, and only the hardiest of videophiles will have second thoughts about this purchase.Audio quality:The Blu-ray is very heavy on bass, so be sure to try it out with a good audio system. As for some details, NASA communication and 'radio noise' in the background is audible, and the thuds of the space suits' interiors are particularly prominent throughout. All in all, it sounds greatExtras:Without going into the features in detail, Gravity has over two - maybe upwards of three - hours of special features from behind the scenes. I think there could have been some trailers and TV spots included, and maybe some concept art as well, but what is provided is interesting nonetheless.A few thoughts first:Some have complained about Gravity's scientific accuracy. But fret not as the filmmakers knew of some of the "mistakes" they would make beforehand. It all comes down to telling a story coherently, and thus some realism had to be sacrificed for the sake of drama. That's what movies are. I'm sure they could've handled it differently, but, as a result, the movie might've turned out too slow or focused on technical exposition to be suspenseful. Either way, it's not as big of an issue as some have suggested, as I, at least, found it hard not to get immersed. But that's just me.And then there's the relatively "low" rating on Amazon, which I don't quite understand, but, suffice it to say, that despite people being entitled to their own opinions, you need not consider the 1- or 2-star ratings some user reviews seem to suggest the movie being worth. Whether or not one likes the movie, some admiration for the stellar craftsmanship invested into making Gravity must surely warrant a higher rating than that. Anyway...Verdict:Gravity is my favourite movie from 2013, and the best movie set in space in a long, long time. About time, I say. Boasting an inspiring tale of survival against impossible odds, Gravity is a mesmerizing suspense-thriller and an emotional rollercoaster from the first beat to the last. Oh, and need I say it... that looong take in the opening scene. Downright incredible. Gravity is a masterpiece and will surely, given enough time, be considered a classic down the road.