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Sargent Duck
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:58 pm

clone wrote:
FroBozz wrote:
FroBozz I have a question for you and Sargent Duck to consider.

Gravity's critical and audience approval is very similar to Star Trek Into Darkness which got a 90% critic's rating and a 90% audience approval rating yet upon consideration is viewed as the worst Star Trek film so far by Star Trek fans..... why? (I can answer the question but I'll leave it for the 2 of you to decide).... not just bad, not even Star Trek 5 bad but the worst Star Trek film on record despite the flashy colors, huge budget, and glitz.

http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/sci/st ... chise.html



Ok, you got me there. I saw the first Star Trek Reboot and HATED IT! EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of it. Although they got a few things right (Bones, Scotty, Sulu), they got so much else wrong in my mind (Kirk's character, lens flare, sketchy story) I just couldn't stomach it. My sister (who enjoyed the first one) saw ST:ID and hated it, so she refused to let me watch it.

So ok, Clone, you made your point very well.
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Airmantharp
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:33 pm

Chrispy_ wrote:
I'm not a serious Trekkie but I've watched most of it and enjoyed most of what I watched.

Since Enterprise was cancelled there's been a lack of space opera to sate my appetite. The BSG reboot was okay, but nothing comes close to Star Trek or Firefly that I can think of in the last decade.


It was really annoying that Enterprise was canceled just as it was ready for it's second 'wind', with the characters settled and so on; Firefly the same.

I have to wonder what these executives were thinking, but I digress. I'm missing out on good space operas too.
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:10 am

Airmantharp wrote:
It was really annoying that Enterprise was canceled just as it was ready for it's second 'wind', with the characters settled and so on; Firefly the same.

I have to wonder what these executives were thinking, but I digress. I'm missing out on good space operas too.


Enterprise was decent but nowhere near Firefly in story and development, there's nothing else quite like it. Everyone I know who's into hard SF is surprised Firefly wasn't continued.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:26 am

trackerben wrote:
Airmantharp wrote:
It was really annoying that Enterprise was canceled just as it was ready for it's second 'wind', with the characters settled and so on; Firefly the same.

I have to wonder what these executives were thinking, but I digress. I'm missing out on good space operas too.


Enterprise was decent but nowhere near Firefly in story and development, there's nothing else quite like it. Everyone I know who's into hard SF is surprised Firefly wasn't continued.


I'm still surprised. I'm surprised they don't put it back together; it's not like the actors went anywhere, and the demand is obviously there.
 
clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:29 am

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clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:33 am

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trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:14 am

Airmantharp wrote:
I'm still surprised. I'm surprised they don't put it back together; it's not like the actors went anywhere, and the demand is obviously there.


Yea it's puzzling looking at it from a business viewpoint. The actors are still young and the films did reasonably ok, so there must have been other reasons. I like to think that the series was squelched because it was seen as politically incorrect. Could be networks execs didn't like it "educating" the public with quasi-libertarian themes.

Its characters are rugged Western-style individualists, the background is of post-civil war angst vs. overbearing Federals. The hero is a flawed but gracious ex-soldier shepherding his "rebel" crew in pursuit of liberty and profits outside an unjust progressive system. The antagonist is a government agent violently quelling the truth about a universal health/wellness program which backfired and brought down civilization where it was tried. It's just a theory, but there's stuff here which would be unappealing to certain mindsets.
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:06 am

clone wrote:
OK to be clear as the author of this thread I'm solid with dropping discussion about Gravity is ppl want to drift into general Sci Fi.... it wouldn't bother me in the least and it doesn't need to be split from this thread, if the thread takes off on the new topic splitting it with a new title may matter but atm it's just a side topic and I doubt it'll last long anyway...


I'm not for dropping talk on Gravity. It's just that I'm still getting my mind around its underlying meanings. I haven't yet figured out if it premises a providential lesson about life's blessings or was more along the lines of "crap happens but together we can conquer all". Definitely have to see it again.

It's attractive for its uplifting story. It showcases a solo moral adventure which is also an epic problem-solving fest which anyone who's suffered many setbacks can relate to but also keep some distance. I think many are tired of all the fantasy and pointless angst stuff recycled over the past ten years. More discriminating viewers are ready for something not too out there and grounded in refreshing realism (well to some extent). For me the last feel-good adventure with many similar qualities which wasn't some fantastical epic was "Apollo 13".


...anyway I forgot to mention FireFly in that quick list of Sci Fi I really enjoy.

...as for Enterprise the series, I own the complete series and it's a slog to watch...


Frankly I can't fully remember any Enterprise episode, that series needed good writers. Firefly had them and a good director, it's a shame it wasn't allowed to go further.


...but alas they finished the series with an episode that can only be called lazy crap that did a disservice not just to the series but to "Trip's" character as well.


Yea that left a foul taste. I enjoyed Stargate Atlantis more, and it had a better ending too.
Last edited by trackerben on Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:00 am, edited 3 times in total.
 
just brew it!
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:52 am

clone wrote:
the WWII episodes were shockingly ill conceived, I don't know who thought those were a good idea after the disaster that was season 1 but ignoring all of those episodes Enterprise did indeed find some solid footing towards the end in Season 4 using the Romulans as the villain was a good idea...... but alas they finished the series with an episode that can only be called lazy crap that did a disservice not just to the series but to "Trip's" character as well.

IIRC that was essentially "Oh crap, the series is being cancelled, we need to wrap this up!"
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:32 am

just brew it! wrote:
IIRC that was essentially "Oh crap, the series is being cancelled, we need to wrap this up!"

At least Season 4 gave us "In A Mirror, Darkly". Empress Sato rocks!

When it comes to "premature" wrap-up episodes, nothing will ever beat B5's "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars".
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:48 am

Sargent Duck wrote:
At first, seeing the trailer, I wasn't interested in it all. I thought that after the "incident" at the ISS in the trailer, that'd she be floating in space and this was going to play out more like Cast Away.


There is no Cast Away in space. Without support, you die in hours, without a fully functional suit and supplies, you die in minutes.

My main complaint was the complete dismissal of orbital mechanics. Granted, I've learned most of mine in Kerbal Space Program, but that's not all bad. At least mine are somewhat realistic. It's a movie, though, and I understand they needed to keep it light and fluffy, and even then had already alienated the vast majority of drooling American moviegoers. Not enough SPLOSIONS. Meh.

Edit: Wow. Normally I can catch up on a thread and still be more or less in the same vein, but this thread is a wagon train; by the time you catch up, it's no longer where it was.
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:47 pm

trackerben wrote:
It's attractive for its uplifting story. It showcases a solo moral adventure which is also an epic problem-solving fest which anyone who's suffered many setbacks can relate to but also keep some distance. I think many are tired of all the fantasy and pointless angst stuff recycled over the past ten years.
As a related aside... how often do you see a Sci-Fi solution to a problem that doesn't work? How often do you see failed attempts at solving a problem that fizzles, sputters and doesn't do much at all?

I finished up Eureka a couple months ago and really enjoyed the series... but nothing ever fails in that show. Sure, there are unintended consequences, but its always stuff working too well. The nanomachines keep assembling, the defense computer unexpectedly integrates with the refrigerator, the subliminal messages in the motivational MP3s spread virally through the jukebox, that sort of thing.

Looking back over what I remember of Star Trek, it was much the same. Every time they try some hairbrained solution to impending doom, it works first try! No iterative development. No sense of failure. No increase in tension.
If there is one thing a remote-controlled, silent and unseeable surveillance/killing machine needs, it’s more whimsy. -- Marcus
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:03 pm

Darkmage wrote:
As a related aside... how often do you see a Sci-Fi solution to a problem that doesn't work? How often do you see failed attempts at solving a problem that fizzles, sputters and doesn't do much at all?


Not often on screen, yea. One I remember is the Twilight Zone episode "Cold Equations". It's based on Tom Godwin's famously dismal story and is the antithesis of Gravity. And there's a funny SG Atlantis episode where Dr. McKay failed to stop an iffy Ancient weapon from smashing an entire star system ...

There's more choice in published SF. This genre appeals as moral literature with no historical burden, but also appeals as geeky "answer culture" with no engineering burden either. Most authors speculate so much on human themes evolving via tech or social what-ifs that they neglect operational issues. There are a few who write about real-world "problems" defeating plans or technology. They are usually scientists/engineers or Service experts commenting on aspects of their field, like Gregory Benford and his space exploration tragedy Heart of the Comet. Or Jack Campbell whose Lost Fleet series emphasized probable C4I and logistics/maintenance issues in running a space fleet formed around hulls and missions like today's wet navies. Such SF tends to be gritty space opera series like Frederick Pohl's Gateway, Jerry Pournelle's Moties, or Vernor Vinge's Qeng Ho. Ex-military authors David Drake (Hammer's Slammers) and Joe Haldeman (Forever War) wrote on the messy effects of failure modes in the field.


...I finished up Eureka a couple months ago and really enjoyed the series... but nothing ever fails in that show. Sure, there are unintended consequences, but its always stuff working too well. The nanomachines keep assembling, the defense computer unexpectedly integrates with the refrigerator, the subliminal messages in the motivational MP3s spread virally through the jukebox, that sort of thing...


I couldn't get into its storyline. It sounded much like a mythical combo of Epcot Center/Lake Woebegone where everyone and everything shiny is "above average".


...Looking back over what I remember of Star Trek, it was much the same. Every time they try some hairbrained solution to impending doom, it works first try! No iterative development. No sense of failure. No increase in tension.


Some think Star Trek was an educational trojan for progressive ideas presented within an SF theme. Liberal culture being a type of religion, I guess architectural or mission failure can't be part of the march forward. Still I liked many episodes in the original and Next Generation series.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:35 pm

I thought I saw tons of crap go wrong in the various Star Trek series- well, at least most of the time the chosen idea doesn't go 'right'. Maybe I'm not looking at it close enough- I'm scheduling my next marathon to when it's all available on Blu-ray (or better).

As for Star Trek politics- I've always held it up as 'liberalism done right'. As in, not only is Socialism well-implemented, but human beings have by and large evolved socially to the point that it doesn't fly apart at the seams.

And hey, I still believe that Communism is the 'perfect' form of society/government. It just requires perfect people :).
 
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:52 pm

Airmantharp wrote:
As for Star Trek politics- I've always held it up as 'liberalism done right'. As in, not only is Socialism well-implemented, but human beings have by and large evolved socially to the point that it doesn't fly apart at the seams.

And hey, I still believe that Communism is the 'perfect' form of society/government. It just requires perfect people :).
Let us be careful about banishing this thread to the R&P forum.

But Star Trek has its dark side.
Cracked wrote:
[T]he characters in the various television shows and movies are happy to brag about how war, disease, and hunger have all been eradicated by the 23rd century, thanks to cultural and technological innovations such as replicators that can eliminate any shortage and giant spaceships with laser cannons that discourage people from starting international incidents. What could possibly be the downside to that?

Well, in order to get to that utopia, everything you have ever loved was torn apart by world war, engulfed in atomic fire, or executed in a mass genocide. Roughly 90 percent of the time anyone in Star Trek mentions how wonderful the Federation is, they make some offhand reference to one of three major incidents in Star Trek canonical history: the Eugenics Wars, the Third World War, and the Post-Atomic Horror.


So... no thank you.
If there is one thing a remote-controlled, silent and unseeable surveillance/killing machine needs, it’s more whimsy. -- Marcus
 
Airmantharp
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:15 pm

Well, I did say 'evolved'; near-obliteration is one way to get there, but I'd like to believe that there are others- given that, for instance, we're supposed to have already been through the third world war right now, in the atomic nightmare, and looking forward to the eugenics wars, according to Star Trek history :).

But I do agree that debating Star Trek-style socialism is best done in R&P.
 
clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:42 am

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clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sat Oct 19, 2013 2:03 am

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Flatland_Spider
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 3:12 am

I liked the movie. Gravity is a Biblical story of redemption, and it's a pretty good one. The premise is unique, and it adds suspense. The visuals and music are heavily integrated with the plot to create the entire experience. Seeing it in 2D at home in stereo is not the way to see this movie.

It's a very slow paced movie, so if you're looking for something with explosions every five seconds, look for something else. It also isn't particularly high brow; it's entertainment. If you want high brow, check out 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There is ample use of negative space in the movie, in the scenery and the dialog. It's very much in the Breaking Bad, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Hemingway mold where dialog is very sparse which allows the actors to act and the scenery to move the story along. There are a lot of visual symbols, and the setting is as much a part of the plot as the dialog. Gravity can be thought of as 2001 lite in that sense. It doesn't have the metaphysics, or Kubrick, of 2001, but the story is similar. There is actually an homage to 2001 in Gravity.

The character development was believable, and the actors were good. They're both subtle, but very appropriate for the storyline and style. I never got the feeling I was watching two actors, but just enjoyed the characters.

[Note: Spoilers are below.]
Let's break the movie down.

This movie could very well be a western. The vast emptiness of space versus the vast emptiness of the west. The western country music played by Kowalski hints at this.

Disaster strikes leaving Kowalski and Stone as the lone survivors. Kowalski acts as Stone's guide on her journey. Symbolically he pulls her along until he has to nobly sacrifice himself so she can go on. This foreshadows what will happen later in the Chinese capsule. Him pulling her symbolizes him being her guide through her transformation, and pulling her into her journey. He asks her what is back at home, and she opens up to him about her backstory. She would have been spiralling out of control and lost in space if he hadn't saved her and told her what to do. Much like she was doing with her lost child.

The ISS represents the start of Stone's rebirth. This is where the homage to 2001 comes in. Her fetal position and the position of the floating strap echo the Starchild from the ending of 2001. Within the capsules she will grow and mature into the heroine of the film. Kowalski had to die because this is about one person's rebirth, and ultimately only the person can take the journey. The Russian spacesuit represents her changing and being in the wilderness. The Russian suit is much more threadbare and primitive then the US spacesuits, plus the Cyrillic is similar to the Latin alphabet. It's only a little different.

The part where she turns off the oxygen is the come to Jesus moment of the film. She realizes she wants to be born, and that being born is a struggle. This is tipped off by the dialog about how she doesn't know how to pray because no one showed her how. The carbon dioxide causes her to hallucinate, and her spirit guide, Kowalski, returns to help her solve her dilemma. This could be a hat tip to First Nations smoking peyote in sweat lodges or early Christians eating magic mushrooms to achieve spiritual enlightenment. I'm not sure which. Anyway, this is the big cathartic moment of the film, and Stone realizes all she has to do is ask for God's grace and it will be granted.

The different languages represent how much she is in a foreign land. Stone has come a long way, and it's an alien world for her. Everything is similar, but it's different and she'll need to get used to it. Mandarin is nothing like the Latin alphabet, and it shows how much Stone has changed.

I've sat down at a German laptop before. The keyboard is similar, but alien. I was trying to fix something that required me to type on the laptop, and I couldn't find the key I needed. I pressed the key combo, but it wasn't the same. I guessed a couple of more times, and I ended up walking the owner of the laptop through the process. The Chinese capsule scene reminded me of that. Something very familiar, but very foreign.

The final part with the Chinese capsule is her resurrection. The fire represents the Phoenix mythos, which is appropriate since it's an oriental myth and the capsule is Chinese. The splash down is where Stone is born again, and where she enters the more traditional western motif. Stone exits the capsule and sheds the trappings of her time in the wilderness. When she emerges from the pond, fully reborn. This part has multiple meanings. Evolutionists believe land animals descended from some animal which came from the water (I kept thinking of "I come from the water" by the Toadies. I don't think it has any significance, but it fits well.). There are also Christian sects where people are baptised in rivers and lakes, and Hindus also believe in power of water to purify people, specifically the Ganges. Anyway, water and birth/rebirth are synonymous.

As a side note, I believe Russian capsules landed in Siberia on the Tundra rather than at sea like the US capsules did, so they probably wouldn't have had provisions to land in the water.

I wanted to see this movie because of the soundtrack, and I thought it might be like Lost in Translation in that way. It's a very good traditional soundtrack. It sets the mood, and the ambient music is appropriately spacey.

For the record, all soundtracks are meant to manipulate the audience. It's a subtle clue that we take for granted.
 
clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 3:25 am

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Last edited by clone on Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Airmantharp
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:48 am

clone wrote:
Russian and Chinese space capsules are designed for both splashdown or landfall. (inflatables deploy upon landing in water, rockets fire just prior to landfall to slow descent)
The character development was believable, and the actors were good. They're both subtle, but very appropriate for the storyline and style. I never got the feeling I was watching two actors, but just enjoyed the characters.
agree to disagree with every element of the quote.


I think I can agree with the quote- in that we're told as very little as possible so that what we are told sticks in. They are in space, after all, so it's not like who they are really matters- it's how they react to stimuli in space.
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:27 am

Airmantharp wrote:
I thought I saw tons of crap go wrong in the various Star Trek series- well, at least most of the time the chosen idea doesn't go 'right'. Maybe I'm not looking at it close enough- I'm scheduling my next marathon to when it's all available on Blu-ray (or better).

As for Star Trek politics- I've always held it up as 'liberalism done right'. As in, not only is Socialism well-implemented, but human beings have by and large evolved socially to the point that it doesn't fly apart at the seams.

And hey, I still believe that Communism is the 'perfect' form of society/government. It just requires perfect people :).


Yeah, let's see how long our system could run perfectly if we keep the users out :)

Star Trek would have been more believable if it had benevolent super-AIs overseeing the Federation, directing people and resources harmoniously. I imagine such technological demigods could be a means to establishing a viable classless culture. But this is for R&P...
 
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:53 am

clone wrote:
Gravity is a solo act, their was no "together we can conquer all.", it's a training video. I'm honestly reflecting atm and struggling to find anything uplifting, if they were going for uplifting they needed to add an extra half hour of character development.


But wasn't Clooney's character critical in retrieving Bullock's and getting her to the ISS? Or was that an imagined assist like the heroine's retraining dream in the Soyuz.


...2nd quote, actually my favorite parts of most recent films has been the added complexity in the characters, their is nothing I hate more than a 1 dimensional, un-conflicted hero... it's dishonest.... that's not to say everything that's come out has been perfect but being more honest with protagonists has been a much needed addition to movies. consider Iron Man 3: my favorite part, Tony Stark. the worst parts were most scenes involving the Iron Man suit/s....


I find the trend of loading roles with "interesting" fringey behaviors unnecessary for many themes. By way of example, Star Wars was a series of action pieces with literary cut-outs derived from a pantheon of archetypes altercating in conventional situations, and it worked for most. What carries beyond the story's devices is how its themes are convincingly presented in ways honest to the material. I believe this is more a matter of artitistic imagination and competence than of inventing perverse new character mixes just because writers have license.


3rd part: I don't believe it requires a "discriminating viewer" to draw a parallel between Apollo 13 and Gravity.... I'd wager it's closer to impossible not too.

Apollo 13 was based on a true story.... closely based, Gravity on the other hand was written deliberately for stuff to happen in a certain sequence so that more stuff could happen so the 1 dimensional character/s could react as required. while I knew the story of Apollo 13 that movie still had tension in it. in comparison Gravity offered parlor tricks and a slew of deliberate attempts to manipulate the viewer...


Gravity's tricks did it for me except for a few technical issues which got my mind off the story at some moments. Most of these are obvious only to informed viewers anyway. Like Apollo 13, it establishes that if not for the freak accident in the incredible setting, its characters would just be detail experts in a profession which values boring day-to-day discipline and methodology.
Last edited by trackerben on Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:06 pm

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trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:45 pm

Flatland_Spider wrote:
I liked the movie. Gravity is a Biblical story of redemption, and it's a pretty good one. The premise is unique, and it adds suspense. The visuals and music are heavily integrated with the plot to create the entire experience. Seeing it in 2D at home in stereo is not the way to see this movie...


That is well-considered analysis. Is all this your exposition or did you come across this in commentary from the director or others involved with the film? This is along the justify/sanctify/glorify theme of redemption I was thinking of like you.

However, I was going to propose it retells in modern terms a part of the biblical narrative of Jonah & the Whale. Like Jonah, Bullock's character was fleeing from her root duty to overcome her personal weaknesses and found renewed purpose in surviving the ordeal by her reborn faith in God's effectiveness. The descent in three stages represented by three various space platforms figuratively mirrors the three days Jonah spent getting to grips with his calling in the belly of the deliverance beast.

Clooney's ghost-phase role does fit here as the Spirit's personal counsel in her time of need. His initial physical assistance which appears to be in vain at mid-stage when Bullock's gets trapped in the "rigging" of the station belongs to another context, though. I need to watch Gravity again and focus on the meaning behind the Clooney's character's good yet seemingly futile actions.
Last edited by trackerben on Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:33 pm

clone wrote:
Clooney was out in the first half hour of a 90 minute movie... .that's not a "together we'll conquer all."


Well it seemed to be heading for that at first until it seemed a fail. But I'll reserve judgement here til I watch again. It could also be a side-lesson to emphasize the main message of redemption and deliverance.


...it's not about adding "fringy" behavior, it's about creating a real character.... not "fringy", honest.

but let's examine the Bullock character... and the reason I call her the "Bullock" character is because while I sort of remember Clooney's character was named "Kowalski" I don't remember hers..... literally I just looked it up and forgot it again.


I refer to "Clooney's" and "Bullock's" characters too. Director Cuaron should have had the character's names printed on their helmets as is reasonably done in other space flicks. (Or did he?) Her's is "Dr. Stone". Had to look it up now that you mentioned it, heh.


...anyway had the movie mentioned Bullocks depressing detail the audience would have known immediately she didn't belong in space, (she would have failed the psych exam and not qualified) I lost my daughter so I'm solid with dying, this is hard so I'm just going to quit after a half hour of trying, oh btw I'm also not going to try and save Clooney despite saying I would over, and over and over.... nope, just going to stop, slowly strip down out of my suit and pose like the baby from 2001 despite the impending doom that's coming like a speeding bullet over the horizon.


Well it's why I found Gravity's character development inoffensive for not overdoing their profiles. I find it credible that Dr. Stone (Bullock) would submerge in despair and inconsistency after seeing every "safe" ground she reached undercut by cascading disasters. Some famously vaunted soldiers and explorers behaved no better than her character did onscreen after they suffered the historical destruction of their mounts or ships from right under their feet. And Kowalki (Clooney) did make a strong technical case against pursuit. It would have failed regardless as the Soyuz module was immobilized for too long for an economic chance at retrieving him.

At least Bullock's performance was not a cynical study in devolution or antiheroism as is fashionable these days. Gravity is more about retelling a disturbing yet uplifting biblical example than exploiting some futile "character". It involves a plausibly damaged yet self-honest person with her stupid moments as opposed to some fantasy caricature of the type which would be rejected outright by NASA. This is just fine by me as I'm focused more on the spiritual theme.
Last edited by trackerben on Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
Flatland_Spider
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:16 pm

trackerben wrote:
Flatland_Spider wrote:
I liked the movie. Gravity is a Biblical story of redemption, and it's a pretty good one. The premise is unique, and it adds suspense. The visuals and music are heavily integrated with the plot to create the entire experience. Seeing it in 2D at home in stereo is not the way to see this movie...


That is well-considered analysis. Is all this your exposition or did you come across this in commentary from the director or others involved with the film? This is along the justify/sanctify/glorify theme of redemption I was thinking of like you.

However, I was going to propose it retells a portion of the Jonah & Whale biblical narrative in ultramodern terms. Like Jonah, Bullock's character was fleeing from her root duty to overcome her personal weaknesses and found renewed purpose in surviving the ordeal by her reborn faith in God's effectiveness. The descent in three stages represented by three space platforms figuratively mimicks the three days the biblical character spent getting to grips with his calling in the belly of deliverance.

Clooney's ghost-phase role does fit here as the Spirit's personal counsel in her time of need. His initial physical assistance which appears to be in vain at mid-stage when Bullock's gets trapped in the "rigging" of the station belongs to another context, though. I need to watch Gravity again and focus on the meaning behind the Clooney's character's good yet seemingly futile actions.


The only thing I read or heard about this film is a 30 second snippet from Sandra Bullock on NPR talking about how the music was meant to create a feeling of weightlessness. That post is my opinion after seeing the movie. Some people do crosswords for fun. I analyze movies, literature, and art for fun. Although, I'm rusty right now. I've had other things that have taken up my free time.

Jonah and the Whale is a good call. I'm not entirely up on Biblical stories.

Which part are you talking about? The part where Stone gets tangled up in the parachute cords?

clone wrote:
anyway had the movie mentioned Bullocks depressing detail the audience would have known immediately she didn't belong in space, (she would have failed the psych exam and not qualified) I lost my daughter so I'm solid with dying, this is hard so I'm just going to quit after a half hour of trying, oh btw I'm also not going to try and save Clooney despite saying I would over, and over and over.... nope, just going to stop, slowly strip down out of my suit and pose like the baby from 2001 despite the impending doom that's coming like a speeding bullet over the horizon.


Having some sort of regret is pretty normal, and there was nothing in her actions about wanting to die. In fact, her actions with the com card speak to the opposite. She wants to finish initializing the card even in the face of danger. She's tenacious, but she has flaws.

I'm pretty sure space travel is still considered a risky endeavour, so astronauts need to accept that there is not an insignificant chance of dying, no matter how routine things are.

Stone is a rookie, so it's not out of character for someone with very little experience to freak out in the face of real circumstances. Training is one thing, but being in a situation with out a reset button is quite different.
 
trackerben
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 3:07 pm

Flatland_Spider wrote:
The only thing I read or heard about this film is a 30 second snippet from Sandra Bullock on NPR talking about how the music was meant to create a feeling of weightlessness. That post is my opinion after seeing the movie. Some people do crosswords for fun. I analyze movies, literature, and art for fun. Although, I'm rusty right now. I've had other things that have taken up my free time.

Jonah and the Whale is a good call. I'm not entirely up on Biblical stories.

Which part are you talking about? The part where Stone gets tangled up in the parachute cords?


Yes, that part. The defeat of her plans to either retrieve Kowalski and/or flee onwards to the next station may be figurative of an old lesson. That events were out of everyone's hands all along. That it was never within her power to recover from disaster. Unless she first attended to certain things, and not just finding an alternative thrust system or cutting the entangling cords. This may be the part were her character undergoes a further spiritual test. A challenge from hopelessness and danger thrown at her face which can't be "solved" but must be endured in calm determination.

I don't remember her exact demeanor in this sequence but I doubt I'd have been as effective as her character was if I were in such a totally panned out situation.
 
clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:05 pm

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Last edited by clone on Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
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clone
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Re: movie review: Gravity.

Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:09 pm

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Last edited by clone on Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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