Gravity (2013)

Gravity - 2013

Our next film is 2013's space adventure "Gravity", in which an astronaut must make her way to Earth as she hurtles through space after a devastating accident destroys the crew and ship she was a part of.

The film's very small cast includes Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, and Ed Harris.

The space shuttle Explorer has been sent by NASA into low orbit.  Their mission: to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Dr. Ryan Stone is on her first space mission.  She is tasked with performing upgrades on the telescope.  She marvels at the spectacular views of Earth below her.

A bunch of debris from a Russian missile strike causes havoc to the crew of the Explorer.  The ship and telescope are destroyed.  Ryan gets caught and flung far away from the wreck into the blackness of space.

She's rescued by the only other surviving crew member, Matt Kowalski, who is using a manned maneuvering unit.

Matt points out the International Space Station, and he and Ryan decide that that is their best option.  They also only have about 90 minutes before the debris strikes again.  So, with Ryan hanging on for dear life, Matt guides them towards the ISS.

They find the ISS heavily damaged by the debris.  They see a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and decide to use that to get to a Chinese ship that will take them to Earth.  Unfortunately, Matt gets swept away from the ISS after the tether joining them snaps.  Ryan is left to manage the journey alone.  Also, the debris field strikes again and destroys what is left of the ISS.  She's able to get into the Soyuz ship just in time.

While traveling to the Chinese ship she needs, Ryan gets out of her spacesuit and takes the opportunity to rest and conserve her energy.

It's a struggle inside though.  Ryan can't seem to make contact with anyone who can understand her, and some tangled lines make getting away from the ISS before it is destroyed is tricky.  But she does it.

The freezing temperatures cause Ryan to want to give up.  Just as she's about to lose consciousness, Matt shows up and tells her what to do.  It turns out that Matt was a hallucination, as she was suffering from hypoxia (lack of oxygen).

She does what Matt "told" her, and soon she's on her way, moving towards the Chinese ship that will take her home.

Of course, once she gets to the Chinese ship, things get even more difficult.  If Russian wasn't hard enough, Chinese is even more impossible for her to navigate.

She succeeds just as the ship hits the Earth's atmosphere.  She lands in a large body of water, and she finally makes contact with NASA, which tells her that help is very shortly coming to her.

After nearly drowning because of her heavy spacesuit, Ryan manages to get rid of it.  She's tired and weak, and she is barely able to get to shore.  She stands and takes some shaky steps towards help.

Cast rundown:

   Sandra Bullock....................................Dr. Ryan Stone

   George Clooney...................................Matt Kowalski

   Ed Harris............................................Mission Control

And that's all for Gravity.  Before Sandra Bullock came on board, Angelina Jolie was cast.  Natalie Portman also turned down the role of Dr. Ryan Stone.  Everything in the movie, except for the ending, was shot on a green screen.  80% of this movie made use of CGI special effects.

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