I decided to watch “Gravity” by Alfonso Cuarón after I heard claims from our professor

in Navigational Aids that it is one of the best films about outer space. I admit that I’m not fun of
watching movies but then, when Engr. Beltran said that the movie tackles about outer space, I’ve
got a little bit interested on it. I always wonder how it would be to be an astronaut and to be in
outer space. So, I decided to take a glance at the newborn candidate to my list.

Alfonso Cuarón’s incredibly exciting, visually amazing film is about two astronauts
floating in space trying to repair the Hubble Telescope on its orbit because their space shuttle is
collided with space trash. And out of the entire crew, only two survived namely Ryan Stone and
Matt Kowalski. Dr. Ryan Stone is a scientific engineer played by Sandra Bullock who after six
months’ specialist NASA training, he has been allowed into space to attach a high – tech new
scanning device to the Hubble telescope. She is under the watchful supervision of Matt
Kowalski, a genial and grizzled space veteran played by George Clooney.

The destruction caused by the accident did not allow them to return to Earth. Then,
Kowalski makes a desperate decision to reach the International Space Station (ISS) using their
manned maneuvering units, the jet packs. But ISS is abandoned because of a similar accident
with space trash. So, the only hope for the astronauts is the old shuttle on board of ISS. However,
Kowalski dies as he approaches the station, and Stone manages to fix the shuttle and return to
Earth. In short, the plot can be boiled down to an unhappy woman who has a bad time in space
but survives against the odds.

I was thrilled as the movie manages to pump up the tension by many artistic means. The
panoramas of astronauts tumbling against starfield and floating through space stations are both
informative and lovely. The atmosphere of the film is breathtaking. It is impossible to look away
from the screen. Every little detail is important and helps me to engage deeper into the shown
situation. I liked how Bullock managed to convey all her emotions. Its intensity and depth aided
in understanding what Stone was feeling like better than any traditional actor means’. While for
Clooney, his protagonist sometimes looked calm especially on a situation where he said: “Lost in
space? No problem!”. But in general, his performance also was convincing and satisfactory.

I disliked only two moments in “Gravity,” and both of them. The first of them refers to
the crazy rescue plan suggested by Kowalski. In reality, the Hubble Telescope is located 559
kilometers above the equator, whereas the ISS hangs on the height of 418.3 kilometers above
Russia. Such distances require even spacecrafts to refuel, while Kowalski and Stone manage to
cover it using only jet packs. Another drawback that I noticed was the helmets of the astronauts’
spacesuits. In the film, they are completely transparent, whereas real spacesuits have mirror-
reflecting helmets, which prevent their eyes from blindness and skin from burns. I understand
that the helmets’ transparency was caused by the necessity to show the astronauts’ emotions, but
still this fact instills a feeling of imperfection. Other minor defects that attentive viewers can
possibly notice do not spoil the atmosphere.

Overall, I would like to say that the film has definitely supplemented my personal
collection of favorite films. The atmosphere of desolation and loneliness that Alfonso Cuaron
managed to create, the environment, and the situation in which the main characters have found
themselves causes a truly thrilling effect. It gives me a realization that in the entire universe,
nobody can save or help them and a total / complete loneliness of a tiny human being in the
endless ocean space. The sensation of overwhelming emptiness is one of the most remarkable
facts in the movie. Therefore, I would like to strongly recommend watching “Gravity” to all
especially with those who are interested with the study of outer space and dreamed to be an
astronaut.