Why So Blu?

We're seeing this tomorrow night in 3-D. People are saying that the 3-D is Hugo, Avatar, and Life of Pi good.

We shall see.

jfoobar

Yup, seeing it at Georgetown.

Matthew Chmiel

Similar to my theater, Gravity is also playing in Atmos Dolby Digital 3D in addition to the IMAX 3D presentation. That might be my next screening...

jfoobar

I was pretty underwhelmed with the 3-D in Avatar and remember wishing I had gone to see the 2-D version about a half a dozen times during the movie. Hopefully I feel differently tomorrow night.

Edit: The only 3-D movie I have gone to see since the recent resurgence in 3-D has been Avatar. I was so underwhelmed that I have been kind of avoiding them since then.

fumanstan

I thought about that too, but honestly 3D starts to bug me just 5 minutes in so far in just about every movie i've seen. Avatar was the most effective, and even then I didn't feel it provided a more immerse experience for me. Although I also can't see those 3D pictures on paper or get used to the 3DS.

RichC2

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541123/ Apparently this exists, and was first shown in Feb of 2012

TomOpus

After seeing the movie either your co-worker napped during parts of the movie or she suffers from short-term memory loss. Several times her character talked about going through simulations and also pulled out the SOPs for specific procedures. She didn't just do stuff.

RichC2

She was 80, and Bullock doesn't once cook a bountiful dinner in this movie.

Matthew Chmiel

I saw Avatar twice in 3D, once in IMAX 3D and once in RealD. The IMAX 3D was far better in terms of the 3D effect whereas I thought the RealD presentation was more flat and generally unimpressive.

The films that I've seen look great in 3D are few and far between. Based upon 3D films I've caught in theaters, the only ones I can state that were worth the "up-charge:"

• Avatar
• Dredd
• Final Destination 5
• Gravity
• The Great Gatsby
• The Hobbit (specifically in HFR 3D)
• Hugo
• Jurassic Park
• The Life of Pi
• Step Up 3D
• Titanic (specifically in IMAX 3D with the 1.7:1 AR)

I'd say honorable mentions would also go to Nitro Circus: The Movie, Katy Perry: Part of Me, and Jackass 3D. However, those three films were a mix of 2D and 3D footage... and honestly, nobody should have to subject themselves to the miscarriage of a film that was Nitro Circus: The Movie.

On that note, I've seen a lot of garbage in 3D that made no use of the effect. That goes for films natively shot in 3D, films that were post-converted, and films that were animated and rendered in 3D.

fumanstan

I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D and it didn't exactly wow me, same with Dredd in RealD. So I guess that's that

Matthew Chmiel

It also depends on theater conditions. Not every 3D presentation for the same film will be the same. You have to think about...

• The age of the projection system being used. Example, I avoid the local AMC theater in town that use six-year-old Christie projectors that cause constant ghosting in 3D.
• The settings of the projection system being used. Example, is brightness turned all of the way up? Brightness is key in terms of a successful 3D presentation and most theaters tend to be cheap.
• The format 3D is being used in. RealD and IMAX 3D utilize silver lining screens alongside specific lenses on the projector. Dolby Digital 3D utilize specific glasses that do the polarization alongside specific lenses. Is XPAND (active 3D) still in business? God, I hope not. Either way, each film has to be properly configured for each method. While RealD is the industry standard, filmmakers sometimes prefer Dolby Digital 3D. Everyone hates XPAND.
• Does the projectionist and/or movie theater know what they're doing? Most times this question will be a no. A hard no. Not even a gray area, a definite no.

3D has, for the most part, failed as:

• Studios and theaters tried to force it down the consumers' throat, at an up-charge no less. Gravity is the first film I can recall in a while that has more 3D showings than 2D.
• Studios did not put out quality 3D. For every one film that is deserving to be seen in 3D, there are nine other films that look like shit in 3D and were only doing it as a cash grab.
• In the end, there was no quality control. Both do to studios and theaters.

3D presentations work better in the home environment as you have one-hundred percent control the environment, but most importantly, the brightness is far greater on your LCD or Plasma than your normal DLP projector.

TL;DR: Movie theaters and studios are losing money because they hire are fucking retards retarded.

fumanstan

I lived and frequently went to one of the legit IMAX theaters when I lived in Irvine. That wasn't the issue.

And I've purchased nice 3d TVs for work, from different manufacturers. Still dislike it.

Matthew Chmiel

Get LASIK?

The Antipodean

After seeing it in 2D, and not generally being a fan of 3D, I still kinda wish I'd seen it in 3D. Might catch it again in Imax 3D.

islandclaws

4 1/2 stars, but very close to perfect.

Watching this in IMAX 3D provided one of the most tense, horrific experiences cinema can offer. If Clooney wasn't around to provide a little levity, I would have fainted from holding my breath so much.

Patrick_N

Best cinema experience in years.

I am not a big fan of 3D in movies, there are some that do it well, yes, Avatar, but mostly it's a gimmick I can do without. Gravity maybe makes the best use of 3D of any movie. Visually it's an incredible achievement.

Sandra Bullock seems to be a very likeable person, i enjoyed some of her earlier movies like Demolition Man and Speed but after that she pretty much stared in movies I didn't really care for. I really liked her in this one, all emotional lifting was done by her and she did it very well. I probably liked it enough to say it was actually the performance she would deserve that Oscars for.

Spoilery: Love how the Kowalski character was established and played to work very well in the 'dream' sequence. Throwing the fire extinguisher into space just to get that little nudge to reach the station was a great touch.

gp1086

This isn't going to be very popular - from Letterboxd:


There's no denying that the strong points of Gravity are big highs. Specifically, there are several scenes with tremendous amounts tension where I found myself thinking "Wow this is intense". The intensity results from a combination of the acting, camerawork, and sounds / music - all of which work in unison nicely.

Unfortunately, in between these moments, I found the script and characters to be subpar. On the script front, the dialogue felt very forced at times, with jokes falling flat and stories making me think "ummm...ok, this really isn't that interesting". There is also a random scene that comes out of left field in the third act which kind of annoyed me and I did not think fit the story at all. The characters, while minimal in quantity, are unrelatable to each other and the audience, making them simply not engaging. I should note the weakness is not due to any of the performances, which I had no issues with. Rather, it's the lack of relationship and camaraderie established between the characters. I wish this was different because while I praised the film's highs earlier, they would have been even better if I cared more about the characters involved in these situations.

Visually the film is good - I did not think 3D was necessary or really helpful. I think you must watch it on a large screen though. Score and sound were fine, but nothing to really write home about.

Overall, Gravity, while a good film, did let me down a little bit (perhaps my anticipation was too high). If you're a technical marvel junkie then this is a must-watch and I think you'll really enjoy it. If you're more into characters and script, I still recommend checking out in theaters, but with expectations at bay.

7 out of 10

gp1086

Despite any reservations I might have mentioned in my review, if you're a movie fan, you need to see this in the theater and preferably on as large of a screen as possible.

A-aron

Patrick ... may want to spoiler that last line

gp1086

Spoilery question

inri222

Yes I am so I guess I will have to wait for Blu-Ray.

I am a movie fan but technology & SFX do not trump story & characters

Mr. Cinema

What 3D previews are shown? I'm guessing The Hobbit 2 is one of them?

GoldenJCJ

The Hobbit 2 was the only 3D trailer shown at my screening last night but there were several 2D trailers shown before we put on the 3D glasses.

Dan

My IMAX screening had 3 or 4 trailers, but they were all in 2D, despite the fact that they were all films being released in 3D. Fail.

TomOpus

I thought the character development was fine. You learn enough during the course of the movie to get it. Neither character knew much about the other. They learn as we learn. Anything at the beginning of the movie would've just started things off too slow. Shit happens fast for us and the astronauts. A mundane repair spacewalk becomes anything but. One thing I liked is how one feels like you're there with them. Look at the one scene where...