Stunningly realised non-stop space suspense

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2013)

A cloud of debris brings a space shuttle mission to an abrupt halt, leaving two survivors whose slim chance of survival begins with them having to make their way to the nearby International Space Station. But oxygen and fuel for suit jets are running low, and the debris takes 90 minutes to make a full orbit, so it won't be long until it returns...
The expression "high concept" tends to mean a simple idea which no-one has thought of before. Well, this idea has been around for a while, but the technology has only recently been sufficiently advanced to enable Alfonso Cuaron to commit his concept to celluloid (or the digital equivalent).
Space has never been so realistically depicted, and the the meaning of the title - or, specifically, its absence - is conveyed in a stunning unbroken 13-minute opening shot in which the camera joins George Clooney's Kowalski in roaming, unfettered, in three dimensions as the scenario is set up and the first disaster occurs. Saving only a couple of moments where I wasn't sure that Newton's laws meant that things would move exactly like that, the visuals are flawless, and it is mind-boggling to consider the thinking process involved in visualising such a sequence.
Even taking for granted the visual perfection where one cannot tell what is digital and what is physical, one then has to factor in a simple story where the pace and intensity never lets up, and an astonishing performance, both emotional and physical, from Sandra Bullock as the initially not-very-likable Dr Stone.
This film is must-see stuff, a visceral experience which benefits enormously from 3D.