Lost potential

Rating: 6/10 (21 February 2014)

Stunning visual effects and sound engineering. That alone would justify my vote of 7. However, this movie is a disgrace to the efforts of countless people who dedicate their bodies and intellect to make space flight possible.
I will just point two things that made me feel uncomfortable, except from the occasional violations of the laws of physics.

The character portrayed by Sandra Bullock has obvious psychological issues. She is clearly not fit for space flight and she never would have made it in the first place. That gives the impression that e.g. NASA is sending anyone on space, without scrutinizing physical and psychological tests.

Reentry is NOT a piece of cake. Especially if you have an exploding space station and you rush to get to the escape pod without communication with the ground station. There are many variables to be calculated and there is definitely no AUTO PILOT button under these circumstances. What we see is a rotating flaming reentry pod --stops rotating after a while-- that manages to reach the ground --on it's feet-- without exploding.

Stories don't NEED to have a happy ending. It would pay homage to logic and to the people that dedicated their lives for the sake of space exploration, if her attempt to reenter the atmosphere and land successfully was in her imagination.
7/10