A gripping space survival story

Rating: 9/10 (12 October 2013)

If this is the first review you have read about this movie, please stop reading any further! Don't read any other reviews at all. Go into the theatre without knowing what happens. You'll enjoy it much more. It's not a predictable movie, so the surprise factor will be lost.
Having started with that warning, let me get to it. This film blew me away. I left the theatre wondering whether I had just watched the best movie of all time. Almost 45,000 IMDb users have voted on this movie, and I agree with their collective wisdom this time. I'll give it a 9 for now, but I may raise my score to 10.
We have reached the point where filmmakers can show us anything on the screen. Here this artistry is not wasted on trivials (eg superheroes, huge robots or monsters), but on the majesty of space, the beauty of our planet, and the wizardry of our technology up there.
This is a little like watching a genuine IMAX film about space – but one that is actually gripping and not a bore. This is an action film par excellence, not a soporific documentary. There is not much dialogue. The plot is uncomplicated, and yet full of surprises. This film has you on the edge of your seat.
At the same time, it felt completely realistic, although I understand some purists are pointing out the scientific mistakes. (Who really cares about that? It's a movie, for chrissakes.)
The director (Alfonso Cuaron) essentially tells us the story of a huge space disaster devastating all of Earth's space infrastructure. We are shown the enormity of the disaster, with our glorious planet as the constant backdrop. The director also succeeds in making it the personal survival story of a woman caught up in this disaster.
Bullock plays a remarkable character (Ryan Stone) who leaves you gasping at what is happening to her, both physically and emotionally. Space is a metaphor representing a beautiful but brutal and uncaring universe. Space is not her element, as it is for Kowalski (George Clooney). In this situation we long for the calm demeanor and competence of a Kowalski, but even he can't survive this one.
She soon realises that she is on her own and no one is going to rescue her. (Surely, an important lesson to be learned?) We are alone with her in the middle of one of the greatest trials any human being could ever face. This ordeal is shown in bone-crunching detail. Physically, she is strong as hell. Emotionally, however, the situation has her swinging wildly back and forth, from idiot to competent, from victim to survivor, from despair to euphoria.
The realisation that "shit happens, so deal with it" is a profound one — a moment of rebirth. Most of us never truly get it. Our only choice really is how we deal with that fact.
I'd go see this movie.