Gravity Imax 3D

Opened across Australia today, saw it this evening on a 7 story Imax screen, stunning, thrilling, tense and a masterpiece of film making. The opening camera shoot is breathtaking, spent 90 minutes on the edge of my seat.

See it in 3D the best use of the medium to date.

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I'm waiting to see this on my birthday on the 14th which sucks because its my favorite director and one of my favorite actresses.

Robbie, you need to see this!

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I feel Gravity's pull

Most people are seeming to love the film, especially Bullock's performance. I am excited to see it!

I just got in from seeing the 10:00 IMAX 3D showing and wow, wow, wow. I will say this: the less you know about GRAVITY, the less you read reviews, the less you hear about the plot, the more you will enjoy it. So while I'll do my very best not to spoil anything about it, I'd advise you to just go see it first. Which you absolutely should.

This movie is pretty damn dazzling. Yes, the plot is a bit thin (this must be one short script), but what's there is strong. We learn so much about these characters (particularly Ryan Stone, Bullock's character) by having them say so little. The perilous trials Stone encounters throughout the film's tight 90-minute run time are ingeniously frightening and tense, one more draining than the other. Cuaron and his son, who co-wrote the script, push her to the absolute extremes of her limits...over and over again. And it's exhausting, infuriating, and altogether thrilling. This is a sci-if thriller with an unprecedented amount of heart, guts, and emotion.

Which leads me to Cuaron, who just may be my favorite film director working today. The way this movie was directed and filmed is an honest-to-goodness game-changer. That's not something you hear every day. But it's entirely true. It is so seamlessly edited and shot, with some of the most gorgeous special effects and 3D imagery that has ever been put onto celluloid. It's an immersive experience that you should not wait for on DVD. This kind of movie screams to be seen on the big screen. The acting could simply not be better. Hopefully this movie will make people shut the hell up about Sandra Bullock's acting abilities, because she gives a tour de force central performance that will make your head spin. Clooney lends his more-than-reliable support and gives the film a dose of much-needed lightness, ease, and humor.

This is why I go to the movies. Every time I sit in a theater, I hope to have an experience like that one I did tonight seeing GRAVITY in IMAX 3D. But realistically, I know the odds aren't in my favor. But every now and then (usually once every few years or so) they are. And I remember why I love movies, their ability to transport, move you, thrill you, and hypnotize you. GRAVITY is that movie.

To quote Bullock's character, it's "one hell of a ride."

Updated On: 10/4/13 at 12:39 AM

I have to say the marketing of this movie is ingenious. Every commercial hits a certain tone to appeal to somebody, commercial spots sans music or with music, and seeing all those images brings me back to when I first so it completely engrossed. It was the first movie at TIFF where I sat through the whole end credits in complete silence to recuperate.

Also even the GIFs of it are engrossing, dizzying:

Namo, we don't have those dome shaped screens in Australia. I always thought they where only to be found in theme parks?

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I just came back from experiencing it. That's the key word - you don't just 'see' this film, you experience it. All the senses are filled to the point where YOU are Sandra Bullock and it's YOU who are out there, going through this hell of a ride. So Namo - I agree that a dome shaped screen is not necessary, but an IMAX screen is. Definitely see it in IMAX. And 3D. And any special sound systems you're able to find. It's worth taking the time and trouble to do so.

And Jordan - give yourself a true gift. Go and see it now, and then go back on the 14th. It's worth it.

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Updated On: 10/5/13 at 02:23 PM

Most of the IMAX presentations in multiplex theaters are not true IMAX, the kind first unveiled at science museums and the like. The multiplex IMAXes are just bigger screens. Unfortunately, I saw it on one of the real IMAX screens and felt absolutely bludgeoned by it. This morning, thinking about the experience, I felt pissed off. If you want to be steamrolled flat by megacorporate product that beats you into submission, head to a big giant IMAX showing and prepared to have your eyes and ears (parrticularly your inner ears) abused. That's entertainment?

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I guess this is the future. Movie-going as endurance test.

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Although I saw it in a true Imax theater, the screen wasn't dome shaped, and I was actually a bit disappointed that the picture didn't fill up the entire Imax screen, top to bottom. I've seen other IMAX movies in the same theater that did. It must have been filmed in a 2:35 aspect ratio, as opposed to 1:85. A curious choice, IMO, when you're making an 3D IMAX movie set in space. But that's my only quibble. Otherwise, I was completely enthralled from beginning to end.

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I'm sensitive to sound and IMAX didn't bother me. In fact, am I correct in remembering that there was an effective use of silence to create the sense of isolation throughout the film? There are definite moments of chaos and "sound" but I dont remember feeling anything was too loud. I highly recommend the movie in IMAX 3D for all the reasons already stayed. Loved it! Will prob end up seeing it again! Soooo well made!!