Sorry for the terrible joke in the headline. I have a weakness for lame jokes and it seems to be getting stronger as the years go by…
Anyway, as you all may know if you read my box office report, or follow me on Twitter. I enjoyed Gravity very much. And I’m not the only one. At this point it sort of seems like I’m jumping on the band wagon as I didn’t get to see the film until last night and everyone has already sung its praises. And even the critics have nothing but good things to say about this film.
Stepping up to sing the praises was also Buzz Aldrin. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said:
I was so extravagantly impressed by the portrayal of the reality of zero gravity. Going through the space station was done just the way that I’ve seen people do it in reality.
He did have this criticism though:
This movie gave great clarity to looking down and seeing the features of Earth … but there weren’t enough clouds, and maybe there was too precise a delineation from space.
I know: If you’re looking down at Earth, you’re looking through an atmosphere that has a bit of haze in many places and not just occasional clouds.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, noted astrophysicist, had a lot more criticism for the film, which he happily shared view his Twitter account. But of course, the fact that he was engaging with the film ultimately means that he liked it:
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock, a medical Doctor, is servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock’s tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock’s hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east yet all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Satellite communications were disrupted at 230 mi up, but communications satellites orbit 100x higher.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Astronaut Clooney informs medical doctor Bullock what happens medically during oxygen deprivation.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 7, 2013
But don’t let him fool you with all that. He still loved the film:
My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 7, 2013
One wonders why he spent so much time on such heavy critique then, but I guess that’s his way. And I mean, I suppose it is good to know about the technical errors and blunders and such. Personally, I think they got it right enough and the film was extremely awesome!
Also, I’m never EVER going to space. Not ever!