The Gravity Blu-ray delivers the goods

When Gravity first hit cinema screens, it was arguably the best movie of the year, a film that seemed to be a sure bet for Oscar glory for Best Picture as well as Sandra Bullocks bravura performance as an astronaut stranded alone in space, trying to find a way back to earth, and learning more about herself than she ever knew before in the process.

Since then, many more excellent films have emerged as Oscar Best Picture front runners with 12 Years a Slave or American Hustle most likely the film to take home the gold, and Cate Blanchett an almost sure thing to overtake Sandy as Best Actress for her brilliant performance in Blue Jasmine. Looking at Gravity again on Blu-ray, it still holds up as a pretty exciting thrill ride, but even considering it as Best Picture material seems a bit of a stretch (and who knows, if the two front runners split the vote, Gravity could end up winning).

If you still have not seen the film though, it’s a great nail-biter as Bullock’s Dr. Ryan Stone navigates her way through space to some strategically placed space stations (which would be impossible in a real life situation) as a massive debris field circles the earth every ninety minutes, destroying almost everything in its path. While on the surface the film seems to be a science-based action thriller, it’s more about Stone’s life, acceptance of her fate, and rebirth as a stronger person than she thought she was. And the whole thing runs about ninety minutes!

Warner Brothers’ new home video release on Blu-ray presents the film in a spectacular 1080p/AVC video transfer that is sharp, clear and colorful, representing the theatrical presentation accurately. The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio is also spectacular and will give your surround system a real workout … quite an achievement considering the lengths director Alfonso Cuarón went to to accurately portray the vacuum of space. If I had one criticism about the audio, it’s that Warners did not include their usual 7.1 audio track which would have served the attention to audio detail (such as moving the music and effects around the speaker array with the characters and objects on screen) that went into the mix. That quibble aside, the film still looks and sounds terrific. For those with 3D set-ups, the film is also available in a 1080p/AVC 3D presentation which is also outstanding, and the process serves the weightless setting of the film extremely well. The DVD also has a nice picture, but the deep blackness of space on the Blu-ray comes off a bit grey on DVD (at least on an HD monitor).

The last few Warner Home Video Blu-rays have been rather disappointing in the special features department, but they’ve finally done things right with this release. The bonus features on the 2D Blu-ray include:

• Gravity:Mission Control (9 chapters; 1:46:36) — A very in depth look at the making of the movie from beginning to end. Fascinating behind-the-scenes footage showing how the Zero G footage was accomplished, the astonishing amount of CGI, the lighting and set decoration all created in the computer, and creating a soundscape for an environment that has no sound. Also some fun footage of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney goofing off on set. Real film buffs will totally enjoy this feature, which is actually longer than the movie!
• Shot Breakdowns (5 chapters; 36:48) — More behind-the-scenes featurettes focusing on specific aspects of the film (which could really have been included as part of the Mission Control feature) including creating the helmet visors completely in CG, the space station fire and the “rebirth” Zero G sequence.
• Collision Point: The Race To Clean Up Space (22:28) — Documentary narrated by Ed Harris presenting an interesting and alarming look at the problem of space debris orbiting the earth, the dangers this poses to satellites and space travel, and the ideas proposed to clean up the debris.
• Aningaaq – A Short Film By Jonás Cuarón (6:53 / 10:11 with intro) — A companion piece to the segment where Dr. Stone makes radio contact with a man on earth who does not speak English, as seen from his point of view. Viewable with an optional introduction by the father and son filmmaking team.

The DVD includes the Aningaaq short (with the optional introduction) as its only bonus.

I seriously doubt Gravity will pull off a Best Picture win at this point in time, but after watching all of the excellent behind-the-scenes material included on the Blu-ray, I have no doubt that Alfonso Cuarón will win Best Director. He did things to get this movie made that have never been done before, and for just moving the art of filmmaking forward he should win. The film should also pull off wins for Cinematography, Sound Editing and Mixing, and especially Visual Effects. Once you see the extras and realize that a large percentage of the film was photo-realistic CGI, right down to the visors on the helmets, your mind will be blown.

If you enjoyed the movie, you can’t go wrong with the Blu-ray release of Gravity, and if you’re a real film buff who likes to know how things are done, the extras packed onto this disk make this one of the must-have releases of the year.

The Gravity Blu-ray 3D combo package was generously provided by Warner Home Video for purpose of review.