With Gravity reaching our cinemas on November 8th and receiving a whopping FIVE-STAR review from us, we thought we'd share some films that have a similar vibe to Gravity to get you in the mood for the sci-fi epic. Check it out!
CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron made his English-language debut with Great Expectations all the way back in 1998, but Prisoner of Azakaban - arguably the best Harry Potter film - and this shot him to real prominence. Set in 2027, humanity is nearing extinction after a child hasn't been born in over twenty years. Clive Owen is a former anarchist who's drawn into a plot to help smuggle the first pregnant woman out of England and get her to safety. It's an incredibly visual film, like Gravity, that also has an emotional story attached to it. Filmed almost like a war documentary, Children of Men is brutally realistic and one of Clive Owen's best performances.
SOLARIS (2002)
If you haven't heard of this film, don't worry. It was pretty much written off as an undecipherable sci-fi film. Admittedly, Solaris is a bit hard to follow in places but it's worth watching for the amazing visuals. George Clooney is sent to a space station orbiting a planet where the crew have barricaded themselves in and have gone insane. However, when he reaches the station, he discovers something much more stranger and more personal than that. It's quite different from Gravity in that there's a real philosophical and metaphysical bent to the story. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it's a classy looking film with really interesting set design and music. It's a bit heavy in places and Clooney doesn't give his best performance, but it's an interesting watch.
APOLLO 13 (1995)
This might seem an obvious one, but it's worth adding. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton and Gary Sinise are astronauts onboard the ill-fated Apollo 13. During their Moon landing mission, an explosion on the shuttle saps all the oxygen and turns a routine mission into a desperate battle for survival. Like Gravity, it's all about the technical details and the immersion in the story. Ron Howard spent millions and employed former NASA scientists to get the right look and feel of what it was like being an astronaut in the late sixties. Ed Harris - who plays the voice of Houston in Gravity as well - is the Mission Commander, guiding the astronauts through the rescue. It swept the board at the Oscars that year and rightfully so. It's a cracking film.
ALIVE (1993)
Yes, it's that film where they eat each other in order to survive. But why we're picking this is because it touches on the same idea that Gravity has. That there doesn't need to be a giant villain or evil monster out to kill you, it's nature itself. In Alive, a group of Uruguayan students crash-land in the Andes mountain range and are forced to band together in order to weather the elements. Things soon go from bad to worse when they're snowed in and running out of food. Like Gravity, it's about nature being a truly violent and destructive force. There's no life for miles around them, they're all alone and there really doesn't look to be any chance of survival. Starring Ethan Hawke, American Horror Story's Josh Hamilton and narrated by John Malkovich, Alive is the ultimate survival film.