Gravity Posters Are Ready For Their Close-Up
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By the time Alfonso Cuaron’s space thriller Gravity hits theaters, we here at GFR might be a little late getting there, since we’re bogged down by the endless glut of promotional material being released at a fast clip. Now Warner Bros. has released two character posters that don’t really give the characters a lot of room to breathe. And when you’re floating around in outer space with only a limited amount of oxygen, you kind of need all the breathing room you can get.
Sarcasm aside, I like both of these posters quite a bit, specifically because they’re so smashed into the faces of stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. It isn’t a design choice that’s used very often, with many films aiming to fit as many familiar and attractive faces as possible on the poster. CLooney and Bullock are both attractive people, but that’s not what these posters are conveying. We are up close and personal with these two astronauts because they are stranded in space, where one mistake will mean nothing will ever be up close and personal again. Let’s take a look at Bullock’s “oh no” face.
It would have been pretty cool if these posters were made to fit next to each other, with the reflection of the other person seen in the helmet and in the iris of the character’s eyes. I figure if you’re going to have an iris reflection, you might as well make it relevant.
If anything, these posters definitely convey the immediacy of the film’s plot, which centers on both of these astronauts flailing around in outer space after their spacecraft gets damaged by flying debris. When nothing else is around, you want something close by. You don’t want the other person to let go. Which is probably why the tagline “Don’t Let Go” is used ad nauseum in all of these promos. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I bet someone lets go during the movie, and I bet the results are harrowing, as seen in this poster.
Gravity had its world premiere opening the Venice Film Festival earlier this week, earning rave reviews from press at the event. Now, we’ve been fooled by early reviews before, but I would still be rabid for Gravity even if critics were panning it. Hearing Variety call it a “white-knuckle space odyssey” just makes my brain giggle uproariously while bouncing around in my skull.
Gravity opens in theaters on October 4. Let go of your money and go and see it. Here’s a trailer to help you on your way.
