Gravity (2013)

In director and co-writer Alfonso Cuarón's and Warner Bros.' stunning sci-fi drama and outer-space survival tale - with amazing cinematography and CGI special effects to capture the breath-taking vastness and beauty of space:

• the opening title card (white letters on black): "At 600KM above planet Earth the temperature fluctuates between +258 and -148 degrees Fahrenheit. There is nothing to carry sound. No air pressure. No oxygen. Life in space is impossible"
• the opening sequence of a space-walk mission by veteran astronaut Lieut. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and mission engineer specialist Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) from their NASA space-shuttle the Explorer, as they were docked next to the Hubble Space Telescope (350 miles up) to repair and upgrade it
• the frightening sequence of a cloud of stray space debris orbiting the Earth and striking the telescope and their NASA space-shuttle
• the shocking discovery that the other crew members on The Explorer were dead, including Shariff (Phaldut Sharma) who was hit in the face by space debris and died instantly
• the conversation between Stone and Kowalski, as they floated over to the International Space Station (ISS) (230 miles up) about the tragic death of her daughter: "I had a daughter. She was 4. She was at school playing tag. Slipped, hit her head, and that was it. Stupidest thing. I was driving when I got the call, so Ever since then, that's what I do. I wake up, I go to work and I just drive"
• the dilemma facing the two stranded, floating astronauts, and the decision and self-sacrifice of astronaut Kowalski who commanded his partner to let go of the deployed parachute cords of the second Soyuz of the ISS, tentatively holding them: ("Ryan, listen...You have to let me go...the ropes are too weak. I'm pulling you with me. You have to let me go or we both die"); she allowed him to detach himself and float off to his death

Caught in Parachute Cords The Self-Sacrifice of Kowalski - Letting Go of Stone

• the womb imagery once Dr. Stone entered the door lock of one of the ISS' space pods
• the sequence of the magical (hallucinatory) re-appearance of Kowalski urging the semi-conscious, suicidal Stone (who had turned off her oxygen supply) to find her will to survive, and to persevere: ("Listen, do you wanna go back, or do you wanna stay here? I get it. It's nice up here. You can just shut down all the systems, turn out all the lights, and just close your eyes and tune out everyone. There's nobody up here that can hurt you. It's safe. I mean, what's the point of going on? What's the point of living? Your kid died. It doesn't get any rougher than that. But still, it's a matter of what you do now. If you decide to go, you gotta just get on with it. Sit back, enjoy the ride. You gotta plant both your feet on the ground and start livin' life. Hey, Ryan? It's time to go home") - she was able to gather her strength and fortitude to propel herself (with landing rockets) and connect up to a nearby Chinese space station Tiangong and enter one of its escape pods
• the difficult re-entry ("it'll be one hell of a ride") into Earth's atmosphere in one of Tiangong's small pod-capsules; before the re-entry, she spoke: "It's starting to get hot in here. OK. Alright the way I see it, there's only two possible outcomes. Either I, make it down there in one piece and I have one hell of a story to tell. Or I burn up in the next ten minutes. Either way, whichever way, no harm no foul"
• the reentry pod-capsule holding Dr. Stone tumbled and dangerously overheated, caught fire due to a malfunctioning heat shield, and landed in a lake; she was forced to evacuate the pod almost immediately, stripped off her spacesuit to avoid drowning, swam to the surface, and miraculously reached the shore (a scene symbolic of her rebirth as she struggled to evacuate from the water) - a low-angle shot focused on her feet and then tilted up to her face - showing her bravely standing and confronting new life

Fire	Pod Capsule	Crash Landng in Lake
Gasping for Air	Crawling on Land	Rising Up