5 reasons to watch ‘Gravity’ the way it’s meant to be experienced

SANDRA BULLOCK as Ryan Stone and GEORGE CLOONEY as Matt Kowalski in Warner Bros. Pictures’ dramatic thriller “GRAVITY,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

“Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron’s lost-in-space thrill ride that strands two astronauts (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock) alone in the void nearly 400 miles above Earth, is a technical marvel.

It’s one of the best-looking movies you could ever hope to see.

It’s also one of the best-sounding movies I can remember.

Here are five reasons you should hear it in the immersive Dolby Atmos-equipped theaters at the Palms and the Cannery.

1. As stunning as the visuals are, the sound is perhaps “Gravity’s” most vital element. Clooney and Bullock only communicate over their headsets. And only five other actors are credited, all of them providing disembodied voices over various headsets and speakers.

2. When Clooney’s character drifts in and out of the frame while testing a new jetpack, you can hear him, and the Hank Williams song that’s blaring over his headset, as he moves from side to side, and turns up in several spots in between, inside the theater.

3. After Bullock’s character is hit by debris, untethered from the Hubble telescope and sent spiraling deeper and deeper into the darkness, she sounds like she’s directly over your shoulder.

4. Bullock’s shallow breaths once her character’s oxygen begins running out are haunting.

5. Even the moments of complete and utter silence sound amazing. It’s the quietest you’ll ever hear a theater. Except for the rustling popcorn. And the crying babies. And the giggling teenagers. And the cellphones. And that old guy in the corner who keeps asking, “What’d she say?!?!”