George Clooney says the special effects wizardry in his new space adventure “Gravity” justify shooting it in 3D — a format he thinks is overused.
“It’s an actual argument for 3D,” Clooney told TheWrap at the film’s New York premiere. “It’s crazy how good it is.”
The actor noted that all too often, filmmakers fail to ask why they are taking a certain approach to a film. He cited his live televised broadcast of “Fail Safe,” a play about a pending nuclear attack, in 2000.
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“I don’t understand why some movies are in 3D,” Clooney said. “This one makes sense. There’s got to be a reason why you have to do things a certain way. We did ‘Fail Safe’ live. That makes sense. There’s a time clock. It doesn’t make sense to do, you know, ‘The Gin Game’ as a live TV show. There has to be a reason for it, and there’s a reason for the 3D in this film.”
Director Alfonso Cuarón’s long tracking shots of Clooney and Sandra Bullock stranded in space have been hailed for their beauty and technical mastery. The film opens Friday and follows a pair of astronauts trying to survive after a disaster leaves their shuttle nearly destroyed.
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The film has been mentioned as an Oscar contender and has earned comparisons with another seminal film set in zero gravity — Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But it’s a compliment that Clooney shrugs off.
“I don’t think people should be comparing things to Kubrick ever, because I think people are going to be comparing their films to this film in 15 to 20 years,” Clooney said.
“I think this is a really groundbreaking film,” he added. “When James Cameron comes out and says it’s the best space film he’s ever seen and the one he’s been waiting to see his whole life, I think that’s the ad you should be running, by the way. Forget all the reviews. Just run that ad.”