Two astronauts caught in a storm of adverse circumstances are suspended high above the most beautiful planet in the solar system. The one thing they all have in common: gravity.

“Gravity” stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, a disastrous tale of life and survival on the other side of our pale blue atmosphere.

This film emphasizes how fragile we are in the vacuum and how tenuous our grasp on life is away from terra firma. It also examines the quality of inner strength found in each of us, to be summoned on our most dire day.

The challenge a filmmaker has in a story like this is how to make it compelling but not a rehash of “Apollo 13”. This movie rises to the challenge elegantly. Showcasing the current generation of U.S. and international space faring technologies and the procedures astronauts use. The film shares with us a stark view of existence in the black, with periods of silence, oxygen concerns, against the uncomfortable high-tech industrial interiors of space vehicles and the realistic limitations of both people and machines.

Not listed in the film’s billing, is the ever-present Earth in all of its sunrise-to-sunset orbital glory, which occurs 16 times a day when rocketing around at 17,000 miles an hour.

Thankfully, the story and tone of the film is much more than a thrill ride, unlike the cheesy and over simplistic “Armageddon.”

“Gravity” is a drama not an action film. It has much in common with the classic “2001 A Space Odyssey” as it too tells a compelling story in the eerie quite of space, conveying a feeling of being totally isolated from the rest of humanity.

The cinematography for “Gravity” makes it a must-see on the big screen, IMAX if you can get to one. It’s worth the extra cost of 3D if you dare; there are vertigo-inducing scenes of spinning out of control into the icy void.

At times viewers may wonder how heavy breathing in a fish bowl can seem so enthralling; however, when the best traditions of acting, direction, and cinematography combine with the harsh elements of space, it simply is.

For any person who has dared to dream of leaving the blue and crossing into the black, for those who thought to work for NASA, this film is a must see. It is made of the right stuff.