One of my biggest complaints about Gravity was a bit of a quandary for me. This is because I really liked Steven Price‘s score, but at the same time felt it was a problem considering the opening of the film emphasized the silence of space aspect. Well, Warner Home Video is putting that theory to the test. Was I right? Was that an issue that could be resolved with the absence of the film’s score? We’ll find out as a new Diamond Luxe edition of the Oscar-winning feature is coming to Blu-ray on February 10 with a “Silent Space Version” of the film, which is described as giving audiences a chance to experience the film “without music for a surprising cinematic experiment.”
Here’s what I wrote in my review of the film:
[F]or as much as I love Steven Price‘s score, it’s entirely unnecessary after the opening sequence hammered home the effectiveness of silence. The sound artists have the audio covered as evidenced early by the low, barely audible hum of bolts being unscrewed heard over the astronauts’ dialogue, and even more so as a field of satellite debris is hurtling through space at tens of thousands of miles per hour without a sound, remaining silent as they smash into the shuttle. Your heart begins to race. The entire audience is tense and you can feel it. What isn’t needed is artificial sound and yet, Cuaron goes back to it time and again.
The new release will also come equipped with Dolby Atmos sound, though I have to wonder if that’s something the majority of home entertainment systems can even take advantage of. The release I received also says there are two other new bonus features, but nothing specific was listed.
You can preorder the disc from Amazon here.
