'Gravity': Sandra Bullock, George Clooney stun in suspenseful teasers

Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone in "Gravity." (Warner Bros.)



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Sandra Bullock, left, as Dr. Ryan Stone and George Clooney as Matt Kowalsky in "Gravity." (Warner Bros.)



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"Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron, left, producer David Heyman and actress Sandra Bullock speak on stage during the film's panel at San Diego's Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)



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"Gravity" actress Sandra Bullock speaks on stage during the film's panel at San Diego's Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013. (Jordan Strauss / Associated Press)



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Sandra Bullock, left, and Alfonso Cuaron attend a "Gravity" signing at San Diego's Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013. (Chris Frawley / WBTV / Getty Images)



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Alfonso Cuaron attends a "Gravity" signing at San Diego's Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013. (Chris Frawley / WBTV / Getty Images)



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Sandra Bullock attends a "Gravity" signing at San Diego's Comic-Con International on July 20, 2013. (Chris Frawley / WBTV / Getty Images)



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In a summer filled with city-crushing monsters, larger-than-life superheroes, White House explosions and post-apocalyptic horror at the multiplex, two trailers for Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" are a testament to the idea that sometimes, when it comes to suspense, less is more.



The two-minute "Gravity" teasers, titled "Detached" and "Drifting," feature the talents of Sandra Bullock and George Clooney -- the only actors whose faces appear in the film.



"Drifting" focuses on the film's astronaut heroine Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) alone and terrified in outer space, the Earth whirling in and out of view.



"Houston, do you copy?" she asks through heavy breathing. "Houston, this is mission specialist Ryan Stone. I am off structure, and I'm drifting, do you copy?"



The radio silence that meets her desperate plea is emphasized by the teaser's soundtrack, a mix of static, heartbeats and a slow crescendo of pulsing, ominous noise.



"Anyone? Anybody? Do you copy? Please copy," she says, her voice barely a whisper, as the camera pans out, revealing her utter isolation and helplessness.



The scene presumably follows "Detached," which features a portion of the footage Cuaron showed off during the at San Diego's Comic-Con International last weekend.



The trailer consists almost entirely of one continuous shot (a technique that Cuaron used to great effect in his sci-fi masterpiece "Children of Men") of astronauts Stone and Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in their spacesuits, working on the Hubble telescope when suddenly debris from a destroyed Russian satellite collides with their space shuttle and sends Bullock's character spinning away into the darkness.



"If you don't detach that arm's going to carry you too far," Clooney's character shouts. "I'm losing visual of you!"



But it's too late. She's stranded.



"It's a very intense film," . "It's a very immersive experience. You're with the characters. We wanted people to feel like they're floating in space."



"Gravity" is slated for an Oct. 4 theatrical release.



- Noelene Clark ||



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