The Revenant: What To Expect Based On The Epic Trailer

6. Awe-Inspiring Cinematography

If you win the Oscar for Cinematography two years in a row, you're not going to start phoning it in. And lo and behold, Emmanuel Lubezki has returned, after bringing his astounding visual sense to Gravity and Birdman, with what looks like another immersive experience, and an intensely beautiful display of lensing.

What you have with The Revenant appears to be a combination of what Lubezki did on his two Oscar-winning projects: there's the elemental, precisely-framed survival drama of Gravity, and the roving, single-take intimacy of Birdman. There are single shots in the Revenant trailer, however, that eclipse even some of those in Gravity for awe-inspiring artistry, and of those in Birdman for sheer boundary-breaking ambition.

Check that grandiose opening shot, of DiCaprio staring up at the snow-capped mountain dwarfing him into near-insignificance, or the escalating, down-and-dirty battle scene in the woods and onto a fleeing boat, which looks suspiciously like a single tracking shot chopped up for the sake of this preview. On the basis of these few shots alone, don't for a second doubt that Lubezki could be in the running for his third Oscar in as many years.