Sunshine

 

 

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From the director who brought us Trainspotting, this is an excellent sci-fi that combines the thoughtfulness of 2001 with some real sounding dialogue like we saw in Alien, all to the tune of an original premise. The concept is that the earth is frozen in the future, and a small group of scientists and astronauts are launched on a mission to re-ignite the sun, without having any idea what happened to the first team after they disappeared.

There are very human moments (a character walks into a room, stares at a second character until the second characters says "Is that your apology?" The first one replies "Yes," and they turn away from each other) and with all humanity hanging in the balance one simple decision that doesn't seem unreasonable begins a chain of events that makes the mission an increasingly desperate one. The end is a little surreal, and not paying close attention can allow you to miss some important information, but it's nothing that isn't in keeping with the tone and thoughtfulness of the film.

Like Blade Runner, this is one of those films that was fairly misunderstood on release (don't expect a disaster movie, an action film or aliens, this is somewhere between a drama and an art film), but I believe it will eventually gather a following and be considered a classic.

First off, the previous and first reviewer must be joking!

If anything, even the detractors of this film from many reviews admit that Sunshine boasts incredible visuals. It was indeed a "low-budget set," but that is a consequence of the film being based largely on the single ship, rather than bad design. The Icarus II's layout is functional, practical, convincing, and suitably claustrophobic. As to "vertigo," that would vary from viewer to viewer--Blair Witch this is not, a film that actually gets mentioned as nausea-inducing in reviews.

Rather than expecting a space opera, viewers must understand that this film is much more related to something like "Solaris" or "2001: A Space Odyssey." This means that human psychology and struggle is the crux of the plot, and it makes for quite a suspenseful and thought-provoking journey--the mood of the story is consistently tense, a fact and experience I cannot believe the previous reviewer did not notice.

While the science is not perfect, it is not completely unbelievable--any research into the film's creation reveals extensive collaboration and consultation with scientists. There is also an existing back story that is not given much treatment in the movie that better explains that the sun is not "dying," which we have already predicted as happening many billions of years from now. Actually, it's infected with a "Q-ball" particle--despite the funny name, it is something really under investigation in the real world, and in the movie, it interferes with the sun. The bomb sent towards the sun is not meant to reignite the star, rightly pointed out as impossible given the scope of the sun by the other review, but to destroy this Q-ball so the sun can resume its normal course. As to some of the other technology, it's beyond our time but feels naturally progressed from what we currently have, rather than fanciful and alien.

The situations that occur on board the Icarus II are profound in nature, and challenge sophisticated viewers with tough moral questions--what is the value of a human life? Does the end justify the means? What is the meaning of sacrifice and leadership? Would you give up your life for the greater good?

The situation is desperate--internationally, the Icarus II is the last chance for humanity, with nations the world over putting all they could in terms of resources and energy to send the crew up. There will be no Icarus III, and the mysterious disappearance of the Icarus I is still fresh on everyone's mind...

Having traveled an unimaginably long time aboard the ship towards the sun, personalities begin to chafe, pettiness and selfishness begins to show (such as when the crew is able to send last messages back home, before traveling beyond the point of radio contact with earth; a simple but very well done and believable detail), and even sanity is called to question.

Something like Star Trek deals with human nobility, organization, and code; here then, is a visceral sci-fi exploration of human nature and psyche when pushed to unconceivable limits--its not every day the fate of human survival rests on your shoulders, and I don't mean it in a cliche, heroic fashion. This is grim, serious stuff, sobering and compelling, and I highly recommend it.

1. They have Star Trek type artificial gravity on their ship!
2. What is the purpose of those sun shield louvres that are so important to the story? No purpose, at all.
3. Why is there a massive, all consuming fire in hydroponics? There is NO combustible material in hydroponics!
4. Why put out the fire in hydroponics with precious LOTS of water.
5. What is the purpose of going back to Icarus 1? Who was going to pilot the ship? Who was going to initiate detonation?
6. Why is the physics expert the ONLY person who can detonate the device? In such a mission everyone is cross-trained!
7. Where did all the dust come from on Icarus 1? Not enough dead crew to account for all the dust.
8. Why was the hydroponics flora in such profuse glory on Icarus 1? With no light and in total darkness?
9. Why use a giant wrench to repair the computer in the coolant room?
10. There was broken glass all over hydroponics after the fire. Glass is an absolute NO-NO inside a space station.
11. The computer on Icarus 2 should have alerted the programmer about the 1.5 degree off-set.
12. The sub-plot about not enough oxygen for the crew is hogwash. The amount of enclosed space was massive on this station!
13. Why is radio beacon/transmitter #1 rotating on a massive shaft? Looks nice, I guess.
14. When the physcisist becomes aware of a 5'th and possibly hostile entity on his ship, what does he do? He goes to see
who or what it is BY HIMSELF! No human being would do such a thing. You would alert your crew members first and then....
15. You cannot "sail" serenely towards the sun like they did! The increasing gravitational pull of the sun would accelerate
such a massive and frail ship to destruction.
16. Realistically speaking, humans would not be able to endure such a long mission. They would end up killing each other.
17. Why isn't there a medic umong the crew?
18. You cannot restart a sun with a nuclear explosion! The only thing that can do that is to add more mass for fusion to occur.
19. Why does the crew consist of only 2 women to 6 men? On such a long mission it would be an equal split for obvious reasons.
20. The command structure is all wrong here. The captain is the one who makes the final descision as to whether or not to go to Icarus 1, and not the physcist.
21. How is it possible to view the Sun from the "observation" room like they do? It implies a direct line of sight. This is clearly impossible. Everything is behind the giant sun shield. The window material would melt. Look what happened to the captain in his space suit and the transmitter.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the best sci-fi movie in the last years
I really loved that movie. Don't expect a blockbuster type of picture with fast action, big muscles and hardrock music score like Armageddon but a rather slow paced moody film... Read more

Published 8 months ago by truemane

1.0 out of 5 stars Be Sure You Get The Newer Copy
I saw this movie in theatres and thought it was brilliant, but when I rec'd it as a gift and put it into my blu-ray player, I couldn't turn off the PiP / Commentary... Read more

Published 16 months ago by R. Sims

5.0 out of 5 stars Wicked!
This was not the first time I had seen this movie. However, after a recent break-up, my copy of this movie left my custody so I needed another. Yes, I NEEDED another one. Read more

Published 17 months ago by ChrisD

4.0 out of 5 stars the ending is fine!
There was some criticism for the ending which "changes the tone" of the first 2/3 of the film. To me the ending was excellent. Read more

Published on April 19 2010 by nobody

4.0 out of 5 stars 3/4's of a Masterpiece
I was lucky enough to have my wife treat me to "Sunshine" a couple years back in an arthouse theatre on my birthday. Read more

Published on Jan 6 2010 by SpaceHunk

5.0 out of 5 stars A lonely journey into the Sun
This film is not for children nor any who thinks 2001 a Space Odyssey is stupid. Outstanding soundtrack, beautiful visual effects, great photography and a very somber theme. Read more

Published on Sep 2 2008 by B. Young

3.0 out of 5 stars "For seven years I spoke to God"
It is the year 2057. The sun is about to peter-out in about 50years. A mission was sent seven years ago to reignite the sun; the ship disappeared. Read more

Published on July 19 2008 by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars I liked it a lot!
Acting/plot/script/score all great! At least rent this movie and give it a try. You can find it much cheaper than $26.99 tho so look around!

Published on Mar 3 2008 by Marilyn Walsh

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the best, I'm afraid
I waited in anticipation for the DVD to come out as I had heard about this movie when it appeared in theatres (in limited release). Read more

Published on Feb 5 2008 by Sheila J. Croome

1.0 out of 5 stars Minus 2 stars
This was probably the awfullest movie I've ever seen. There is no plot, the dialog is forgettable (such as it is), the camera work was probably designed to hide a non-existent or... Read more

Published on Dec 14 2007 by Laura Knight-Jadczyk

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