Sunshine (2007)

[jedi573]

Who else here has seen this movie? I caught it on cable the other day and was quite captivated. It was better than I expected; I hadn't heard of it before I found by flipping through the channels.

Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire), and starring Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, and Michelle Yeoh.

The premise is quite intriguing; in a near future, the sun is dying, and a spacecraft of astronauts fly towards it in an attempt to send some futuristic nuclear bomb into its surface to "jump start" it back to life. Strong character performances, and the tone and editing give it a disturbingly claustrophobic quality. Up close and personal, the sun is hot, so the spacecraft is more logical than most sci-fli movies; its heat shield completely dwarfs the rest of the vessel.

Worth a rent. Definitely a cool flick.

Andy

 

[CessnaDriver]

Not to be too harsh, I thought it got a little spook house during the last half, which I rather they not have done, the crew was losing it a little too easy as well, but it's something to see for sure. Music and atmosphere are impressive.

 

[JediG60racer]

Music was phenomenal. I liked the movie except for the 10 minutes of blurry monster burnt skin guy chasing Cillian. Thought that was a major deviation from the tone and quality of the remainder of the movie, pretty distracting. But then the ending fit perfectly. Good resolution.

I liked how they didn't feel the need to explain everything.

 

[CB2001]

I definitely loved it. Not only was Danny Boyle involved, so was Alex Garland, the writer of 28 Days Later and the novel The Beach (which Danny Boyle adapted into the film). I thought the performances all around were great, the story was great and made sense (even the "spookhouse"/slasher film change of pace mentioned earlier, which makes sense in the context of the story as the situation literally changed into a life and death struggle). One of my favorite scenes, though trying not to spoil it, was Capa's escape from Icarus II. You could see and feel the weight of the situation on Capa's shoulders, almost as if he were a modern day Atlas.

Honestly, I consider Sunshine as a part of the category of "thinking man's science fiction", in which 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact and Solaris (I've only seen the remake, so I can't say anything about the original) are a part of. This is certainly one of my favorite science fiction films.

 

[sycor]

I really enjoyed the movie until the end. And then the end ruined it for me.

Spoiler

I think it would have been much better had they not turned it into a "monster" movie. They were doing such a great job as just a movie that explored the human condition in an impossible situation.

 

[Birdie]

I love Sunshine, and have a nice collection of props and costume pieces from the movie, but I think most of even its staunchest supporters consider the Pinbacker plotline a mis-step.

It could have been a classic, rather than just a very good sci-fi thriller.

 

[Darius Alucard]

I really enjoyed the movie until the end...

Spoiler

I think it would have been much better had they not turned it into a "monster" movie. They were doing such a great job as just a movie that explored the human condition in an impossible situation.

I love Sunshine... but I think most of even its staunchest supporters consider the Pinbacker plotline a mis-step.

It could have been a classic, rather than just a very good sci-fi thriller.

I agree.
I really enjoyed it until the end. The ending reminded me too much of Event Horizon and seemed too far removed from the rest of the film.

 

[Guri]

I first heard about this when Linkin Park came out with their video: "Leave out all the Rest" which pays homage to it big time:

YouTube - Linkin Park - "Leave Out All The Rest"

I then rented it when I heard the video was based on a sci fi movie. Cilian is amazing in it...

Spoiler

I loved his reaction when they said the decision had to be made by the physicist. :lol

And I agree, it is a very thinking type of Sci-fi. I felt less negative about the ending than most here, but I can see what you're saying.

 

[Birdie]

John Murphy's score with Underworld is fantastic, but they fell out after the movie, and the soundtrack took around 2 years to get a release, on Itunes only.

The main theme (Kaneda's death & Capa's escape) was re-used in Kickass, along with the 28 Days later theme, which I found really jarring, as both those pieces are so strongly associated with the original imagery, to me. Disappointing from Murphy, as he's one of my favourite movie composers.

 

[phase pistol]

Love this film! There was a big thread here about it back in the day but I couldn't find it just now.

Great design, love the spaceships, gold-buddha spacesuits and so on. The Sun is amazing, the way that it has been rendered as a blinding, roaring presence in the film. Truly another "character" in the story. Visually stunning.

And yes... the story has got problems. :lol

BUT... it's one of the better science fiction films that has come down the pipe, and I really enjoyed it. I even kind of get the ending, now. Sort of. Kinda.

The script book helps.

Amazon.com: Sunshine (9780571233977): Alex Garland: Books

BTW I'd love to have one of those little spacesuit mannequins if anybody has got one to part with. :love

k

 

[CTF]

I liked the movie except for the 10 minutes of blurry monster burnt skin guy chasing Cillian. Thought that was a major deviation from the tone and quality of the remainder of the movie, pretty distracting.

That's my biggest complaint 'bout it.

 

[CB2001]

The script book helps.

I happen to have a copy of it. When Dietrich visited, it was one of the few books I brought with me that I had.

 

[sskunky]

I worked on this or at least helped make some of the props. The company I was working for made all the air locks, Doors and corridor lights amongst other bits.
All the doors had pneumatic air locks....
Here's some pre production shots at the modelmakers I was working at the time.....
Might be of interest?

 

[sskunky]

By The way those oval door were cast out of resin. Possibly the largest resin casts I've ever worked on.

 

[Guri]

Beautiful work! Thanks so much for sharing the pix! :love

 

[Minder Thr33]

I love that movie. It's easily one of my favourite movies. And as others have said, the music is top. I think the soundtrack is one of the most played on my playlist.

 

[feek61]

Not a great movie but as sci-fi fans I guess we are use to that. I enjoyed the film and I agree with Phase Pistol about the sun. They did a great job making it so ominous. I love the scene when they changed the orientation of the ship and anything that strayed out of the shadow was instantly vaporized. A very nice effect. I also really like the space suits. They were unusual and not the same old thing that we always see. Some thought went into the design. A very enjoyable movie.

 

[saxe coburg]

I liked the movie except for the 10 minutes of blurry monster burnt skin guy chasing Cillian.

Same here! :thumbsup

 

[CB2001]

I also really like the space suits. They were unusual and not the same old thing that we always see.

You can thank the creators of "South Park" for the design. Danny Boyle drew inspiration from the suit from the character of Kenny.

 

[Clutch]

I can maybe accept that burnt dude survived or 7 years using the garden, but what caused him to blur??? Also, can you imagine what a microscopic spec of a bomb that is compared to the size of the sun?