Sunshine (2007)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writer:

Alex Garland (written by)

Release Date:

27 July 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

If the sun dies, so do we.

Plot:

A team of astronauts are sent to re-ignite the dying sun 50 years into the future.

Plot Keywords:

Sun | Earth | Astronaut | Icarus | Apocalypse

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Cliff Curtis	...	Searle
Chipo Chung	...	Icarus (voice)
Cillian Murphy	...	Capa
Michelle Yeoh	...	Corazon
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Kaneda
Rose Byrne	...	Cassie
Benedict Wong	...	Trey
Chris Evans	...	Mace
Troy Garity	...	Harvey
Mark Strong	...	Pinbacker
Paloma Baeza	...	Capa's Sister
Archie Macdonald	...	Child
Sylvie Macdonald	...	Child

MPAA:

Rated R for violent content and language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Ireland:15A | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:12 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | New Zealand:M | France:U (with warning) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:11 | Brazil:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Norway:15 | USA:R (certificate #43132) | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

DNA Films

Trivia:

The distinctive golden color of the space suits was intended to make them memorable to sci-fi fans. The character "Kenny" from "South Park" (1997) was used as a design reference for the funnel-shaped helmet. A small number of suits and helmets were built as wearable costumes, so the actors could experience the claustrophobia and react appropriately.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When we see Mace's frozen body, it's covered with a thin sheet of ice. However, the computer coolant is a very cold liquid which could not spontaneously freeze solid by itself. His body would have appeared frozen stiff but still very wet with the same coolant still in its liquid state.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Capa: Our sun is dying. Mankind faces extinction. Seven years ago the Icarus project sent a mission to restart the sun but that mission was lost before it reached the star. Sixteen months ago, I, Robert Capa, and a crew of seven left earth frozen in a solar winter. Our payload a stellar bomb with a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island. Our purpose to create a star within a star.
[long pause]
Capa: Eight astronauts strapped to the back of a bomb. My bomb. Welcome to the Icarus Two.

Movie Connections:

References Silent Running (1972)

Soundtrack:

The Heal

Those who give it their time will be greatly reward.

In the near future our star is dying and it is up to a band of a few scientists and astronauts to reignite it with a bomb the size of Manhattan Island. The idea "to create a star within a star". Despite the promise of its premise and setting Sunshine isn't a film about expensive galaxy sprawling set pieces or cheap special-effect driven thrills. It can be argued that Sunshine is in fact anti-science-fiction in its execution as attention is never drawn to spectacle unless serving the plot. Instead the heart of the film deals with how we accept our mortality as an individual. An internal battle we face everyday.

Sunshine marks Danny "28 days later" Boyle's first foray into the sci-fi genre and although he is new to the space opera world, it does not show. Each frame is rich in a detail so meticulously calculated that it hearkens back to the likes of 2001 and Alien, both in terms of plot and visuals. Though a fan boy he isn't, that label belongs to Alex Garland, long time collaborator and friend of Boyle. Garland has created a script that brings up such heavy issues, as the balance (or battle) between religion and science, without forgetting its roots in conventions already established in the genre or disabling Boyle from exploring his own visceral talents.

Let me start by saying Sunshine is scientific nonsense. There isn't much in the film that makes sense regarding the nature of the mission or the way in which it is executed. As the ultimate example, I ask why the ship doesn't melt under such extreme heat? In terms of logic it's the Star Trek of science films. But what has been delivered is a film so beautifully crafted, with tremendous effort in even the slightest details, that everything seems plausible.

As with all Boyle films the acting is of a high standard, with no character left as fodder. Chris Evans' character Mace is so detached from the Johnny Flame he's renowned for that it would be easy to doubt they are played by the same person. Cillian Murphy, who continually surprises, carries the film on his back with ease. However the hidden gem comes from relatively unknown Brit-actor Mark Strong who bears the most difficult role of Pinbacker with little credit. His demanding, mostly unseen, presence holds the third act together and although we never truly see what he has become, his voice will ring in your head for days.

However Sunshine does appear to have its flaws. The third act transition from sci-fi to horror is somewhat awkward before finding its place again and the pace moves at a breakneck speed giving little time for chunks of heavy exposition to be digested. Although taking the clear inspiration behind key scenes and nods towards earlier sci-fi epics into granted, if given time to notice these points the illusion, Boyle has so carefully created, would be shattered.

Overall Sunshine is deceptively unoriginal in its plot; eluding the audience from genre established themes and ideas by interpreting them in bright new ways, offering an intelligent and sometimes terrifying look into the world of the space-opera. It will never belong to a huge audience but those who give it their time will be greatly reward.