I just watched Sunshine and umm…wow…intense…disturbing in some odd way. I really enjoyed this movie, I can’t really describe it with any justice. Here is the intro paragraph from wiki. which is more just the back drop.
In the year 2057, the Sun is failing, and the Icarus project has been formed with the intent of travelling to the sun and detonating a massive thermonuclear payload to re-ignite it. Seven years before the events of the film, the spacecraft Icarus I was launched but failed for reasons unknown. The film opens with its successor, Icarus II, en route to the star. All of Earth's fissile material was mined for the two Icarus ships, and life on Earth is doomed if the mission fails.
It was a sci-fi movie, but not really it was more Science verses Religion to me. I would suggest renting it. It will give you a lot to think about. I’ve never felt so meaningless and important and wanting to grasp at the Earth for dear life thinking how much I want to stay alive while wondering if God is real or not all at the same time.
Yeah…umm…I’m going to go watch Juno again, find a happy place, and forget I’m not the center on the universe.
Fizz
Yeah, words sort of fail me w/ this movie. I quite liked it; especially on a big screen tv. Some drop-dead gorgeous sci-fi moments. But it wasn't just eye candy. It stuck w/ me for days afterwards. Nice little nods to other sci-fi classics, like...well, I won't spoil them. Yeah, a good movie to make you realize the insignificance of humanity. As well as the significance of humanity, if that makes any sense. Trippy stuff.
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I happened to see this just a few days ago. Definitely recommended. Boyle continues to impress as a filmmaker.
It was hard to put my finger on it but the movie stays with you for quite awhile after its finish. As the other posters put it; the significance of being insignificant?
I don't think I can agree that the movie's conflict boils to religion and science. There is some religious content (I'm trying not to give anything away here so I'm being purposely vague) but I think it feels like the Nietzsche quote; "When you stare long into the abyss, the abyss stares long into you"
The characters are confronting the end of the world, and the immensity and merciless nature of the Sun. The characters are tested by this experience and each of them respond in quite different fashions to the huge stress. Some of this could be construed as religious or spiritual reactions I suppose but I don't think that forms the conflict.
The conflict is I think very much on the surface. Is humanity worth saving? The movie is in some ways a series of tests on that question. Those who truly believe it are called to make some very steep sacrifices (ironically including their own humanity) for their goal. Others retreat into madness.
Well that's my take on it and hopefully I didn't drop any substantial spoilers.
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland delivered artful, powerhouse movies before (The Beach and 28 Days Later) and I was suitably impressed with Sunshine. I love a well done art house film and Sunshine really delivers in that regard.
I quite enjoyed this movie as well, though I consider it a very flawed gem. I have some issues with it, among them the criminal waste of Michelle Yeoh, and I feel the were trying for more than they successfully accomplished on screen. I came to that last conclusion particularly because of the supplemental material on the DVD, where they talk about what they were trying to do, and I felt they didn't quite accomplish everything they set out to do.
But I agree, it was a very good movie, and exactly the kind of sci fi movie I wish we could get more of.
Sounds like I need to check this out! Thanks for the reviews folks. I'll netflix this sucka.
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I quite enjoyed this movie as well, though I consider it a very flawed gem. I have some issues with it, among them the criminal waste of Michelle Yeoh, and I feel the were trying for more than they successfully accomplished on screen. I came to that last conclusion particularly because of the supplemental material on the DVD, where they talk about what they were trying to do, and I felt they didn't quite accomplish everything they set out to do.
But I agree, it was a very good movie, and exactly the kind of sci fi movie I wish we could get more of.
Agreed on almost all counts.
Sunshine's a GREAT movie. One of my favorites of 2007. And since you asked:
James's Favorite Movies of 2007!
1: The Mist
2: The Host
3: The Last Winter
4: Sunshine
5: No Country for Old MenAll five of those are the awesome.
Great list. I'd add Juno to it.
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I hate to be the voice of dissension, but I honestly didn't like the movie. I saw it in the theater, as I had been looking forward to it since I first saw the trailer; I found it really disappointing overall. The movie suffered from not knowing what it wanted to be- was it a sci-fi flick, a thriller, a psychological drama, or a slasher/horror flick? By the end, I thought it was attempting all of the above- and, IMO, didn't really succeed at any of them.
As others have said- the special effects and sound were great, but I just couldn't get past the all-over-the-place plot.
I hate to be the voice of dissension, but I honestly didn't like the movie.
I agree, I kept thinking, "Out of 6 billion people, this was the best crews they could come up with?"
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As others have said- the special effects and sound were great, but I just couldn't get past the all-over-the-place plot.
I didn't think it was all over the place, although I do think that it took a serious left turn at the 75% mark. Up to that point, it was a fairly hard sci fi "submarine" movie, ala Das Boot, with the tension of being out of contact, contained in a vessel that was the only thing between you and death. After that point, it did go the path of slasher/thriller, and while it disappointed me, it didn't completely invalidate what I thought was a pretty amazing first three-quarters.
Definitely worth seeing, and I checked it out after being intrigued by the posts here more than anything. I found it haunting, but in almost a nice way. It has that sorta beautiful peacefulness of 2001 that just sticks with you.
Interestingly, there was an article somewhere earlier this week that we actually have a couple of billion years or so before we have to worry about the Sun burning out. As for the insignificance of humanity, and of our own little Sun, check out the video at the bottom of this link.