Sunshine (2007)

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:

Disaster | Wounded Leg | Astronaut | Suicide | Apocalypse

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Aug. 7

12:50 AM

MAX

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:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

DNA Films

Trivia:

The plot does not revolve around the sun dying in the normal sense: this is not due for around five billion years based on our understanding of nuclear fusion. It has instead been "infected" with a "Q-ball" - a supersymmetric nucleus, left over from the big bang - that is disrupting the normal matter. This is a theoretical particle that scientists at CERN are currently trying to confirm, and was one of the many contributions of the science advisor. The film's bomb is meant to blast the Q-ball to its constituent parts which will then naturally decay, allowing the sun to return to normal.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Corazon mistakenly says it is -273 degrees (presumably Celsius) outside the ship. This temperature is absolute zero, and the vacuum of space is around three degrees warmer "in the shade". One of the commentaries jokingly suggests this is a genuine mistake on the part of the character (a biologist) and that Capa (a physicist) would have made a point of correcting her.

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:

Avenue of Hope

A crew of eight tries to save mankind from freezing to death

I was very lucky being able to get into a preview of this movie today in Vienna. I only knew very little about it in advance, so my expectations were quite neutral.

One word of advice: this movie is not for nitpickers or physicist. The plot outline (i.e. detonating a "stellar bomb" inside the sun) sounds ludicrous at first - but if you're able to ignore this and some other scientific nonsense, you get one great movie.

This one is all about the details and the crew's behavior. Danny Boyle once again proves his insight into the human psyche as he portraits how the crew-members handle the various arising problems, some of the decision-making is displayed frighteningly realistic compared to other movies in the genre. Cillian Murphy (brilliant as ever) and Chris Evans (hated him in Fantastic 4, but showed a great performance here) pair up very nicely during most many scenes.

The entire movie has a certain feel to it, the atmosphere is very tense and Boyle manages to keep the pace at quite a high level the entire time. Visual FX are at a high level as well.

Apparently Sunshine can't deny the influences from 2001 or Event Horizon, nevertheless it should be treated as an independent film.

A few deductions for some glitches and the scientific stuff, otherwise great entertainment!