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:

Sun | Earth | Astronaut | Icarus | Physics

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:R13 | 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:

Alex Garland wrote the film as a "love letter" to psychologically-minded science-fiction, and also a film about atheism and "meeting God". He and director Danny Boyle differed in their interpretation of this aspect of this film, but found this did not affect the content of the movie. Garland remarks that they had reached "the same two interpretations that could be made from the world around us".

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The spacecraft takes sixteen months to cover fifty-five million miles but only takes what seems a period of less than a week to travel the remaining thirty-six million miles. As described in the commentary, it takes sixteen months to arrive at their destination because, they likely had to use the gravity of larger planets such a Jupiter (which is in the opposite direction) in order to obtain the correct velocity to orbit the sun.

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

Very Impressive, Boyle conquers another genre!

Danny Boyle has rebooted the sci-fi genre to a magnificent start. "Sunshine", clearly inspired by the classics "Alien", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and many more, but brought to the modern age.

The plot sounds ridiculous at first, but once you get into it, you really get into it! A crew of 8 are sent on a mission to set a bomb in the sun as it is dying and the earth is suffering a solar winter. 7 years before that there was a similar mission, but that failed. They find the lost spacecraft and decide to board it, but a fatal incident occurred that lost them their oxygen supply. There is no longer enough for all of them to get back to earth alive. But there is enough for few; so who will take the plunge and who will survive? And will their sanities stay intact to last them the epic journey?

With such a small cast there was surprisingly no weak performances. Everyone had the desired screen-time to be able to care for them. But the characters anger and frustration caught up with them after being on the ship for 16 months, they begin to take acts of violence on each other and feel stressed so they forget vital aspects that could cost them their lives. You have to remember that they will save mankind if their mission is a success; that's a lot of pressure. And the film feels like a lot of pressure due to the intenseness it creates.

Boyle's skills to create tension is impressive. He uses special techniques to make us feel claustrophobic and more importantly, to panic. Close ups, angles, blurs, stretches, stops, flashes all add up to the effect. The effect of feeling the heat. It burns. But in between those scenes you get to see the relaxing side of space. The view from outside. Its beautiful, truly dazzling and spectacular.

The score is incredible. During the beginning its like a calm 'breather'. But then its turns into a beat. A fast beat. And your heart joins it. Pumping away to make you feel more insecure. Very intense.

Boyle really proves he has talent for different genres in this modern sci-fi to be classic showing how people do the most inhumane thing to survive. I highly recommend it.