Danny Boyle's "Sunshine"

[The Dream Master]

Plot synopsis:

Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel. There is an accident, a fatal mistake, and a distress beacon from a spaceship that disappeared seven years earlier. Soon the crew is fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity.

This comes out a week from tomorrow (though you'd never know it, given the lack of promotion). Anyone else interested in this? I'm a huge fan of Boyle's work, especially Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. I also didn't think The Beach was that bad.

[Just Jeans]

It came out ages ago in the UK, and I've heard it compared to a series 3 episode of Doctor Who, so I'm keen to see it (even more so than before -- I was a Danny Boyle fan to begin with).

[Alex DeLarge]

It came out ages ago in the UK, and I've heard it compared to a series 3 episode of Doctor Who, so I'm keen to see it (even more so than before -- I was a Danny Boyle fan to begin with).

After reading the synposis, that's gotta be 42, right?

[Just Jeans]

I believe so, yes.

[The Dream Master]

So, the schedules for my local theaters are out, and this is nowhere to be found. I'm pretty pissed, as I'm really looking forward to seeing this. Is it playing near anyone this weekend?

[Franchise]

I'm probably going to go and see this soon. It's playing 20 miles from here.

[DrLar]

I've seen it ages ago here in Mexico, give it a 3/5, good entertainment though...

[The Dream Master]

Okay, according to Wikipedia, this is set to go wide next week, which presents an entirely new dilemma, as the Simpsons movie comes out the same day. This wouldn't be a problem, as I would just see both if not for the family vacation we have planned to start Friday.

Added: I just saw a commercial for another film I've been wanting to see, "Rescue Dawn," and it, too, is going wide next Friday. I'm going to be spending a lot of time at the theater in the coming weeks.

[jayTL]

I saw...and felt the movie tried too many different things all at once. Needed maybe 10 or 20 more minutes

[The Dream Master]

I'm going to check this out either tomorrow or Monday, and I can't wait.

[Scarecrow]

I saw...and felt the movie tried too many different things all at once. Needed maybe 10 or 20 more minutes

Longer! :eek:


Heh, but seriously, I ADORED this film. Rarely you can FEEL heat in a film but this really did it well and had a beautiful mix of SF, horror and intelligent existentialism.


- Scarecrow

[jayTL]

it had a good mix...but it wasnt together. The first part of the movie was sci-fi, then added some horror a bit...but the horror never went anywhere! It looked like an awesome mix of Alien and Event Horizon, but ended like a mess. The ending needed to be longer :-P

[The Dream Master]

I finally saw this on Monday, and I must say it lived up to my expectations. It's definately among the top few films I've seen in the theater this year, if not the best. After a mid-summer lull in which no film really blew me away, this, along with The Simpsons, have provided some nice surprises for me personally.

It's pretty late right now, so any type of review I can give for this will be too jumbled, but I'll give it a quick shot anyway. Danny Boyle is definately at the top of his game as a director, as it is a very striking film visually speaking. It's got a wonderful score as well, along with great performances by everyone involved. I must say, Rose Byrne is slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses. I've seen a lot of reviews that criticise the film for quickly becoming a "slasher flick" during the last act, but I thought it made sense, and it was one of the better twists I've seen in a film recently. Given that the film is so keenly focused on the psychological effects of space travel, it makes tons of sense to show the worst possible extremes in Pinbacker. I don't think it's any coincidence that the ships are codenamed "Icarus," either, which makes Pinbacker's character make even more sense in that respect. In many ways, I see Pinbacker as a modern incarnation of Icarus in that he flies too close to the sun and loses his mind instead of his wings; on the other hand, he is also an embodiment of the moral of Icarus as well, as he serves to remind the new crew that they are, in fact, artifacers (not unlike Daedelus) playing the role of God by re-igniting the sun . Thus, that particular turn in the story serves as a culmination of all the themes Boyle hints at and builds towards during the entire movie, so it worked for me.

About the only thing keeping this from being a downright perfect film is probably the ending, which could probably stand to be a few seconds longer, but I do understand why Boyle chose to end the film as he did. Needless to say, I'll be buying this when it hits home video, even if it's only in standard-def, which is a rarity for me these days, but that's indicative of how much I loved the film. I give it my highest recommendation if you can manage to find it playing anywhere near you right now.

[DrLar]

Yeah who the heck names not one, but two sun ships after a mythological character that DIED because of the sun?, I guess they kinda knew that it was a one-way trip, LOL

[Sutter Cane]

This is one of my favorite films. I liked it a lot.