A movie worth seeing (not your typical Hollywood trash)

[JasonEvans]

I saw Sunshine last night. It is in limited release across the nation but should be in at least a few theaters in most major markets. It has gotten no publicity or marketting push from Fox Searchlight so your window to see it likely only lasts a few weeks and then it will be gone. This is certainly a movie to be seen on a big screen though, so don't wait for video.

Sunshine is the latest flick from Danny Boyle, the director of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. This is his first attempt at sci-fi and he puts together a compelling and beautiful film.

The basic plot is simple. The sun is dying and a mission has been sent by Earth to explode a gigantic nuclear bomb (the size of Manhattan) right on the surface of the sun to restart the star and save mankind. The mission is called Icarus II. there was a Icarus I but it lost contact with Earth and failed. There will not be an Icarus III as all the nuclear material has been used up in this mission. either they succeed in restarting the sun or everyone is dead.

I don't want to give any more of the story away, but this is a tense and emotional tale. The crew of the Icarus II want to get back to Earth alive but they understand that their survival is meaningless compared to getting the sun burning again. This creates some difficult decisions as they try to balance their own survival with the success of the mission. Add in the natural tensions that happen when you are trapped on a space ship with only 6 other people and you've got some fertile storytelling territory.

The movie was humming along great and then it veers in a psuedo-horror kinda way in the final 30 minutes or so and gets kinda wierd. It turned me off a little bit and really bothered my wife, but aside from that we are talking about some really great sci-fi here!

It stars Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans. Murphy is not yet famous but he one hcek of an actor and will get Academy Award nominations before his career is done. Chris Evans does a nice job too as tough guy who seems cold and mean but is just 100% focussed on the mission. The rest of the cast are largely no-names who do a great job. Michelle Yeoh is in it too, but her role is not that huge. I like that this movie was not made with big names and a big budget. I think they kept the story more realistic by doing this. There are no great heroes in this tale and all the characters have flaws.

The look of the film is amazing. They spent $50-million on this flick, which is a pretty modest budget, especially for an effects-heavy film. Still, it looks fabulous. The sun is overwhelming at times and the spaceship, the Icarus II, is well-done. This is a movie that really puts the science in sci-fi. There is no glossing over the real difficulties of space travel-- rather the challenges of food, fuel, oxygen, and claustrophobia are integral parts of the plot.

Make no mistake-- this is not for everybody. Like I said, the ending is troublesome and you really need to be a sci-fi fan to stick with it. But I thought it was a very strong film and certainly one worth watching if you enjoy that genre at all.

-Jason "this website has links to tons of clips and trailers" Evans

[JasonEvans]

As an aside, has anyone else seen the flick? Its boxoffice take so far in the US is woeful. It is doing pretty well overseas, but has only made like $2 million in the U-S.

-Jason "silly Americans, they have no taste!" Evans

[Indoor66]

As an aside, has anyone else seen the flick? Its boxoffice take so far in the US is woeful. It is doing pretty well overseas, but has only made like $2 million in the U-S.

-Jason "silly Americans, they have no taste!" Evans

I saw Sunshine last night and was very dissapointed. I am not a great sci fi fan so that my have tempored my enthusiasm. That said, I found the plot shallow and disjointed. There seemed to be little purpose to many of the events. I guess I am a "silly American." I understand the low box office numbers.

[knights68]

Sounds like a somewhat interesting movie, but I can't help but to see a similarity between "Sunshine" and "The Core".
Anyone ever see that movie? Farcical to say the least.

Maybe "Sunshine" is really "The Core II: The search for more sunlight"