Sunshine

"So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it."

Spring of 2007, this film was released in Europe to a moderate to good reception. However studio executives killed this film in the states, because of poor to no advertising. Hollywood was too busy promoting "great" films such as Rush Hour 3, 1408, and The Simpsons Movie to pay any attention to this sci-fi film from Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting). The film got a limited release, then wallowed around in the backlot theaters until finally disappearing altogether. So when it got released to dvd here in January, little to nobody had seen it.

The film follows a group of Japanese and American astronauts who are sent on a mission to re-ignite the sun in the near future. As with all Sci-fi movies, something goes wrong and everyone must make a decision to themselves--- Is the mission more important than me? The film blends science-fiction with both drama and horror. The effects are very well done (seeing that Boyle took over 2 years to edit and create the FX).

The cast includes Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later), Rose Byrne (The Dead Girl), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Cliff Curtis (Live Free or Die Hard), and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)

The film brings to question some moral questions. Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself to see the team succeed? Would you kill one of your team members if you knew that none of you would make it he stayed alive?


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8 out of 10 stars

Spoiler Warning: highlight to see

The film takes elements from a variety of other science-fiction films.

1. Alien - the long boring journey through space with nothing much to do and lots of infighting - ominous presence onboard the ship

2. Silent Running - the hydroponics bay and ecological angle

3. Event Horizon - crew going insane (similar shaped space ship)

4. 2001 - voice commanded computer - disobedient computer (similar shaped ship)

5. Titan AE - basically the same idea as this film - but a new earth rather than a reborn sun.