Sunshine

I've heard a lot of hate toward this film, and honestly, I don't understand why. The acting is solid, and both the sets and the CGI are beautiful. The score for the film is also fantastic, and conveys both the raw power, and majesty of the Sun, but also its very real danger. Cinematography as with any Boyle films is gorgeous, and the level of realism, even within this some-what unrealistic plot is much appreciated. Sure there are some moments where you think its less than a homage to Kubrick and more of a direct copy, but hey, if anything it just goes to show what an incredible legacy 2001 created. As far as the thriller-horror aspect goes however, it is some-what mixed bag. The only antagonist (other than the Sun itself) pulls a cliched: 'God made me do it', and it just seems unnecessarily to give this some weird spiritual twist when it literally adds nothing to the story. In the end however this was a film that I truly felt captivated by, it was by no means perfect, but with strong, maybe cliche characters to a point, and stunning visuals its well worth the watch- especially in Blu Ray. Go on, give it a go, you just might enjoy yourself.

Not a fan of this film at all. It looks nice but there's no character development and for the most part the actors simply annoy (Rose Byrne is the exception she acts her socks off). Cillian Murphy is a piece of wood as is Chris Evans. It also makes the mistake of starting of as a science film and in the third reel turns into a rubbish hokey supernatural mess. Seriously don't waste your time.

david tenants dr. who did this much better, and it was easy to understand. i was very disappointed with this film version.

This is the first film that has moved me to write a review in my five years of membership. In short, you shouldn't waste your time on it. The first thing to get out of the way is that this is not really a sci-fi film, more a psycho-thriller set in space. If NASA can land a Rover autonomously on Mars, they certainly wouldn't need a crew of eight to hand deliver a bomb into the surface of the Sun. Especially not a crew as half-witted and prone to melodramatic outbursts as this one. I wouldn't trust these guys to deliver a pizza, let alone a multi-billion dollar mission to save the planet. Between their paranoia, self-doubt and sobbing I'm surprised they could bring themselves to get out of bed on launch day. Don't even get me started on the entire premise of the film, re-igniting the sun - that should have served as a warning to avoid this film. Unfortunately I ignored that warning. Lazy script writing leads to the oft-used story line crutch of the computers failing and actions having to be performed in 'manual override' inevitably leading to the loss of crew. Somebody has to 'stay behind' to pull that lever. In fact that's how most of the crew are eventually lost. Some nice CGI and a couple of nods towards Stanley Kubrick's 2001, can't save this film from the hamfisted over-acting and pointless detours into superficial spirituality. Spare yourselves - spend two hours cleaning the bathroom instead. Trust me, it'll be a lot more satisfying.

It's rare I feel sitting through a movie is a waste of attention span but this was one of those occurrences. Although I did appreciate the camera work, especially in the early stages of the film, this wasn't enough to compensate for my gradually increasing annoyance at the glaring gaps in the story. In fact I think the good camera work made the gaps all the more annoying, since you could tell there was clear potential in the direction, as well as what looked like a healthy special effects budget. I won't list the inconsistencies to avoid spoilers, but for example: why, on a high-tech spaceship that has whole rooms devoted to projections and simulations, would a crew-member make all the calculations on a crucial move without running it through a simulator which would have spotted the obvious error in 3 seconds flat? Lazy script-writing, with too many short-cuts to drama.

I think the intent was perhaps to produce something along the lines of Solaris - all atmosphere, with a philosophical, spiritual dimension, but for me this wasn't pulled off. The narrative in Solaris is believable, and despite the strangeness, there is a sense of connecting with the characters on the screen. Sunshine keeps us at a distance, like a muffled sound you can't fully enjoy; it's over-acted in places; and the 'spiritual' dimension doesn't go anywhere, messily packed into the final movements of the film as it descends into semi-horror. Some impressive scenes - but that's about it for me.