Amazon.co.uk Review
You can never accuse director Danny Boyle of lacking ambition. Sunshine sees one of Britain's most successful directors switching genre once more, as he tackles this gripping science fiction flick about a quest to re-ignite the dying sun. And he nails it, too, adding another plus to a CV that's already covered a kids' film (Millions), a big Hollywood blockbuster (The Beach), horror (28 Days Later), and a pair of British classics (Trainspotting and Shallow Grave).
Bursting out of the gate at a terrific pace, Sunshine then doesn't take its foot off the accelerator for much of its near-two hour running time. Set around the crew of the Icarus II who find themselves on a life-saving mission, things soon start going awry, and while you'll find no plot spoilers here, Boyle proves a dab hand at ratcheting up tension on the way to the big finale.
If anything, it's the finale to Sunshine that does let the side down, not quite living up to the standard of what preceded it. But such is the strength of the ride to that point that it's hard to complain. Especially when the cast, led by the always-magnetic Cillian Murphy, put in believable performances and get heavily into the spirit of the film.
Topped off with cracking effects that belie its modest budget, Sunshine is a real treat, not just for sci-fi fans, but for anyone who likes a strong, tense, thrilling night in front of a movie. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
A Flawed, But Still Very Good film.......2008-03-01
I'm a big fan of Danny Boyle and serious sci-fi movies (2001, 2010, Blade Runner, Fifth Element) so having now seen the film twice I thought I'd add my comments. If this film managed to stay on the course it starts I would give it 5 stars - but it looses its way somewhat and the last part of the film (not the ending as such) has several things wrong with it. For instance, what is the need of the Pinbacker character? It turns a great sci-fi into a horror sci-fi when there is no need. It stretches the imagination too much (even for a scifi) to think that this burnt up human monster has managed to survive alone on a spaceship for seven years and thinks he is the closest man to God! I know it was meant to raise questions about humanity and religion, but Boyle did not pull it off for me. Pinbacker (played by Mark Strong) is a clear reference to Mark Bowen, (played by Keir Dullea) who is the crazy end of the world God-like being in 2001 - but it is done so much better by Kubrick than Boyle. It's like Boyle is reading from a `how to make a great sci-fi guidelines' book at times. I liked the film as a whole, but the Pinbacker thing really let the movie down. As for the ending, was there any need for the Hollywood homage? Sydney covered in snow and suddenly the plant is saved. Hoorah! This was Armageddon-esque and should not have been included as it goes against the whole atmosphere that Boyle was trying to create. Leave it up to the viewer to decide what happens to the planet would be a more ambiguous, and in my eyes, better ending! It was an after-thought of an ending that had no relevance to what was happening in the film. Other than that the style, characters, suspense and thrill of the movie was great. Boyle nearly, but not quite produced the second best serious sci-fi here. He is still a great Director though and I love the variety of his movies.
Looks fantastic - but don't try to rationalise the plot.......2008-02-22
OK. It looks fantastic. Kudos to the special effects team! The plot though I'm afraid is by the numbers. A spaceship a long way from home has to save the world. Guess what? When we join the journey things start to go wrong. Previously rational professional crew (presumably the best available) behave like school children in the playground. Things break. Incredible unexpected things happen just like the last mission, crew start to die... blah blah... So is it science fiction or horror? I won't give away the ending but I found it disappointing.
Do we really believe the Sun is dying in the next 50 years and we can save it ourselves? Nah! Looks great though.
Sunshine - a future classic........2008-02-18
This is the best film I've seen for years. You should know, its not a Hollywood blockbuster, its not a Bruce Willis hero vehicle, there are no slow motion scenes of the crew swaggering heroically towards the camera with uplifting, life-affirming music letting you know how patriotic they are. Its not that kind of a film - which is one reason I like it so much (no disrespect to Bruce). This is fairly hardcore science fiction, and has more to do with Alien or 2001 than Armargeddon. I think it only cost 20 million pounds to make but visually it is often breathtaking. Its a gorgeous film about a crew of eight specialists on the second mission to try and prevent the Sun from extinguishing itself, with a massive device which may or may not work.
So, eight people, a spaceship, our very own local star and 93 million odd miles of space. Doesn't sound too tough does it? This film reminds us what a harsh environment space is and how fallible we humans are, and it does so very entertainingly. A future classic, I'm sure,
solid sci-fi about the quest to reignite the dieing sun........2008-02-07
solid sci-fi about the quest to reignite the dieing sun from the ambitious danny boyle
Our sun may be dying - but emotions are being born........2008-02-06
This is one of the most emotive films I have ever seen. From the very beginning, it is clear that this film is a winner. Every character has so much depth, and all the effects make you feel as though you're there with them. One gets so emotionally attached to the characters so quickly as the story unfolds.
Whilst most of the reviews say that the film is scientifically inaccurate, who cares? It's a film!
The actors and actresses could not have been cast better. They all make you really care about the characters, even if you don't 'like' the character in the first place.
Despite the sudden change from sci-fi to thriller/horror in the middle of the film, the effects, storyline and acting really do make this film one to watch. You'll just want to watch it over and over again; it makes me cry everytime, and my heart skips a beat everytime I switch it on!
10/10 - go buy it - NOW!
Amazon.co.uk Review
You can never accuse director Danny Boyle of lacking ambition. Sunshine sees one of Britain's most successful directors switching genre once more, as he tackles this gripping science fiction flick about a quest to re-ignite the dying sun. And he nails it, too, adding another plus to a CV that's already covered a kids' film (Millions), a big Hollywood blockbuster (The Beach), horror (28 Days Later), and a pair of British classics (Trainspotting and Shallow Grave).
Bursting out of the gate at a terrific pace, Sunshine then doesn't take its foot off the accelerator for much of its near-two hour running time. Set around the crew of the Icarus II who find themselves on a life-saving mission, things soon start going awry, and while you'll find no plot spoilers here, Boyle proves a dab hand at ratcheting up tension on the way to the big finale.
If anything, it's the finale to Sunshine that does let the side down, not quite living up to the standard of what preceded it. But such is the strength of the ride to that point that it's hard to complain. Especially when the cast, led by the always-magnetic Cillian Murphy, put in believable performances and get heavily into the spirit of the film.
Topped off with cracking effects that belie its modest budget, Sunshine is a real treat, not just for sci-fi fans, but for anyone who likes a strong, tense, thrilling night in front of a movie. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
Region B ONLY.......2007-11-13
Just to inform everybody this Blu-ray is locked on Region B. So, if your equipment hasn't been bought in Europe, you will not be able to play it.
Shame Amazon forget to inform on this as this is one of the very firsts Region locked BR available on the UK market.
Entertaining Space Romp.......2007-11-01
The overall plot and story flow of Sunshine has already been covered. In general terms this is an entertaining and occasionally thought provoking space adventure only really marred, as others have mentioned, by the detour into Event Horizon territory prior to the resolution. The photography and visual effects are stunning particularly if you go for the hi-res BluRay edition. The music score is haunting and very atmospheric.
I do have a bit of an issue with some of the Sci-Tech though...
Here we have a ship supposedly capable of flying in the hostile inner solar system, yet the hull over the oxygen garden wilts under a few sparks from the melted comms tower. As the ship nears the end of the mission, oxygen runs short yet the ship is huge - the payload container is cavernous so would surely contain enough reserves (and why didn't they use the suit oxygen to eke out the supplies or just accelerate the ship to reach the mission point quicker). Scientists have designed a device which can re-ignite the heart of a star and (apparently) some form of artificial gravity yet the engines on the ship are little different to existing (real) technology in terms of speed. And how, if the heatshield must always protect the ship, would they have even fired the main engine for the return home?!
Still I enjoyed Sunshine and as a particular fan of space travel based movies it has found a permanent home in my collection. One star off for the dodgy Sci-Tech and needless horror element though.
DVD:
- Team America: World Police [2004]
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [2007]
- The Bourne Supremacy [2004]
- The Brave One [2007]
- The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005]
- The Dam Busters [1954]
- The Golden Compass [2007]
- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly -- 2-disc Special Edition [1966]
- The Great Escape [1963]
- The Indiana Jones Trilogy (4 DVD Box Set)
DVD List
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