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By Jonathan Klotz | Published
Being a science fiction fan can be difficult. The genre was born from futurists who wondered what life would be like in ten, fifty or even thousands of years, and how the technology and societies of tomorrow would reflect the world of today. Over the decades, mainstream science fiction focused more on visual spectacle and philosophical reflections on our place in the universe, a distant 42nd.
In the early 2000s, a film attempted to return to the roots of the genre’s big ideas and failed spectacularly. However, now, almost twenty years later, director Danny Boyle’s film Sunshine is breaking the debate among fans to become a cult classic.
Do astronauts blow up the sun or something else?
Sunshine It’s usually described as the movie about “astronauts blowing up the sun to save humanity,” but that fails to capture the scope of Boyle’s film. It’s more about the crew struggling with the weight of their mission, the isolation of space, and what to do when the sun itself tries to kill you. The first 45 minutes of the film focus on the development of the team and how they relate to each other, so the last third of the film hits the audience like a ton of bricks.
From the first minutes, what is clear Sunshine It’s a beautiful movie. Made on a budget of $40 million, every dollar can be found on screen. The colors inside the ship also tell their own story, with no red, orange or yellow on board. The darkest colors absorb the most UV rays, which makes sense in-universe, but to the viewer, it increases the intensity of the sun and makes the smallest ray of sun stand out as a sign of the crew’s impending doom.
The cast is a who’s who of today’s stars
The Icarus II is crewed by a who’s who of today’s stars, before they were stars. It has Oppenheimer Cillian Murphy as Capa, the physicist who can operate the bomb that powers the sun. There’s Captain America himself, Chris Evans, as Mace, who is both an engineer and a soldier. Michelle Yeoh is Corazón, the biologist. Rose Byrne as Cassie, the pilot. Marvel’s Benedict Wong as Trey the Navigator. Troy Garity as Harvey, the second in command. Future shogun starring Hiroyuki Sanada as Kaneda, the captain of the Icarus II, and the always underrated Cliff Curtis as Searle, the doctor. When the least known of the cast, Troy Garity, is nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor, it’s one of the best ensembles in the history of science fiction.
That Murderer’s Row was based on a script written by Alex Garland, Boyle’s frequent creative partner, who later created Ex Machina, among many other successes. Sunshine Give each and every crew member a moment, and when it all goes wrong, we know how each and every one of them will think and feel in a given situation. You’d think the dialogue-heavy first half would put audiences off, but sci-fi fans love how the film slowly opens and unfolds. The problems begin in the second half of the film, when it turns into an ’80s space slasher.
The third act turns the love or hate of the public
Damaged because Trey forgot to reset the sunscreens, an honest mistake with catastrophic consequences, the crew finds their sister ship, Icarus I, floating in space. It is now a ghost ship, and it is discovered that the crew on board committed suicide on the observation deck, letting the sun’s rays hit them with full force. The exception is Captain Pinbacker, who is not among the dead. Played by a scared and burned-out Mark Strong, Pinbacker has become a fanatic, convinced he must help humanity reach heaven.
Pinbacker’s inclusion as Deus Ex Killer turns viewers against Sunshine transforming what should have been a modern version of 2001 into a space horror film. The amount of time spent with Pinbacker is miniscule compared to the opening, but the turn from slow, meditative sci-fi to stabbing is so sudden and violent that it ruins the entire viewing experience. If it weren’t for Boyle’s love of similar third-act twists in his other films, including 28 Years After 2025, it would reek of studio interference, but it’s what the director always wanted.
Why Sunshine Failed
Sci-fi fans were disappointed by the twist, but general audiences didn’t seem to care; After all, they weren’t going to the theater to see the movie in the first place.
The second obstacle against Sunshine becoming a hit was its release date: July 20, 2007. That put it three weeks after the first Michael Bay. Transformers (before we knew he had hurt us again and again), just a week later Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixand on the same day of John McClane’s return in Live free or die hard. The Simpsons The movie arrived a week later! This was one of the worst weekends to release a contemplative sci-fi film.
Due to a poor release date and a weak trailer that misled opening week audiences, Sunshine He earned 10 million dollars in the United States. In modern terms, that is little more than borderlands.
Ultimately, with a total gross of $34 million, the film failed to recoup its budget and was never going to turn a profit until it hit DVD and Blu-Ray. In the domestic market, Boyle’s inventive film ultimately found success, turning a profit with home media sales worth more than $20 million in just two years.
JON’S SUN REVIEW SCORE
With its stunning visuals, clever dialogue, and an emphasis on the science of science fiction, Sunshine It’s either a cult classic or one of the worst movies ever made, depending on who you ask. Nowadays, with a lack of decent original sci-fi in theaters, Boyle’s mission to blow up the sun is a breath of fresh air, as even at its worst, it’s better than Netflix’s. electrical status. We love science fiction, we love movies that dare to do something different and Sunshine It’s the best movie from the 2000s you’ll ever see.
Judge for yourself if Sunshine It is a masterpiece or a disaster work by transmitting it in Disney+ and Hulu.
