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Sunshine
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $10.49
Your Save: $ 9.49 ( 47% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Starring: Cliff Curtis, Chipo Chung, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada
Directed By: Danny Boyle
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 0024543444589
Format: AC-3
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-01-08
Running Time: 107
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 2007-07-27
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Editorial Reviews:
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Fifty years into the future a team of astronauts are sent to deploy a device to reignite the dying sun.System Requirements:Running Time: 110 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/RACE AGAINST TIME Rating: R UPC: 024543444589 Manufacturer No: 2244458
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: seriously.
Comment: It seems like everyone on here is getting caught up in the whole "this is unbelevable to the point of stupidity, even for science fiction". Honestly, I love scifi but how can you say this movie was unbelievable and think that star wars is perfect?yes, it's true the story is unbelievable. The crew sent to save mankind is young and dumb (but in an..educated way?)..but suspend your disbelief for a second..the sun is burning out..what else would you do at the point at which they were? The bomb idea seems as good as any. And yeah, the crew is young, why not have experienced old men on board..well what if they fail? I would think the old men would want to be with their families for the end of the world, the young 'uns had less to lose.
So, in a character study, it would make sense that the material and the character relationships are volatile, that's what makes it so much fun.
As a lover of movies I found it near impossible to not care about what happened to the crew. I rooted for them the entire way. And that's an important aspect, the film's ability to make a viewer care about the characters and empathize with them and their situatins and choices. You want them to succeed. And there is just something in the way Cillian Murphy says "So if you wake up one morning to a particularly beautiful day..you'll know we made it."
Add on to this the AMAZING soundtrack that actual moves the viewer, and you have a good film. I personally enjoyed it because a film's ability to make me feel something is what is most important to me. In some cases, like horror/torture flcks, you feel exploited. In films like Sunshine, you can't help but leave it with at least a heightened sense of humanity.
At the very least, give this one a rent, if you like it, I'll bet you'll love it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just Okay
Comment: I bought this and Full Circle at the same time, I guess I was in a martial arts mood. I just couldnt get into this movie, it was so unrealistic and cheesy even for a movie! I loved Full Circle alot thank God, so it made up for it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Almost but not quite....
Comment: This is a survivalist story set in space, which just so happens to have a quiet fate-of-the-earth-depends-on-you as its primary drive behind all the scenes.
The Pro's: This is a movie to watch when in a somber sci-fi mood, but wanting a little dramatic eye candy. There is no fat in the story despite the slow pace, starting strongly with a prologue to drop the viewer immediately into the storyline. The characters seem initially standard, but quickly move to a more thoughtful friction between survivalist tactics versus human ethics. The actors are excellent throughout. You've seen it all before in other movies, but not nearly so subtly presented. Maybe too subtle....
The Con's: See all the other reviews - It is a little too slow paced. The insane Captain of the first ship is annoying to watch and unbelieveable in every way; his role ruins what could have been a great plot in some other form. I still can't figure out 1.) How he survived 7 yrs on a ship behind Mercury when the flight controls were busted 2.) No one smelled him coming since it was clear he hadn't taken a shower in a while 3.) How he survived being burned/heavily irradiated, stabbed...only to have his skin ripped off toward the end. And what was with all the dust on the Icarus I in the first place - manna from heaven? A burned flight crew couldn't have made all that.
All right, I think I've ranted enough. In summary, this is a rental film, not a buy, good for a night when you want to fold laundry or review papers with something on in the background.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Spoilers Below
Comment: Sunshine seems to have been created as part of a contest to see how many genres a director could fit in one movie. It's got its summer blockbuster special effects, its sci-fi atmospheric thriller moments, and even some slasher horror bits thrown in.
If only Sunshine's director Danny Boyle could pick one and stick with it, the movie could have been really good. As it is, though, Sunshine is a jumble. A really good-looking jumble.
The movie starts with such promise. It has a cool back story and enough science to satisfy and facilitate the suspension of disbelief. (The premise, and this is not a spoiler, is that Earth is slipping into an Ice Age due to a weakening and eventual extinguishing of the Sun. Eight astronauts are sent on a rescue mission to create a supernova of sorts -- to set off an explosion in the Sun and create a new star).
The beginning visuals are quite stunning, especially on a nice TV. There are frequent shots of the Sun, Mercury, and the outside of the spacecraft. And while the ship is cool to explore, the viewer begins to get a sense of dread. This is when the movie launches into its atmospheric thriller mode.
Something about space lends itself to the atmosphere of dread. Of course Alien is the standard most atmospheres are compared to, but this movie also reminded me of Descent. It must be the closed-off nature of space (and caves). Again, Sunshine succeeds. I was getting edgy watching by myself. The first time you see a subliminal image, yes, it really is there. I rewound frame-by-frame to see what the picture was, the whole time feeling like I was in a thriller myself, about to be shocked by the horror this freeze frame would contain.
This sense of dread is multiplied a hundred times when the crew is forced to investigate an abandoned spacecraft (the original mission that mysteriously failed seven years prior). I was fully prepared to be creeped out -- not startled by GOTCHA! horror. And that's where the movie begins to fall apart. All of a sudden, it turns into almost a slasher movie, complete with chases through dark hallways and stabbings.
From this point on, the movie spirals a bit out of control, although not terribly so. Chase scenes are interspliced with stop-action blurry shots of who-knows-what. The movie eventually paints itself into an ending you knew was coming, and one that leaves no room for a twist. It is a shame the movie becomes so muddled, because it had a chance to be an absolutely great sci-fi flick. (Something that The Core, for example, gave up two minutes into the film).
Sunshine is worth a see. Just don't expect too much.
Sunshine Rating: 75 / 100
Subratings
Soundtrack: 8 / 10 (surprisingly good, but one of the stranger choices for the end credits)
Acting: 7 / 10 (never felt very attached or invested in any characters, though they are forced to make some tough choices)
Sci-Fi Backstory: 7 / 10 (whole lot better than The Day After Tomorrow)
Customer Rating:
Summary: A rich, but flawed sci-fi tale...
Comment: I just recently watched "Sunshine" on DVD and didn't know what to immediately expect. I like Danny Boyle's previous work so I knew that carried a little weight when deciding whether to pick it up.
I won't go so far and say I'm a sci-fi "geek". I do like sci-fi up to a certain point. I love "Alien" and "Aliens". I love "Event Horizon". Hell, I can even put up with "2001: A Space Odyssey" if I have enough LSD running through my veins. So explaining that and knowing that I don't have a degree in science fiction physics (as apparently some of the fanboys here do), I can honestly say my disbelief was suspended and I enjoyed the reasons the crew of the Icarus II had for journeying to the sun.
"Sunshine" does not build up with pre-launch shots of them back on Earth. Instead, a soothing voice tells us that the earth is freezing and what the crew's mission is. Good enough for government work I say! While the characters do lack a bit of flesh (figuratively), it still does not detract from the fact that I latched on to a couple and was disappointed when they were killed.
There were flaws of course. One of the bigger ones was knowing that when the oxygen garden flared up and was destroyed, I knew immediately that none of the crew would ever make it back to Earth. Occasionally little glimpses of hope showed. For example the fully functional oxygen garden on Icarus I or the little plant found growing in the ruins of Icarus II. These were quickly snuffed as just when things look like they will go right, they just as quickly go wrong. So before we are even halfway in, we know this crew is doomed. Of course that makes you think as well about facing your own death much sooner than your biological clock thought which is one of the things I liked. So I guess it's kind of a love/hate thing going on with me on this point.
Another flaw was the introduction of this psychotic, burned up ship captain of the Icarus I who shows up 2/3 of the way in. The movie jumped into cliched horror movie mode and visions of "Event Horizon" floated before my eyes. While not a fast-paced film (until the last third of course), I wonder at the screenwriter's choice of including this element to the screenplay. It threw off the rest of the story in my opinion and turned an interesting, intelligent sci-fi picture into a slasher flick.
I did enjoy "Sunshine" and I would recommend seeing it despite the flaws. It's pretty to look at, creates a great since of claustrophobia laced with a sense of awe at the raw power of the sun, and builds upon deep seated fears humans have about life and death.
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