Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Mark Strong
Sometime, hopefully not anytime soon, the sun is going to die. When it does, the earth will no longer be able to support life, and if humans have not colonized to the stars beyond our own, humanity will cease to exist. Our sun is like everything else in the universe and eventually it, too, will die. According to ‘Sunshine’, this process will begin around fifty years from now and, of course, in the event that the sun is dying, humanity’s brightest have decided to pillage the earth’s final resources to make a bomb the size of Manhattan to re-ignite the sun before everyone dies and humanity is forgotten forever.
The film begins as Icarus 2 is en route to the sun when they come across a signal from Icarus 1, the ship that had failed the same mission for unknown reasons around seven years prior. Having no issues so far in the mission, some believe nothing should get in the way of the need to deliver the payload, and save humanity. Unfortunately, there are a few who realize how theoretical the mission really is, and believe it may be worthwhile to stop by Icarus 1 to get the second shot to complete their mission. Once the decision is made to go for the second ship, things quickly spiral out of control and everyone is caught up in the ultimate game of right and wrong with the human race’s survival on the line.
Every actor does a great job conveying their character’s fears, doubts, beliefs and ultimately their humanity or, possibly, their lack of humanity, as they all deal with the pressure of the mission, while also coping with the cold isolation of space. Together with the great script and great direction, I think the film would still have been really good without the outstanding visual effects. However, while in the hands of people who really care about the story, and film-making in general, they used all they had at their disposal to add to the psychological, philosophical, and emotional aspects of the story to make a sci-fi film that sticks with you.
Ultimately, while this story is about the humanity and humility of man, ‘Sunshine’s biggest asset is actually how visually beautiful the film is. Some of the shots still make my jaw drop, and mixing the beauty of the sun, its raw, unfathomable power and overwhelming size, with genuine thrills, with twists and turns, makes ‘Sunshine’ one of the best sci-fi films of the past decade.
The official '1001 Movies' list includes the following movies from 2007 - Paranormal Activity, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, There Will Be Blood, La Vie En Rose, Into the Wild, Atonement, Surfwise, The Bourne Ultimatum
Andy Comer