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 Post subject: Sunshine
PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:22 pm 
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Out of curiosity, did anyone else see this movie? I thought it was interesting and I was wondering what other ppl thought of it?

You can see the trailer for it here: http://www.movieweb.com/video/V07A2bcehmwALX

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 Post subject: Sunshine
PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:14 am 
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SUNSHINE doesn't quite shine. The production design is terrific, there are scenes of shock and awe, the acting is solid, it touches on important themes and yet, it ends up a misfire.

The film basically remains within the ship for almost the entire length, and that's fine, but without a framing story, you really feel like you are entering a film missing a first reel. You do eventually get caught up in the drama of this mission to the Sun, but then, all kinds of dramatic contrivances (both interesting and confused) get tossed into the mix without adding to the central story. In fact, the last of them, totally torpedos the last act.

By Hollywood standards, a modestly budget film, SUNSHINE has some spectacular visuals. The details seem to be right (though the interiors of the craft are, as usual, too large to be practical). The EVA suits looked cool on one hand, but the Samurai Suit meets Deep Sea Diving look reads as more designed than realistic. One question which both SUNSHINE and the somewhat similar SOLAR CRISIS never really address is why the missions wouldn't be unmanned ones which would make far more scientific sense considering the complexity of habitation anywhere close to a Sun (Dramatic purposes, of course, but the films should have made more plausible cases for the manned mission).

2001 and the Russian SOLARIS remain the gold standard for the deep space mission pictures, with nods to the Czech VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE (aka IKARIE XB-1 if you can find an uncut version) and the dark comedic version, DARK STAR (SUNSHINE has a character named "Pinbacker" which must be an homage to the latter film's "Pinback", no?).

Why is it that in so many of these spaceflight films, the crew are always at each other's throats and getting unhinged? If the Russian and U.S. space histories are examined, you don't find any major incidents (Granted, the missions - so far - have been much briefer and less distant); Indeed, quite the opposite. Even during the critical days of Apollo 13, the crew banded together, not apart.

-- On SOLAR CRISIS, there are a few more parallels, including both films having Japanese characters as critical to the missions. Other similarities are there, but would verge closer to spoiler territory. SUNSHINE certainly succeeds better than SOLAR CRISIS, but neither is a winner.

-- SUNSHINE would have done OK with the Boston audience if it had played in February at the Marathon (as was attempted, but the booking was thwarted by the distributor). Boston audiences seem to appreciate premieres unless they are totally without merit (i.e. STAR CRYSTAL). I won't lobby for it at SF/33. In the future it could make an appearance I suppose, but it isn't essential. It would probably get a mixed reaction.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:00 pm 
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I think LAC's review is a bit more harsh than mine. While it's not precisely what I was hoping for, I wouldn't call it a misfire.

It has some difficult flaws, the toughest of which is an "Event Horizon" like de-evolution in plot about 2/3rds of the way in. The plot has some logical inconsistencies and it falls back on cliche more often than I would like, but despite this I found myself admirably engaged throughout.

I think the film's epic scope, relatively believable "hard science" veneer, and intelligent characterizations set an overall mood that's quite moving. While I would not go so far as to say it has the depth of Solaris (original or remake), I still have to say that not once did I roll my eyes, check my watch, or feel my butt go numb.

That's rare these days, especially with my butt :).

Most reviewers grade it between a C- and a B ... I hover right around a B. I think the marathon crowd would get a LOT from the film, and I think most would be able to catch the film's finer points, and certainly appreciate its tone.

Assuming it was not shown at 4 AM.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:49 pm 
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I actually quite liked it and only really had one MAJOR problem with it...

*****SPOILER ALERT******






Highlight to read better:
I really hated the "Crispy Captain" and felt that aspect of the film was completely unnecessary. You could easily have an engaging plot with the other issues that arose without introducing the crispy captain and I strongly felt this bit was tacked on at the last minute to help drive home the horror of their situation.




*****END SPOILER*****

Visually I was pleased with fx. Plot-wise I was quite content except for the spoiler noted above. And I thought the soundtrack was extremely good - very on par with the futuristic feel of 2001 et al, but not mired too much in "trying" to be futuristic at the same time.


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