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United Kingdom, United States · 2007
Rated R · 1h 47m
Director Danny Boyle
Starring Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh
Genre Science Fiction, Thriller
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In the year 2050, the sun is dying, losing its heat and causing a glacial period on Earth. A team of astronauts is sent to the sun, but soon after their mission starts, communications are lost and the team disappears. 7 years later, a new crew is sent to space, humanity’s last hope for survival.
Ideas scintillate over the surface of Sunshine without ever quite igniting, but at least the movie sparkles. What it doesn't do is cohere. Action flick, sci-fi thriller, metaphysical adventure, incoherent allegory, ethical hypothesis, and horror film all at once, this mad multitasker has the agenda of a dozen movies. Problem is, we know which ones.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
They’ve taken "2001" and Tarkovsky’s "Solaris" and "Silent Running," mixed in stuff from save-the-earth pictures like "The Core" and "Deep Impact," and thrown in a cheesy climax out of "Alien."
Like a collapsing star, Sunshine initially burns brightly but finally implodes into a dramatic black hole.
The most indelible moment I took away from Sunshine, in which a tiny figure in a golden space suit floats away from the ship into the gravitational pull of the sun, is one of ecstatic, appalling loneliness.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Hard-core science fiction fans will likely greet Sunshine with a smile. Others may find this to be an odd motion picture, but there's enough going on that even those who are expecting something flashier should still be engaged.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Another thinking-person's thriller from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, also co-pilots on "28 Days Later."
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
A first-rate, seemingly sweat-free entertainer, Mr. Boyle always sells the goods smoothly, along with the chills, the laughs and, somewhat less often, the tears. He’s wickedly good at making you jump and squirm in your seat, which he does often in Sunshine, but he tends to avoid tapping into deep wells of emotion.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
Sunshine is near-classic modern science fiction, hobbled only by a chaotic final reel and some casting missteps in the white-male department.
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
Too much of Sunshine is like a cross between a middling "Alien" movie and "Solaris" (the woozy Steven Soderbergh version).
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Science-fiction fans will like it, and also brainiacs, and those who sometimes look at the sky and think, man, there's a lot going on up there, and we can't even define precisely what a soliton is.
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This is an interesting sci-fi film that does a good job of balancing its interest in its themes and moral questions with the action and drama of the story. I think it also does a particularly good job of utilizing its score and soundtrack. It's used to heighten multiple moments of action and was one of the most memorable aspects of the film for me.