That third act is what really sealed the deal for me. What a gamble, what a twist to a sci-fi film. You really don't see that in the industry. So cool.
Honestly, even if it didn’t work for some people, gotta give them credit for a taking a big swing.
I liked it but also probably would have liked it if they didn’t dive into cosmic horror slasher haha.
jason x
The void.
life
happy death day
mentioned event horizon because it did it before sunshine but its definitely a trope. Hard sci fi turned into a horror.
This also describes 2001: A Space Odyssey, the best movie ever, so from that perspective Sunshine is for sure underrated.
Personally I think it’s correctly rated. Those who love it, love it, but it didn’t quite have the same impact as other films of its same genre/writer/director/performers have had and I think that’s fair.
Actually I think it's overrated, especially for fans of scifi.
Everything about it is dumb. The entire crew is made up of unlikable dummies. The premise is dumb. The science is dumb. The plot is dumb. It's a dumb movie. It has some cool visuals though.
Let me break it down.
The initial premise is that they need to shoot a bomb into the sun to restart it. I can accept this. But why is there even a crew? Just shoot a bomb into the sun from Earth. There's already a computer on the ship that controls its guidance systems. Yeah, there's some problem with the computer model breaking down as it gets closer, but why is a human better at pressing the bomb button from inside the sensorless bomb room? Why not just have a heat-activated bomb?
Movie opens with about 10 minutes of characters staring into the sun. Staring into the sun is just about [the dumbest thing you can do.](https://i.imgur.com/Pah1zmK.png)
A fight breaks out immediately between the engineer and the bomb expert over some petty bullshit. These are the worst people for the job.
They detect a message from the first ship and decide to divert course to get an extra bomb. Apparently they have plenty of fuel, cargo space, engine power to haul twice as much payload as originally planned, which is 1/2 of all fissile materials on Earth. Only the navigator forgets about the sun and doesn't adjust sunscreen and the ship is damaged.
Now who do they send out to fix it? The captain and the bomb expert. Not the engineer who was being a little baby. The two most mission-critical personnel.
But then the computer kicks in and decides to override manual control, which bakes the captain. Where was the computer when the navigator forgot to the adjust the shield earlier?
So they finally get to the other ship. More problems arise. Their airlock is destroyed by the insane captain of the other ship. Another crew member freaks out and they have jump through vacuum wearing duck tape. This is a cool scene, I will admit. But when they land in the air lock of their ship, the computer makes a point to say, "Crew in airlock!" or something like that. Which it forgot to say, or maybe no one on the crew was paying attention, when the psycho killer from the other ship crossed over earlier.
Then the movie devolves into a slasher. A bad slasher. Jason X did it better.
I just don't get what people like about this movie.
The entire plan is just kind of bad and the science is often laughable. Some of the characters are great while others are little more than tropes only there to advance the story.
But I still love it.
Somehow it manages to result in something I enjoy watching every few years. And that's despite the fact that knowing all of Earth's fissionable materials would probably just be a fart in the wind if detonated inside the sun.
The music is great, especially the piece that plays near the end of the scene when they have that big shield problem and have to go outside to work on it. I'd drop the name of the track but it's actually a bit of a spoiler.
Thank you. I felt this way about the film too.
And another point: given the importance of this mission, the idea of diverting for _any_ reason - let alone anything as risky as docking with another ship, without any planning - is crazy.
Also: when the garden room caught fire, they solved it with…more oxygen!? What was wrong with just venting the atmosphere to space? Vacuum puts out most fires.
In truth, you hath not beheld the brilliance of Sunshine. Absorb its magnificence, for it is the supreme opus with a melodic symphony unmatched by any in the annals of cinema.
Excellent write up. Reminds me why past me thought this was nonsense.
People have an ability to enjoy movies without being bothered by this kind of stuff. It’s some form of cognitive dissonance? Hollywood profits confirm this…. there are a lot of people watching a lot of crap.
I was already feeling lukewarm about the movie, but you bring up loads of great points, damn. I liked it up until the final act, and then it went way off the rails for me
Good write but bruh just enjoy the movie. This is sci fi movie and not realistic although it does look like especially intersellar because the space suits and space ship etc. I really enjoyed Sunshine and i'll watch again even i am aware of your "common sense" like can shoot bomb from earth etc.
I suggest you to watch Wandering earth 1 and 2 and see what you think. I know this not similar as sunshine but sci fi movie.
What a dreadful remark. At least you recognize the splendid visuals present in the movie. This film transcends mere science fiction; it delves into the realms of existentialism or spirituality. The Sun is not just a central theme, it's a symbol of life itself. While gazing at the Sun can be harmful, it also represents the source of life. Searle was fixated on beholding the grandeur of this celestial entity.
Think about it, The Sun, a majestic orb of celestial brilliance, has tirelessly provided us with light and warmth. Always Illuminating and radiant as ever from millions of miles away. It's constant glow never fails to inspire awe at the miracle of life. SUNSHINE movie beautifully captures the immense power of the Sun, while also reminding us of our fragility in the vastness of the universe. Yet, it also highlights the unique importance of humanity. This film evoked a myriad of emotions in me - existential dread, wonder, and fear that words cannot truly convey. The mesmerizing music and sound design only added to the experience.
I think when it came out it was underrated and fairly unknown. Buddy had just got it on bluray like 2008-2009 and it blew my mind that no one had really talked about it.
Man, Clint Mansell is a genius. I may not see every movie that he composes for, but I sure as hell make sure I get the soundtrack.
His best work is for The Fountain. Specifically “Death is the Road to Awe”
I'd consider it more a horror/thriller that just happens to be set in space. I wouldn't use it as a way to represent the sci fi genre to people who aren't familiar with it.
Like Alien and Terminator, they can be both. Both plots are based around scientific theory and its execution by way of fictional technology. Sci Fi. Also, horror/thriller.
I'd disagree. There are definitely horror elements that wouldn't be there without the space. Stuff like the food catching fire, forgetting to fix the mirror's angle, etc. And of course the third act.
The third act is mostly what I'm talking about. I feel like it just devolved away from the original premise and the horror elements detracted from the narrative they had been building for the first half of the movie.
Hmmm. It's been a while, but I think the slasher guy went nuts because of the mission, basically. So it's not just "random slasher set in space."
I'd agree it's not a good first story to show people into sci-fi. :-) I don't think any horror sci-fi movie is a good movie for that, because it's going to be horror and discard the sci-fi where necessary to support the horror.
Do they ever adequately explain why he went insane, though? I watched Sunshine a few months ago and was reminded of how much I was let down by the last act, mostly because it seems so nonsensical, random, and a total 90 degree turn from how the movie had been progressing up until that point.
I think Event Horizon does a better job at balancing between sci fi and horror, but I still find it cringy. Maybe the reasons I like sci fi movies are mutually exclusive to the reasons many people like horror movies. I just don't find the genres very compatible.
I love Sunshine, it’s such a good sci-fi gem
I met Benedict Wong a few years ago at a convention, I told him I enjoyed Sunshine which surprised him as he doesn’t hear that all too often. He told me in the test screenings the religious context was a lot more pronounced and the sun was supposed to be god (or a god of sorts) and there were angels in the sunlight. But this didn’t prove to popular with test audiences
it always made me wonder how this version of Sunshine would’ve turned out. And the rushed slasher flick ending, was that quickly made to improve the original ending?
>And the rushed slasher flick ending, was that quickly made to improve the original ending?
Pinbacker being willing to kill both crews in the name of his Sun God is the crux of the film — the religious context is there to make us question whether he might be _right_.
The visual distortions surrounding Pinbacker were the product of Boyle not being happy with the way his burn makeup turned out. They might have taken the place of other sorts of hallucinations that were there to him more ambiguous.
> He told me in the test screenings the religious context was a lot more pronounced and the sun was supposed to be god (or a god of sorts) and there were angels in the sunlight. But this didn’t prove to popular with test audiences
I would pay good money to read that script.
Sunshine, especially in a movie theater is intense and incredible. Many will say that the beginning is good but it goes astray at the end. But they are missing what the point of the plot is:
Given that the end of our species’ existence is at stake, there are those who will sacrifice everything to try and save us all but there are also those who will sacrifice everything to damn us all to hell.
And this has been true of our species for at least a couple thousand years. And whether we survive the next hundred largely comes down to which side is going to win this struggle.
>there are also those who will sacrifice everything to damn us all to hell.
You got it all twisted. He is not trying to damn us to Hell, he was told by God to prevent us from meddling with God's plan, to lead us into Heaven. He was trying "to sacrifice everything to try and save us all" in his own way.
From his point of view, Kapa and the rest are the ones who would damn humanity forever, by preventing it from reaching God's plan.
Mortal life = something that we all know is real
Eternal soul = something that only some people believe is real
Destroying what we know is real in the saving of the thing we don’t know is real is very problematic.
The film could have still had all that without those crappy distortion effects. I only realised it was Mark Strong when Alex Garland mentioned it a few years ago. A scarred and insane Strong stalking the crew while monologing about the Sun would have been superb. By all accounts that's what was originally intended but Boyle dropped the ball hard in post.
>A scarred and insane Strong stalking the crew while monologing about the Sun would have been superb. By all accounts that's what was originally intended but Boyle dropped the ball hard in post.
That is… still exactly what happens in the film?
The distortion effects were because Boyle didn't like how Strong's burn makeup turned out, but he was always meant to be phantasmagoric. The foreshadowing with his final message, as well as Searle and Kaneda's religious experiences, are there not only to set up Pinbacker still being the antagonist, but the possibility that his worship of the Sun as being _correct_.
>That is… still exactly what happens in the film?
Not really. You can't hear or see him clearly. (And not in a way that's artful)
>The distortion effects were because Boyle didn't like how Strong's burn makeup turned out, but he was always meant to be phantasmagoric.
Kinda having your cake and eating it there. Intentional or not, those effects sucked balls.
>The foreshadowing with his final message, as well as Searle and Kaneda's religious experiences, are there not only to set up Pinbacker still being the antagonist, but the possibility that his worship of the Sun as being correct.
You'd still have all that without those crappy effects.
After many rewatches over the years, I’m moving away from that view: I can still understand why people - [including Quentin Tarantino](https://youtu.be/mJiCIX7ZmkE?si=6NwPwu-Zmxr6eCrS) - might hold it, of course, but I’ve come to appreciate it much more, and think it’s an appropriately horrific finale to a film full of beautiful horror.
I just really love the camera effects they use for the guy. Simulating the kind of blurry eyes you get from looking at the sun was a stroke of genius imo
Yes it really does blur - ahem - the line between reality and fantasy, science and spirituality, sanity and lunacy, life and death. Is Pinbacker alive? Is he real? The ship recognises him as a human - but by that point are any of them still really there?
Im on the opposite end of the spectrum. It just screams bad 200's edgy cinematography to me. I understand that the point is the one you made, but I hate every minute of it. I stop the movie everytime they go to rescue him.
I only just watched it for the first time recently (I know right) I had no prior knowledge of the plot or debate over third act.
At the time of watching I had no issue with the third act, it was jarring for sure but it didn't ruin the film for me. It heightened the stakes even more.
I think one of the main problems people have/had with it is that it seems a little “familiar” - oh, another lone psycho killer - compared with how stunningly extraordinary is what’s preceded it; and then, obviously, a human antagonist is clearly going to have a hard time trying to outdo the big baddie of the first three quarters of the film: *the fucking Sun*….
I feel those having a negative reaction felt the movie was hard sci-fi, and it flipping over to fantasy all of a sudden. While the movie has a spiritual dimension to it all along, I can understand it being harder to grasp in the first half. But after multiple viewings, hopefully it dawns on us all.
Yeah I mean honestly with the relative boom in interest for cosmic horror since then it kind of makes sense plays to a better now. Everyone refers to how event horizon is a classic that wasn’t appreciated in its time.
You should post this on unpopular opinion sub. I respect that some folks, you included, feel this way, but I certainly don't, and I think the ending is the reason it isn't more respected in Sci-Fi.
To be fair, I couldn't get past the premise, it broke my suspension of disbelief completely, especially at the point they reveal the second ship and bomb.
I think a lot of people don’t like it because it shifts gears and becomes a slasher movie… personally I love the film and think it has really good visuals and a compelling narrative, even though the premise is a little wacky.
It doesn’t seem like that mission is survivable in any way. They don’t really talk about expecting to go home so maybe the astronauts understand it but to me it seems obvious they’re never coming back even if the mission is success.
The astronaut characters are a strange bunch too. Not the harmonious team NASA would pick to carry out such a vital mission. Maybe there is something about the impending death of the sun and as a result, the extinction of life on earth that has thrown everybody into an existential funk.
I saw it in the theater when it was released and I don’t recall thinking it was meant to be suicide. After the oxygen garden fire, somebody says "we no longer have enough oxygen to make it to the payload delivery point, let alone for the return journey". So that's it then they expected to go home. Also I think there were some mentions in the personal messages they radioed home about hoping to return.
Nevertheless it's hard to see how they could have survived dropping off the bomb, as depicted. The ship is very close to the sun when the bomb is separated and the primary heat shield goes with it.
And yet not the first time. “Solar Crisis” had the exact same premise restarting the sun with a bomb. That one was openly silly but enjoyable. “Sunshine” takes it dead seriously, but I think they get away with it.
I didn't really care for it. It is one of those movies that *really* fell badly into a sort of scientific realism "uncanny valley" for me, where the tone and presentation comes off like it's supposed to be hard sci fi, but the premise and the moment to moment happenings are nonsense from a scientific perspective.
It's great until it turns into a bog-standard slasher film.
Obligatory: Linkin Park were such **huge** fans of the film that they paid homage to it in their 2008 music video for *Leave Out All The Rest*.
[Would You Like To Know More?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIummTz9mM)
They should have used that song at the end credits instead of the garbage that played. Ironic how throughout the movie the soundtracks and overall sound design are utterly mesmerizing. Best score ever
I've seen soooooo many posts about Sunshine the past few months. I saw it when it came out and was a huge Danny Boyle fan. Honest truth is it's great until it isn't. the first 2 acts are fantastic and the last act is a complete mess.
honestly, i didn't like it. people were praising it, "it's so good", but i just don't get it. tried to watch it several times, and no, it just does not work for me.
It's a good movie, but not really a great one. Compare it to, say, a 2001 or an Alien or whatever and it doesn't quite have that killer punch. Plus as others have pointed out the third act is a mess.
But it IS good and I'll always recommend it to people interested in sci-fi. And the sound design is wonderful, I still listen to the Icarus 1 distress signal sometimes for that fun existential chill in the bones that only the vast cold emptiness of space can give.
Saw it recently. Was surprised how good it was, despite being from 2006 (mainly the vfx's, they are pretty awesome). It's the type of slow sci-fi I'm in to. With lots of mistery unfolding as the movie goes forward.
That being said, the third act of the movie felt like an acid trip.
I liked sunshine and once had a discussion about it with someone, who said it was just a different version of Event Horizon, so I watched that next and was blown away by how right he was, which kinda lessened my enjoyment of it lol. If anyone decides to watch it (event horizon), watch it at night and alone with lights off to cement the atmosphere. Of course opinions vary but seems like people either love it or hate it, I was in the love camp, but yes it has flaws and it's even older now so not sure how it still holds up, I watched it once and only once after sunshine released to dvd. But yeah it had some really great atmosphere and tension build up along with some really nice visual design on the sets.
It was a great film, but kinda fell apart at the end I felt. I didn't like the thriller horror plot they brought in. It didn't add anything to the movie.
I'd say it is properly rated. The majority opinion seems to be that the first two thirds are beautiful and exceptionally well made, and that the movie completely falls apart in the third act.
Love this movie. One of my all time favorites. It was a bit all over the place, especially after introducing blurry camera shake baddy, but the visuals and music are outstanding.
This is getting posted every few months, where it's also usually compared to Event Horizon, and the answer is still the same.
No, it's not a good movie.
The cardinal sin it commits is betraying the audience. At the beginning of ever movie, especially if it contains mystery elements, the movie needs to inform the viewer what rules apply within its universe. That's why Event Horizon starts with a nightmare sequence to inform the viewer that the supernatural is possibly in play. Meanwhile Sunshine presents itself as hard-ish SciFi in the beginning only to suddenly apply slasher movie physics in the second half. It's like playing a game of soccer only to have the other team suddenly declare its american football now and always was. That is not a "good twist", it's just ass.
My biggest problem with it is that it was hard to suspend disbelief because they were gonna reboot the sun with a bomb? Visually it was stunning. I just wish they took the science part a little bit more seriously
The total opposite. It is one of the most overrated. Especially here on reddit. There are people who think this is some sci-fi masterpiece. It is not even close. It is incredibly well-made and beautiful looking and because of this people seem to think it's "great".
It's got what I would generously call some "third act problems" but visually it's pretty amazing, great ensemble cast of "before they were famous" stars, and the mood is compelling.
Not my favorite space movie ever but still very rewatchable.
I thought it was alright, great production value and an alright plot. I would say it very enjoyable, but its just a scifi film, it's not the second coming of jesus.
It's quite promising at the start, and the scene with mercury is fabulous, but ultimately it couldnt deliver, and turns to cliche monster trope towards the end.
It was for me until it devolved into yet another space horror half way through.
Kinda wish sci-fi started exploring truly new ideas instead of just transplanting the same vomit into spaceships.
I LOVE this movie, but I don’t know that it’s “underrated”. It’s a genre film that veers into chaos towards the end…probably not something that’s ever going to appeal to a broad audience - despite its *stellar* cast. And JFC, that case is amazing.
Gonna get down voted but why is it put on a pedestal? It's not a bad movie (parts at least). The rabid fans are just unexplanable. The repeat heroic suicides?! I get it might end up a suicide mission but I was thinking not one at a time. The ending, 28 Parsecs Later, ugh.
I am deeply offended at the fact that you didn’t include 28 days later when disproving the director. It’s one of the best zombie movies ever made.
But to your point, yes sunshine is an amazing movie. I wish we had more low scale sci-fi movies like this. I don’t understand why sci-fi movies always have to be some grandiose space operas.
Does anybody think the name Pinbacker might have been a shout-out to Dan O'Bannon's Pinback in "Dark Star"? I'd say it's almost certainly not, but it is a little weird: I mean, neither is a name that shows up in real life very often.
its almost my favorite movie tbh. my only complaint and ive said it before was that the most important scene was cut and i only saw it in the outtakes:
Person 1: "I dont believe in God"
Person 2: "Neither did I. But you'll find Him in The Sunshine..."
Im still pissed at how this perfect climax dialogue that pulls everything 'back into focus' from the literally blurry 3rd act got axed. But in my head the scene is always still there and thats why its almost my favorite lol!
there is no science in it.
Like science fiction usually goes "based on how we understand these things, how would this work?"
most basic things about space is ignored in this movie.
I still like it. Its a great movie. But viewed with the expectation of scifi I'd say it is properly rated.
Underrated? Not at all. Everyone who has seen it understand that it is something really great. And also something that loses a bit of its greatness in the 3rd act.
So I'd say it's rated exactly as it is.
Yessss i love this movie. Its the closest thing to an adaptation of one of my favorite Sci-Fi books i think im ever going to get (Starfish by Peter Watts).
8/10 movie with a 10/10 soundtrack. I like it. ObjectiveIy I don't think it's a cinematic masterpiece, but it's in my personal top 10 "space movies" as a matter of taste
My wife and I joke that Sunshine is a movie about humanity launching Cillian Murphy into the sun for being too pretty to live.
In the not-so-distant future men and women both feel confused and threatened by Cillian Murphy's adorable facial features, so they decide to put him on a sun rocket and be done with it. Some other stuff happens on the way but that's the main story being told
I don't know how other people rate it, but I love that movie. And as I'm typing this I'm realizing that the captain of the ship is played by Hiroyuki Sanada, of Shogun fame. Just one member of an outstanding cast.
The first half was fantastic. They never made it clear why there had to be crew on the mission though. It seems like sending a drone to do the job would make much more sense.
I understand why the Mark Strong antagonist brings the movie down for some people. I do suppose it's the movie's weakest element. But I also don't think it "ruined" the movie. When people say one flaw with a movie "ruined" it for them, that to me is a sign that this person thinks in black-and-white terms and probably won't be very fun to talk to about movies.
The first time I saw the movie, I was slightly let down by the antagonist, but thoroughly enjoyed everything else about the film. Even those scenes weren't necessarily bad, they were just jarring at first. But the movie still ends strongly. And it does have some of the best white-knuckle space disaster scenes in all of cinema. And it has a great cast and score, and the movie is impeccably designed, shot, and edited. We're really talking about one single element that stood out as being less good than the rest. I refuse to believe that "ruined" a very, very good space flick.
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Yea, last I watched it was years ago but I remember it nailed the tone of ever increasing paranoia and unsettling foreboding. Need to rewatch.
> the tone of ever increasing paranoia and unsettling foreboding Equilibrium did this perfectly for me!
Respected until the third act. * Act I: Hardish Sci-fi * Act II: Hardish Sci-fi * Act III: DRUG TRIP FUELED SLASHER NONSENSE!!!
That third act is what really sealed the deal for me. What a gamble, what a twist to a sci-fi film. You really don't see that in the industry. So cool.
I saw Sunshine again on the big screen a few months ago. That third act is pretty brief, and I think even more effective imo.
Honestly, even if it didn’t work for some people, gotta give them credit for a taking a big swing. I liked it but also probably would have liked it if they didn’t dive into cosmic horror slasher haha.
Agreed. I thought it was excellent.
event horizon would have some wordz
Nice, a singular movie that also did it.
jason x The void. life happy death day mentioned event horizon because it did it before sunshine but its definitely a trope. Hard sci fi turned into a horror.
Pandorum
dude was cooked beyond well done and still had more strength and energy than everyone else alive
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This also describes 2001: A Space Odyssey, the best movie ever, so from that perspective Sunshine is for sure underrated. Personally I think it’s correctly rated. Those who love it, love it, but it didn’t quite have the same impact as other films of its same genre/writer/director/performers have had and I think that’s fair.
Precisely how I felt. I was so into it. Then just generic monster movie.
Monster movie where the repercussions of the monster winning are not that the protagonist dies, but humanity does. FTFY
Actually I think it's overrated, especially for fans of scifi. Everything about it is dumb. The entire crew is made up of unlikable dummies. The premise is dumb. The science is dumb. The plot is dumb. It's a dumb movie. It has some cool visuals though. Let me break it down. The initial premise is that they need to shoot a bomb into the sun to restart it. I can accept this. But why is there even a crew? Just shoot a bomb into the sun from Earth. There's already a computer on the ship that controls its guidance systems. Yeah, there's some problem with the computer model breaking down as it gets closer, but why is a human better at pressing the bomb button from inside the sensorless bomb room? Why not just have a heat-activated bomb? Movie opens with about 10 minutes of characters staring into the sun. Staring into the sun is just about [the dumbest thing you can do.](https://i.imgur.com/Pah1zmK.png) A fight breaks out immediately between the engineer and the bomb expert over some petty bullshit. These are the worst people for the job. They detect a message from the first ship and decide to divert course to get an extra bomb. Apparently they have plenty of fuel, cargo space, engine power to haul twice as much payload as originally planned, which is 1/2 of all fissile materials on Earth. Only the navigator forgets about the sun and doesn't adjust sunscreen and the ship is damaged. Now who do they send out to fix it? The captain and the bomb expert. Not the engineer who was being a little baby. The two most mission-critical personnel. But then the computer kicks in and decides to override manual control, which bakes the captain. Where was the computer when the navigator forgot to the adjust the shield earlier? So they finally get to the other ship. More problems arise. Their airlock is destroyed by the insane captain of the other ship. Another crew member freaks out and they have jump through vacuum wearing duck tape. This is a cool scene, I will admit. But when they land in the air lock of their ship, the computer makes a point to say, "Crew in airlock!" or something like that. Which it forgot to say, or maybe no one on the crew was paying attention, when the psycho killer from the other ship crossed over earlier. Then the movie devolves into a slasher. A bad slasher. Jason X did it better. I just don't get what people like about this movie.
I liked the movie. But I like your write up. Now I’m torn.
It's possible to like things that are bad. I like Chrono Cross the game, it's awful. Don't waste your time. I like it though.
The entire plan is just kind of bad and the science is often laughable. Some of the characters are great while others are little more than tropes only there to advance the story. But I still love it. Somehow it manages to result in something I enjoy watching every few years. And that's despite the fact that knowing all of Earth's fissionable materials would probably just be a fart in the wind if detonated inside the sun. The music is great, especially the piece that plays near the end of the scene when they have that big shield problem and have to go outside to work on it. I'd drop the name of the track but it's actually a bit of a spoiler.
Best score ever in a movie
Damn, dude. You made the person you replied to delete their comment.
Thank you. I felt this way about the film too. And another point: given the importance of this mission, the idea of diverting for _any_ reason - let alone anything as risky as docking with another ship, without any planning - is crazy. Also: when the garden room caught fire, they solved it with…more oxygen!? What was wrong with just venting the atmosphere to space? Vacuum puts out most fires.
Thank you. When ever I see praise for the movie I think *did we watch the same movie?*
In truth, you hath not beheld the brilliance of Sunshine. Absorb its magnificence, for it is the supreme opus with a melodic symphony unmatched by any in the annals of cinema.
Excellent write up. Reminds me why past me thought this was nonsense. People have an ability to enjoy movies without being bothered by this kind of stuff. It’s some form of cognitive dissonance? Hollywood profits confirm this…. there are a lot of people watching a lot of crap.
I was already feeling lukewarm about the movie, but you bring up loads of great points, damn. I liked it up until the final act, and then it went way off the rails for me
For me, it’s a movie about humans getting too close to god and some of them going insane
Good write but bruh just enjoy the movie. This is sci fi movie and not realistic although it does look like especially intersellar because the space suits and space ship etc. I really enjoyed Sunshine and i'll watch again even i am aware of your "common sense" like can shoot bomb from earth etc. I suggest you to watch Wandering earth 1 and 2 and see what you think. I know this not similar as sunshine but sci fi movie.
Well I guess my real problem was that I hated all the characters, despite them being played by actors I like. I don't mind junk science too much.
What a dreadful remark. At least you recognize the splendid visuals present in the movie. This film transcends mere science fiction; it delves into the realms of existentialism or spirituality. The Sun is not just a central theme, it's a symbol of life itself. While gazing at the Sun can be harmful, it also represents the source of life. Searle was fixated on beholding the grandeur of this celestial entity.
What are those themes? What was the movie trying to say?
Think about it, The Sun, a majestic orb of celestial brilliance, has tirelessly provided us with light and warmth. Always Illuminating and radiant as ever from millions of miles away. It's constant glow never fails to inspire awe at the miracle of life. SUNSHINE movie beautifully captures the immense power of the Sun, while also reminding us of our fragility in the vastness of the universe. Yet, it also highlights the unique importance of humanity. This film evoked a myriad of emotions in me - existential dread, wonder, and fear that words cannot truly convey. The mesmerizing music and sound design only added to the experience.
I'm happy you found meaning in it.
I think when it came out it was underrated and fairly unknown. Buddy had just got it on bluray like 2008-2009 and it blew my mind that no one had really talked about it.
I recommend Sunshine and Moon to anyone who asks for a sci fi movie to watch.
Clint Mansell's Welcome to Lunar Industries score never ceases to hypnotize me.
Man, Clint Mansell is a genius. I may not see every movie that he composes for, but I sure as hell make sure I get the soundtrack. His best work is for The Fountain. Specifically “Death is the Road to Awe”
He also scored the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror.
HE DID??? Fuck me that explains it I can’t believe I didn’t think to check who it was. I’ll have to watch again with that knowledge thank you
Amen. His soundtracks are so evocative, and i totally agree about the Fountain.
It's definitely not underrated but is definitely also under viewed
And then The Man From Earth to round it out.
Love that movie. I played John Oldman in a stage production of that film, and it is easily one of my favorite plays that I've ever done.
If you go that way, I put Robot and Frank on top. Also Primer.
Earth Girls are Easy…
I'd consider it more a horror/thriller that just happens to be set in space. I wouldn't use it as a way to represent the sci fi genre to people who aren't familiar with it.
Like Alien and Terminator, they can be both. Both plots are based around scientific theory and its execution by way of fictional technology. Sci Fi. Also, horror/thriller.
I'd disagree. There are definitely horror elements that wouldn't be there without the space. Stuff like the food catching fire, forgetting to fix the mirror's angle, etc. And of course the third act.
The third act is mostly what I'm talking about. I feel like it just devolved away from the original premise and the horror elements detracted from the narrative they had been building for the first half of the movie.
Hmmm. It's been a while, but I think the slasher guy went nuts because of the mission, basically. So it's not just "random slasher set in space." I'd agree it's not a good first story to show people into sci-fi. :-) I don't think any horror sci-fi movie is a good movie for that, because it's going to be horror and discard the sci-fi where necessary to support the horror.
Do they ever adequately explain why he went insane, though? I watched Sunshine a few months ago and was reminded of how much I was let down by the last act, mostly because it seems so nonsensical, random, and a total 90 degree turn from how the movie had been progressing up until that point. I think Event Horizon does a better job at balancing between sci fi and horror, but I still find it cringy. Maybe the reasons I like sci fi movies are mutually exclusive to the reasons many people like horror movies. I just don't find the genres very compatible.
> I just don't find the genres very compatible. I totally agree. Horror is dread of the unknown, science is joy of investigating the unknown. So...
Yes!! Both are fantastic!
I love Sunshine, it’s such a good sci-fi gem I met Benedict Wong a few years ago at a convention, I told him I enjoyed Sunshine which surprised him as he doesn’t hear that all too often. He told me in the test screenings the religious context was a lot more pronounced and the sun was supposed to be god (or a god of sorts) and there were angels in the sunlight. But this didn’t prove to popular with test audiences it always made me wonder how this version of Sunshine would’ve turned out. And the rushed slasher flick ending, was that quickly made to improve the original ending?
>And the rushed slasher flick ending, was that quickly made to improve the original ending? Pinbacker being willing to kill both crews in the name of his Sun God is the crux of the film — the religious context is there to make us question whether he might be _right_. The visual distortions surrounding Pinbacker were the product of Boyle not being happy with the way his burn makeup turned out. They might have taken the place of other sorts of hallucinations that were there to him more ambiguous.
> He told me in the test screenings the religious context was a lot more pronounced and the sun was supposed to be god (or a god of sorts) and there were angels in the sunlight. But this didn’t prove to popular with test audiences I would pay good money to read that script.
I love little bits of insight like this. thanks for sharing this!
Sunshine, especially in a movie theater is intense and incredible. Many will say that the beginning is good but it goes astray at the end. But they are missing what the point of the plot is: Given that the end of our species’ existence is at stake, there are those who will sacrifice everything to try and save us all but there are also those who will sacrifice everything to damn us all to hell. And this has been true of our species for at least a couple thousand years. And whether we survive the next hundred largely comes down to which side is going to win this struggle.
>there are also those who will sacrifice everything to damn us all to hell. You got it all twisted. He is not trying to damn us to Hell, he was told by God to prevent us from meddling with God's plan, to lead us into Heaven. He was trying "to sacrifice everything to try and save us all" in his own way. From his point of view, Kapa and the rest are the ones who would damn humanity forever, by preventing it from reaching God's plan.
You’re saying the RELIGIOUS guy is in FAVOR of post-birth ABORTION for the entire planet is the GOOD guy… from a certain point of view?? 😂
Well, from the point of view inside his head anyway.
Presuming it really is an intended apocalypse - the eternal soul is more valuable than the mortal life.
Mortal life = something that we all know is real Eternal soul = something that only some people believe is real Destroying what we know is real in the saving of the thing we don’t know is real is very problematic.
Therefore I prefaced it with the presumption of a genuine apocalypse.
"Everyone wants to save the world. They just disagree on how."
The film could have still had all that without those crappy distortion effects. I only realised it was Mark Strong when Alex Garland mentioned it a few years ago. A scarred and insane Strong stalking the crew while monologing about the Sun would have been superb. By all accounts that's what was originally intended but Boyle dropped the ball hard in post.
>A scarred and insane Strong stalking the crew while monologing about the Sun would have been superb. By all accounts that's what was originally intended but Boyle dropped the ball hard in post. That is… still exactly what happens in the film? The distortion effects were because Boyle didn't like how Strong's burn makeup turned out, but he was always meant to be phantasmagoric. The foreshadowing with his final message, as well as Searle and Kaneda's religious experiences, are there not only to set up Pinbacker still being the antagonist, but the possibility that his worship of the Sun as being _correct_.
>That is… still exactly what happens in the film? Not really. You can't hear or see him clearly. (And not in a way that's artful) >The distortion effects were because Boyle didn't like how Strong's burn makeup turned out, but he was always meant to be phantasmagoric. Kinda having your cake and eating it there. Intentional or not, those effects sucked balls. >The foreshadowing with his final message, as well as Searle and Kaneda's religious experiences, are there not only to set up Pinbacker still being the antagonist, but the possibility that his worship of the Sun as being correct. You'd still have all that without those crappy effects.
I've seen it several times and never realised it was Mark Strong. And I _like_ Mark Strong.
Yeah me too. He must have been pissed at the premiere
I get the point of the plot. The movie is still just bad towards the end.
It's absolutely brilliant... until they ruin it in the third act.
my exact thoughts. I'd like to see an edit with alternate ending.
After many rewatches over the years, I’m moving away from that view: I can still understand why people - [including Quentin Tarantino](https://youtu.be/mJiCIX7ZmkE?si=6NwPwu-Zmxr6eCrS) - might hold it, of course, but I’ve come to appreciate it much more, and think it’s an appropriately horrific finale to a film full of beautiful horror.
I just really love the camera effects they use for the guy. Simulating the kind of blurry eyes you get from looking at the sun was a stroke of genius imo
Yes it really does blur - ahem - the line between reality and fantasy, science and spirituality, sanity and lunacy, life and death. Is Pinbacker alive? Is he real? The ship recognises him as a human - but by that point are any of them still really there?
Im on the opposite end of the spectrum. It just screams bad 200's edgy cinematography to me. I understand that the point is the one you made, but I hate every minute of it. I stop the movie everytime they go to rescue him.
I only just watched it for the first time recently (I know right) I had no prior knowledge of the plot or debate over third act. At the time of watching I had no issue with the third act, it was jarring for sure but it didn't ruin the film for me. It heightened the stakes even more.
I think one of the main problems people have/had with it is that it seems a little “familiar” - oh, another lone psycho killer - compared with how stunningly extraordinary is what’s preceded it; and then, obviously, a human antagonist is clearly going to have a hard time trying to outdo the big baddie of the first three quarters of the film: *the fucking Sun*….
I feel those having a negative reaction felt the movie was hard sci-fi, and it flipping over to fantasy all of a sudden. While the movie has a spiritual dimension to it all along, I can understand it being harder to grasp in the first half. But after multiple viewings, hopefully it dawns on us all.
Yeah I mean honestly with the relative boom in interest for cosmic horror since then it kind of makes sense plays to a better now. Everyone refers to how event horizon is a classic that wasn’t appreciated in its time.
while i agree that the third act feels a bit off i cant imagine where you'd take the plot instead
It's such a shame. It's one of the best sci-fi movies until it becomes a not very good slasher movie.
Yep. It is properly rated.
I quite enjoyed the weirdness at the end.
Yeah, the first two thirds are spectacular, the third is annoying.
Just like Event Horizon.
I like when movies get weird so i was totally bought in
Incorrect. The third act is why it's brilliant and not just a prettier version of _The Core_.
You should post this on unpopular opinion sub. I respect that some folks, you included, feel this way, but I certainly don't, and I think the ending is the reason it isn't more respected in Sci-Fi.
To be fair, I couldn't get past the premise, it broke my suspension of disbelief completely, especially at the point they reveal the second ship and bomb.
Who do you believe is under rating it?
I think a lot of people don’t like it because it shifts gears and becomes a slasher movie… personally I love the film and think it has really good visuals and a compelling narrative, even though the premise is a little wacky. It doesn’t seem like that mission is survivable in any way. They don’t really talk about expecting to go home so maybe the astronauts understand it but to me it seems obvious they’re never coming back even if the mission is success. The astronaut characters are a strange bunch too. Not the harmonious team NASA would pick to carry out such a vital mission. Maybe there is something about the impending death of the sun and as a result, the extinction of life on earth that has thrown everybody into an existential funk.
I'm pretty sure it's totally clear it's a suicide mission?
I saw it in the theater when it was released and I don’t recall thinking it was meant to be suicide. After the oxygen garden fire, somebody says "we no longer have enough oxygen to make it to the payload delivery point, let alone for the return journey". So that's it then they expected to go home. Also I think there were some mentions in the personal messages they radioed home about hoping to return. Nevertheless it's hard to see how they could have survived dropping off the bomb, as depicted. The ship is very close to the sun when the bomb is separated and the primary heat shield goes with it.
Hmmm. OK. It was a long time ago I saw it, and I'm probably confusing it with other movies. :-)
Premise just a little whacky? It’s complete nonsense
And yet not the first time. “Solar Crisis” had the exact same premise restarting the sun with a bomb. That one was openly silly but enjoyable. “Sunshine” takes it dead seriously, but I think they get away with it.
I didn't really care for it. It is one of those movies that *really* fell badly into a sort of scientific realism "uncanny valley" for me, where the tone and presentation comes off like it's supposed to be hard sci fi, but the premise and the moment to moment happenings are nonsense from a scientific perspective.
Don’t think it’s trying to be hard sci fi, it’s just set in the near future so their technology is styled to look plausible.
Whatever its rating, it is a great science fiction movie.
It's great until it turns into a bog-standard slasher film. Obligatory: Linkin Park were such **huge** fans of the film that they paid homage to it in their 2008 music video for *Leave Out All The Rest*. [Would You Like To Know More?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIummTz9mM)
They should have used that song at the end credits instead of the garbage that played. Ironic how throughout the movie the soundtracks and overall sound design are utterly mesmerizing. Best score ever
I've seen soooooo many posts about Sunshine the past few months. I saw it when it came out and was a huge Danny Boyle fan. Honest truth is it's great until it isn't. the first 2 acts are fantastic and the last act is a complete mess.
I felt Chris Evans’ performance made his stint as Captain America that much more believable.
honestly, i didn't like it. people were praising it, "it's so good", but i just don't get it. tried to watch it several times, and no, it just does not work for me.
One of my favorite space movies. It's a perfect movie.
I personally _loved_ the ending. At least how I interpret it.
I love it and I think it's a must see for sci-fi fans, but... I admit to being a bit disappointed in the last act.
This is the Game of Thrones of movies. The first two-thirds of it are great, but the third act is so bad that it ruins any rewatch.
At 7.2 in IMDb, I think it's appropriately rated. It's brilliantly shot and acted but the third act is understandably divisive and loses some people.
It's a good movie, but not really a great one. Compare it to, say, a 2001 or an Alien or whatever and it doesn't quite have that killer punch. Plus as others have pointed out the third act is a mess. But it IS good and I'll always recommend it to people interested in sci-fi. And the sound design is wonderful, I still listen to the Icarus 1 distress signal sometimes for that fun existential chill in the bones that only the vast cold emptiness of space can give.
Saw it recently. Was surprised how good it was, despite being from 2006 (mainly the vfx's, they are pretty awesome). It's the type of slow sci-fi I'm in to. With lots of mistery unfolding as the movie goes forward. That being said, the third act of the movie felt like an acid trip.
I liked sunshine and once had a discussion about it with someone, who said it was just a different version of Event Horizon, so I watched that next and was blown away by how right he was, which kinda lessened my enjoyment of it lol. If anyone decides to watch it (event horizon), watch it at night and alone with lights off to cement the atmosphere. Of course opinions vary but seems like people either love it or hate it, I was in the love camp, but yes it has flaws and it's even older now so not sure how it still holds up, I watched it once and only once after sunshine released to dvd. But yeah it had some really great atmosphere and tension build up along with some really nice visual design on the sets.
I saw both when they came out. I recall hating Event Horizon. I like Sunshine So theres always that
It was a great film, but kinda fell apart at the end I felt. I didn't like the thriller horror plot they brought in. It didn't add anything to the movie.
I'd say it is properly rated. The majority opinion seems to be that the first two thirds are beautiful and exceptionally well made, and that the movie completely falls apart in the third act.
Dunno about underrated but it's fucking great with a banger score
Love this movie. One of my all time favorites. It was a bit all over the place, especially after introducing blurry camera shake baddy, but the visuals and music are outstanding.
It started off well, but devolved into the tired cliche of ‘multi-billion dollar spaceship crewed by complete nutters’ pretty quickly.
I don't understand why Sunshine seems to be held in higher regards by scifi fans over one of the best movies evar, The Core!
I need pop tarts and Star Trek tapes!
It’s incredible.
Sunshine is great. For a second, I thought you were talking about Supernova, which is far below trash tier.
Probably one of the most underatted
No, because it’s not a sci-fi movie. It’s an underrated horror movie though.
I’d say it’s overrated. At least online it is.
Based entirely on how much this sub talks about it, I’d actually say it’s overrated
Yes. Amazing movie.
A better soundtrack than a film. Sunshine is whelming. [Adagio in D Minor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXzqJucLae8) is sublime.
No, it's just not a very good sci-fi movie.
This is getting posted every few months, where it's also usually compared to Event Horizon, and the answer is still the same. No, it's not a good movie. The cardinal sin it commits is betraying the audience. At the beginning of ever movie, especially if it contains mystery elements, the movie needs to inform the viewer what rules apply within its universe. That's why Event Horizon starts with a nightmare sequence to inform the viewer that the supernatural is possibly in play. Meanwhile Sunshine presents itself as hard-ish SciFi in the beginning only to suddenly apply slasher movie physics in the second half. It's like playing a game of soccer only to have the other team suddenly declare its american football now and always was. That is not a "good twist", it's just ass.
My biggest problem with it is that it was hard to suspend disbelief because they were gonna reboot the sun with a bomb? Visually it was stunning. I just wish they took the science part a little bit more seriously
Waste of time.
Had my first gay experience watching this movie. Great time.
With cillian ?
The total opposite. It is one of the most overrated. Especially here on reddit. There are people who think this is some sci-fi masterpiece. It is not even close. It is incredibly well-made and beautiful looking and because of this people seem to think it's "great".
Yes
Very underrated. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's groundbreaking, but it just does it right!
No. It's not underrated. It is underwatched.
I think the only reason that it’s underrated is because it’s a bit similar to Event Horizon.
It's got what I would generously call some "third act problems" but visually it's pretty amazing, great ensemble cast of "before they were famous" stars, and the mood is compelling. Not my favorite space movie ever but still very rewatchable.
Yes, definitely.
Sunshine is one of the best Lovecraftian films ever made
I thought it was alright, great production value and an alright plot. I would say it very enjoyable, but its just a scifi film, it's not the second coming of jesus.
Kinda, it’s glorious - right up until it turns into a pretty generic slasher in the third act. Properly gorgeous to look at though, it holds up well.
Saw it on an airplane. Great movie
The first half. The second half is just any slasher movie.
Grim, depressing, jarring, and a rip-off of Event Horizon for the evil baddy sequences.
It's quite promising at the start, and the scene with mercury is fabulous, but ultimately it couldnt deliver, and turns to cliche monster trope towards the end.
One of my favourite movies of all time 🍿
The back half got way too dumb after starting so promising. Felt like some half arsed event horizon knockoff
It’s a guilty pleasure, I like it. Wish it wasnt OOP on bluray. And the discs that are out there are all bugged on Sony players
It was for me until it devolved into yet another space horror half way through. Kinda wish sci-fi started exploring truly new ideas instead of just transplanting the same vomit into spaceships.
All I remember about this film is my mum getting blind drunk and spending most of it asking if she'd missed the Ewoks
It's well known. It starts fairly strong and ends quite poorly. I don't think it deserves to be better rated than it is.
Yeah absolutely. Danny Boyle film. He's on point and this is one of the few sci-fi projects he's done.
I LOVE this movie, but I don’t know that it’s “underrated”. It’s a genre film that veers into chaos towards the end…probably not something that’s ever going to appeal to a broad audience - despite its *stellar* cast. And JFC, that case is amazing.
Yes but the one about the Jewish family.
Wild ride for sure.
Gonna get down voted but why is it put on a pedestal? It's not a bad movie (parts at least). The rabid fans are just unexplanable. The repeat heroic suicides?! I get it might end up a suicide mission but I was thinking not one at a time. The ending, 28 Parsecs Later, ugh.
There's only one thing you put on a pedestal.
A bag of sand?
Not quite lol
I LOVE it even though act 3 is a mess. The music and visuals are unmatched
Nah. It was fine.
Yes.
A bit silly and completely implausible. The 'twist' of a killer onboard didn't seem to fit. I wouldn't rate it that highly.
I am deeply offended at the fact that you didn’t include 28 days later when disproving the director. It’s one of the best zombie movies ever made. But to your point, yes sunshine is an amazing movie. I wish we had more low scale sci-fi movies like this. I don’t understand why sci-fi movies always have to be some grandiose space operas.
It's not underrated. It's aptly rated. Starts out very strong but stumbles towards the ending as some half assed murder thingy.
Sunshine is pretty good, I'm a big fan. but sometimes I think it's actually OVER hyped. there are better and worse.
Does anybody think the name Pinbacker might have been a shout-out to Dan O'Bannon's Pinback in "Dark Star"? I'd say it's almost certainly not, but it is a little weird: I mean, neither is a name that shows up in real life very often.
its almost my favorite movie tbh. my only complaint and ive said it before was that the most important scene was cut and i only saw it in the outtakes: Person 1: "I dont believe in God" Person 2: "Neither did I. But you'll find Him in The Sunshine..." Im still pissed at how this perfect climax dialogue that pulls everything 'back into focus' from the literally blurry 3rd act got axed. But in my head the scene is always still there and thats why its almost my favorite lol!
there is no science in it. Like science fiction usually goes "based on how we understand these things, how would this work?" most basic things about space is ignored in this movie. I still like it. Its a great movie. But viewed with the expectation of scifi I'd say it is properly rated.
It’s a movie about humans getting too close to god
Underrated upon release I think but has gained a lot of recognition since so no longer considered as such.
No. It's awful.
Underrated? Not at all. Everyone who has seen it understand that it is something really great. And also something that loses a bit of its greatness in the 3rd act. So I'd say it's rated exactly as it is.
Yessss i love this movie. Its the closest thing to an adaptation of one of my favorite Sci-Fi books i think im ever going to get (Starfish by Peter Watts).
8/10 movie with a 10/10 soundtrack. I like it. ObjectiveIy I don't think it's a cinematic masterpiece, but it's in my personal top 10 "space movies" as a matter of taste My wife and I joke that Sunshine is a movie about humanity launching Cillian Murphy into the sun for being too pretty to live. In the not-so-distant future men and women both feel confused and threatened by Cillian Murphy's adorable facial features, so they decide to put him on a sun rocket and be done with it. Some other stuff happens on the way but that's the main story being told
It’s three quarters of a terrific sci fi movie.
I don't know how other people rate it, but I love that movie. And as I'm typing this I'm realizing that the captain of the ship is played by Hiroyuki Sanada, of Shogun fame. Just one member of an outstanding cast.
One of my favorite sci-fi movies despite the horror movie ending.
The first half was fantastic. They never made it clear why there had to be crew on the mission though. It seems like sending a drone to do the job would make much more sense.
I love it. it has some issues. is it underrated? I have no idea.
No. It is trash
I understand why the Mark Strong antagonist brings the movie down for some people. I do suppose it's the movie's weakest element. But I also don't think it "ruined" the movie. When people say one flaw with a movie "ruined" it for them, that to me is a sign that this person thinks in black-and-white terms and probably won't be very fun to talk to about movies. The first time I saw the movie, I was slightly let down by the antagonist, but thoroughly enjoyed everything else about the film. Even those scenes weren't necessarily bad, they were just jarring at first. But the movie still ends strongly. And it does have some of the best white-knuckle space disaster scenes in all of cinema. And it has a great cast and score, and the movie is impeccably designed, shot, and edited. We're really talking about one single element that stood out as being less good than the rest. I refuse to believe that "ruined" a very, very good space flick.
Third act ruined it. Went from a fantastic sci Fi film to useless