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Sunshine
20th Century Fox Product Details |
Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 06/10/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
A novel blend of doomsday thriller and meditative science fiction, Danny Boyle's Sunshine imagines a disturbing future in which mankind must re-ignite the sun or face total extinction. A team of scientists and crew members (played by an eclectic cast that includes Cillian Murphy from Boyle's 28 Days Later, The Fantastic Four's Chris Evans, Rose Byrne of TV's Damages, and martial-arts legend Michelle Yeoh) is dispatched to the dying star, but disaster strikes from almost every conceivable angle; as the crew is whittled down by accidents and psychological breaks, the survivors must discover a way to carry out the mission or seal the fate of the world's population. Alternately exciting and pensive, Sunshine's dichotomous tone may throw viewers expecting a special-effects bonanza (though the film's visuals are frequently stunning), but for those who recall such cerebral '70s efforts as Silent Running and Phase IV, Boyle's unusual take will be refreshing and even fascinating. The DVD includes commentaries by Boyle and Dr. Brian Cox, who served as the film's science advisor; Boyle also lends his voice to a brace of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending (which doesn't improve on the one used in the film). Thorough production diaries cover every aspect of the film's execution, from casting to special effects design, while a pair of unrelated short films by Chris Shepherd and Dan Arnold seems to be included only as a gesture of Boyle's appreciation for these directors. --Paul Gaita
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Sunshine
- DVD: 0 pages (2008-01-08)
- Publisher: 20th Century Fox
- Label: 20th Century Fox
- Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Paloma Baeza, Mark Strong
- Encoding: Region 1
- Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1,
- Rated: R (Restricted)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- DVD Release Date: 2008-01-08
- Run Time: 107
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 247 reviews
- Sales Rank in DVD: #3599
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Burns bright early, but fades fast 2008-12-04
Comment: I really wanted to like this movie. Even though it was largely panned by critics, I fully expected to like it. "Uneven" is the word that comes to mind. For every thing that it does right, it does something else horribly wrong.
I won't get into the details of the plot, as those can easily be found elsewhere. I will say this: the film starts off well enough and genuinely seems to be going somewhere. Then the plot holes become too large to ignore and it quickly turns into a steaming pile of feces. When I say "plot holes" I am not referring to the absurd notion of the Sun dying out in the next 50 years. I was more than willing to overlook that in the name of a good movie. Unfortunately, Sunshine is not a good movie.
It's hard to say much more without giving the story away, but let's just say that a major curveball comes flying out of left field about 2/3 of the way through the movie, and it totally ruins the picture. It turns what was a semi-interesting, quasi-metaphysical sci-fi movie into a standard issue (i.e. bad) action flick. It's so beyond plausibility that I was just left shaking my head. I couldn't believe any of the supposedly intelligent crew members weren't asking: "How is this even possible?" They just accept it without any questioning whatsoever. I thought these people were scientists? Shouldn't they be, you know, asking questions and trying to find answers?
That leads into my next major gripe, which is the crew of the spaceship. While the acting is generally very solid, the crew seems pretty weak when you consider that this is mankind's last chance to save life on Earth. You would think that they would assemble (whomever "they" are; I don't recall it even being alluded to) a top notch team full of the best and the brightest. So how come I kept asking myself: "These are the best people they could find? Really?" I understand that a crew full of braniac nerds spewing scientific jargon would make for a horrible movie, but this leans too far in the other direction, IMHO. It seemed like they picked a crew full of fresh college graduates. While I'm sure that appealed to the film studio's target demographic, these are hardly the types of people qualified for a mission of this magnitude; they all come across as more book smart than they are reliable and experienced. Some might consider that a nitpick, but it certainly didn't help create a sense of realism, which is what this film desperately needed.
I know this all sounds like I hated the movie, but it did have several memorable scenes. Again, it's hard to say much more without revealing certain story elements, but there are some interesting moral choices that have to be made by the characters. While they are admittedly cliché, they are also the most gripping and enjoyable scenes in the movie. That probably says more about the rest of the film than it does of those particular scenes, but they were enjoyable nonetheless.
One gets the feeling the filmmakers were setting out to make their own mind-bending sci-fi epic in the tradition of films like 2001 and Solaris. The ideas are generally good and Boyle and Garland's hearts were certainly in the right place, but the putrid third act kills whatever momentum the film had. The conclusion becomes rather formulaic and predicable as a result. What could have been a great movie turns about to be exactly what most critics said it was: a big swing and a miss.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Just okay 2008-10-29
Comment: I love a good sci-fi flick (it's been a while since we had one) and had heard good things about this movie. The first half was very good, really had me looking forward to seeing where Danny Boyle (the director) was going with this. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed by the last 20 to 30 minutes of the movie. Not only did he go the 'slasher flick' route to some extent, he also threw in some cerebral stuff which instead of adding to the movie, just had me scratching my head (several times near the end I was just confused as to what the heck was happening...never a good sign). Even in the most complex Star Trek movie (or in Kubrick's 2001, an obvious precursor to this flick), you had SOME idea of what was going on, etc. This was just confusing for the sake of being confusing. Again, I thought 3/4 of the movie was engrossing, well acted, and interesting...maybe you should skip the last 20 minutes and make up your own ending!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Only enjoyable if you're willing to change your expecations 2008-10-22
Comment: This movie will only appeal to a small audience. It's not what you're looking for if you want to see a good space thriller with intense special effects and bloody fights. Granted, it IS a space thriller with intense special effects and bloody fights, but it's only run-of-the-mill as far as the genre goes. "Sunshine" is best viewed as a spiritual drama told through the sci-fi medium, and it's good at that. But if you don't want to wade through the explosions and the gore to get to the religious themes, this is also not the movie for you.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: NOT 28 Days Later in Outer Space 2008-10-20
Comment: Folks;
If you liked 28 Days Later and enjoyed the suspense and were intrigued by the role of Cillian Murphey, this review may be helpful to you. Firsy of all, this is not 28 Days Later, in spite of a few pretty good moments of "horror shock." I give this movie "A" for its original premise, "B" for its characters but a "C" for its overall storyline and execution. Wait until it's on "FearNet."
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me begin...... 2008-10-16
Comment: A science fiction film is hard to come by these days. Because mainly we as a society have ran out of good futuristic ideas. Though this plots seems a little used they completely reinvent the idea. Even using sci/fi to create an eerie mood with a disturbing character added to the cast of astronauts. The plot-The sun has exstinguished and therefore we have sent a ship into outer space with nuclear bombs attached to it that will ram into the sun and hopefully reignite it. Along the way many problems occur and I will not ruin in plot developement. But I highly suggest this movie its a wonderful ride.
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