Sunshine (2007)

What if one day, the most important thing we cherish and need but rarely even think about begins to die? That thing is our sun. Unfortunately for us, that will inevitably happen. More than likely human kind won't be around to see this happen but what if we were? That premise peaked my interest before I even knew that this movie existed. Once I found out about this film, as a science fan in general I was on board. 

Directed by Danny Boyle, Sunshine takes place 50 years into the future in which our sun is dying, making life on earth a bit less habitable. scientist Robert Cappa (Cillian Murphy) devises a plan to send a ship called the Icarus to fly directly into the sun, detonating a bomb with the mass of manhattan to re-ignite our star to save all life on earth. at first all seemed to go as planned but then we lost contact with the Icarus and the mission was a failure.

Sunshine follows the crew of the Icarus II, the second attempt at the same mission. This crew is made up of a pretty strong cast of actors such as Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Hyrouki Sanada, Cliff Curtis and Mark Strong. As the film unfolds it pulls you right into the ship and eventually you start to feel a strong and personal bond with these characters. As the Icarus nears mercury, they intercept a distress beacon from the Icarus I and the crew then ends up making a very tough decision in weather to attempt a rescue mission in case there are survivors left on board or to continue on their own. One thing is for certain; once they figure out the Icarus' fate, something diabolic sets off a chain of events that propel the film into a heart pounding, sweat inducing panic.

One thing that really stood out was the cinimatography and direction. Every meticulous attention to detail pulls you right into the confines of a space vessel and the claustrophobia of space travel really jumps off the screen. The characters involved are played so well and it really helps bring the underlying message across through dialogue and the situations they find themselves in. 

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is the thin line between sci fi and sci fi horror. The films third act takes a whirlwind turn and forces you to decide the true motivation for the turn of events leading toward the films final scenes and also tugs at your heart strings a bit as well. In the case of sunshine, Boyle pulls these tasks off brilliantly.

It really is a shame that this film flew so far under the radar and for any fan of sci fi, this is a must see. sunshine has every aspect of sci fi done perfectly and one day it will get the attention it deserves.