Sunshine
All right, from reading comments and the likes, I realise I will be in the minority with my opinion; but I adored this movie. It was almost perfect. It was this great mish-mash of styles that really gave the movie its life. I felt it had elements of 2001 (the shots of the ICARUS II as a ship, and the scale of it all being compared to the humans on it frequently - as well as the general human insignificance so close to the sun...
Spoiler:The one crewmember poofing out of existence just as he crosses the edge of the heatshield as the briefest puff of flame illustrated this well
), it had elements of Alien (a lot of the conversations were far more "down to earth" than in your average sci-fi movie), and of course, it had a stunning plot. I mean, come on! The sun is dying. What could be more rivetting?
Someone on
the Sunshine fan forum was reminded of the Xeelee series of books by Stephen Baxter - I, too, felt reminded, though for different reasons. (Spoilers for the Xeelee books follow)
Spoiler:Baxter writes like the movie is directed in its first half - about science applied on massive scales. It's true that the Xeelee sequence discusses the death of stars by creatures called 'photino birds', and as such there is certain semblance, but even though the death of the sun is not elaborated in Sunshine, I didn't have the impression it was (1) alien, (2) unknown to the crew, so I never thought to think of books like "Ring".
I'm quite spoilt in regards to stories, especially science fiction, and my imagination tends to take off when I watch a trailer for a movie like Sunshine. As such, I was doomed to be at least mildly disappointed.
Spoiler:Specifically, the trailer mentions that there are five and not four crew members aboard the ship - I thought that perhaps, an alien race living around, on, or in the sun was trying to stop the mission as it would destroy them in the process. I hadn't expected another human being. In that, it would have been better if I hadn't gone off a tangent with my imagining, because quite simply, I find it great that the movie didn't involve anything alien.
But this movie has catapulted itself way up there with the likes of Alien... and this is where I'm going to get stoned.
I think a movie deserves more than just an idle pat on the back if a scene that involves no death, no sacrafice, and generally very little human interaction is so moving that I start to cry.
Spoiler:Mercury passing the sun [link] did that to me.
