Sunshine
Danny Boyle
Cillian Murphy/Chris Evans/Michelle Yeoh/Hiroyuki Sanada/107 minutes
After the enchanting fable Millions (2004), director Danny Boyle takes to outer space with this sci-fi horror film.
In the year 2057, the sun is dying and a team of astronauts is sent on a mission to re-ignite it and save humankind. We pretty much saw what Hollywood would have done with such a script in Michael Bay’s special-effects extravaganza Armageddon (1998).
But Sunshine can be thought of as the anti-Armageddon. Boyle uses the silence in space to great effect and has also assembled a cast which actually acts instead of merely posing.
The generous extras include deleted scenes and interviews with the cast and crew, including a playfully bantering Yeoh.
There are also two commentaries.
Boyle’s is enthusiastic and engaging and he reveals the touchstones that influenced Sunshine – Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) and Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979).
The other commentary track is by The University of Manchester’s Dr Brian Cox, the scientific consultant for the film.
The most comforting fact gleaned is that the sun has enough fuel to burn for five billion years, not 50.
And also, it’s a misconception that one would explode unprotected in space; one can in fact survive up to 30 seconds in such a case. That’s good to know.
(ST)