Danny Boyle's Sunshine - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

FaderMonkey · 03-20-2008, 03:12 PM

In a search of the TFP I only found a couple things said about Sunshine....both negative. Is there anyone out there that liked it?

I loved it. I loved it when I saw it in the theater and and enjoyed the second viewing on DVD even more. I just had a few friends over to watch it and they all liked it. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend. Also, if you enjoy DVD commentaries you should check out the one by Dr. Brian Cox from the University of Manchester, who was a scientific consultant on the film. It's excellent.

Church · 03-20-2008, 04:07 PM

Yup, i too loved it. The way it was shot, the eerie alone feeling, the paranoia conveyed, and the science of it all. I thought it was a really well done movie.

guy44 · 03-20-2008, 07:27 PM

Oh man, don't even get me started. For the first 3/4 of the way, it was well on its way to being a favorite movie of mine. Then the last bit happened...

I saw the movie with a bunch of friends and we all exited the theater SO pissed off that this great movie just completely blew it. Still kinda gets the blood boiling.

docbungle · 03-20-2008, 08:15 PM

Sunshine had lots of promise, but seemed to forget what it was about toward the end. The movie seemed to continue long after the script had come to a close.

For being a sci-fi type of movie, it sure seemed to take logic lightly. I enjoyed the movie until the final 1/3rd, where it completely lost its composure and threw everything but the kitchen sink at me in an effort to distract me from its nonsensical ending.

Willravel · 03-20-2008, 08:31 PM

One of the best movies I've ever seen. Actually, it's two of the best movies I've ever seen: a sci-fi film and a horror film. Frigging awesome. 10/10

Hain · 03-21-2008, 02:38 AM

I think many times people need to stop calling it science fiction, when it is entirely a science fantasy. Look at The Core: one of my least favorite movies. No legitimate science to back it up, whatsoever. We ignore that and pretend it is in a universe with different physics (a sci-fantasy). After that it is like watching a legend, much like Beowulf, only a modern techno-fantasy legend; just a lot of random challenges that happen to come up are the basis of the movie.

I have yet to see Sunshine, however have read up on it. The science is Tex-Avery laughable, so I know to neglect it. That done, I just need to watch how the characters are portrayed.

Willravel · 03-21-2008, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

I have yet to see Sunshine, however have read up on it. The science is Tex-Avery laughable, so I know to neglect it. That done, I just need to watch how the characters are portrayed.

You'd be missing out on the best portrayal of hydroponics in any science fiction movie I've ever seen (and I've probably seen all of them). You'd also be missing on the best interstellar psychology (thanks, Star Trek, for not delving into the real reason for the holodeck in detail). There are actually a number of things that are really scientific about the film. Actually the only things in Sunshine that are un-scientific are:
1) Spoiler: How quickly one "freezes" in space
2) Spoiler: The bomb which is meant to restart the sun (which is clearly either highly hypothetical or fantasy)

Hain · 03-21-2008, 07:41 AM

Scientific jokes - Spoiler:

The sun is dying! Why!
We mined all fissile materials to make a bomb to reignite it!
The bomb can't be some ordinary nuclear weapon like we make (regardless of size). It would have to be weapon designed to magically initiate fission of the helium in the sun back into hydrogen... fairy dust and unicorn horns in a flux capacitor might accomplish that.
It would actually take someone quite a while to freeze to death in space as there is no air to take the heat away. You have to radiate it and let the vacuum affect those vibrating molecules

I can enjoy the hydroponics, that is possible. I know the real reason they would have holodecks... it might not be the same reason I want one, but hell.

Willravel · 03-21-2008, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

Scientific jokes - Spoiler:

The sun is dying! Why!
We mined all fissile materials to make a bomb to reignite it!
The bomb can't be some ordinary nuclear weapon like we make (regardless of size). It would have to be weapon designed to magically initiate fission of the helium in the sun back into hydrogen... fairy dust and unicorn horns in a flux capacitor might accomplish that.
It would actually take someone quite a while to freeze to death in space as there is no air to take the heat away. You have to radiate it and let the vacuum affect those vibrating molecules

I can enjoy the hydroponics, that is possible. I know the real reason they would have holodecks... it might not be the same reason I want one, but hell.

They don't explain why the sun is dying, they don't explain the mechanism of the solar bomb, and I already admitted that the freezing thing was a bit of a mistake.

Hain · 03-21-2008, 07:49 AM

See, if I can overlook those, I might enjoy the movie.

Another mistake I forgot:
Spoiler: The ship's onboard computer would never have let the pilot make such a dumb maneuver letting part of the ship come out from behind the heat shield.

Willravel · 03-21-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

See, if I can overlook those, I might enjoy the movie.

Another mistake I forgot:
Spoiler: The ship's onboard computer would never have let the pilot make such a dumb maneuver letting part of the ship come out from behind the heat shield.

They override the computer.

Hain · 03-21-2008, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

They override the computer.

I still can't believe someone would forget that the sun is right there.

Willravel · 03-21-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

I still can't believe someone would forget that the sun is right there.

DUDE WATCH THE MOVIE. It makes perfect sense.

Hain · 03-21-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

DUDE WATCH THE MOVIE. It makes perfect sense.

I hope you are right. I still have to wait for it to come to the German Blockbuster.

Willravel · 03-21-2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

I hope you are right. I still have to wait for it to come to the German Blockbuster.

Kommst Sie auf Deutschland?!

Hain · 03-21-2008, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

Kommst Sie auf Deutschland?!

Nein, aber jehzt wohne ich im Deutschland weil ich studiere.

Shame I studied Spanish most of my life and I end up in Deutschland.

FaderMonkey · 03-21-2008, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

Scientific jokes - Spoiler:

The sun is dying! Why!
We mined all fissile materials to make a bomb to reignite it!
The bomb can't be some ordinary nuclear weapon like we make (regardless of size). It would have to be weapon designed to magically initiate fission of the helium in the sun back into hydrogen... fairy dust and unicorn horns in a flux capacitor might accomplish that.
It would actually take someone quite a while to freeze to death in space as there is no air to take the heat away. You have to radiate it and let the vacuum affect those vibrating molecules

I can enjoy the hydroponics, that is possible. I know the real reason they would have holodecks... it might not be the same reason I want one, but hell.

I agree with willravel. You just need to see the movie. You also though should listen to the commentary by Brain Cox on the DVD. It answers a lot of questions (and also points out a lot of scientific mistakes that he admits he didn't catch or that were made for other reasons).

Actually, here's a interview he did with Popular Mechanics:

Quote:

Why is the future of the sun—and mankind—in jeopardy in the movie?
The sun is dying, and we’re going to try to do something about it. [Screenwriter] Alex [Garland] and [director] Danny [Boyle] contacted me and said, “We’ve got a film, and this is what happens. Can you think of any way in which that might occur?” My first reaction was, “Well, no. It’s going to die in five billion years, and that’s it.” But I asked a lot of friends at CERN—there’s a good collection of brains there—and we managed to come up with a wild scenario involving new particles, which we expect we might discover at CERN.

What’s the wild scenario?
One theory is that there are particles called Q-balls, which would’ve been created in the big bang and would be drifting around. If they drifted into the heart of a star, and if they were more stable than the matter the star is made of, then they could start eating the star from the inside out.

Scary.
Well, it’s almost certain that if these things are there, they wouldn’t go into the sun because the sun’s not dense enough to [hold] them. But if you get a really dense star, it could possibly cause a problem. We imagined that this Q-ball object is beginning to damage the core of the sun.

It’s theoretically possible?
Just about, yeah. It was very soon after I came on board that I convinced everybody that if the sun had gone out, there was nothing you could do—you’re not going to be able to relight the sun. But if a cancerous little thing had drifted in there and was causing trouble, then you could imagine removing it.

OK, so this Q-ball is damaging the sun from the inside out. How do the characters in the movie try to fix the situation?
This is the bit where it gets even more stretched (laughs). What they are trying to do is drive a bomb into the sun. Every bit of fissile material on Earth—every bit of uranium, every bit of explosive material—has been used, so this is their last chance to do it.

How are scientists portrayed in the film?
I think Alex wanted the movie to be a celebration of science, a film in which, unusually, nature is the thing that’s caused the problem, and the only way we’re going to survive is for scientists and engineers to do something about it. Science is usually the bad guy in science-fiction films, like Frankenstein. But here, the physicist, played by Cillian Murphy, is the hero of the film. It’s pure man-against-nature, but in the sense that nature is the thing that’s threatening. Which I actually believe to be true: The universe is a very dangerous place, and if we don’t find out about it and learn how to do things like travel in space, then eventually we’re going to have a problem, like an asteroid strike or something like that. Probably not the sun dying, but it’s a nice metaphor.

So you feel that we need to actively be learning more and exploring more?
Absolutely. There’s a hell of a lot about the universe that we don’t understand. Only by doing research and learning about the universe do you even give yourself a chance of protecting yourself against these unknown things that could happen. There tends to be a sense today that if we didn’t mess around with the planets, if we just kept our heads down and burned less oil, then we’d all be fine. But I don’t think that’s true.

What are scientists saying about the film?
We have debates in the scientific community about Sunshine. If you look at it and say, “Yeah, but the sun is not going to die for five billion years,” then you’re probably going to get upset with it. If you look at it as a film that tries to get under the skin of scientists, then you’ll really enjoy it.

As scientific advisor, did you get to work with the actors as well?
I worked really closely with Cillian Murphy, and he came to CERN for quite a while and spent time there, learning about physicists. I also gave talks to the rest of the cast about what it would be like to come face to face with the sun, because they have to visualize it. The heart of the film is people’s reaction to the sun as it gets bigger and bigger every day. Danny always calls it “the source of creation,” which is a nice name for it—it gives life to the Earth. It is unimaginably powerful. I told the cast that you could fit a million Earths inside it.

Did you get to spend time on the set as well?
Yeah. In particular, Cillian would say that he would like me around on certain days so he could talk about his reactions to things. There’s a great scene where his character really does come face to face with the sun. He ends up standing between the bomb, which represents man’s power, and the sun, and it’s really beautiful. He has to act what he would feel as someone who has studied nature all his life, and is presented with this wonderful view.

Atreides88 · 03-21-2008, 02:42 PM

Oh, if Sunshine is anything like The Core, then count me out. The Core got so many things wrong I can't put them all in a single post. Maybe I'm just too analytical with it all, but I can't suspend my understanding of the laws of physics enough to like that movie.

A side note on death in space: You would die of lack of oxygen long before your body equalized with the ambient temperature and you froze to death. Essentially, I'm parroting what Augi already said.

Hain · 03-21-2008, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atreides88

Oh, if Sunshine is anything like The Core, then count me out. The Core got so many things wrong I can't put them all in a single post. Maybe I'm just too analytical with it all, but I can't suspend my understanding of the laws of physics enough to like that movie.

A side note on death in space: You would die of lack of oxygen long before your body equalized with the ambient temperature and you froze to death. Essentially, I'm parroting what Augi already said.

Like I said, sometimes you have to understand that it is a techno/sci-fantasy. The Core wasn't even a good that, in my opinion. EDIT: Great example of a techno-fantasy: the Back to the Future trilogy. You can set aside all the science and just go, "Hee! Delorean!"

Reading the theoretical science behind Sunshine is rather interesting and I can keep this in mind as I watch the film... Yes it is a stretch, but I will reiterate what I said before:

I want to see how these characters are portrayed. Are they actors or are they astronauts?

Everything dies... even the sun.

kligger · 03-25-2008, 06:12 AM

i wasnt huge on it, cinematically its was gorgeous but the last third or so of the movie was just brutal in my mind, i'd watch it again just for the visuals though

RetroGunslinger · 03-26-2008, 09:44 AM

I adored the film. I'm a huge Danny Boyle fan, and I think that while the ending could have been better, it still manages to makes a smidgen of sense and entertain. Sure, it's almost fantasy, but it's just so much fun, it's like a space slasher done right.

For anyone interested in the work of Brian Cox and the research that inspired the film's concept, here's a website to start at: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html. Nothing has been 100% proven, obviously, but it is nice to know they took the time to do research and come up with plausible solution.

Hain · 03-29-2008, 04:34 PM

Better than The Core but was no 28 Days Later either.

My unnecessary opinions:

The portrayal is motivating, the characters nearly genuine however not gripping
The plots holes are as large as their bomb payload and are as laughable as Danny Boyle's Alien Love Triangle
Even when neglecting the things better not explained (why the sun is dying, the type of bomb intended to save the sun, the gravity, and the misaligned gravitational effect of the bomb room) there are still significant oopses that plain old would not happen.
Their attempt to override the Icarus computer navigation was perfectly plausible however, this override would never in a million missions have prevented the computer from doing the necessary solar shield alignment! These two systems, while crucially linked, would never ever ever be designed to be dependent on one computer

It was far better than I anticipated, however I didn't care for it too much. The visuals were phenomenal with an all right human portrayal, but I agree with many others that the psycho-thriller slasher ending kind of ruins it.

blahblah454 · 03-29-2008, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guy44

Oh man, don't even get me started. For the first 3/4 of the way, it was well on its way to being a favorite movie of mine. Then the last bit happened...

this is how I feel about it as well, worst ending ever.

SecretMethod70 · 05-16-2008, 12:56 AM

So I just saw this movie tonight and I...........

was pretty disappointed.

Adding to the list of science/logic mistakes: one person was in charge of all the course calculations and no one assisted or double checked his work? Seems like a pretty basic protocol to me. The payload is going to have such a high velocity on approaching the sun that space and time will bleed into each other (or whatever ridiculous explanation he gave in that one scene)? When they were building the ship, they didn't think that maybe they might run into a situation where they might have to fix the mainframe cooling and therefore perhaps it should be designed where it's possible to do so without freezing yourself to death? Mercury apparently has an hour long year instead of an 88 earth day long year? The cliched talking-computer-gets-slower-and-deeper-when-disconnected thing is pretty tired, not to mention generally inaccurate.

I know those last two are nit-picky, but they still stuck out. Particularly Mercury's orbit.

The ending is what really ruined it though. I'm OK with the monster dude when there's some sort of explanation. But what I came away with from this movie is: 1) darn, too bad they didn't just stay on course, everything would have gone swimmingly if they had! 2) there was no particularly good reason for them to change course, which makes it really hard to sympathize knowing that everything would have gone just fine had they stayed on course 3) the captain of the Icarus 1 went inexplicably crazy and somehow survived full close up exposure to solar radiation, and then continued to survive in space with little medical treatment for 7 years after the fact, and he keeps rambling on and on about god but we're never going to get any explanation for where this craziness comes from or why we should care about it 4) that's ok though, because the crazy Icarus 1 captain is barely paid any attention to except for a couple scenes and 5) that payload ship must have been made out of some seriously kickass material for them to survive going into the sun, not to mention the weirdness of the one character standing at the edge of the growing new star.

It just made absolutely no sense to me. The first 2/3 was exactly what I hoped the movie wouldn't be, which is a standard ridiculous sci-fi plot (the sun is dying and we have to reignite it), though I'll grant that it wasn't as ridiculous as The Core and it was visually attractive. The last 1/3 was like Event Horizon but with even less purpose and direction.

03-20-2008, 03:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
FaderMonkey Psycho Location: Orlando, FL	Danny Boyle's Sunshine In a search of the TFP I only found a couple things said about Sunshine....both negative. Is there anyone out there that liked it? I loved it. I loved it when I saw it in the theater and and enjoyed the second viewing on DVD even more. I just had a few friends over to watch it and they all liked it. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend. Also, if you enjoy DVD commentaries you should check out the one by Dr. Brian Cox from the University of Manchester, who was a scientific consultant on the film. It's excellent.

03-20-2008, 04:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
Church Tilted F*ckhead Location: New Jersey	Yup, i too loved it. The way it was shot, the eerie alone feeling, the paranoia conveyed, and the science of it all. I thought it was a really well done movie. __________________ Through counter-intelligence, it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble makers, and neutralize them.

03-20-2008, 07:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
guy44 Somnabulist Location: corner of No and Where	Oh man, don't even get me started. For the first 3/4 of the way, it was well on its way to being a favorite movie of mine. Then the last bit happened... I saw the movie with a bunch of friends and we all exited the theater SO pissed off that this great movie just completely blew it. Still kinda gets the blood boiling. __________________ "You have reached Ritual Sacrifice. For goats press one, or say 'goats.'"

03-20-2008, 08:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
docbungle It's all downhill from here Location: Denver	Sunshine had lots of promise, but seemed to forget what it was about toward the end. The movie seemed to continue long after the script had come to a close. For being a sci-fi type of movie, it sure seemed to take logic lightly. I enjoyed the movie until the final 1/3rd, where it completely lost its composure and threw everything but the kitchen sink at me in an effort to distract me from its nonsensical ending. __________________ Bad Luck City

03-21-2008, 07:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	Scientific jokes - Spoiler: The sun is dying! Why! We mined all fissile materials to make a bomb to reignite it! The bomb can't be some ordinary nuclear weapon like we make (regardless of size). It would have to be weapon designed to magically initiate fission of the helium in the sun back into hydrogen... fairy dust and unicorn horns in a flux capacitor might accomplish that. It would actually take someone quite a while to freeze to death in space as there is no air to take the heat away. You have to radiate it and let the vacuum affect those vibrating molecules I can enjoy the hydroponics, that is possible. I know the real reason they would have holodecks... it might not be the same reason I want one, but hell.

03-20-2008, 08:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	One of the best movies I've ever seen. Actually, it's two of the best movies I've ever seen: a sci-fi film and a horror film. Frigging awesome. 10/10

03-21-2008, 02:38 AM	#6 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	I think many times people need to stop calling it science fiction, when it is entirely a science fantasy. Look at The Core: one of my least favorite movies. No legitimate science to back it up, whatsoever. We ignore that and pretend it is in a universe with different physics (a sci-fantasy). After that it is like watching a legend, much like Beowulf, only a modern techno-fantasy legend; just a lot of random challenges that happen to come up are the basis of the movie. I have yet to see Sunshine, however have read up on it. The science is Tex-Avery laughable, so I know to neglect it. That done, I just need to watch how the characters are portrayed.

03-21-2008, 07:49 AM	#10 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	See, if I can overlook those, I might enjoy the movie. Another mistake I forgot: Spoiler: The ship's onboard computer would never have let the pilot make such a dumb maneuver letting part of the ship come out from behind the heat shield.

03-21-2008, 02:42 PM	#18 (permalink)
Atreides88 Insane Location: The South.	Oh, if Sunshine is anything like The Core, then count me out. The Core got so many things wrong I can't put them all in a single post. Maybe I'm just too analytical with it all, but I can't suspend my understanding of the laws of physics enough to like that movie. A side note on death in space: You would die of lack of oxygen long before your body equalized with the ambient temperature and you froze to death. Essentially, I'm parroting what Augi already said. __________________ "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." -- Thucydides

03-25-2008, 06:12 AM	#20 (permalink)
kligger Upright	i wasnt huge on it, cinematically its was gorgeous but the last third or so of the movie was just brutal in my mind, i'd watch it again just for the visuals though

03-26-2008, 09:44 AM	#21 (permalink)
RetroGunslinger eats puppies and shits rainbows Location: An Area of Space Occupied by a Population, SC, USA	I adored the film. I'm a huge Danny Boyle fan, and I think that while the ending could have been better, it still manages to makes a smidgen of sense and entertain. Sure, it's almost fantasy, but it's just so much fun, it's like a space slasher done right. For anyone interested in the work of Brian Cox and the research that inspired the film's concept, here's a website to start at: http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html. Nothing has been 100% proven, obviously, but it is nice to know they took the time to do research and come up with plausible solution. __________________ It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay. M.B. Keene

03-29-2008, 04:34 PM	#22 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	Better than The Core but was no 28 Days Later either. My unnecessary opinions: The portrayal is motivating, the characters nearly genuine however not gripping The plots holes are as large as their bomb payload and are as laughable as Danny Boyle's Alien Love Triangle Even when neglecting the things better not explained (why the sun is dying, the type of bomb intended to save the sun, the gravity, and the misaligned gravitational effect of the bomb room) there are still significant oopses that plain old would not happen. Their attempt to override the Icarus computer navigation was perfectly plausible however, this override would never in a million missions have prevented the computer from doing the necessary solar shield alignment! These two systems, while crucially linked, would never ever ever be designed to be dependent on one computer It was far better than I anticipated, however I didn't care for it too much. The visuals were phenomenal with an all right human portrayal, but I agree with many others that the psycho-thriller slasher ending kind of ruins it. __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\ Last edited by Hain; 03-29-2008 at 04:36 PM..

05-16-2008, 12:56 AM	#24 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	So I just saw this movie tonight and I........... was pretty disappointed. Adding to the list of science/logic mistakes: one person was in charge of all the course calculations and no one assisted or double checked his work? Seems like a pretty basic protocol to me. The payload is going to have such a high velocity on approaching the sun that space and time will bleed into each other (or whatever ridiculous explanation he gave in that one scene)? When they were building the ship, they didn't think that maybe they might run into a situation where they might have to fix the mainframe cooling and therefore perhaps it should be designed where it's possible to do so without freezing yourself to death? Mercury apparently has an hour long year instead of an 88 earth day long year? The cliched talking-computer-gets-slower-and-deeper-when-disconnected thing is pretty tired, not to mention generally inaccurate. I know those last two are nit-picky, but they still stuck out. Particularly Mercury's orbit. The ending is what really ruined it though. I'm OK with the monster dude when there's some sort of explanation. But what I came away with from this movie is: 1) darn, too bad they didn't just stay on course, everything would have gone swimmingly if they had! 2) there was no particularly good reason for them to change course, which makes it really hard to sympathize knowing that everything would have gone just fine had they stayed on course 3) the captain of the Icarus 1 went inexplicably crazy and somehow survived full close up exposure to solar radiation, and then continued to survive in space with little medical treatment for 7 years after the fact, and he keeps rambling on and on about god but we're never going to get any explanation for where this craziness comes from or why we should care about it 4) that's ok though, because the crazy Icarus 1 captain is barely paid any attention to except for a couple scenes and 5) that payload ship must have been made out of some seriously kickass material for them to survive going into the sun, not to mention the weirdness of the one character standing at the edge of the growing new star. It just made absolutely no sense to me. The first 2/3 was exactly what I hoped the movie wouldn't be, which is a standard ridiculous sci-fi plot (the sun is dying and we have to reignite it), though I'll grant that it wasn't as ridiculous as The Core and it was visually attractive. The last 1/3 was like Event Horizon but with even less purpose and direction. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling