Customer Reviews
It promises so much... - By: Jane McCallion, 25 Aug 2008 
but delivers so little. This film could have been great if they'd chosen one story line & stuck to it, rather than making a half hearted attempt at a plethora. Oh well, it's not terrible but it's no masterpiece either
A thinking person's SF film full of light and shadow - By: Annabel Gaskell, 31 Jul 2008 
I loved this film. From the moment you hear the name of the ship at the beginning - you can work out the ending - that's not rocket science, but knowing the end doesn't tell you about the journey the crew have to get there. I loved the chiaroscuro in this film - the contrasts between the sun & the moody dark claustrophobic shadow in most of the ship. The relationships between the crew were brilliant, reminding me a little of the first Alien film, & Solaris too. I thought their acceptance that they might be on a one-way ticket & that they'd do whatever they had to to complete the mission & save the Earth added layers of complexity & alllowed the suspense to be wound up & up as the minutes ticked on. The ship was fantasticallly realised & belied the film's relatively smalll budget & at 103 minutes, it wasn't overlong at alll.
This is a thinking person's science fiction film & is alll the better for it. Loved it.
sublime...nothing less - By: P. Roberts, 28 Jul 2008 This movie was nothing short of sublime. You experience it rather that watch it. I don't see what is confusing about the end at alll. It seems quite straight forward to me & a natural progression in the film. Boring , I don't see how. Maybe us as the audience have got lazy & are now at the point where we need to be led through a film & have it spelt out, whereas here you pass through it & are elevated to each new level as are the astronauts themselves. what a film !!!!!
Like the sun, this film doesn't shine as brightly as it should ... - By: J. Fryar, 25 Jun 2008 
Sunshine is a film that almost makes me cry with frustration. Everytime I watch it, I can't help but think what might have been. It's good by most standards, but it could & should have been great.
The story is pretty simple - the sun is dying & our intrepid crew must try to reignite it with a giant nuclear bomb - but Sunshine tries to be more "2001: A Space Odyssey" grown-up sci-fi than a loud, blockbuster, wise-cracking "The Core" type of film. And it succeeds ... for about half its length.
The problem with Sunshine is this inconsistency. It is clear from the start of the film that, despite the silly story, it at least is trying to be somewhat realistic. We see plant-filled rooms where oxygen is created & stored, & cooling liquid surrounding computer processors. The ship moves like a spaceship not like an airplane, attention is paid by the crew to remaining within the 'shadow' of the ship's protective heat shield, & merely changing course is a complicated affair. But, we also have 'viewing rooms' where the crew can 'see' the sun (where is this room located?), the giant bomb itself (after multiple screenings I'm still not sure where on the ship it was placed?), & a computer that seems to vary in intelligence & warns the crew of the consequences of their actions only when it suits the plot!
The first half of the film concentrates on the crew themselves. We see a group of scientists struggling to cope with the isolation & the immense pressure of so important a task. We see the strain of having to make difficult decisions, we see them mentallly cracking & unravelling. The tension, the fear, & the desperation makes from some top-notch sci-fi whereby the audience begins to see that the failure of the mission might be caused by the fragility of the human crew. The truth is, had these themes been continued to the end, Sunshine would have been one of the great sci-fi films of the new century.
Unfortunately Sunshine changes tact in the middle. It is as if the studios suddenly stepped in & said 'make it more commercial', & what we're left with is a ridiculous horror/chase/action affair which frankly doesn't work.
Definately a film worth seeing, particularly since it has some of the most eye-meltingly beautiful visual effects in a long time - the BluRay release should be stunning if you have a PS3. As a complete package though, Sunshine is a wasted opportunity.
Average and predictable - By: UKstd1, 23 Jun 2008 If you're new to Sci-fi you'll reallly enjoy this. If you've been watching sci-fi for years & years like me you'll be yawning from 20 minutes in when you've already worked out the rest of the film & you're just waiting for them to execute it.
Having said that - the film does look good, the sound on Blu-ray is impressive & some of the acting is pretty sound.
