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It just got a 7.3 on IMDB?? Should have got an 8 at least.
This movie is emotional and intense beyond belief. I put extra brain cells from the beginning just to keep up with the tension running in my mind.
Following the disaster of Icarus I seven years earlier a second team on Icarus II is sent to the Sun to save a part of it from dying by reigniting it with a mini-supernova; and thus save mankind from instinction. But things go wrong.
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I'm abit lost on one fact. Was it Pinbacker (the monster) whom infiltrated Icarus II and sabotaged it after Icarus II docked with Icarus I at Mercury? How did he get into Icarus II?
What would your decision be? Would you change course from the intended mission plan to intercept Icarus I at Mercury? How would you handle the decision of the group?
I found it quite boring the minute I changed the channel and was on the Third Act of the film.
Until by coincidence I notice Chris Evans [The Human Torch from Fantastic Four] is in it and so is Cillian Murphy [Scarecrow from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight].
I watched the whole film a few weeks later and my conclusion...
This movie is emotional and intense beyond belief. I put extra brain cells from the beginning just to keep up with the tension running in my mind.
I thought the film was awesome, though I will agree with reviewers that the cheesy-horror-flick-esque ending was a little inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the film. In any case I never found it boring.
I'm abit lost on one fact. Was it Pinbacker (the monster) whom infiltrated Icarus II and sabotaged it after Icarus II docked with Icarus I at Mercury? How did he get into Icarus II?
Yeah, I'm guessing that he sneaked onto Icarus II while it was docked with Icarus I and then blew the docking bay so that everyone would be stranded on Icarus I.
What would your decision be? Would you change course from the intended mission plan to intercept Icarus I at Mercury? How would you handle the decision of the group?
I would have never voted to go off course (and I'm not just saying that as a matter of hindsight decision-making, either.) The first time I watched the film I was feeling very frustrated that they chose to do so. Way too many risks for too little benefit.
Yeah, I'm guessing that he sneaked onto Icarus II while it was docked with Icarus I and then blew the docking bay so that everyone would be stranded on Icarus I.
How could he have blown the docking bay? Were there any explosives on board? That's what I don't get.
I have to watch that scene again.
I would have never voted to go off course (and I'm not just saying that as a matter of hindsight decision-making, either.) The first time I watched the film I was feeling very frustrated that they chose to do so. Way too many risks for too little benefit.
It was originally a unanimous decision from Mace's suggestion that the mission go as intendedly planned.
How ever, Searle upon acknowledging that for the better option suggested that Icarus I had the payload and that that was extremely useful to the mission plan. Two bombs are better than one. The keystone of the decision was then given to Capa who is the Astrophysicist of the group. He calculated that there was only a 45% chance for the payload to successfully detonate as soon as it enters the Sun's surface as space and time become disoriented at this point.
Searle: It would, of course, be absurd to alter our trajectory to assist the crew of the Icarus I. Even if we knew that some or even all of that crew are still alive, their lives are entirely expendable when seen in the context of our mission. As are our own lives.
Mace: Exactly.
Searle: However, there is something on board the Icarus I that may be worth the diversion...
Personally, I would have listened to what Capa suggested, think the situation through and decide that despite the fact that there is one other payload on that stranded ship there is no guarantee that that ship operates as to use the payload. Because, yes, there is too much risk for too little benefit to go outside the intended mission plan. We should deliver the payload we already have and hope it detonates successfully.
The stranded Icarus I about Mercury won't be going anywhere. It would only be a matter of months until we finally reach it. We could easily dock with it after completing the intended mission plan and then decide if we can use the extra payload if the original one had failed. There would be nothing to lose by now.
Sunshine's actually one of my favorite movies ever and I rewatch it every so often. I'm not sure why quasi-supernatural element bothers some viewers. I just read it as a surreal blurring of reality and it's not saying anything either way, it's about the subjective experience of being so close to the sun (so the magnetic fields wreak havoc on judgment), on such a potentially deadly mission, far away from other humans, etc. Note that both the captain and the ship psychologist also have this weird fascination with the sun as well, it becomes at least partially a mystic experience.
Capa just rocks. Yes, he's a flawed character like all the others, but just that perfect mix of truth + beauty in terms of how he perceives the world, the science and exploring the boundaries of understanding in terms of pure physics becomes a religious/spiritual experience in itself. It's one of the closest characters in a movie that sees the world in the way I do, that whole ending sequence is wonderful.
From terms of logic, i also love the multiple tracks of logic presented, from all different angles. Everyone's values and thinking is so clearly delineated.
Searle as the psychologist knows just how to approach people, as per the argument quoted above. "You're right, Mace. But maybe there is a reason to divert the mission to Icarus I..." Then he notes Capa is the most qualified to evaluate that option. He's pretty common sense. Kaneda is pretty common-sense as well, even to the point of agreeing with Mace to the degree it leads to his own death.
Harvey is rather unimaginative and goes by rule of authority and conventional logic.
Mace I think deserves a lot of respect. I think like Capa, but I loved how Mace was hardcore rationalist: "All that matters it the MISSION, and everything else can be sacrificed" -- the guy doesn't bend for an instant, nor does he spare himself from his commitment to the mission. He dies to save the ship computer and hands the ball off to Capa because he knows he himself is expendable. You know when he signed up for the mission, he was prepared to die (unlike Harvey).
Capa is the physicist and thinks in terms of equations and concepts. He actually makes the logical CONCEPTUAL call on the payload -- "two last chances are better than one" -- but he tends to overlook the things that go wrong in real life, from a practical experience POV... something that Mace does remain aware of.
Corazon is kind of the "zen logic" of the ship, she brings a kind of spiritual dimension and is in charge of the only living things other than the crew.
Cassie is the "heart" of the crew -- she's the one who tries to protect their humanity in the process of having to make all these difficult, impersonal decisions. She's one of the two that discusses having nightmares, along with Capa, about falling into the sun (which makes it ironic that those dreams were almost omens, as they ARE the only two crew members who survive long enough to see that actually occur). it's telling she's the only hold out on whether to kill Trey, since there's enough oxygen only for four and he's become catatonic and thus expendable... but even when Mace overrides her, she acknowledges it has to happen and just asks that it be quick....
Trey's probably the least developed, he's all mind pretty much... although he's definitely got the whiz kid thing going, where he's emotionally like a little boy with this huge mind that makes him smarter overall than anyone in the group.
There is discussion about whether Pinbacker murders Trey or Trey suicides.
Danny Boyle actually envisions Pinbacker murdering him. But the way the movie is edited and with the flow of the story, it makes more sense to me that Trey offs himself... if only because Pinbacker actually confuses Trey's body for a live crew member at one point, and this is not a mistake he would have made if he had killed him himself. Also, the way the body is positioned, it looks more like a suicide position (I think the wrists were cut as well), whereas Pinbacker had no issues slashing and stabbing others, he wasn't taking the time to "fake a suicide." finally, from a dramatic perspective, it's totally believable that Trey would have offed himself: He overlooked a simply calculation despite being a certifiable genius, Kaneda dies because of that, the mission (and thus all of humanity) is jeopardized by his mistake, and as I said, emotionally he's still kind of child-like. Punishing himself as his own parental surrogate for letting down humanity is a very realistic outcome. Also, as a minor point, he was smart enough to realize the oxygen levels were too low for them all to live, so he punished himself and served the mission in the only way he had left.
Orangey's answer to the old question there about Pinbacker -- yeah, that's what happens. he jumps to the Icarus II and blows the docking hatch to strand who he could, then proceeds to do what he can to keep humanity in its place (and on the path to its foreordained demise).
Anyway, I find the characters interesting, the decisions make sense, the overall tone and ambiance of the movie is appealing to me, and it actually has transcendent elements and a kind of bittersweet ending.
I think the only thing that threw me a little was when they go on the Icarus I and there are these single frames of the crew there that went missing. I had no idea what was going on for a little bit with that, since it happens nowhere else in the movie.
Oh, and it was kind of hilarious to see Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans going at it... twice. The second time was even funnier as they both needed to just get things out of their system, while the two female crew members just watch in disgust and are like, "When you guys are ready to grow up, stop wasting oxygen and let's get back to business." Because Capa's really not a Type A personality at all, even if Mace is more aggressive.
But again, in Mace's favor, whatever disagreements he has with Capa and whatever he blames him for, he doesn't hold that against him when it comes to accomplishing the mission. Mace is firmly dedicated to doing the job he signed up to do, regardless of who survives and who does not.
I actually really like the soundtrack, but the composer pulls a James Horner and keeps cribbing it for his other movies (the scene where Capa is trying to escape the Icarus in the spacesuit and falls over -- that cue is used in at least 2-3 other movies by him, including the opening sequence in 28 Weeks Later, for example).
I actually really like the soundtrack, but the composer pulls a James Horner and keeps cribbing it for his other movies (the scene where Capa is trying to escape the Icarus in the spacesuit and falls over -- that cue is used in at least 2-3 other movies by him, including the opening sequence in 28 Weeks Later, for example).
