What was the last great sci-fi movie? The Fountain was pretty good, if not a little self-indulgent, and Serenity was a solid
sci-fi flick, but I wouldn’t call either of those classics. To me, it’s been a long while since a truly great sci-fi movie has come out, and the last good one to come out was Starship Troopers*.*Note from the writer: If you disagree with this statement, then you are an idiot.
Sunshine, from creative team behind 28 Days Later, is a good science fiction movie. In fact, it’s a pretty great science fiction movie. It takes familiar aspects of the genre (the brash and unlikable soldier, the inspiring captain) and messes with them, so while the movie does have a few cliches to rest on, it mixes them up enough to make it feel fresh.
The basic story is the plot synopsis for The Core, minus the annoying characters, shitty story, and the earth’s core. The sun is dying, and a group of space cadets must journey to the massive star and reignite it. Everything seems to be going smoothly, until a distress beacon from a ship is found. The ship that went to the sun seven years before this mission. The intrepid Capa (Cillian Murphey) is elected with the responsibility of choosing whether or not to go the ship. He chooses the former, and, of course, shit goes down.
The plot may seem a bit simplistic and cliched, but the movie actually benefits from its seeming simplicity. The movie’s first hour focuses on the actual crew, so while they may have seemed like stock characters initially, the movie takes the time to explore their intricacies. Mace (Chris Evans) seems unlikable and cold in his actions at first, but we understand where he’s coming from. The movie takes these seemingly generic characters and slowly shapes them into real people, and that’s quite a feat in the sci-fi genre.
One of the movie’s biggest achievements is its cinematography. There were at least a dozen moments where I was literally shocked by the visuals on screen, and it’s amazing to see what Danny Boyle was able to accomplish with only a 40 million dollar budget. The CG and visuals rival blockbusters like Spider-man 3 on many occasions, and goes to show what a strong vision can do for a movie.
The movie has gotten some flack, though, for its final act. I won’t give any of it away, but the movie dips in and out of the sci-fi and horror genres all throughout the last third of the movie, and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it. The movie gets tense without getting hokey, and what takes place ties together the entire theme of the movie (science vs. religion). I thought that Boyle and Garland fucked up the last act of 28 Days Later, with that military camp or whatever the hell, but I think they pulled off the sharp change in story well here. It was a risky choice for an ending, but I think it was handled extremely well.
Overall, Sunshine was one of the better movies of ‘07, and by far the best sci-fi movie in years. It’s got a great cast, brilliant cinematography, and an insightful, tense story. If you’re a sci-fi guy (or gal, we’re politically correct here at Atomic Popcorn), then you have to see this. Everyone else should give it a watch as well, but if you don’t like sci-fi, then I wouldn’t bother. If you don’t like sci-fi, though, you probably should go dance in traffic, as well.
I would have been one pissed off man if this transfer was anything less than out of this world (heh), and thankfully, Fox opted to reach for the stars (heh). The transfer has nary an artifact, scratch, or anything that would diminish this brilliantly filmed movie. The cinematography comes in crystal clear, and I couldn’t find a thing wrong with this one. Some scenes don’t have that “pop”, but this is about the best the movie is going to look. Nice job Fox.
While this audio track isn’t as good as the video, it’s still a commendable effort. The bass and surround effects are put to work here, but in some cases, the voices sound a bit too quiet. It’s jarring to turn the volume up initially to hear the folks speak, only to be blown away by the booming effects used for the ship. Overall, though, it’s a solid effort.
The Blu-ray comes with a fair amount of features, and thankfully, most are worth your time.
First up are two audio commentaries, one from Danny Boyle, and one featuring the film’s technical advisor Dr. Brian Cox. I actually enjoyed the latter a great deal, as he goes into the specifics about the logic behind the movie. Both are a good listen.
Next up are seven deleted scenes (in SD), plus four more for Blu-ray, and aren’t really that interesting. Most are just alternate takes. Nothing too earth-shattering (heh).
Also included (which I was very glad about) are the original Web Production diaries that were put up before the film released. They are in SD, but offer a pretty interesting and candid look at the making of the movie. I enjoyed these when they originally aired, and they’re still just as fascinating.
Two Short Films are also included, but they don’t have anything to do with the movie. Just two directors who got a break.
“A Brilliant Vision” is an IME type special feature. Not too frequent, and it kind of repeats info, but still a nice gesture. I’ve seen better on HD-DVD, but Blu-ray is just starting on these. Not horrible, but not that good.
“Journey into Sound” is a neato feature that lets you see how much use surround sound has. It’s pretty unique, but I can’t see myself using it again.
Also included is the theatrical trailer in HD.
Conclusion:
What else is there to say? This is one of the best movies of 2007, and this Blu-ray does it justice. Great PQ/AQ and some solid bonus features make this one to own.
Movie: 9.5 out of 10
Picture: 9 out of 10
Audio: 8 out of 10
Bonus Features: 8 out of 10
Written by: AtomicPopcorn on Mon, Jan 14, 2008