Tuesday, May 12, 2009

one bloody good film

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know how I missed this when it was released a couple of years ago as its right up my ally. The film is remarkably good with a credible plot, good, hard science fiction and excellent character development. The special effects are stunning. I was awestruck by the sequence of mercury passing in front of the sun and wish I'd seen it on a 'big' screen (that YouTube clip doesn't even begin to do it justice). The soundtrack is really good: Very, very atmospheric and created from a collaboration between Underworld and John Murphy, the guy who did much of the music for Danny Boyle's previous work of sci-fi genius: 28 Days Later.

When the plot started to twist I was completely immersed in the film and couldn't tear my attention from it. My only gripe is the break down in physics at the end as, in the final scenes, the vessel the action is taking place on is shown twisting and turning as it flies whilst the characters are running about inside as if they were on the firm surface of a planet. Oh, well. You can't have everything, can you.

Watch Sunshine. Its as brilliant as the sun.

5 comments:

  1. Great on the big screen, although the boy girl relationship seemed a bit superfluous.

    What really wazzes me off about this is that I wrote a scarily similar short story about jump starting the sun when I was 12. I could have been rolling in it.

    Now go and watch Star Trek.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS 28 Days is frickin brilliant and reinvented the zombie genre. Zombies that run!

    Pity 28 months was weak.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Snigger! I got your gist, mate.

    Yeah, its a pretty original storyline (although you, obviously, would disagree). I just really, really appreciate the effort our boy went to to keep it reasonably scientifically plausible- within the bounds of big-screen entertainment. I'm glad he didn't go for the space-sex scene too. I didn't think it was superfluous, though, 16 months is a long time to wank through!

    The whole movie was just so . . . comprehensively understated! There was no maudling shots of the earth freezing over or animals stuck in snow drifts. The shots of the Icarus II itself were visual poetry- that trick where the view rotates from head-on to tail on, where the reflected light from the shields initially blinds you and then, as the ship moves away towards the sun the shield initially blocks it and then a corona is produced and then the black silhouette of the ship drifts away from you. Utterly enchanting.

    I will not watch Start Trek on principal. I am NOT a Trekkie. I am the antithesis of Trekdom. I scorn phasers and teleporters and artificial gravity. Star Wars is allowed to do stuff like that because . . . well . . . JUST BECAUSE! OK?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, yeah- and everything you said about 28 Whatevers Later. With bells on!

    I thought 28 Weeks later wasn't too bad. Based on what it had to follow, yeah? Still pretty original and entertaining.

    You wait. Swine flu is only just getting started! You see what happens when it reaches Western Africa and hybridises with the Ebola virus! (joke!)

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to share your opinions of my opinions. Oh- and cocking fuckmouse.