I have to admit that I hadn't even heard of this film until a few weeks ago. I was expecting a boring theoretical sci-fi movie. I was wrong. This was as much of a thriller as any movie I've ever seen.
In fact, I watched again upon finishing it the first time. I've only done that to a few movies.
I was on board up until the part with the psycho captain. I think that was just a little too much for me. I did enjoy the movie otherwise.
shareSame here. I liked the film, watched it first for Cillian Murphy but that captain turned alien was too much, almost ruined it.
Will Graham: I don't find you that interesting.
Hannibal Lecter: You will.
ditto. the murderous captain wasn't credible and felt unnecessary, like they didn't have enough faith in the central concept. but otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable, gripping movie with great direction and great performances.
sharefelt unnecessary
Same here. I liked the film, watched it first for Cillian Murphy but that captain turned alien was too much, almost ruined it.
you ruined it?
shareIt's a Danny Boyle movie. Things don't always go exactly where they are supposed to. I personally love his movies and Sunshine is near the top.
shareIt was a bit schlocky. I think they could have set it up better or at least not changed the tone so drastically. I still enjoyed the film, though, and feel that the wonderful direction, stunning visuals, and engrossing sound design more than make up for other deficiencies.
Also, did this remind anyone else of that Doctor Who episode with the guy who says "burn with me"?
Yeah from the point the captain showed up it just turned into a generic horror movie. I liked everything else about it tho.
Lose the Game!!!!!!!
Same here,the movie was good upto that part,after that it was just another cheesy movie.
The pace was perfect and they ruined it.
It was off-putting, but I suspect needed to give the film a more thrilling climax.
What would your alternate ending/plot have been?
First off I love this movie.
I do think the complaints about Pinbacker are warranted, to an extent. I actually think having an insane crew member alive was not a bad idea, I just don't think it should have gone down the serial killer route in terms of the tone and way it was shot.
I'm not exactly sure where it should have gone, but maybe if they had given Pinbacker more of a human side and explored the psychology a bit more - in keeping with the rest of the film - then it would have felt more consistent and built upon what had been explored.
I saw this one in theaters all the way back in 2007, for me, the second of a double-bill I made with The Simpsons Movie (which I found enjoyable) and it was quite frankly one of the most stunning movie-going experiences I've ever had. From first scene to last, I was completely engrossed and enveloped by this film. I was floored by Danny Boyle's brilliant direction and visuals, compelling storytelling, the pitch-perfect cast, and John Murphy's hair-raising score. The space jump and the frozen sun wave at the end remain two of the most hauntingly beautiful moments I've seen in film.
shareAbsolutely, awesome film. Mesmerising from start to finish.
shareBLOWN AWAY!! YES!!
shareI've only given four movies a "ten" rating on iMDB. This is one of them. So yes, I was quite blown away by this movie. One of the VERY few films I've seen where I consider everything to be perfect. Many people take issue with the tonal shift at the end, but I absolutely adore the horror genre, so when the film took that turn I was all the more delighted.
shareThis was hands down one of the most mesmerizing film experiences I have ever had.
As for the demonic captain aspect that many people do not understand, I believe that the film would not have nearly as much cultural significance with out it. Humanity believes we can continue to better and better ourselves with increasing technology and social equality into the future until we reach some sort of perfection. We think every problem has an answer that we can find the solution to. And just when it we think we are approaching this utopia something completely horrifying and incomprehensible happens that tells us we really have no idea where history is going or even if the present is what we thought it was. Think World War 2 and the holocaust, 9/11, or even a psychotic break down that radically alters ones position in reality.
This is what the 'crazy captain' is. The crew thinks that reigniting the sun is the the singular most important task there is and ever was. Humanity is the centre of all existence. This is the will of our anthropocentric culture. Humanity must go on. However, we are now in the millennium. A paradigm shift is occurring where we are beginning to see that humanity is fleeting and we can have a better spiritual understanding if we interpret the world from a non anthropocentric view.
Although the captain's actions are inspired by his conversations with god, the will of this god does not resemble the will of the Abrahamic god. This god wants humanity to experience its holocaust. We flew too close to the sun and now its time to die. However the crew manages to defeat god and restore the sun. What does this tell us. It can't be that Nietzsche phrase 'god is dead' and man has replaced him. I think the lesson is that we will never actual reach the point where we understand our place in the universe. Whether this is the cause have selfish emotions (greed and laziness causing global warming) or by the shear incomprehensibility of reality, eventually our payload wont reach its target. And the demonic captain will laugh at us as we burn.
I found this movie absolutely stunning on first view. Since then I have watched it a number of times and it now is definitely my favourite sci-fi of all time, and maby even all time best movie.
The movie have lots of symbolism and metaphores, which reveals themself more clearly upon repeated viewings. It touches on buddhism, philosophy, metaphysics and human nature all seamlessly.
The good and evil side is easily identified. If I had to nitpick on something, I would have liked to see more of a background behind Pinbackers reasoning, but maybe his mystery is part of the allure. He certainly seems to express the dark dangerous mystique of space really well.
I love it for all of the beautiful artistic scenes. Such as when Corazon is sitting upright cradling that one plant that survived the inferno, a fragile hope for an return back home, and Pinbacker blindsides and kills her.
In addition to being a aesthetically mindboggling scene, it's hard not to let your mind go to how the beauty and goodness in life is also fragile to attacks from the negative forces of humanity.
For me it seems like the closer they approach the sun the more reality and sanity starts to become blurry.
Pinbacker has been feeling this effect for the past 7 years, and both his sanity and his physical reality has evidently become really distorted compared to the crew of Icarus 2.
The ending sequence is also beautiful, with it showing us the tranquility and beauty which might be felt in the last physical moments of conciousness, as well as how both the noble and the wicked burn the same in the fires of the sun.
I completely agree with you. The crazy captain was very necessary to the plot and what this movie wanted to pass to the audience.
And actually it was done in a perfect mixture of supernatural and natural. The captain looked god like alien but in fact he was a crazy person caught up by the sun.
The moment I saw his recording I thought something else was out there that was supposed to be God. Didn't expect this turn of events and I enjoyed it.
People did not get the meaning of the captain. In the end nothing revolves around us, we came to be from stars and we are about to be stardust once more. The humanity is a miniscule part of spacetime.
On my top movies list, this one surely is there somewhere, very few movies i watch more than once, and this one as years pass makes me wanna see it again, and again....i believe its because i want another similar to this or better, which is hard to find.
shareBlown away by the Icarus spaship design, it felt like a spaceship that could happen with it being built like the space station with the cylinder modules.
share