How a 2000s sci-fi masterpiece was brought to its knees by Harry Potter

Author: Jonathan Klotz | Published 28 seconds ago

It can be hard to be a science fiction fan. The genre was born out of futurists’ thinking about what life will be like ten, fifty or even thousands of years from now, and how tomorrow’s technology and society will reflect today’s world. For decades, mainstream science fiction has focused more primarily on visual spectacle and philosophical reflections on our place in the universe (the distant 42nd).

There was a movie in the early 2000s that tried to return to the genre’s big-idea roots, but failed miserably. Yet now, nearly two decades later, director Danny Boyle’s Sunlight is breaking through debates among fans and becoming a cult classic.

Did the astronauts blow up the sun or something?

Sunlight Often described as a movie about “astronauts blowing up the sun to save humanity,” this fails to capture the scope of Boyle’s film. It’s more about the crew versus the weight of the mission, the isolation of space, and what to do when the sun itself is trying to kill you. The first 45 minutes of the film focus on the development of the crew and their relationships, so the last third of the film hits the audience hard.

What is clear from the opening minutes Sunlight This is a wonderful movie. The production budget was $40 million, and every dollar was seen on the screen. The colors inside the boat also tell its own story, there are no reds, oranges or yellows on board. The darker color absorbs the most UV rays, which makes sense cosmically, but to the viewer it increases the intensity of the sun and makes the smallest sunlight stand out as a sign of the crew’s impending doom.

The cast is a who’s who of today’s stars

The crew of Icarus 2 are all celebrities of today, before they were stars. Its characteristics are Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy plays Capa, a physicist capable of handling solar ignition bombs. Captain America Chris Evans plays Mace, who is both an engineer and a soldier. Michelle Yeoh plays biologist Corazon. Rose Byrne plays pilot Cassie. Marvel Studios’ Benedict Wong stars as Trey the Navigator. Troy Garrity plays Harvey, the second in command. future general Hiroyuki Sanada plays Kaneda, the captain of Icarus II, while the ever-underrated Cliff Curtis plays Doctor Serge. When Troy Garrity, the least known member of the cast, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor, it was one of the best ensembles in sci-fi history.

A Murderer’s Row was written by Alex Garland, Boyle’s frequent creative associate who later created Ex Machina, and countless other hits. Sunlight Each crew member is given a period of time when everything goes wrong and we know how all of them would be thinking and feeling in a given situation. You might think that too much dialogue in the first half would turn viewers off, but sci-fi fans love the way the movie starts and slowly unfolds. The problems start in the second half of the movie, which turns into an 80s space horror film.

A third-act twist that audiences love to hate

Damaged when Trey forgot to reset the sunshield, an honest mistake with disastrous consequences, the crew found their sister ship Icarus One floating in space. It is now a ghost ship, and its crew was found committing suicide on the observation deck, letting the sun’s rays shine down in full force. The exception was Captain Pinback, who was not among the dead. Pinbacker, played by a panicked, anxious Mark Strong, has become a fanatic convinced that he must help humanity reach heaven.

Pinbacker stars as Deus Ex killer and disgusts viewers Sunlight Transforming what was supposed to be a modern version of “2001” into a space horror movie. “Pinbacker” takes a miniscule amount of time compared to its opening, but the transition from slow, meditative science fiction to stabbing is so sudden and violent that it ruins the entire viewing experience. If it weren’t for Boyle’s penchant for similar third-act twists in his other films, including 28 Years Later , it would reek of studio interference, but that’s exactly what the director wanted all along.

Why Sunshine Failed

Sci-fi fans were put off by the twist, but mainstream audiences didn’t seem to mind; after all, they weren’t going to see the movie in theaters in the first place.

second obstacle Sunlight Its release date is July 20, 2007, which makes it a hit. That makes it release three weeks after Michael Bay’s first film. Transformers (before we knew he would hurt us over and over again), only a week later Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixand the same day John McClane returns Live free or rise from the dead. The Simpsons The movie arrived a week later! This is one of the worst weekends to release a brooding sci-fi movie.

With a poor release date and a weak trailer misleading opening week audiences, Sunlight Made $10 million in the United States. In modern terms, this is merely Borderlands.

Ultimately, the film grossed a whopping $34 million, but failed to recoup its budget and did not turn a profit until it was released on DVD and Blu-ray. In the home market, Boyle’s creative films ultimately found success, selling over $20 million worth of home media in just two years and turning a profit.

Jon’s Sunshine review scores

With its stunning visuals, clever dialogue, and emphasis on science within science fiction, Sunlight Either a cult classic or one of the worst movies ever made, depending on who you ask. With a dearth of decent original sci-fi films in theaters these days, Boyle’s Mission to Blow Up the Sun is a breath of fresh air because even at its worst, it’s better than Netflix’s electric state. We love sci-fi, we love movies that dare to try different things, and Sunlight is the best movie of the 2000s you’ve never seen.

Judge for yourself whether Sunlight With streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, it’s either a masterpiece or a disaster movie.