I could barely breathe for a very large portion of this film.

My first reaction was disbelief that they could still make science fiction movies like this. But then I realized that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a science fiction movie as good as this. I never liked 2001 – I found it boring and really over-done. I never wanted to see Alien again, probably because it’s a rather one dimensional story, and wasn’t all that taken with it the first time. What else is there? Scanning down the top 20 Sci-Fi films as voted by IMDB is just laughable (go check it out) with the only possible exception being Blade Runner. I’ll admit that Blade Runner is a good film that I return to every now and then, but really the last 1/3 of the movie is pretty bombastic and hard to take. So I guess I would have to say Sunshine is probably the best science fiction film I’ve ever seen.

I’m not going to give anything away in this review. But I will list what I like about this film. It has a fascinating concept with multiple dramatic layers, a good, solid set-up with enough high-quality dialog to make it truly gripping, and a positively thrilling but entirely realistic chain of events. Unlike most films of this genera, they never abandon dialog as the principle dramatic anchor – this is a big reason it’s so good. It has good, solid ensemble casting and acting, and a very interesting and effective score. And the editing and visual effects are at times truly breathtaking. In this age of CGI mayhem, it has been quite a while since I’ve seen visuals put together so effectively and with such remarkable emotional content. They are beautiful, terrifying, and quite moving. At times I got deep chills of the kind I only get in the very best horror movies. They are that good.

If you missed Sunshine, Netflix it, don’t read anything about the story, and just sit down and experience it cold. You’re in for a real treat!