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The sun is dying. Earth, shivering in a new ice age, will die with it. Mankind's only hope is the Icarus II, a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan Island gliding through space, and an international crew strapped to the back of it huddling behind a giant sun shield. Their mission is to deliver their payload - set course for the heart of the sun! - and scarper, double-quick time, before their oversized firework restarts our ailing star.
This is a sci-fi film in the tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey, when science fiction was for adults before George Lucas turned it into children's amusement. It begins as the astronauts are on the verge of entering the "dead zone," where radiation from the sun becomes too intense for continued communication with Earth. They have a few hours to send their last messages and thereafter they are on their own.
The international crew are not intrepid heroes but believable people, who bounce off each other as you might expect after months of confinement with only each other for company. I read that director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave) made the cast live with each other for some time before filming began, to make their behaviour towards each other more realistic. After all, as the film begins they are already many months into their mission. To enhance the feeling of isolation, the film does not cut back to home at any time during the mission: we are with the astronauts all the way.
The star of the film (no pun intended) is certainly the sun. The CG renderings look gorgeous, and I was quite convinced that I was watching a spaceship flying to the sun. The contrast between the shots of the front of the shield and the craft hiding in its shadow are such that it is somewhat difficult to make out its shape. At times the film is saturated in irridescence: the very first scene is of the psych officer sitting in the viewing room, where the sun can be seen behind a special filter. He asks the ship's computer (also called "Icarus", with a very sweet female voice) to turn the filter down to 4 percent, but is informed that it would harm him. He can, though, have 3.1 percent for thirty seconds, which drowns him in an ocean of light.
Cool Stuff
A short way into the film, the crew assemble in the viewing room to watch Mercury transit the sun. This is utterly beautiful to behold, and the soundtrack complements it perfectly. I was quite moved. This point also marks a change in the direction of the film, from where it starts to resemble less 2001 and more Event Horizon. They pick up a distress signal from the Icarus I, their sister ship that was launched seven years previously on an identical mission, but was lost without trace. The crew are faced with a dilemma: do they proceed with their mission, upon which rests the fate of the Earth, or do they make a detour to investigate?
Predictably, this is the point from which nothing goes to plan. The crew are beset by a series of disasters leaving them in a dire situation: they do not have sufficient resources to sustain the whole crew to the fulfilment of their mission. Will they draw straws? And what fate befell the Icarus I? Could anyone be left alive after seven years?
References
Okay, so you might have guessed that this film is heavily influenced by what has gone before. I have already mentioned the tribute paid to 2001 and the similarity with the somewhat weird Event Horizon. The 'intercepted distress signal' theme also clearly pays homage to Alien, as does the early scene of the crew eating dinner, which reminded me strongly of the scene in Ridley Scott's film where John Hurt gives birth to an alien unexpectedly. (Nothing of the sort happens here). There is also Icarus, the ship's sweetly insubordinate computer, riffing again on 2001.
Stupid Stuff
There is not much of this to complain about. I know full well that nothing can get close to the sun without being burnt to ashes. Furthermore it is quite improbable that a nuclear bomb, even one the size of Manhattan, could have any effect on something the size of the sun. Really, the sun is unimaginably huge. The film wisely avoids any explanation of how this is actually supposed to work. In fact the film is refreshingly short on techno-babble, and never relies on it as a plot device. If you have trouble suspending disbelief even a little bit, you doubtless don't enjoy much sci-fi at all anyway. The film's denouement I found a bit baffling, but nowhere near as incomprehensible as 2001, and it didn't spoil my enjoyment. In summary, I liked this film a lot, and reckon I will buy it on DVD when it comes out. Worth the money, in my opinion.
Random Quote
"I spent seven years talking to God!" - Pinbacker. Whatever you say, dude.
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