History Film / Sunshine

* DrivenToSuicide:
** [[spoiler: Trey is found in this state, but it's been staged. Danny Boyle's commentary reveals that Pinbacker murdered Trey and made it look like a suicide. The actor and the advisor disagree and state that Trey killed himself, citing that Pinbacker would not be sane enough to stage it as a suicide, as well as mistaking the body later for Cassie's.]]

* MillionToOneChance: The crew is perfectly aware that, once the ''Icarus II'' reaches the Sun's horizon, everything about the mission goes into the realm of the theoretical. Not even the computer can calculate the outcome. [[spoiler: It works, of course]].

* LockingMagyverInTheStoreCupboard: Justified.

* AllThereInTheManual: The film is often {{Misblamed}} for having a premise as ridiculous as ''Film/TheCore'', but they did in fact get Brian Cox to theorise a plausible way in which the sun's dimming could happen - there's a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ball Q-ball]] within the sun, a particle that disrupts the sun's natural fusion cycle. The bomb is powerful enough to destroy the Q-ball.

* AllThereInTheManual: The film is often {{Misblamed}} for having a premise as ridiculous as ''Film/TheCore'', but they did in fact get Brian Cox to theorise a plausible way in which the sun's dimming could happen - there's a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ball Q-ball]] within the sun, a particle that disrupts the sun's natural fusion cycle.

* AllThereInTheManual: A lot of character backstories were written but not included in the final film:
** Capa was a ChildProdigy who wrote a paper that contributed huge amounts to the understanding of Dark Matter; his theory ended up starting the whole Icarus mission in the first place. He's also an atheist and loner by choice. And the only member of the crew that isn't a career astronaut.
** Cassie is a trained pilot who entered the space program after serving time in the military. Before the Icarus mission she became pregnant but got an abortion in secret. Searle is the only other crew member who knows this.
** Corazon is a pragmatist dedicated to preserving life as a whole - more concerned with ensuring the survival of Earth as a biosphere as opposed to mankind. She's the only one of the crew to never have used the Earth room; instead she sits in the oxygen garden for comfort.
** Harvey worked as a juvenile engineer on the Icarus I project, and is the fittest member of the group. His AchillesHeel however is his wife; he dreams of her every night and is motivated by trying to get back to her.
** Kaneda is a Buddhist who feels a TeamDad attitude towards the crew, especially Capa, and they often play chess together. He is the only crew member to have ever met Pinbacker personally, and as such has nightmares of him every night.
** Trey was a hacker in his teen years and managed to create a virus that wiped out 12% of the world's computer systems temporarily. Instead of jail, he was recruited by the space program. He's also a ControlFreak who hates for any variables to be calculated by anyone but him. This adds extra dimension to his guilt at messing up the numbers when the mission was diverted.
** Searle is on the crew because he put forth a theory that the first mission failed due to ThereAreNoTherapists - and he himself developed the Earth Room as a means of therapy. He's also a psychiatrist as opposed to a psychologist[[note]]A psychiatrist trains in medicine first, meaning that Searle can also double as the medical officer.[[/note]]
** Mace is an army brat and came to know Cassie from the military - and still harbours a small crush on her. As someone with an immense respect for the chain of command, he dislikes Capa because he exists outside of it.

[[caption-width-right:320: Hope he brought his factor 1,000,000...]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees : Interesting example: Danny Boyle was originally reticent to have Cillian Murphy play Capa because he considered him to be "[[HotScientist too good-looking]]" to be a scientist... until he met [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_%28physicist%29 the movie's science advisor]], who had a similar sense of style.

-> ''"Our sun is dying. Mankind faces extinction. Seven years ago the Icarus project sent a mission to restart the sun but that mission was lost before it reached the star. Sixteen months ago, I, Robert Capa, and a crew of seven left earth frozen in a solar winter. Our payload: a stellar bomb with a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island. Our purpose: to create a star within a star. Eight astronauts strapped to the back of a bomb. My bomb. Welcome to ''Icarus II''."''
-->-- '''Robert Capa, physicist.'''

* TheEnlightenment: 8 humans saving the life of the Sun (which is explicitly compared to God) with science, and overcoming [[spoiler: the raging fundamentalist Pinbacker, who is irradiated enough to look like death itself.]] Not going to get much more Enlightenment than that.

* {{Expositron 9000}}: The Icarus computer... ''isn't'' one. An interesting aversion that forces the characters to make an ultimately bad call.

* LetsSplitUpGang: "[[LampshadeHanging I don't think that's]] [[GenreSavvy such a good idea]]."

* DeadlyDoctor: [[spoiler:Pinbacker]] becomes one after snatching a motorized scalpel from the infirmary.

** Captain Kaneda may be an {{homage}} to the Shoutarou Kaneda of ''Manga/{{Akira}} or ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}''.

* WhamLine:
-->[[spoiler:'''Icarus''': [[AC:Capa, you are dying. All crew are dying.]]\\
'''Capa''': Yes, we're dying. As long as we live long enough to deliver the payload.\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:Capa, warning:''you will not live long enough to deliver the payload.]]]]''
** [[RuleOfDrama A second wham line is then dropped again moments later]]:
--->[[spoiler:[Icarus states there isn't enough oxygen for the whole crew to make the drop]\\
'''Capa''': Trey is dead, there are only four crew members.\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:Negative.]]\\
'''Capa''': Affirmative, Icarus, four crew members; Mace, Cassy, Corazon and me.\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:'''''Five''''' crew members.]]]]

'''Icarus:''' [[AC:Negative, Cassie. ''Computer control.'']]\\

'''Icarus:''' [[AC:Negative. Mission in jeopardy. Override command statement "manual flight controls" removed.]]\\

'''Icarus:''' [[spoiler:[[AC:Fire in oxygen garden.]]]]

* AloneWithThePsycho:
-->[[spoiler:''[Capa is arguing with the computer as to why there is not enough oxygen left]''\\
'''Capa:''' ...Four crew members; Mace, Cassy, Corazon and me.\\
'''Icarus:''' [[AC:'''''Five''''' crew members.]]]]

--->'''Icarus''': Resuming computer control of ''Icarus II''.\\
'''Cassie''': Negative, Icarus. Manual control.\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:Negative, Cassie. ''Computer control.'']]\\
'''Cassie''': ''Icarus, override computer to manual control.''\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:Negative. Mission in jeopardy. Override command statement "manual flight controls" removed.]]\\
'''Cassie''': ''Negative, Icarus, negative. State reason immediately.''\\
'''Icarus''': [[spoiler:[[AC:Fire in oxygen garden.]]]]

'''Capa''': ...Four crew members; Mace, Cassy, Corazon and me.\\
'''Icarus''': [[AC:'''''Five''''' crew members.]]]]

-->'''Mace''': "[[WrongGenreSavvy You're probably right. We might get picked off one at a time by aliens.]]"

--> '''Icarus''': Resuming computer control of ''Icarus II''.\\

-->[[spoiler:[Icarus states there isn't enough oxygen for the whole crew to make the drop]\\

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The bomb is described as having a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island, or (assuming 1 km depth and the density of granite) about 2.43×10¹⁵ kg. The Sun's mass is just under 2×10³⁰ kg, or a quadrillion times larger. Even if the sought after Q-ball were 10 billion times smaller in volume than the Sun (akin to comparing a human to a large amoeba) it would still have a radius of over 300 km. Additionally, the total amount of energy one could extract from such a bomb would be in the region of 2*10^29 joules, depending on which fuel source was used. The Sun emits about that amount of energy roughly every 10 minutes.

* ZeroGSpot: {{Word Of God}} states that original scripts for ''{{Film/Sunshine}}'' had a planned sex scene between Cassie and Capa.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The bomb is described as having a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island, or (assuming 1 km depth and the density of granite) about 2.43×10¹⁵ kg. The Sun's mass is just under 2×10³⁰ kg, or a quadrillion times larger. Even if the sought after Q-ball were 10 billion times smaller in volume than the Sun (akin to comparing a human to a large amoeba) it would still have a radius of over 300 km. Additionally, the total amount of energy one could extract from such a bomb would be in the region of 2*10^29 joules, depending on which fuel source was used. The Sun emits about that amount of energy roughly every 15 minutes.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The bomb is described as having a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island, or (assuming 1 km depth and the density of granite) about 2.43×10¹⁵ kg. The Sun's mass is just under 2×10³⁰ kg, or a quadrillion times larger. Even if the sought after Q-ball were 10 billion times smaller in volume than the Sun (akin to comparing a human to a large amoeba) it would still have a radius of over 300 km. Additionally, the total amount of energy one could extract from such a bomb would be in the region of 2*10^23 joules, depending on which fuel source was used. The Sun emits about 2000 times that much energy ''every second''.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The bomb is described as having a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island, or (assuming 1 km depth and the density of granite) about 2.43×10¹⁵ kg. The Sun's mass is just under 2×10³⁰ kg, or a quadrillion times larger. Even if the sought after Q-ball were 10 billion times smaller in volume than the Sun (akin to comparing a human to a large amoeba) it would still have a radius of over 300 km. Additionally, the total amount of energy one could extract from such a bomb would be in the region of 2-3*10^23 joules, depending on which fuel source was used. The Sun emits about 2000 times that much energy ''every second''.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The bomb is described as having a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island, or (assuming 1 km depth and the density of granite) about 2.43×10¹⁵ kg. The Sun's mass is just under 2×10³⁰ kg, or a quadrillion times larger. Even if the sought after Q-ball were 10 billion times smaller in volume than the Sun (akin to comparing a human to a large amoeba) it would still have a radius of over 300 km.

* YouAreInCommandNow: Harvey is promoted to [[spoiler:Captain]] following his predecessor's demise. He's also now become the communications officer of a ship with a useless communications array, which makes him from that point on the most expendable person on board.