History Film / Sunshine

* TestosteronePoisoning: "Report to flight deck. We have an excess of manliness breaking out in the comms center."

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''{{Session 9}}'', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

* NeverSuicide: [[spoiler:According to the director's commentary Pinbacker was supposed to have killed Trey -- this was changed to make it more ambiguous for the film, as how Pinbacker would know Trey was suicidal in the first place.]]

* BeardOfSorrow: Mace has a stubbly beard and unkempt hair, showing that he's suffering from lowered morale. When he finally gets control of himself, he shows up clean-shaven, with a fresh buzzcut.

* ApocalypticLog: The crew find one made by [[spoiler:Pinbacker, the commander of Icaris I]].

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

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''{{Session 9}}', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

-->[[spoiler:'''Pinbacker:''' We are nothing... but dust.]]

* ApocalypticLog

* ColdEquation: [[spoiler:Four crewman are trapped on Icarus I and there's only one spacesuit. Mace and Searle immediately start putting Capa (the only man who can fire the bomb) into the suit, ignoring the protests of their commander. Mace though figures out how to TakeAThirdOption (though only he and Capa survive). Then the crew realise they only have enough oxygen to complete their mission if one of them dies. The suicidally depressed Trey is an obvious candidate to be killed, and all but one of the crew votes to do so. Although they'd previously decided they needed a unanimous vote, Mace goes to kill him anyway only to find he's already dead.]]
** [[spoiler: Shows up even earlier when he states that they should not deviate from the original mission to attempt a rescue on the Icarus I, due to the risk involved. In fact, in just about every major decision from thereon after, he provides the most logical solution, and is always right.]]

* DeusExNukina

* DrivenToSuicide: The entire [[spoiler:Icarus-1 crew]], from the looks of things.

** This became a FridgeLogic moment when [[spoiler:Boyle realised that Pinbacker wouldn't know Trey was suicidal, or even care about covering his tracks. Hence in the movie it was left more ambiguous as to whether it was suicide or murder.]]
* DwindlingParty

** The main eight actors were required to live in an apartment together for three months before filming. CillianMurphy's wife was pregnant during this time, so he would go back home at night. This proved helpful for his character being the youngest member and an outsider to the crew. The voice of the spaceship, Chipo Chung, was usually somewhere on the set and would be directly talking to other members of the cast, which is very appropriate for the character she's voicing.

*** The actors unanimously say the worst cook of the bunch was MichelleYeoh.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt

* [[spoiler: GoryDiscretionShot: The heavily burned Pinbacker appears only in blurred, distant or very brief shots. Later averted when skin is graphically torn from his arm.]]

* HopeSproutsEternal

* HurlItIntoTheSun
* IcarusAllusion: Obviously.

* KillEmAll
* LatexSpaceSuit / InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Averted.

* LightIsNotGood: The awesome sight of the sun drives several characters insane. Its rays burn flesh and threaten to torch the whole spaceship. Ironically, the story is about a dying sun and the Earth's desperate need to restore its life-supporting rays.

* ScienceHero: Especially Capa.

* ShoutOut: Pinbacker's name is almost certainly a shout out to Sgt. Pinback of ''DarkStar'', a much sillier movie with which ''Sunshine'' shares a few themes.
** The spacesuits? Based on [[SouthPark Kenny]].

* SpaceIsNoisy

* StarshipLuxurious

* [[ComputerVoice Talking Computer]]

* SkeletonCrew: Averted when [[spoiler: Capa finds the crew of the Icarus I, huddled together and burned to a crisp in the observation room.]]

* FridgeLogic - In order to fulfil their mission, they must fire their bomb into the Sun. However, the heat shield that protects the payload until detonation point is also the heat shield which protects the rest of the ship. Just ''how'' was the crew ever supposed to survive?
** A secondary, smaller convex shield can be seen behind the payload to not only protect the small ship, but act as a solar sail to propel them home.

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''{{Session9}}', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''[[Session9 Session 9]]'', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''{{Session9}}'', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

* MoodWhiplash: As good as the film is, it's notorious for how much its third act contrasts in mood and theme to the first two. If the first two acts are, say, ''Session9'', the third act is ''{{Hellraiser}}''.

Directed by the [[DannyBoyle guy who would later direct]] ''SlumdogMillionaire'', and had earlier directed ''TwentyEightDaysLater'' and ''{{Trainspotting}}'', ''Sunshine'' is an example of BetterThanItSounds. Similar in tone (though, luckily, not pacing) to ''{{Solaris}}'', only the premise seems to turn more people off from watching it--keeping it to an almost cult-classic status.

* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Don't answer the distress call, don't mind us. Just passin' through.

** [[spoiler: Shows up even earlier when he states that they should not deviate from the original mission to attempt a rescue on the Icarus I, due to the risk involved. He was right.]]

-->'''Mace''': "[[WrongGenreSavvy Why, will aliens pick us off one by one?]]"

** This became a FridgeLogic moment when [[spoiler:Boyle realised that Pinbacker wouldn't know Trey was suicidal, or even care about covering his tracks. Hence in the movie it was left more ambiguous as to who killed him.]]

* ColdEquation

** A secondary, smaller shield was in place behind the payload to protect the relatively thin profile of the rest of the ship.

* AllThereInTheManual: You'll need to go the the website to find out the characters' back-stories, how the bomb would work and even why the sun was dying in the the first place.

* SceneryPorn: The entire film just looks beautiful. And eye motifs. And Cillian.
.Also Chris after he gets his haircut and shave