 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Sunshine
- Review Date: January 7, 2008
- R
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 2007
Common Sense Media says
Grim, intellectual space adventure. Not for kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this film isn't for kids; in addition to some brief, very violent scenes, it features extended discussions of intellectual and philosophical issues. Violence includes shots showing the effects of intense sunlight on human flesh (burned, bubbly, and scarred), a couple of vigorous fistfights between crewmembers, the very affecting death of a crewmember who is accidentally loosed in space (he freezes, face in close-up, and his face and then his shatter); a suicide victim appears so his slashed wrists are visible and blood is everywhere (crewmembers display upset); bodies in previous ship appear huddled together and burned to ash; final chase/fight is extended and violent; final explosions are fiery, loud, and devastating (also rather poetic). There are repeated uses of "f--k," with some other profanity.
What's the story?
It's 2057, and, as narrator Capa (Cillian Murphy) puts it, "Our sun is dying." In order save the earth, Capa and seven other astronauts board the spaceship Icarus II on a mission involving a stellar bomb. After a 16 month journey, they enter the "dead zone" (no more communication with earth) and discover the first Icarus, lost seven years earlier: Should they check it out, recover the ship's bomb, or just pass it by? The decisions they make are shaped by errors in calculations and guesses at their own futures. Arguments increase as options dwindle. Engineer Mace (Chris Evans) gets into psychical altercations with Capa; biologist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh) guards her greenhouse, and comm officer Harvey (Troy Garity) blames others for what goes wrong. As Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) tries to keep the crew on track, the pilot Cassie (Rose Byrne) complains of the occasional "excess of manliness." Yet they need to work together if they want to survive.
Is it any good?
The premise might make Danny Boyle's SUNSHINE sound like another coming of Armageddon. It is in fact not an action flick at all, but a study of personalities, philosophies, and ethics, with a bit of Alien-like horror in the mix as well. The utter vastness of the space around them is contrasted repeatedly with shots of their narrow interiors -- long, white-walled walkways; close, dark sleeping quarters; the observation deck, where the sun, viewed even at only 1 percent strength, is overwhelmingly bright.
Knowing they are "expendable" in pursuit of saving the world, the crew begins to see each other differently. And this is the beauty of the film, its mediation on seeing and visual poetry. Though the plot turns a little silly by the end, the imagery remains magnificent.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the difficulties of traveling in space for long periods: How do these astronauts contend with their loneliness, competition, rising tensions, and difficult decisions? How does the film show the structure among the crewmembers, across race, age, and gender differences? What do you think about the possibility of the mission succeeding? They can also talk about science fiction in general and what makes a good sci-fi flick.
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AGE
Beautiful film suited for my little Einsteins
The film is only made for smart kids, and since mine are the smartest naturally I showed them this film and they loved it! They cheered when that no good space-suit hog got frozen out in space and cried when the man who committed suicide was shown, however I believe this film helped prepare them for real life topics such as suicide and religion being taken to an extreme.
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AGE
Sunshine
An awesome movie overall. It's probably not for kids, since it's thematically complex and a bit slow-paced, but teens and up will enjoy themselves. It's visually stunning, entertaining, and often very intense.
I also think that this almost could've been PG-13. If one or two violent moments and f-words had been cut, it would've been PG-13, easily.
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AGE
a good sci-fi flick and popcorn muncher.
I personally felt that this movie was a good sci-fi flick. I gave this a five star rating and said that it was on for ages 13 and up. However, there are many factors to take into account when deciding weather your child is ready to see this if they are between the ages of 13 and 15. One of these factors would be the suicide of a crew member and the open display of his corpse. A good discussion to have with your children would be about the act of suicide itself if they are bothered by it. Another factor would be the appearance of the malevolent captain of the prior ship motivated by religious extremism. This will most likely be a conversation starter do to the fact of the characters frequent references to his "gods" desire to let humanity perish and the use of that as an excuse for murdering the crew. A few more factors would be the many corpses, blood, and intense scenes. If you have a child who at those younger ages can grasp the philosophical issues stated in the movie, then i highly recommend this move for the stated age group. Aside from the stated factors, this movie is a very enthralling and engaging sci-fi. It raises many very good discussion points and allows for a mind flexing thriller.
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AGE
I real sci fi movie! and kind of original too
I thought this movie was really good. There is nothing in it you wouldn't see or hear in a PG-13 movie except a few F words. It is kind of slow so little kids probably wouldn't like it anyway but for teens it is interesting. I want to own it
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AGE
Very good sci-fi movie. Although R, it's more appropriate for a 13-yr-old than many "PG-13" movies.
My 13-year-old daughter wanted to watch this after I did. (I'm not sure if she wanted to watch it because she likes science fiction or because she wanted to tell her friends that she watched an R movie.) We watched it together, The scene I was concerned about was when the crew finds a crew member who has committed suicide. It's pretty horrifying, although my daughter seemed to be OK with it. It's appropriate for 12-13 plus, I think, and I'm conservative. A classic example of an R-rated movie that is far less offensive (and far more worthwhile!!) than many, many so-called "PG-13" movies.
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AGE
An excellant film
Wow. Up until the plot twist in the last quarter of the movie, Sunshine was, in my mind, one of the best Sci-fi movies I had seen in a long time. That is, until the movie turns into a slasher flick and becomes confusing and muddled. The scene that involved ripping the fleswh off of one charactor's arm was particularly over the top. However, this movie highlighted a flaw in the rating system. Because there were a few F bombs dropped, it was given an R rating. Think of it as a violent PG-13.
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AGE
beautiful!!! my favourite sci fi!!! I saw it too young, though!!!
My favourite movie of all time!
I'd call it on for 14, cause I saw it at 12 and the only issues were cussing and the (SPOILER ALERT!!!) suicide of Trey, and frozen Harvey...
If you think your kid can understand the psychology of the characters' violence and plentiful cussing (f---ing s--t b--ch a--hole), and still get the beautiful story of humanity's greatest sacrifices, then I'd say to let them see it.
Under 13- one might get some serious bad vibes. No go.
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AGE
I cant remember exactly what happened as it was a few years ago that i watched this but its was an epic movie it was amazinf ok so there was some swearing but nowadays you cant avoid it so why not watch it in a film lol i no i was probably too young to watch it but it didnt bother me as i was quite mature and could see the difference between real life and fantasy, mature tweens could watch this with supervision from parents
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AGE
Beautiful movie but very mature. Dont let young kids watch this
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| Studio: | Fox Searchlight |
| Director: | Danny Boyle |
| Cast: | Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 107 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 20, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | January 8, 2008 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | violent content and language. |
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