other movies that affect you like Sunshine

[redshift]

I have to say not too many movies affect me emotionally, but Sunshine certainly did. I can remember the first or second time I watched it when the buildup to Kaneda's death came it actually increased my pulse rate! It was incredible. I don't think ANY other movie has done that before or since. Not only that of course, but it ALMOST made my weep, you know that moment where tears start to sting your eyes but you don't want to give in?

More recently I saw Kevin Spacey's 'K-PAX' on Film4, and days after it is still leaving a visual and emotional impression. One other movie springs to mind: Lord of the Rings - Return of the King. I swear, that moment when Theoden's men appear over the horizon and then charge into battle on the Pelennor Fields always gets to me. Shortly before they charge, there's a moment when Eowyn whispers to Peregrin "Courage, Peregrin. Courage for our friends". That always tugs at my heart strings! I must be getting soft in my old age! Or maybe that one little line encompasses the entire message of LoTR.

What other movies have you seen that have affected you mentally, emotionally like Sunshine? If any.

[neiru2012]

None like Sunshine. Ever.

But I guess Lord or the Rings and Star Wars did make me wish I lived in those worlds. I wore a Padawan braid and called myself a Jedi for a while. I still consider myself a Jedi since I follow the Jedi Code.

There's a video game that affected me nearly as much as Sunshine, though, called Devil May Cry 3. It didn't make me go back to college, but it challenged me to confront my fears and overcome inhibitions. It also inspired me on a spiritual level similar to Sunshine in terms of transcending death.

[sunset]

The Fountain was also a great cinematic experience and The Last Winter, both are very good SF movies.

[hongi]

I love horror movies, so I'll definitely check out that second one. Cheers.

[Starshine]

"2001 - A Space Odyssey" is really awesome, it's my No.2 behind Sunshine. A absolutely must-have-seen and a film that deals with a lot of interesting philosophical topics in a way that makes you think.

LotR is a really emotional touching, I agree. My fave before Sunshine.

@ hongi: If you like ScFi and Horror, Event Horizion would be the best film for you

[darose]

Many movies affect me like Sunshine did. Usually ones where a main character makes a big personal (or even ultimate) sacrifice, or strives against insurmountable odds. Some examples:

L.O.T.R.
Year of the Dragon (Mickey Roarke movie from the 80's about 1 man fighting the Chinese mob)
Billy Elliott

etc.

[kaliszewski]

The only one that comes immediately to mind is "Now, Voyager," with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid.

That is not a good thing.

At the end of "Now, Voyager," I remember sitting and staring at the television screen and thinking That's it...?

This is bad confession time:

I have never hated a screenplay more than I hate the screenplay for "Sunshine." A filmed piece of writing has never left me feeling so full of anger, frustration, and despair. I have never felt such an urge to lash out-- physically, if possible-- at another writer's sheer presumption and arrogance. I've courted fantasies about parking a swift right-- or two, or ten, or maybe even the largest of my kettlebells-- on Alex Garland's chin.

I think about all the unnecessary death in this film, all the blundering, bad judgment, and unprofessionalism, and I want to scream.


So: three more:

"Jason X." A space crew encounters the boogieman, and get themselves picked off one by one like the dundering lunkheads they are. (Favorite line, and one that I'm sure Alex Garland tried desperately to re-tool for his own sunny exercise in human haplessness: "It's okay. He only wanted his machete!") Only these dundering lunkheads have an excuse: they're teenagers, not highly trained astronauts and scientists at the tops of their respective fields.

"Event Horizon." "Sunshine" without the identity crisis ("EH" is a horror film from stem to stern and never pretends otherwise) and with Laurence Fishburne, whose Captain Miller is a captain I would follow.

"A Night to Remember." A far more realistic and moving portrayal of human behavior in the face of insurmountable tragedy, and one of the best films of all time. One that makes me cry honestly, not arbitrarily or out of manipulation.


Sorry about this. I've been bottling up these thoughts for far too long, and as things are winding down hereabouts, I thought I should confess.

AND EDITED TO ADD: "The Misfits." Which I've never watched,¹ and I never plan to watch. I am very glad that Cillian Murphy wasn't alive in 1961 and that current technology doesn't allow for time travel, because if Cillian could get himself into this film, he would. And then I'd be stuck watching it for him while witnessing not only the downfall of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe but also my bane of all banes when it comes to film, this being the bane second only to onscreen rape: animal cruelty. I've seen clips from "The Misfits," and they give me the same sense of sick, hopeless despair that "Sunshine" does.²

One that you might say affects me "honestly" like "Sunshine": "Das Boot." But there's a major difference: Jurgen Prochnow and his fellow actors, portraying a U-boat crew at Germany's dismal losing end of World War II, act with the utmost discipline, ingenuity, bravery, and intelligence under the most hopeless and exhausting conditions. The film's writer allows the characters to make the most of the resources at their command; he doesn't saddle them with arbitrary death traps; he doesn't force them to make inexplicable, inexcusable decisions. When tragedy strikes, it's emphatically not the crew's fault. They've done their best; they've done their duty. So when their only reward is death, it's painful and terrible, but the viewer can accept it with a clear conscience: sometimes bad things simply happen to the best and bravest of people. Conversely, had Prochnow and his crew survived, we could have said, without qualification or pause, that they had earned said survival. They would have deserved whatever victory they might have enjoyed. It wouldn't have been given to them by default-- after, say, a string of blunders, bad judgment calls, and an immature disregard for mission protocols and the chain of command. Which is the sort of "victory" Alex Garland tries to sell us in "Sunshine." Sorry, Alex: this old harpy ain't buying it.



<sub>1. My bad. I'm being a hypocrite. So sue me.

2. The difference being, I hear "The Misfits" doesn't end with the slaughter of the animals in question. I'm still not watching it. If I want to feel crushed and depressed, I can go to work and get paid to feel that way.</sub>

[jreaperz]

no, there is no movie that affects me to the level of what Sunshine did, since I'm extremely picky on my film selection.

However, some film that was close, is -yes- LOTR the Return of the King. And for non-SF or fantasy film, Empire of the Sun - to some extent. I don't like Space Odyssey : 2001, since it is too philosophical, while I think a film must be down to earth and humble to inspire people.

[lessthanfirst]

Donnie Darko.

I always defend the quality and emotion of that film.