Sunshine (2007) - Boyle's great-looking, suspenseful sci-fi

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+ Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year

Critical hype that's barely readable features on this visually promising poster for Danny Boyle's Sunshine

The sun is dying, and consequently, so is mankind. A second manned space mission is launched in 2050 to reignite the sun with a nuclear bomb. But the Icarus II mission encounters many problems along the way...

Sunshine is written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later... (2002)) and directed by great English filmmaker Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave (1994)). It is arguably one of Boyle's best films and could even be called the most exciting space movie since Alien (1979).
Sunshine has beautiful images (terrific, ambitious cinematography by Alwin H. Küchler (Morvern Callar (2002))), impressive visual effects, a handsome, talented ensemble cast, and good suspense.
What isn't wholly great is the film's ending, which is strange, as a mysterious, deformed person from the first Icarus mission is roaming onboard. SPOILER It all ends in a psychedelic conclusion, where Boyle sticks closely to the film's unexceptional score (by John Murphy (The Man (2005))).

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2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
28 Days Later (2002) or, Fast Zombies in England 
The Beach (2000) or, Paradise Never Lasts

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 32 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.8 times its cost)
[Sunshine premiered 23 March (Bochum Fantasy Filmfest Nights, Germany) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place in London, England, Sydney, Australia and in Stockholm, Sweden for 3 months, starting in August 2005. The film opened #25 to a 242k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 461 theaters, grossing 3.6 mil. $ (11.3 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was main production country the UK with 6.4 mil. $ (20 %). North America was the 2nd biggest, and 3rd biggest was France with 3.1 mil. $ (9.7 %). The film won 1/2 British Independent Film awards. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It was criticized by scientists for scientific inaccuracies; for instance reportedly billions of the nuclear bomb targeted at the sun in the film would actually be needed to cause a reignition. Boyle said that he would not return to the sci-fi genre after the lengthy production process with Sunshine. The film made in excess of 15.83 mil. $ on North American home video sales; if added into the calculation, it would change the film's status to that of big flop instead. Boyle returned with Alien Love Triangle (2008, short) and theatrically with Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Cillian Murphy (Cold Mountain (2003)) returned in Watching the Detectives (2007). Sunshine is certified fresh at 76 % with a 6.84/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Sunshine?

28 Days Later (2002) or, Fast Zombies in England!

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+ Best London Movie of the Year + Best Zombie Movie of the Year

The ominous poster for Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later

28 Days Later is an energetic, exciting Danny Boyle-directed (127 Hours (2010)) zombie horror, written by Alex Garland (Ex Machina (2015)).

The film presents an original spin on a zombie plague and has a nice London-set section. - Zombies are of the new, fast-as-hell kind here. 
 
The span between artsy, alone-in-the-world-thematic scenes and bloody terror in 28 Days Later is sometimes too contrasted for my taste, although some audiences and critics have embraced the film wholeheartedly for this reason in particular.
Cillian Murphy (Girl With a Pear Earring (2003)) and Brendan Gleeson (Calvary (2014)) are good here, but otherwise the performances are not too strong, and parts of the film look like they were shot on an amateur camera.

Related posts:

Danny Boyle: 28 Weeks Later (2007) or, Fast Zombies in England 2! (executive producer)

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
The Beach (2002) or, Paradise Never Lasts

Cillian Murphy runs for his life in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later

Watch the trailer for this modern zombie classic here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 82.7 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 10.33 times the cost)
[28 Days Later was released 1 November and runs 113 minutes. It opened #4, behind fellow new release Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and holdover hits Hulk and Finding Nemo, to a 10 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it then left the top 5 and grossed 45 mil. $ (54.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were production country the UK with 9.7 mil. $ (11.7 %) and Spain with 6.5 mil. $ (7.9 %), where reportedly almost 1.2 mil. people paid admission to see it. Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire (2008)) won the Best Cinematographer award at the European Film Awards for his work here. The film has so far spun a 2007 sequel, a graphic novel and a comic book. A 3rd film is in the works. Boyle returned with Millions (2004). Murphy returned in Intermission (2003). 28 Days Later is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.4/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 28 Days Later?