Exploding Sun

Rated at 3.3 you'd think that this is one step away from a movie made by high school kids. Actually it's pretty good. What the critics are harping about is the science and they may have a point. There are only two real science issues: 1) The unlikely case of the shuttle being able to get close enough to the sun to penetrate it. 2) The relatively itty-bitty tiny speck of their special drive unit being able to have any effect upon the sun. For the shuttle getting close; that' the one 'gimme' (suspension of disbelief) that all sci-fi asks for. If they'd used teleporters, nobody would have said anything.. They actually qualify this by stating that the drive unit - which is what goes into the sun - is designed to take tremendous heat. The ability for the drive unit to disrupt the sun is another 'gimme', but it is explained throughout the movie as a unit that harnesses solar radiation and multiplies it. So IF the unit survived the entry into the sun, THEN it would cause a chain reaction. Beyond those two points, your critical eye really shouldn't see too much to cut down this movie. The acting is rather good, although corny in a few places. This is certainly not a 7.0 movie but it deserves a lot more than a 3.3 rating. I'll give it a 6.4 - on the edge of a good quality movie, almost worthy of looking forward to seeing again.

I loved it. I enjoy disaster movies especially when the plot, however thin, holds together. I would have liked to have seen a better romance between Anthony Lemke's character and character Denise Balaban. He was handsome, she was adorable, and it was sweet. Interaction among the lead characters was smooth but predictable if you weren't willing to just enjoy the ride. David James Elliot and Lemke were handsome throughout and even at 53 Elliot is so charming he could pass for 35. Yum. I constantly search for disaster movies worth watching and this one was. The only criticism I have is for the parts of the movie that tried to be more serious than necessary. Julia Ormand is beautiful, as always, but married to a man far too old for her character's appearance. And it is odd to me that the actor playing their son is a blue-eyed, snow-blond guy. **shrug** It was an entertaining way to spend a Saturday night :)

The reviews so far have fallen into the 'OMFG it's the worst thing EVAR' or 'OMFG it's a Stellar Masterpiece' camp. Both factions seem more interested in hyperbole than actual description. In reality it's not bad. Not great, but not bad. The FX for the space flight and solar stuff are actually pretty good. As for the rest, they did a decent job with a limited budget. Characterization isn't a mile deep, but hey, this is an action-drama, not Shakespeare. It's amazingly long, but that's not really a negative; you're getting more movie for your $;-). Current rating is lower than it deserves, it's a good 5.0-6.0. It won't change your life, but it's a decently entertaining flick. Watch without fear.

Firstly I should like to say that I genuinely believe that were I to watch this in glorious 3D the characters would still stubbornly remain wholly 2 dimensional. A cast of characters and a global population all in direst peril yet not one managed to elicit the smallest shred of sympathy. Logically I should next discuss the plot but that would require the existence of one. And last and least the science, sorry 'science', is unfathomable. How is it possible that anyone tasked with creating a script could so utterly fail to grasp even the tiniest shred of the laws of physics. All in all quite the most preposterous slice of pseudo-science I think I've ever had the misfortune to come across. Just an aside but am saddened to see that the prior comment by welsh_dragon_roar was so poorly received. I mean come on. It's irony folks.

I realize that no Academy Awards are forthcoming for this movie, but I do have some positive things to say about it. True, it is one of those formulaic low-budget 2-part mini-series about the world-destroying disaster movies in which inevitable destruction somehow gets turned around instantaneously when scientists figure out what to do and there's an intrepid astronaut/fighter pilot/etc. there to implement the plan. So, no big surprises there. However, there are a couple of odd things about it: SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ... First, the first 90 minutes are spent trying to rescue a bunch of civilian astronauts, all of who actually get killed. Second, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER the thing in Afghanistan ended up WAY different than expected, with the heroine having to kill the girl she was trying to protect! SHEESH, I didn't see that coming. I figured that when the solar flare attack (or whatever the heck it was) hit the area the tribal chief would work with the relief workers, not attack them more - no heartwarming resolution there. Third - it was hard to tell what was up with the blond man stranded in his apartment, and it was rather formulaic that he found purpose in his empty life blah blah blah by rescuing a woman and her child. However, here was the unusual part - as he faced the end of the world he didn't get all sentimental about his parents (I had half expected him to start caring about them) - instead, he said up front what lousy parents they were. Finally, as far as oddities that made this movie different from the routine imminent-world-destruction pix - many have commented on the dumbness of the two male rivals arguing while a major crisis is looming. True, that is probably unrealistic - people would more likely have had their attention on the problem at hand. However, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER - while I figured, early on, one of them would have to die, my money was on the astronaut - I figured that was what he was there for, i.e. someone who could pilot the device into the sun - so was surprised that the other guy (who seemed more suited to the woman the two were fighting over) died instead. Finally - several here have commented on how ridiculous and non-scientific the whole premise of the movie is, and I agree. There is no way that a thingy fired from a space craft could make the sun go bananas. Fine, from a scientific standpoint the whole thing is ridiculous to the nth degree. So, what's your point?:)

I have seen enough to write a good enough review about this movie/show. I find it to be a very cheesy poorly written script. I mean for what it is, it is not that bad though. However, there was little to no research put into this with the "Scalar drive I mean when you say it is going 5,000MPM (Miles per minute) that comes to about 8 million meters a second. The distance from the moon to the sun is about 152 Million meaning you have less then 20 seconds... More detail and refining of the little things would have made this C list TV/Movie a more enjoyable watch. Perhaps next time they might invest in someone reading the script before they start filming perhaps?

I don't get all the negative, self-righteous criticism of the movie. It's a movie about a next-generation space shuttle that can take civilians into space and to the moon rather quickly. Of course it's not believable because it's impossible to do something like that. So set your belief aside and enjoy the movie for what it is: science fiction. Of course you can't talk back and forth instantly to a spacecraft that's near the Sun, but think about how boring it would have been if the director had made it realistic and we had to wait 8 minutes for each response. The person who criticized the part about the cell phone being used to call the shuttle obviously missed the part where the computer geek patches it through the company space communications system. The special effects were better than I expected, although I got tired of seeing the sun shown as a giant ball of lava-like material. Sun loops are magnetic and have a certain form -- nothing like what was portrayed. Since the entire movie is about how the Sun behaves, I would have thought they'd pay more attention to trying to make it look like what it actually does.

I'm staggered that some reviewers think that the plot is believable, the script is realistic or the acting is credible. None of these things are true, unless, perhaps, you are a nine year old used to reading "Peter and Jane" books. The science is shockingly poor. Almost everything is incorrect...usually massively so. There are reams and reams of examples of this but you can get the sense of it from the plot line that has the President of the United States using a regular computer to talk via Skype to his wife, who is on a spaceship rapidly approaching the sun. 27 million Fahrenheit temperature....no problem. 8 minute each way delay in the time for the signal to arrive....no problem. Skype being used, rather than a sophisticated video link...no problem. If it were just the science being appallingly bad, perhaps it might be forgivable, but, sadly, the script is preposterous. For example, the Chief Scientist running the mission is the ex- lover of the Chief Sceince Officer at the Whitehouse. She is now in a relationship with a "hero-like" astronaut who is famous for a mutiny on another space mission where he tied- up the commander of the ship without anyone on earth being aware of it. Cue infighting between the two guys over who will make the critical decisions to save the people on the spacecraft (and the Whole World, as it turns out!). Luckily for the argumentative astronaut, his lover is able to miraculously get from the Whitehouse to the command centre instantly to get him appointed. Amazingly, not only is he an astronaut, but, without any training, he has a complete grasp of the design of the spaceship and a full understanding of the mission. Worse than unbelievable....completely ridiculous. Then there is the character creation and the acting. Absolutely two dimensional and totally predictable. If it had been written as a spoof, it might have been funny. It wasn't and it isn't. No redeeming features whatsoever.

Based on the level of scientific understanding demonstrated, I would have expected this movie to be from the late 1940's. There was so much that was inconceivably bad in this movie that it is hard to know where to begin. Others have pointed out this is not a science fiction movie. It's just fiction without the science. However, imagine a vaunted space trip that is so momentous, it even includes the President's wife on-board the ship. Now, imagine that instead of NASA and Mission Control, you have a small meeting room in what could be a Ramada Inn with multiple laptop displays at the front of the room. On top of this, during the critical moments of the mission, the two guys in charge start pushing and shoving each other. When one of the main characters is making a call by cell-phone (I know!)to the spacecraft, telling them crucial information, the female lead bursts in and tells the guy to hang up repeatedly. Then she demands that he "let her in". Well, the message doesn't get delivered in time, with dire consequences. I could go on and on, but the scenes and acting are too pitiful to describe. I love bad movies, but this one disrespects its audience completely. I guess Julia Ormond owed someone a favor, or lost a bet. They didn't try very hard to make a good movie, and what's more they didn't care. The essence of a good "bad movie" is that they are really doing the best they can, and their efforts fall entertainingly short. This is not one of those films.

Two astronauts who do not particularly get along aim to save the world before the sun explodes. So yes, the title is self explanatory. However this means that Don Wincroft (David james) and fellow astronaut Craig Bakus (Anthony lemke) have to put their differences aside and try to forgive each other as Don Wincroft is now the husband of Craig Bakus' wife Cheryl Wincroft (Natalie Brown), what makes matters worst? Is that these two big headed astronauts used to be best friends. Jeff Schechter who is the writer of this improbable science fiction, may have not gotten all the facts accurate when it comes to the scientific aspect of things to say the least, unless you believe that the sun is not hot or big enough to burst a spaceship that is a billion times smaller into pieces, but my favorite was that people could reach the moon in less than 8 hours, baring in mind I could get to Africa in that exact time. However we have to remember that this is a fiction movie and anything can happen, also the beautiful cinematography by Michael st. Martin and the sound effects which weren't too overpowering created the perfect amount of tension and excitement. The performance by the all Canadian cast (including the director Michael Robison) was at a satisfactory standard. The acting was convincing throughout the movie. Nevertheless, we are introduced to various of different characters with all very different status from the president of the United States to very intimidating and angry afghan citizens to a very down to earth local nurse. One cant help but notice that Jeff Schechter wanted to capture more than the tragedy of the sun exploding, and in 3 hours he sure did. We see how even people who couldn't have a more different lifestyle and no matter how powerful one is everyone has emotions and it really highlights the important things in this world including family and friendship. Overall the movie had a deeper message than just the sun exploding and even though the the scientific facts weren't up to scratch, it was a very enjoyable and touching film. I found it somehow inspiring as it restored my faith in humanity while people strived to save themselves and each other. I recommend you watch it if you have three hours to spare. Kidst Ayalew.