One of the wonders of the universe is how director Danny Boyle managed to pull off a slick sci-fi adventure like Sunshine on a miniscule budget. The sun is literally the star of the show, but it's Cillian Murphy who takes us on a "gripping" journey through space to re-ignite the sun and save the Earth from meltdown. After glowing reviews, however, the film quickly fizzled out at the box office.

Go For Launch

A series of production diaries gives a brief overview of all the major challenges faced by Boyle and co. The director talks about having to "embrace" CGI (where most of the money was spent) and gives credit to production designer Mark Tildesley who built impressive sets like the Oxygen Garden. There's also a quick look behind the scenes at the costume department (apparently Kenny from South Park was influential for the spacesuit design!) and technical advisor Dr Brian Cox does 'the science bits'. Cillian Murphy doesn't seem too bothered by Cox's dire predictions for the end of the world though, languidly assuring us, "This is not science fiction. The sun will die," as he puts his feet up between takes. Yikes.

Murphy plays it cool once again for a tag-on alternative ending. In an optional commentary Boyle explains that this scene was shot on mini-DV to get the approval of higher-ups, but apparently that scheme didn't work. He explains that most of the cuts (seven of them here) were simply about preserving "forward momentum." When it came to saving money, Boyle also had a few tricks up his sleeve. An ambitious sequence where spaceships fail to dock, causing an onboard quake, was achieved not by using a sophisticated hydraulic-mounted set, but by a "butch guy" shaking the walls.

Boyle talks more about the use of visual effects in his commentary for the feature. He reveals that the toughest aspect of working with green screen is trying to get the right level of emotion out of the actors (who obviously have nothing to react to). When it came to conveying the power and scale of the sun, CGI was the only way to go, but Boyle adds that using blues, greys and greens for interior scenes helped to make the dazzling gold sunlight more dramatic.

Shedding Light

Dr Cox points out the lines between fiction and scientific theory in an alternative commentary, explaining that sometimes physics had to take a backseat to what works on screen. The young doc also hints that he has a "resemblance" to Cillian Murphy, which helped him land the job of his on-set advisor - perhaps blurring the lines of fantasy and reality a little too much... He also dispenses a lot of trivia about the sun and why, one day, we'll all be "toast".

A couple of short films by British filmmakers are also included on this disc. They each come with a personal recommendation by Danny Boyle although one of them, called Mole Hills, is just a six-minute static shot of piles of dirt on a pavement. It was directed by one of the crewmembers on Sunshine, so we can only assume a favour was owed for wages not paid. Apart from that, this DVD offers plenty of ideas to spark the interest of sci-fi fans.

EXTRA FEATURES

Sunshine DVD is released on Monday 27th August 2007.