How did the Captain of the Icarus I survive?
In the movie Sunshine the Captain of the first space ship Icarus I survived for almost 7 years. How did he survive this long in space without any backup or support? Also, he was severely burnt, so how did he survive for seven long years? There was oxygen on Icarus I but no sign of food and medical facilities, so how did he survive?
Best Answer
1: Food
Danny Boyle makes the point in the directors commentary that the inclusion of Corazon's garden was not just that they would have a self - replenishing supply of oxygen - it is indeed shown in the film that carrots, among other foodstuffs were being grown there. He also suggests that food sources such as fish could be used on such flights in a similar manner.
With the Icarus I' s oxygen garden having got so completely overgrown it is not difficult to imagine that there was enough vegetation to at least feed Pinbacker on his own...
2: Indestructible...
... but to be honest one has to really suspend their disbelief when acknowledging that Pinbacker had not only survived but was so severly burned that one can not even see him straight due to the amount of radiation surging back out of his body all of the time. I love the film and love the premise of the character, but he has been transformed into something that crosses the border into supernatural, Bruce Banner-esque territory.
"(Danny Boyle) also described the potentially unrealistic presence of Pinbacker as an example of something that breaks the pattern of realism, similar to his scene in Trainspotting (1996) in which Ewan McGregor's character dives into a toilet."
(Quoted from https://web.archive.org/web/20090107144715/http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/content/view/2074/1 ) - interview with Danny Boyle, LuminoMagazine 2007.
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How did Pinbacker survive Sunshine?
The reason Pinbacker was able to survive for so long was that the ecosystem on board was still flourishing. He had plenty of oxygen and vegetation, enough to keep him alive. He was also the only person alive on board the Icarus I, meaning he wouldn't have to share it with anyone else.What happened to the crew of Icarus 1 in Sunshine?
The crew of Icarus I is found dead in the solar observation room so burned that they are now mostly dust, like the victims of Pompeii. Suddenly, the Icarus I forcibly decouples, destroying the outer airlock and stranding the four crew members on the derelict spacecraft.Who is the burned guy in Sunshine?
Ostensibly it's Pinbacker, the captain of the Icarus I who appears to have had a religious experience with the Sun. Following this, he becomes insane (or enlightened) and sabotages the original Icarus I, killing everyone inside directly or indirectly.Does anyone survive in Sunshine?
Eventually, everyone left dies in order to bring the payload into the sun. The ending is ambiguous but seems to indicate that the mission succeeded. The crew dies in this order: Actor: Chipo Chung, Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh.Steve/Bucky- Icarus
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