Exploding Sun

Exploding Sun is a 2013 Canadian made-for-TV sci-fi film directed by Michael Robison and starring Julia Ormond, David James Elliott, Natalie Brown and Anthony Lemke. The film is broadcast both as a stand-alone film and in two parts with various durations.

Exploding Sun
Written byJeff Schechter
Directed byMichael Robison
StarringJulia Ormond
David James Elliott
Natalie Brown
Anthony Lemke
Theme music composerJames Gelfand
Country of originCanada
Original language(s)English
Production
Producer(s)Irene Litinsky
Michael Prupas
CinematographyMichel St. Martin
Editor(s)Jean Beaudoin
Running time176 minutes
Production company(s)Muse Entertainment
DistributorSonar Entertainment
Release
Original release
  • February 8, 2013 (2013-02-08) (Sweden)

Plot

A privately owned spaceship with passengers, among them the president's wife, is on its maiden flight around the Moon and back to Earth. When a massive solar storm blows the rocket off course, the ship moves forward out of control on a direct path toward the Sun, and eventually burns up. The quantum scalar drive powering the ship, which is engineered to withstand extreme temperatures, survives solar impact and puts the Sun into a hyperactive phase, causing massive bursts of radiation that have a devastating effect on Earth. The second half of the movie depicts these effects and peoples' struggles to find shelter and survive.

It is revealed that the US military has copied and militarized the quantum scalar drive, and built a spaceship powered by nuclear pulse propulsion to propel the weapon into orbit. The creator of the scalar drive teams up with a NASA astronaut to reconfigure the weapon so as to counteract the effects of the first one as it drops into the Sun. The Sun cools down and the Earth is saved from destruction.

Scientific inaccuracies
  • The spacecraft makes an external whooshing sound as it travels. As space is airless, this is unrealistic.
  • The ship, while out of control and not under power, makes a slingshot orbit of the moon. In the absence of thrust the passengers of the craft would be weightless; they are shown as feeling a nine-gravity force during this orbit, when in reality they would share the orbit of the ship and feel no gravitational effects at all.
  • There is no delay in radio communications. There should be a delay of two and a half seconds in radio contact between the Earth and lunar orbit, and one of sixteen minutes between the Earth and the ship nearing the Sun.
  • The ship has a "maximum speed" in the movie, despite the engine still visibly providing thrust (the passengers are pressed into their seats). This is scientifically wrong, as acceleration would mean speed increase in a vacuum.

TV release

The film was first shown by Swedish Kanal 5 in a 116-minute version on February 8, 2013.[1] It was first shown in the US by Reelz on September 9, 2013.[2] Exploding Sun was dubbed into Spanish for the first time on January 12, 2014 by UniMás.

Home media

In addition to the 176 minute version, a 120-minute version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in USA on October 15, 2013.[3]

Reception

Exploding Sun was panned by critics and audiences. The film currently has no critic rating and an audience rating of 13% on Rotten Tomatoes.

gollark: I know what I said.
gollark: This way lies only madness.
gollark: As if "irl" can't be edited.
gollark: Oh yes.
gollark: It isn't as if GTech™ insanity inductors run more than 99.3% of the time.

References
  1. 5 Play: Exploding Sun Linked 2013-10-26
  2. PRWeb, July 9, 2013: REELZ to Air U.S. Premieres for Three Original Movies From Sonar Entertainment Linked 2013-10-26
  3. Amazon US: Exploding Sun (2013) Linked 2013-10-26
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