Robert Capa quotes from Sunshine (2007)

Robert Capa

By the time you get this message, I'll be in the dead zone. It came a little sooner than we thought, but this means you won't be able to send a message back. So, I just wanted to let you know that I don't need the message, because I know everything you wanna say. Just remember, it takes eight minutes for light to travel from sun to Earth, which means you'll know we succeeded about eight minutes after we deliver the payload. All you have to is look out for a little extra brightness in the sky. So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it. Okay, I'm signing out, and I'll see you in a couple of years.

Robert Capa

Are you asking me to weigh the life of one person against the future of the humanity?...Kill him

Mace

Do I have to spell it out for you? We have a payload to deliver to the heart of our nearest star. We're delivering that payload because that star is dying. And if it dies, we die. Everything dies. So that is our mission. There is nothing, literally nothing, more important than completing our mission. End of story!

Trey

He's right.

Mace

He's right? Of course I'm right! Is anyone here seriously considering otherwise?

Searle

May I put a counter-argument?

Mace

No!

Searle

Captain?

Kaneda

Go ahead.

Searle

It would, of course, be absurd to alter our trajectory to assist the crew of the Icarus I. Even if we knew that some or even all of that crew are still alive, their lives are entirely expendable when seen in the context of our mission. As are our own lives.

Mace

Exactly.

Searle

However, there is something on board the Icarus I that may be worth the detour. As you pointed out, Mace, we have a payload to deliver. A payload, singular. Now, everything about the delivery and effectiveness of that payload is entirely theoretical. Simply put, we don't know if it's gonna work. But what we do know is this: if we had two bombs, we'd have two chances.

Kaneda

You're assuming we'd be able to pilot Icarus I.

Searle

Yes.

Trey

Which is assuming that whatever stopped them completing the mission wasn't a fault or a damage to the spacecraft.

Searle

Yes.

Mace

It's a lot of assumptions.

Searle

It is. It's a risk assessment. The question is: does the risk of a detour outweigh the benefits of an extra payload?

Mace

We'll have a vote.

Searle

No. No, we won't. We are not a democracy. We're a collection of astronauts and scientists, so we're gonna make the most informed decision available to us.

Mace

Made by you, by any chance?

Kaneda

Made by the person best qualified to understand the complexities of payload delivery: our physicist.

Capa

Shit.

Cassie

It's different. Being afraid that you won't make it back home. And then knowing that you won't.

Capa

Our survival depends on what we can salvage from Icarus I.

Cassie

No. We're gonna die out here. Like the other crew. I know it. So do you. Are you scared?

Capa

When a Stellar Bomb is triggered, very little will happen at first. And then a spark will pop into existence, and it will hang for an instant, hovering in space, and then, it will split into two, and those will split again, and again, and again. Detonation beyond all imagining – the big bang on a small scale. A new star born out of a dying one. I think it will be beautiful. No, I'm not scared.

Cassie

I am.

Capa

Icarus?

Icarus

Yes, Capa?

Capa

Run an update on biometric signs for all crew. Check oxygen consumption.

Icarus

Checking …

Capa

Thank you.

Icarus

Capa?

Capa

Yes?

Icarus

You are dying. All crew are dying.

Capa

We know we're dying. As long as we can live long enough to deliver the payload, we're okay with it.

Icarus

Capa, warning: you will not live long enough to deliver the payload.

Capa

Please clarify.

Icarus

Twelve hours before crew will be unable to perform complex tasks. Fourteen hours before crew will be unable to perform basic tasks. Sixteen hours until death. Journey time to delivery point: 19 hours.

Capa

It is impossible. Corazon is certain we have remaining oxygen to keep four crew alive.

Icarus

Affirmative. Four crew could potentially survive on current reserves.

Capa

Trey is dead. There are only four crew members.

Icarus

Negative.

Capa

Affirmative, Icarus. Four crew: Cassie, Mace, Corazon and me.

Icarus

Five crew members.

Capa

Icarus?

Icarus

Yes?

Capa

Who is the fifth crew member?

Icarus

Unknown.

Capa

Where is the fifth crew member?

Icarus

In the observation room.

Pinbacker

Are you an angel? Has the time come? I've been waiting so long.

Capa

Who are you?

Pinbacker

Who am I? At the end of time, a moment will come when just one man remains. Then the moment will pass. Man will be gone. There will be nothing to show that we were ever here … but stardust. The last man, alone with God. Am I that man?

Capa

My God...my God. Pinbacker!

Pinbacker

Not your God. Mine!