“I’ll just wait for it to come out on DVD,” is very commonly said with documentaries that get cinema releases. Sure, you’ll have a good time with Sunshine Superman from your couch, as it tells an absorbing story of the birth of BASE jumping. But if you want to feel the thrill of being pushed off that cliff yourself, watch this on the biggest and most badass screen you can find.
BASE jumping was the twinkle in Carl Boenish’s eye, a hippy Ned Flanders of a character who centres the film. He’s too intellectually concise to be called a lunatic, but too bonkers to be completely sane, and the way Sunshine Superman illustrates him really convinces you that he was destined to discover the beauty in something so seemingly terrifying. After he met his partner Jean, the movement really started to gain life. (The simple story of their first date is so damn sweet, I could’ve sworn it was caramelised.)
It’s not the deepest of true stories ever documented, but it has a throbbing emotional pulse and plenty of philosophical chewing gum to sustain a feature running time. What really pushes Sunshine Superman into cinema bedazzlement is the fact that Boenish was also a cinematographer, GoPro-ing all these jumps before the GoPro itself was an eye-twinkle. Decades on, this footage looks incredible on the big screen, and there’s so much of it too. Be warned though: it will dropkick you right in the vertigo.
‘Sunshine Superman’ Movie Times
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