Sunshine Superman: Delightful Doc on Base Jumper Carl Boenish Soars

A heart-racing documentary portrait of Carl Boenish, the father of the BASE-jumping movement, whose early passion for skydiving led him to ever more spectacular -and dangerous- feats of foot-launched human flight. Experience his jaw-dropping journey in life and love, to the pinnacle of his achievements when he and wife Jean broke the BASE-jumping Guinness World Record in 1984 on the Norwegian ‘Troll Wall’ mountain range. Incredibly, within days, triumph was followed by disaster. Told through a stunning mix of Carl’s 16mm archive footage, well-crafted re-enactments and state-of-the-art aerial photography, Sunshine Superman will leave you breathless and inspired. (C) Magnolia

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Sunshine Superman is a fascinating and rather emotionally engaging tribute to famous BASE jumper Carl Boenish. This is quite the intimate portrayal of a wild life from the unofficial inventor of BASE jumping. A showcase in crazy death defying stunts on top of mountains and man-made towers and buildings, the stunning realization in how they pull it off was very impressive. Viewers have a great opportunity to discover the history of jumping off various objects like TV towers, too. These are both humorous and sometimes scary moments.

Sunshine Superman is a lovely and poignant reflection on the man very few people really knew. Viewers learn a lot from the activity and the personal life of Carl. There was a certain freedom that Carl embraced; a free spirit with dominion over the earth yet garnering great respect for its roots. The gripping footage is breathtaking and captivating which somewhat resembles the closest thing to the first Go Pro camera. Plus the enthralling reenactment of the not-to-be-revealed climatic moments truly enthralls the audiences. Sunshine Superman showcases a lot of incredible photography meant to be seen on the big screen so make a priority to visit your local art house cinema for the best cinematic experience. This somewhat reminded me of the Oscar winner documentary Man on Wire but is much more sentimental drama than a mysterious thriller.

I originally saw Sunshine Superman at the Boulder Film Festival earlier this year which was the ideal audience for free-spirit, outdoor enthusiasts. The audience strongly responded to it concluding with sustained applause. These kind of people like to spend a lot of time outside, but they owe it to themselves to see this one. When I recommended this movie to a sky diving loving buddy from high school, he told me he watched it twice at the Hawaii Film Festival (where he is stationed). Sports fans, adrenaline junkies, and American history buffs will adore Sunshine Superman especially how it honors such a daring and fun-loving man like Carl Boenish.