The Martian - November 2015 - Starring Matt Damon

[Ahriman238]

I like the book, and I'm actually kind of psyched about the film. Trying to not over-inflate my hopes, it's an adaptation and it's sure to be dumbed down just a little bit, but still.

[The Romulan Republic]

Just remember (and this goes for all adaptations): different from the book does not equal bad.

[RogueIce]

Sean Bean is in this? Well I guess we know somebody dies heroically?

Haven't read the book no spoilers you jerks this is just a Sean Bean joke

[Ahriman238]

Sean Bean is in this? Well I guess we know somebody dies heroically?

Haven't read the book no spoilers you jerks this is just a Sean Bean joke

No spoilers.

Sean Bean doesn't always die. There was Sharpe's Rifles. And I think something else.

[J Ryan]

Sean Bean is in this? Well I guess we know somebody dies heroically?

Haven't read the book no spoilers you jerks this is just a Sean Bean joke

No spoilers.

Sean Bean doesn't always die. There was Sharpe's Rifles. And I think something else.

He didn't die in Jupiter Ascending much to the shock of the internet.

[LadyTevar]

Moved to Appropriate Forum.

[Nephtys]

He somehow survived TWO Silent Hill movies!

[Adam Reynolds]

Sean Bean is in this? Well I guess we know somebody dies heroically?

Haven't read the book no spoilers you jerks this is just a Sean Bean joke

No spoilers.

Sean Bean doesn't always die. There was Sharpe's Rifles. And I think something else.

He didn't die in Jupiter Ascending much to the shock of the internet.

There was also the whole #Sean Bean Lives marketing with the recent TNT TV series Legends, though I can't say I watched it.

As for the comments about spoiler filled trailers, I feel like the current assumption by movie studios is that in the era of the internet, everyone will know what happens in your movie anyway and that the secrets aren't worth protecting. The only examples I can think of that don't do this are JJ Abrams in literally everything*, and the trailers for Godzilla and Iron Man 3, both of which were extremely misleading.
* His whole mystery box idea. I like the dig that Community threw against it in their stop motion animated Christmas episode, Abed found a DVD for Lost season 1 which served as a metaphor for lack of payoff.

[Adam Reynolds]

If anyone didn't know, it is coming out this weekend.

One awesome bit of marketting is that they actually got Neil Degrasse Tyson to do a promo for the film. It does show his ultimate dream for what NASA could be, so this isn't surprising. Considering how critical he was of Gravity and Interstellar*, it is nice to see. Personally I wasn't as much of a fan of either of those as I am of The Martian book, so we'll see if the film lives up to it.



* Interestingly he seemed much worse in his criticism of Gravity than Interstellar. Possibly because of the underlying message of each. Gravity was more about the harsh reality of life in space, Interstellar had a stronger sense of wonder about the greater universe. In contrast, The Martian is about the power of human scientific ingenuity in the face of that harsh reality, a much greater message and one that Dr. Tyson agrees with more strongly.

[Jub]

I just got back from a pre-screening of the movie. I won't spoil anything, but I thought the movie was amazing. I can't say what may or may not have changed from the book, but I was invested from start to finish.

[Adam Reynolds]

I just got back from a pre-screening of the movie. I won't spoil anything, but I thought the movie was amazing. I can't say what may or may not have changed from the book, but I was invested from start to finish.

I would agree that it was fantastic. There were several changes from the book to movie that were understandable in the context of changing for the different medium. Several changes were less dramatically interesting, though largely just due to time constraints. The addition of an epilogue for the film was for the better and in my opinion was worth the other changes. I would also say that the casting was fantastic. Every actor chosen fit the role perfectly.

The ethos of this movie is exactly what the world needs. People that see a problem as something to be solved rather than something to ignore or to complain about.
Spoiler

The majority of the changes I noticed had to do with Whatney's trip from the Hab to the Ares 4 launch site. In the book he rolls the rover and has to save it. In addition, there is a major element in the book in which he has to go through a dust storm that reduces his solar power. He has the problem that he doesn't know what direction it is strongest.

An additional problem for the above was that he made his entire trip without contract from NASA as he accidentally fried Pathfinder when working on modifying the Rover.

The ending rescue sequence was also changed. In the book after they vent the atmosphere to reduce speed, they are within the speed and range parameters for it to work. In the movie there was additional drama in which Whatney vented the atmosphere of his suit to make up the extra distance. There was also the change that in the book Dr. Beck was the EVA specalist and went out for Mark, in the movie Commander Lewis did it as she didn't want to put anyone else in danger.

The epilouge was very much for the better as it gave a sense of continuing the mission. Even though NASA took a bloody nose, they weren't stopping. I also liked how it showed the Chinese astronaut coming along on Ares 5.

[Zaune]

Spoiler

The majority of the changes I noticed had to do with Whatney's trip from the Hab to the Ares 4 launch site. In the book he rolls the rover and has to save it. In addition, there is a major element in the book in which he has to go through a dust storm that reduces his solar power. He has the problem that he doesn't know what direction it is strongest.

An additional problem for the above was that he made his entire trip without contract from NASA as he accidentally fried Pathfinder when working on modifying the Rover.

The ending rescue sequence was also changed. In the book after they vent the atmosphere to reduce speed, they are within the speed and range parameters for it to work. In the movie there was additional drama in which Whatney vented the atmosphere of his suit to make up the extra distance. There was also the change that in the book Dr. Beck was the EVA specalist and went out for Mark, in the movie Commander Lewis did it as she didn't want to put anyone else in danger.

The epilouge was very much for the better as it gave a sense of continuing the mission. Even though NASA took a bloody nose, they weren't stopping. I also liked how it showed the Chinese astronaut coming along on Ares 5.

Spoiler

Did he cut a hole in the gloves so he could, and I quote, "fly around like Iron Man"? Because that was his original idea in the book and they had to talk him out of it.

[Adam Reynolds]

Spoiler

Did he cut a hole in the gloves so he could, and I quote, "fly around like Iron Man"? Because that was his original idea in the book and they had to talk him out of it.

Yes. Spoiler

In the book Lewis simply adapts the idea to the Hermes and is successful, In the film they do both.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I just got back from seeing it. Now, I haven't read the book so I can't comment on the book-to-film changes, but as a hard SF film about a guy stranded on Mars? It was excellent.

Also, the model for the Hermes was freaking gorgeous.

[Borgholio]

I was interested by watching the trailer, but now I think I really should see it.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Honestly, regardless of whether you've read the book or not I would recommend this. I won't go so far as to say it's as good as or better than Apollo 13 (because a) that really happened and b) had Ed Harris) but it's certainly one of the best "spaceflight" films I've seen.

[Guardsman Bass]

I saw it earlier today, and it's excellent. Matt Damon kills it, and as mentioned above the Hermes is a lovely spacecraft (oh, if only NASA had the budget for one of those . . . )

[The Romulan Republic]

The comments on this film that I've seen are almost all favourable. Of course, a lot of that is from other space enthusiasts (i.e. Mars Society folks).

Their seems to be a hope that this film will inspire more support for the space program, though I don't know if that's realistic.

I'm planning to go see it on Tuesday (because my theatre gives a discount on Tuesdays).

[cosmicalstorm]

The best space film ever I'd say. Loved it, good pacing, silly jokes, Matt Damon did the role of a lifetime. I have not been this content with a cinema visit since Jurassic Park as a twelve year old.
Very respectful towards science and engineering.

[Elheru Aran]

I wouldn't call it 'best space film ever'... but it's up there. It's definitely up there.

Pros: Fucking awesome scenery. Seriously, it really makes you believe that you're watching an astronaut on Mars. The sky doesn't look Earthlike, the rocks have a certain distinctively bare and worn look, and there's absolutely no plants anywhere. Hermes is a beautiful ship. Damon really sells the character of Watney.

Cons: They mess with some plot points from the book. This was probably a matter of cinematic pacing and shit, but still.
Spoiler

Overall, while Watney talks about 'science' and 'I'm going to science the shit out of this' a lot, they don't actually have much exposition or actual discussion about science except for a couple of bits that I recall (the plants in shit and making water with hydrazine).

They removed a lot of the things that made his life more difficult. Instead of busting his visor and having to use his suit sleeve to patch it and grope his way blindly back to the hab, he uses... duct tape. He doesn't fry Pathfinder and lose contact with Earth. He doesn't have terrain issues with the rover, which also has a crane conveniently added to it so he can just haul Pathfinder aboard and not have to jerry-rig a ramp. Just rolls all around the place without a worry.

I suppose it's arguable that the common movie-goer might have gotten bored with the time they would have to take to depict these events, but it wouldn't have bothered me. To be fair, the movie is already kinda long to start with...

On the other hand, they tried to ratchet up the tension at the end, somewhat unnecessarily I thought, by the MAV pod being all tumbly (I didn't really buy that) and coming short of the ship, having Lewis go out with the tether rather than Beck, and the tether coming up short so Watney has to Iron Man his way to Lewis, then they re-enact that bit from Gravity with Clooney and Bullock... all the while Watney has oxygen leaking out of his suit, you know, but nobody appears to notice. It felt artificial and somewhat forced. The end is still a good scene (you gotta love using a bomb for braking purposes) but it fell somewhat flat for me.

Overall, it gets a 8.5/10, with the points knocked off being for divergences from the book. But it's surprisingly true to the book, more so than I'd say ~90% of movies derived from novels. Definitely a must-watch, IMO.

[Simon_Jester]

I am in a peculiar position in regards to this movie. I have read the book. My wife has read to the halfway point. We are likely to see the movie some time in the next week or two.

I am thinking of suggesting that she stop there, since it sounds like most of the deviations from the book are from the second half of the book, so that she can derive full enjoyment out of both the (worthy) movie ending and the (even worthier) book ending.

[Elheru Aran]

I am in a peculiar position in regards to this movie. I have read the book. My wife has read to the halfway point. We are likely to see the movie some time in the next week or two.

I am thinking of suggesting that she stop there, since it sounds like most of the deviations from the book are from the second half of the book, so that she can derive full enjoyment out of both the (worthy) movie ending and the (even worthier) book ending.

I don't think it's a big deal either way... but it couldn't hurt. Yeah, most of the changes are second half
Spoiler

generally after the hab airlock blows

so that's one way to go.

EDIT to add a couple of thoughts:
Spoiler

While the book is similarly light on Hermes' crew, the movie almost completely elides the very minor subplot of a romance between Beck and Johanssen, reducing it to a smooch at the end of the show and a later scene with them having a family together. There aren't, as I recall, any references to personal communications between Mark and the rest of the crew. There's no particular indication of it throughout the movie (that I can recall, I could've missed it during the scene where they showed Hermes' crew communicating with family on Earth). It's not a huge deal, just a niggle.

Honestly the whole thing with Lewis being the one to rescue Watney is just a bit too Hollywood for my taste. She's the one to leave him behind, obviously she has to be the one to rescue him. Yeah... no.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Saw it last night. Never read the book, so don't particularly care about divergences. Some of the second-half pacing was a little off (though I understand the necessity of some of the decisions; the movie was already quite long), and I thought Donald Glover's character was super unnecessary (and his performance not particularly convincing anyway), but those are minor quibbles, and not enough to detract from how amazing it is overall.

Spoiler

There aren't, as I recall, any references to personal communications between Mark and the rest of the crew. There's no particular indication of it throughout the movie (that I can recall, I could've missed it during the scene where they showed Hermes' crew communicating with family on Earth).

Spoiler

Am I misunderstanding you? Because there were two very specific scenes of Mark communicating with the rest of the crew on the Hermes.

[Adam Reynolds]

Saw it last night. Never read the book, so don't particularly care about divergences. Some of the second-half pacing was a little off (though I understand the necessity of some of the decisions; the movie was already quite long), and I thought Donald Glover's character was super unnecessary (and his performance not particularly convincing anyway), but those are minor quibbles, and not enough to detract from how amazing it is overall.

Oddly enough, someone I went with said the same thing about Kristen Wiig's character. I made the point that she was the Watson character that needed astrophysics concepts explained to her. Without Rich Purnell, who would have calculated that the Hermes would be able to save Mark? I found Donald Glover's performance ironic after watching him in Community(where he played the biggest idiot in a cast of idiots). Especially considering the episode "Basic Rocket Science" that was a parody of stories like The Martian, in which the study group wound up trapped inside the KFC 11 herbs and space experience. "I hate to pull reality on you, Captain, but you got your position by sitting in the chair with the biggest knobs."

[Elheru Aran]

Saw it last night. Never read the book, so don't particularly care about divergences. Some of the second-half pacing was a little off (though I understand the necessity of some of the decisions; the movie was already quite long), and I thought Donald Glover's character was super unnecessary (and his performance not particularly convincing anyway), but those are minor quibbles, and not enough to detract from how amazing it is overall.

Spoiler

There aren't, as I recall, any references to personal communications between Mark and the rest of the crew. There's no particular indication of it throughout the movie (that I can recall, I could've missed it during the scene where they showed Hermes' crew communicating with family on Earth).

Spoiler

Am I misunderstanding you? Because there were two very specific scenes of Mark communicating with the rest of the crew on the Hermes.

Spoiler

I may have missed something. There's at least one scene where he IM's with Martinez on the ship, tells Lewis to not feel badly about leaving him behind, and then later on he's talking to them from the MAV. In the book, IIRC, he E-mails the crew individually at one point, where he tells Beck and Johanssen that they should pursue their feelings for each other. That doesn't appear in the movie as far as I know.