2 replies to this topic

[Egann]

I know the movie probably about to get kicked out of theaters by Star Wars, but I wanted to make a thread discussing The Martian. 

 

If you're not familiar or read the book, Astronaut Mark Watney gets injured and separated from his crew after a mission abort. Skipping to the important stuff; he gets marooned alone on Mars and has to figure out how to survive and get off Mars. In so many words, it's MacGyver gets stranded on Mars. This combination is every bit as awesome as it sounds.

 

I also know that the book used to be free. I'm guessing this was pulled after Crown Publishing picked it up. That strikes me as something they'd ask for the author to stop.

 

...

 

Spoilers for overly-analytical self vomiting on the page.

 

Spoiler

 

So after having both read the book and watched the movie...I think it's a tie for which is the superior version. The movie cut my two favorite sequences--and my favorite joke--out, but it also has a far better denoument and some really amazing cinematography. Consume whichever version you feel inclined to. 

 

There's no getting around it; Weir is not a great character author. The characters do their jobs, but I wouldn't call any of them deep or moving. It's a lot like vintage hard SF, with the focus on the science and not the people. The most touching moment in the whole movie was the note Watney left in the rover, which was, of course, added.

 

Speaking of the science, The Martian is only *mostly* scientifically accurate. As others have pointed out, dust storms aren't actually that powerful, and radiation is handwaved with unspoken unobtanium hab canvas. Nothing I'm unwilling to forgive--radiation is a huge problem that you pretty much have to solve with handwavium--but something worth noting for the purists (like my dad).

 

Is this even a book? I read it in a day and a half, which is less than it took for me to read I Am Legend. The wordcount is probably barely 50,000 if that. More to the point, there's a fair bit of filler content at NASA. It leaves me with the impression this was a novella an editor wanted expanded or a NaNoWriMo challenge. 

 

The ending climax for the book has the rest of Watnety's crew being all badass and amazing. I'm seriously disappointed that with *these people* the author decided to opt for Robinson Crusoe rather than finding a way to strand the whole team. Seriously. Drop the whole team on Mars and let them bloody colonize the place permanently.

 

It might be just me, but I'm getting STRONG Mission to Mars vibes. Like Weir watched it, took the marooned on Mars plot element, and turned that into a story. I know in my head Mission to Mars is a terrible movie, but I confess I have a soft spot for it.

 

Freeze-dried potatoes by sticking them in the airlock. BRILLIANT! FINALLY SOMEONE GETS SPACE!

 

Sean Bean didn't die. He resigned. Funny how the movie bucks the letter of the trend while keeping it's spirit. At this point I'm sure Bean is in on the joke.

 

Anybody else read or watched it?

[JRPomazon]

I have heard good things about the book. However, it's to the point where I'm considering not bothering with the movie because the book has been praised so much. And of course knowing my track record for reading the books that I promise myself that I will... eesh.

[Karbinite]

Ridley Scott is a master of visuals, even when the script has many flaws like Prometheus you can still expect a damn good looking film. So it's hard to hate The Martian, a nice feel good movie that you don't see as much in modern cinema. Damon did a good job and while I'm far from an expert of science the fiction they created sounded plausible enough for a 2 hour movie. I'd still say Apollo 13 is the better space movie but nevertheless The Martian is one of the better space movies of recent time.

 

Martian and Gravity (2013) spoilers abound:

 

Spoiler

My only real gripe with it though is that I never felt any real fear that Damon's character wouldn't make it. I think it would have made a far more edge on your seat movie had it starred two Astronauts who were stranded on Mars. After you get to a certain age or just know enough movies you start to realize the "character shields" necessary in creating a story. When Watney has his devastating setback halfway through I wasn't worried that this character was going to die. When Watney's appearance becomes gaunt it still didn't worry me. Even when Chastain's character did her suicide mission act you just know the two characters are going to make it out.

 

Gravity had a similar situation, but in the case of Gravity which used some light horror elements I had genuine concern for Bullock's character as she started hallucinating, a usual telltale sign that a character really is close to death. In The Martian Watney is always cool, calm, and collected and it left me confident that there was no downer ending in sight.

 

While you'd definitely have to change the story significantly had it been "The Martians" I think viewers would have the feeling that one character could have to sacrifice himself for another, creating a far more dramatic atmosphere. While The Martian remains a fine movie it just didn't have as much drama as I think it could have. And no I'm not saying it had to necessarily have a character die I just would have liked the feeling that there very well could have been a tragic result in the film.

Edited by Karbinite, 30 December 2015 - 08:24 PM.