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First Reviews for The Martian (dir. Ridley Scott; based on the book; Matt Damon)
- Thread starter Toothless
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Freedom = $1.05
Banned
i dont think i liked this movie
It felt like Marvel's Apollo 13.
It felt like Marvel's Apollo 13.
bananafactory
Banned
It feels like reactions are very divided, though maybe some people are in the middle.
The person I saw the movie with apparently thought it was intense, and for me...(DANGER MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS DANGER)
I hadn't read the book so I had no real idea what would happen. I thought it would pretty much ruin things if either Watney or one of the rescue team died, but I guess it still felt tense for me? It was awful when the guy was bouncing around the outside of the Hermes to get back in. I kept expecting him to fly off or something to go wrong before he could finish.
I thought the disco music was nicely weaves into the movie because on the book, like in the film, it's the only thing Watney has available to listen to and he fucking hates it. Gives it a nice sense of irony imho.
Some of his dialogue was lifted verbatim, other bits were new but in the spirit of the writing. If you don't like that tone, it's unlikely you'd like the book. With that said, the book goes on more detail about his science experiments and solutions. Plus other stuff I will t spoil for you. It's worth reading, or better, listening to the awesome audiobook.
Some of his dialogue was lifted verbatim, other bits were new but in the spirit of the writing. If you don't like that tone, it's unlikely you'd like the book. With that said, the book goes on more detail about his science experiments and solutions. Plus other stuff I will t spoil for you. It's worth reading, or better, listening to the awesome audiobook.
sparky2112
Member
God no.
I mean, it's about a guy stranded on Mars who does cool shit to stay alive and the efforts made to save him. No tesseracts or black holes or time dialation or...
b&jy77VjiKn$#F
Member
sparky2112
Member
Or, you know, love
What about the smootchy astronauts? I mean, it was no Anne Hathaway, but...
My favorite part.
Megalosaro
Banned
Jeff Daniels' nod to Glorfindel was great too.
Liquidsnake
Banned
Yeah Im still going to go
1. Gravity
2. The Martian
3. Intersteller
Gravity had some shots that were pretty awe inspiring. Damon is a better lead than Sandra, and interstellar had the chance to be the best in its genre in decades, but some script choices really hurt the film for me.
Also Gravity's OST is some of the best ish I have heard in a long time.
1. Gravity
2. The Martian
3. Intersteller
Gravity had some shots that were pretty awe inspiring. Damon is a better lead than Sandra, and interstellar had the chance to be the best in its genre in decades, but some script choices really hurt the film for me.
Also Gravity's OST is some of the best ish I have heard in a long time.
sCHOCOLATE
Member
This.
I enjoyed the hell out of this movie...this or Mad Max is the best of the year for me (so far), not sure which until I rewatch both.
One little detail I really enjoyed is how they made Matt Damon's teeth yellow and grimy towards the end. This is really noticeable
. The weight loss and the beard were both obvious changes, but the teeth were a really nice touch.
One little detail I really enjoyed is how they made Matt Damon's teeth yellow and grimy towards the end. This is really noticeable
when he is reunited with his crew
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Out of the three I think Interstellar had the best OST. Gravity is fantastic for how focused it is in purpose, and how beautiful it is in execution, but it's also the less ambitious of the three films story and character wise. That's not necessarily a bad thing though.
All three films have their strong points and drawbacks, but all three are great space movies IMHO. As to how I would rank them, I'd have to list them like this:
1. The Martian
2. Interstellar
3. Gravity
Like I said, I love all three of them immensely. But, while Gravity is superbly executed and beautifully shot, it is a rather simple film at it's root so I'm placing it last in my standing (but wow what a ride of a movie it is!).
Interstellar most certainly had the potential to be one of the absolute BEST space movies of all time, and I mean ALL time, but some negatives held it back for me to merely extremely good. The love angle, the whole "burning the crops" sequence back on Earth, the forced human conflicts, it just had some sequences that felt like they really weren't needed and took a bit out of the movie for me. That said, I love Interstellar for it's immense ambition, and there is a hell of a lot to love about the film. I also seem to like it more and more with repeat viewings, which is always a plus for me.
The Martian though just hit on all cylinders for me. I liked ALL of the characters and their interactions, I loved the story, the humor was fitting and well placed yet it didn't take you out of the scenes that needed to be dramatic or emotional, and there were lots of those too. The effects were great, the sets were fantastic, for me it was just the most consistently awesome and best overall of the three. I would make little changes to both Gravity and Interstellar if I could, but the only change I'd make to The Martian would be to add more to it.
lastflowers
Banned
Same. liked that aspect of the movie quite a bit
I'm more interested in knowing if it has the same contrived emotional drama weighing the whole thing down.
Not really, no.
The only real things linking the movies are space and Matt Damon being stranded on a distant planet. They are very different movies with different intentions and goals.
Orbis Tabula
Member
Man, did I enjoy this movie. A very fun movie. Just plain old fun. Tense. Didn't have a lot of the cliches that I hate. Made me laugh. It was great. I know these comparisons are boring, but they're inevitable, so I'll say that of the "Three Space Movies" of recent times, I liked this better than Gravity and Interstellar.
ZackieChan
Member
In what way? I thought they made perfect sense.
Can't please everybody, I guess, but this one seems to please most!
b&jy77VjiKn$#F
Member
I know, I was being tongue in cheek for the most part. But then
the film didn't really focus much on the love relationship, unlike Interstellar.
Because it came off as cheesy. The film already did a pretty bad job about making the viewer feel like there was actual danger.
bananafactory
Banned
How do you guys compare this to Apollo 13? (which I consider the greatest space travel movie)
Mark Watney agrees with you.
Speaking of the soundtrack, I just listened through the apparently disco-free soundtrack on youtube, and it seemed to range from decent to quite good. Sometimes movie music bothers me when listening to a plain soundtrack because it's so harsh and dissonant, but this one is pretty nice though the bass is a bit strong in my headphones.
I do feel like the sound mix in the Martian was way better than Interstellar. I might have liked some of the songs in Interstellar if they weren't cranked to almost physically painful levels.
Listened to about 40% of the audio during a long drive last week. Saw the movie tonight. loved the movie, great acting and it took the best parts of what I had read already and left out unnecessary stuff. Although the book goes into much more depth with the science and you get a bit better description of how Watney is feeling since scenes with him were from a first person POV.
I really recommend the audiobook to anyone who enjoyed the movie.
Also, in the book
I really recommend the audiobook to anyone who enjoyed the movie.
Also, in the book
he stated he had almost an unlimited supply of vitamins and supplements, and that the limiting factors in his nutrition basically came down to caloric intake. So I was a bit confused at the end when he looked really sick and frail, theoretically he should've just been skinny.
Scorpion Soldier
Member
No IMAX for this one unfortunately.
sparky2112
Member
Ignorant question, as I'm new to features in IMAX. If they show previews in IMAX, why can't they show something like The Martian? I was ready to go full bore this past weekend, and was perplexed, to say the least...
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
I thought they were great and handled wonderfully, and added a very uplifting and positive vibe to the film, much like the musical montages in Guardians of the Galaxy did. Completely explained by Whatney finding Lewis' mp3 files.
I love Apollo 13 too, and this actually compares extremely favorably to it. Both movies feel rather similar honestly, and that speaks volumes as one is a true story and one is pure fiction! In all honesty it's much more appropriate to compare The Martian to Apollo 13 rather than Interstellar or Gravity.
I really didn't enjoy the movie and I think it's mainly because the characters themselves and the writing. As the film progressed I felt like every character had the same jokey smart mouth personality and no one behaved in a believable way. I never laughed at the jokes that were constantly being fired at me and that
really took me out of it. A bunch of story beats didn't seem feasible either.
Honestly, I feel like it would be a good movie to bring the family to. Overall I was disappointed, but I'm glad so many of you guys really enjoyed it. Usually I'm never the guy who didn't enjoy the thing.
LOTR reference
Honestly, I feel like it would be a good movie to bring the family to. Overall I was disappointed, but I'm glad so many of you guys really enjoyed it. Usually I'm never the guy who didn't enjoy the thing.
Scorpion Soldier
Member
Contracts and reservations for screens by studios, which is very tight when it comes to IMAX theaters. September-December is often packed when it comes to IMAX releases, which are scheduled months in advance, so either The Martian couldn't be fit in or Fox didn't approach them for it.
Non-IMAX trailers in front of IMAX films aren't that uncommon though, which can often be confusing for viewers, but those aren't (always) regulated by the IMAX co., but by the theater chains themselves.
stufte
Member
Which parts?
I would say it has much more in common tonally and stylistically (and really structurally) to Apollo 13 than it does to either Gravity or Interstellar, which people keep comparing it to. It's not nearly as sentimental or earnest as Apollo 13 though. The Martian has a more biting wit and contemporary feel to it, compared to the almost Norman Rockwell feel of Apollo 13. But they are definitely two movies of a type.
sparky2112
Member
Thanks for the clarification!
LoveCake
Member
The tarp to cover the top of the ship that launched Watney at the end, was that really enough?
The piercing of the glove to fly about at the end, really? yes it may provide thrust but it is clearly artistic licence!
The surprise of CNSA who have a classified rocket just laying about ready for launch.
The piercing of the glove to fly about at the end, really? yes it may provide thrust but it is clearly artistic licence!
The surprise of CNSA who have a classified rocket just laying about ready for launch.
The first two points spoil the realism of the movie for me.
As far as I know, in Mars atmosphere the tarp actually would have been sufficient, though it is worth noting that in the book turbulence from it robs the rocket of some of it's velocity.
I also have doubts about how much thrust would have truly been provided by air escaping the suit. In the book he is talked out of doing it.
As far as the Chinese rocket goes, both in the movie and book they make it clear that they had their own interplanetary scientific probe they were planning to launch with the booster and had to sacrifice to use it as a re-supply rocket.
The greatest scientific inaccuracy is right at the beginning - the storm that drives them off of the planet. In reality Mars atmosphere is too thin for even high velocity winds to pose a threat.
I also have doubts about how much thrust would have truly been provided by air escaping the suit. In the book he is talked out of doing it.
As far as the Chinese rocket goes, both in the movie and book they make it clear that they had their own interplanetary scientific probe they were planning to launch with the booster and had to sacrifice to use it as a re-supply rocket.
The greatest scientific inaccuracy is right at the beginning - the storm that drives them off of the planet. In reality Mars atmosphere is too thin for even high velocity winds to pose a threat.
LoveCake
Member
I already knew about the wind & the storm.
The fire extinguisher used in Gravity would have been more plausible for me.
The fire extinguisher used in Gravity would have been more plausible for me.
ZackieChan
Member
For those that didn't like it for whatever reason, it seems like a quick "nofunallowed.gif" takes care of everything.
Although some of the criticisms that have been made in this thread would not be enough for me to consider the film bad, I don't think we can dismiss them out of hand. The posters are in the best position to know what flaws are important to them, and just because we do not agree does not invalidate their opinion.
SmackDaddy
Member
why does it need to have accurate science for you?
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