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Project Hail Mary - Final Trailer

Took my whole family to go see Project Hail Mary - daughter thought it was good, 12 year old son liked Rocky, wife didn't want to go to a movie and refuses to admit she liked it.
 
Watched it yesterday in IMAX and really enjoyed it. It was less serious in tone than I expected, but not in a bad way.

While none of the themes and ideas are particularly groundbreaking or new, I thought they were really well executed and had enough of a unique twist to make it stand apart.

The audiovisual presentation was great too. Loved the soundtrack

IMO a solid 8/10
 
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The movies great. Potential classic. Heartfelt, genuine, and very well shot.

Well shot and decent acted may seem like a low bar of praise to some. But considering in the recent era of shows and movies, our sci fi writing level is at the level of Star Trek Academy, not surprising many are breathing a gust of fresh air after watching this.
 
Well shot and decent acted may seem like a low bar of praise to some. But considering in the recent era of shows and movies, our sci fi writing level is at the level of Star Trek Academy, not surprising many are breathing a gust of fresh air after watching this.

Theres been some other sci fi stuff of late that I've enjoyed. But thus one carves out for itself a niche that works. Its deserving of its success. Phil lord and Chris Miller are good at what they do, and they've shown that in their body of work
 
Theres been some other sci fi stuff of late that I've enjoyed. But thus one carves out for itself a niche that works. Its deserving of its success. Phil lord and Chris Miller are good at what they do, and they've shown that in their body of work
I don't think Lord and Miller have missed yet. Which makes Kathleen's firing of them from Solo all the more hilarious.
 
I don't think Lord and Miller have missed yet. Which makes Kathleen's firing of them from Solo all the more hilarious.

Had she kept them on; the fans would've hated them. They were making a sketch comedy film post TLJ, when most of the fanbaze had decided to abandon what little sense of logic and reasoning they had left with regard to star wars.

There was no right decision with that one. But it was probably for the best.
 
Had she kept them on; the fans would've hated them. They were making a sketch comedy film post TLJ, when most of the fanbaze had decided to abandon what little sense of logic and reasoning they had left with regard to star wars.

There was no right decision with that one. But it was probably for the best.
I dunno, Solo came out right after TLJ, so fan "enthusiasm" was at an all time low. A more comedic take on the universe while delivering on spectacle and emotion, might have hit a better chord. Plus if you didn't have to reshoot most of the film and drive the budget to an astronomical 300 mill, maybe the BO of 400 mill would have still be a (modest) success.
 
I dunno, Solo came out right after TLJ, so fan "enthusiasm" was at an all time low. A more comedic take on the universe while delivering on spectacle and emotion, might have hit a better chord. Plus if you didn't have to reshoot most of the film and drive the budget to an astronomical 300 mill, maybe the BO of 400 mill would have still be a (modest) success.

They definitely ate the BO amount, but it should also be noted that lord and Miller were ballooning the budget too do to the improv style of filming they were employing.

But the loudest complaint against TLJ was the handling of OT characters. So om not sure the one two punch of luke dying, leia flying, and then a han solo comedy film wouldn't done them any favors.

I have little doubt it wouldn't been a good movie. But I also think TLJ is a good movie so to some im not a good litmus test. And I did like the movie we got too.
 
I have little doubt it wouldn't been a good movie. But I also think TLJ is a good movie so to some im not a good litmus test. And I did like the movie we got too.
I liked Solo a fair amount, though I think Ehrenrite was not the best casting. What ticks me off about it the most was all the crime setup it did that goes nowhere. Far more interesting Star Wars experience than damned Rey and her motley crew fumbling around.
 
1. Is it too sappy? I hate when movies get too sappy.

2. I love Contact but hate Interstellar.

Will i like this?
 
Loved every moment of this. What a movie. The visuals are absolutely amazing.

This is up there as one of my favourite space movies alongside Interstellar.
 
You will like this. I also like Contact a lot more than Interstellar.
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alright alright alright!

I also agree that PHM is more inline with Contact than Interstellar from a thematic/enjoyment context.
 
Pretty fun Translations


I'm curious if the concept of a "Hail Mary" just doesn't exist in these cultures or if its more the translation back into english that is butchering the idea. A literal translation of Hail Mary could be something like "Hello [common female name]" if it wasn't contextually adjusted.
 
I'm curious if the concept of a "Hail Mary" just doesn't exist in these cultures or if its more the translation back into english that is butchering the idea. A literal translation of Hail Mary could be something like "Hello [common female name]" if it wasn't contextually adjusted.

In order to understand the concept you have to have a background that understand both Catholicism and American football. I think it would be easier to find a last ditch effort to translate to Chinese.
 
In order to understand the concept you have to have a background that understand both Catholicism and American football. I think it would be easier to find a last ditch effort to translate to Chinese.
That's my question. Obviously a direct translation of the words "Hail Mary" would be confusing, or at least hard to parse, but Doomsday Holy Mother Ship, Extreme Return Voyage, and Rescue Plan seem more like attempts to describe the plot than convey the "Hail Mary" concept, though maybe "Holy Mother" is a reference to the Virgin Mary? So again, I'm curious if these cultures even have a concept of a "Hail Mary" and if they do, was it back translated to english in a weird way or did they just choose to give a more literal plot title to the film? Plenty of anime have a literal descriptive "How to cook food in the dungeon" or adjective laden one "Super Transformable Robot Battle Fortress" type stuff rather than a more evocative/metaphorical title that english might have so maybe they just prefer that kind of title even if some phrase like "Build a wall!" would have the same kind of meaning as "Hail mary".
 
That's my question. Obviously a direct translation of the words "Hail Mary" would be confusing, or at least hard to parse, but Doomsday Holy Mother Ship, Extreme Return Voyage, and Rescue Plan seem more like attempts to describe the plot than convey the "Hail Mary" concept, though maybe "Holy Mother" is a reference to the Virgin Mary? So again, I'm curious if these cultures even have a concept of a "Hail Mary" and if they do, was it back translated to english in a weird way or did they just choose to give a more literal plot title to the film? Plenty of anime have a literal descriptive "How to cook food in the dungeon" or adjective laden one "Super Transformable Robot Battle Fortress" type stuff rather than a more evocative/metaphorical title that english might have so maybe they just prefer that kind of title even if some phrase like "Build a wall!" would have the same kind of meaning as "Hail mary".

"Earths last hope" or something maybe. "Space Mission to save Earth"
 
I'm curious if the concept of a "Hail Mary" just doesn't exist in these cultures or if its more the translation back into english that is butchering the idea. A literal translation of Hail Mary could be something like "Hello [common female name]" if it wasn't contextually adjusted.


The nerdy bit: These three titles tell you something profound about the cultural priorities of each market. Mainland China values clarity and function. Taiwan values emotional resonance and journey. Hong Kong values drama and layered meaning. And it's worth noting — while all three use Chinese characters, Hong Kong speaks Cantonese, a language mutually unintelligible with the Mandarin spoken in the mainland and Taiwan. They share a writing system but not a spoken one — like handing the same sheet music to a pianist and a guitarist. Same notes on the page, completely different instruments. Three markets, three titles, and not even quite the same language. Three completely different doors into the same story.



Dang, now I want to look up all the alternate international titles. That's metal.

  • The Czech translation calls the book "Spasitel" (Savior)
  • The Turkish translation is "Kurtuluş Projesi" (Liberation Project)
  • The Bulgarian translation is "Proektŭt Ave Mariya" (The Ave Maria Project)
  • The Arabic translation is "The Impossible Space Flight" and has a cool book cover
  • The French translation is "Projet Dernière Chance" (Last Chance Project)
  • The Hungarian translation is "The Hail Mary Mission" and also has a cool cover
  • The Chinese translation is "Rescue Plan"
  • The Hebrew translation is "The Hail Mary Project" and has a different cover
  • The Croatian translation is "Desperate Attempt Project" with some new cover art
  • The Korean translation is straight up "Project Hail Mary" but the cover art is very retro
  • The Norwegian translation is also the same, but the book cover is different
  • The Japanese translation the same, but they have different cover art




Edit: thanks for all the responses and great discussion! As many have pointed out, "Hail Mary" is a commonly used phrase to mean a last ditch effort, so I'm not really sure which came first--the football relevance or common usage. Either way, great to hear about all the different usages and titles from various countries!
Question for non-American readers, even more specifically for those whose native language isn't English. I recently (again
😅
) recommended Project Hail Mary to someone, and that got me thinking. American audiences will likely recognize that the "Hail Mary" in the title isn't exactly a reference to the common Catholic prayer or to Mary herself, but to an (American) football play called a Hail Mary pass, which is essentially a long-shot play when you're otherwise guaranteed to lose a game. In common usage, this has come to mean doing something crazy, wild, and "outside of the box"--and with a very high likelihood of failure--but if it works, you pull off an amazing win. For someone who may have read the book in a language other than English, is the title directly translated (and if so, is it explained?), or is some other regionally specific phrase used to elicit the same idea? Just curious, as I love learning about other languages and cultures
 
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It was an enjoyable ride. Not something I would seek out to watch again though. Not hating, but it didn't leave the theater pining for more of that universe.
 
I liked it but I expected it to be better and more epic after all the hype. It's no interstellar for sure. It's more of a buddy comedy which is ok but from the few gifs and shots i saw i was expecting it to be a full blown sci fi space opera. It's a shame we get one of these every 5 or so years.

Wanted at least a couple more big setpieces. The Adrian scene was amazing on IMAX, but the movie needed one more at the end. I was enthralled when the second ship showed up, I was like here we go, aliens! Mass effect! but no, its just one toy rock.

Like the Martian, it succeeds in character moments which is rare enough these days. So not bad, but not amazing or genre defining either. Internet really needs to stop hyping every movie as the second coming. I already stopped watching a lot of mid tier movies in theaters and almost never watch streaming movies, but something like this with a little less hype wouldve probably hit a bit harder.

Bring on Dune Messiah.
 
I liked it but I expected it to be better and more epic after all the hype. It's no interstellar for sure. It's more of a buddy comedy which is ok but from the few gifs and shots i saw i was expecting it to be a full blown sci fi space opera. It's a shame we get one of these every 5 or so years.

Wanted at least a couple more big setpieces. The Adrian scene was amazing on IMAX, but the movie needed one more at the end. I was enthralled when the second ship showed up, I was like here we go, aliens! Mass effect! but no, its just one toy rock.

Like the Martian, it succeeds in character moments which is rare enough these days. So not bad, but not amazing or genre defining either. Internet really needs to stop hyping every movie as the second coming. I already stopped watching a lot of mid tier movies in theaters and almost never watch streaming movies, but something like this with a little less hype wouldve probably hit a bit harder.

Bring on Dune Messiah.
Some of us prefer a lot more Science in our sci-fi, rather than fantasy with a light drizzle of sci-fi like Dune. That is where the hype is coming from.
 
Some of us prefer a lot more Science in our sci-fi, rather than fantasy with a light drizzle of sci-fi like Dune. That is where the hype is coming from.

If people want more science they can always read the book if they want to feel more cultured in that aspect. It's fine that in the book it goes over the cell structure of the things and how they work for like 50-60 pages of the thing and the science of energy conversions and things and 30 pages of the structures of the ship. but it's just not gonna work in film form.
It's what an adaptation should be. It works enough as a standalone. If you want more, pick up the source material.
 
In order to understand the concept you have to have a background that understand both Catholicism and American football. I think it would be easier to find a last ditch effort to translate to Chinese.

You mainly need to understand American cultural references. It's the football term that is the primary reference, not the prayer/religious undertones.

The title of the book references the football jargon, and the football jargon bases its etymology in early 20th century Notre Dame football history. Hail Mary prayers are normally used for devotion or penance. The "low probability last ditch effort", meaning is only attached to the football term, and is a fairly modern, Americanized phenomenon. That's why it's referred to as an "American" phrase. If it was supposed to be primarily the religious term, it wouldn't be "American", since the Angelus is a common part of many different countries.

It does make for some excellent puns, though, like the main character's name.
 
I agree Interstellar doesn't explain much other than we need a new planet. Time Dilation is explained clearly by 3 people on the Wave planet and the guy they left behind. But other than that they do not get technical. I think they do a better job of showing you the time concepts he is playing with.
Interstellar is not about space or science. That shit is just the background. Interstellar is about... Love? Family? something stupidly sentimental like that. Terrible, terrible movie.

This is why i'm skeptical about Project Hail Mary. I want a movie about science, space and all that good stuff. I don't want another "oh, in the end love is the most important thing" message or the main character finding his child inside a black hole. I mean, Contact was also bad with the alien dressed as the main character's dead father but at least the main character figured it out immediately and didn't really give a shit. She was still laser focused on making contact and gaining knowledge. I could at least still relate to her.
 
Interstellar is not about space or science. That shit is just the background. Interstellar is about... Love? Family? something stupidly sentimental like that. Terrible, terrible movie.

This is why i'm skeptical about Project Hail Mary. I want a movie about science, space and all that good stuff. I don't want another "oh, in the end love is the most important thing" message or the main character finding his child inside a black hole. I mean, Contact was also bad with the alien dressed as the main character's dead father but at least the main character figured it out immediately and didn't really give a shit. She was still laser focused on making contact and gaining knowledge. I could at least still relate to her.
PHM is still about the science, it's just they limit it to one/two examples of Grace applying the scientific method and conducting improvised experiments versus the half dozen or more he does in the book, particularly towards the end where the emotional tide takes over. It's already a long film and the pacing would nosedive if they spent a lot of time on the later experiments, so they mention them and move on.

Now I agree that they spend a bit more time "humanizing" Grace than is necessary in the beginning, I think they could have used more of him rationalizing where he is versus running around in funny hats, but I assume they filmed both and this edit was deemed better. Same with minimizing the desperation of the effort, the "Hail Mary" aspect to it. So in that sense the book is a wonderful companion piece to the film because they complement each other VERY well since they stay so faithful it.
 
The Audio Book is $6 on Amazon I think it is excellent.
Ray Porter is a pretty good narrator, especially for stuff with few female voices to mimic. I listen to him on the Jack Carr books (Terminal List stuff) and he does his best with all the technical jargon but that's an uphill battle :P
 
Watched it last night after ducking and diving everything about the movie for months ,I thought it was a great movie .Now I can finally start the audible book
 
Damn that was a movie, I know i am late to the party but it really is just a fantastic film.

The type of film we dont get anymore (and I felt the same with the martian too).

Kudos to making me care about a literal rock spider
 
Just watched today with GF at IMAX. It was quite enjoyable movie. The storytelling made it relatively simple storyline more enjoyable too.
 
What a beautiful film. Goes right into your heart. Beautifully shot, and by that I mean it's not as sterile-looking as many modern movies, which is great. Story is simple, but executed very well. Pacing in the beginning of the movie is a bit quick, but that's ok, because after a certain point, once the movie has grabbed you emotionally, it has plenty of time to tell its story and keep you engaged.

9/10.
 
Man... I really can't stand Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Being around him daily must be unbearable.
He certainly has leaned into playing "NEIL.......DEGRASSE......TYSON" as a character.

He needs to get healthy again though, he looks terrible. I don't really care for all the casual racism in his podcast, had to let it go. The same jokes were funny the first 10 times, not so much after that.
 
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