Synopsis posted:

NASA astronaut Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer, is presumed dead and left stranded on Mars when the crew of the Ares 3 - the third manned Mars mission - are forced to abort and head back to Earth during a fierce storm. Watney finds himself stranded and alone, with only meager supplies and his ingenuity, wit, and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal home, despite knowing that even if his survival is made known there is no prospect of a rescue.

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“Everything went great right up to the explosion.”

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“I guess you could call it a "failure", but I prefer the term "learning experience".”

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“As with most of life's problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.”

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“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

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Kjell Lindgren Verified account @astro_kjell

Movie night! What a treat to watch #TheMartian while in space and see reflections of our own #JourneyToMars!

New York Post posted:

The best thing that either Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott have done in years. 3.5/4

Variety posted:

"The Martian" should do far more than just make Fox a ton of money; it could conceivably rekindle interest in the space program and inspire a new generation of future astronauts.

BBC.com posted:

The Martian is like Gravity without the floating, Apollo 13 without the documentary intrigue and 127 Hours without the mental breakdown. It's not nearly as exciting as you wished it was. 3/5

Aint it cool.com posted:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/73045 [Cinema Vs Science writeup]
For my money, it is Ridley Scott's best film in 30 years. Of course, that's based largely on the strength of the outstanding novel by Andy Weir.
...
I do have a few nitpicks though. Chief among them is that the film looks a little *too* good. I was always aware that these were movie stars, not real-life scientists and astronauts. Every shot was composed a little too perfectly. And it was quite obvious that everything from the vehicles to the software was made by a production designer, not an engineer.

I talked to another critic after the screening, one who hadn't read the book, and this actually ruined the film for him. He thought it was too big-budget Hollywood, and that made it hard for him to suspend disbelief. That wasn't the case for me though. even though I knew all the beats in the story, I still found myself either getting tense or laughing at all the right parts.

drunkill posted:

Powered Descent posted:

The wheels on the rover have that same spiral thing going on as the wheels on Spirit and Opportunity. This makes me happy.

zandert33 posted:

I read in the "Who Greenlighted" thread some people talking trash about how horrible the book was written. It's by no means a masterpiece, and clearly written by somebody who comes from a more technical background than a person who went to school for writing, but I really enjoyed it.

From the view of somebody who enjoys some nitty-gritty tech stuff, it scratched the right itch for me, and I found the main character to be very likable.

Although the trailer does provide some spoilers, I don't think it's that crazy. It really only touches on things that happen in the first half of the book, it's not that bad.

zandert33 posted:

Although the trailer does provide some spoilers, I don't think it's that crazy. It really only touches on things that happen in the first half of the book, it's not that bad.

sticklefifer posted:

I really hope the first line of dialogue in the movie is "I'm pretty much hosed."

Basebf555 posted:

I love that Ridley Scott seems to be in a period of his career where he wants to work constantly, I guess maybe it could be due to tragic circumstances though.

Anyway I'm really excited that I'm getting two new Scott sci-fi films in back-to-back years. The Martian will hold me over until Prometheus 2. Its probably too much to hope for that his next project after that will be a Blade Runner sequel.

sticklefifer posted:

I really hope the first line of dialogue in the movie is "I'm pretty much hosed."

CommanderApaul posted:

Trailer looks great, seems like they're going to be pretty faithful to the book.

Minor annoyance: IIRC Watney's family is his mom and dad, and he bitches in his logs about not finding a girl to settle down with. Yet the movie has him with a wife and kids. The story really doesn't need that addition to build the drama of his survival/rescue.

kippa posted:

They haven't, it's sneaky editing making it seem that way but the wife/kid is Martinez's. Also that first "meet the crew" style video they made has him explicitly only saying goodbye to his parents, absolutely no mention of anyone else.

TerminalSaint posted:

In an interview with Adam Savage, Andy said the single alloted PG-13 "gently caress" is used very early on.


This was addressed in the spaceflight thread

Nth Doctor posted:

What purpose does the spiral serve? At first glance, it looks like some sort of torsion spring mechanism that would only work one way.

zandert33 posted:

I read in the "Who Greenlighted" thread some people talking trash about how horrible the book was written. It's by no means a masterpiece, and clearly written by somebody who comes from a more technical background than a person who went to school for writing, but I really enjoyed it.

Strange Matter posted:

I don't know if I'm fully convinced that Matt Damon is the right guy to portray Watney's sense of humor, but I kind of don't care because The Martian owns incredibly hard. It's like Hatchet for adults and in space.

It'a also kind of hilarious that Matt Damon is the lead after his role in Interstellar.

Vegetable posted:

Why we got so many space films these days

Vegetable posted:

Why we got so many space films these days

Timby posted:

As for Blade Runner 2, Scott's producing it. Denis Villeneuve is directing.

Basebf555 posted:

I love that Ridley Scott seems to be in a period of his career where he wants to work constantly, I guess maybe it could be due to tragic circumstances though.

Anyway I'm really excited that I'm getting two new Scott sci-fi films in back-to-back years. The Martian will hold me over until Prometheus 2. Its probably too much to hope for that his next project after that will be a Blade Runner sequel.

iJay posted:

The official trailer is fuckin awesome - too bad it's very spoilery. But I really the one-liners

Immortan posted:

Prometheus II has been confirmed to begin filming in January and Scott wants it released before Alien 5.

ViggyNash posted:

This is like all trailers these days and it sucks.

I'm pretty hyped for the movie. I love Matt Damon but I'm not sure if he was the best choice. I think he's good enough to make it work though.

Periodiko posted:

Oh wow, that's great news, Ridley Scott has been associated with so many ambitious upcoming films I didn't know what to think, the dude is certainly industrious.

osietra posted:

Going from the vibe of the trailers, he grows lots of vegetables and doesn't marstubate at all.

LesterGroans posted:

Trailers have been loaded with spoilers since trailers were thing.

I haven't read the book and the trailer does not seem spoiler-y to me at all. I think it's just people who have read the book are picking out glimpses of "big" or "important" scenes.


Yeah, the guy's been a workhorse since the beginning of the millennium.

osietra posted:

Going from the vibe of the trailers, he grows lots of vegetables and doesn't marstubate at all.

CLAM DOWN posted:

This is the best prerelease marketing ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fdKyszL1Zo

Wendell posted:

I'm a little annoyed at the casting of a a black man to play a character named Kapoor (because all minorities are the same!) and a white woman to play a character named Park (because we have enough minorities now).

Wendell posted:

I'm a little annoyed at the casting of a a black man to play a character named Kapoor (because all minorities are the same!) and a white woman to play a character named Park (because we have enough minorities now).