The Martian - Grading & Discussion

[intrinsical]

The Martian made $55 million for its opening weekend. This makes The Martian the all-time second highest opening for the month of October. This is just $800,000 shy of Gravity, which still has the highest opening in October.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/the-martian-box-office-ridley-scott-1201609691/

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Anyway, it's not a writer's job to pander to ignorance. The United States has been officially on the metric system since the late 1800s. It's just intellectual laziness that's kept the public and the schools from keeping up. Heck, when I was in school, we were taught the metric system, because that is, or should be, just basic everyday knowledge. If that's no longer part of the standard curriculum, then that's just a shameful lowering of standards. Blame the schools for leaving people so ignorant of something so basic.

You know what else isn't taught in U.S. schools anymore (since 1980, and due to the Reagan administration?) Civics. And now, this has resulted in a generation of so-called 'progressives' (actually emoprogressives) who've been beating up the current POTUS for not being 'progressive' enough.

The not teaching metric is just the tip of the iceberg.

So do you think Star Trek movies should've had Klingons giving measurements in miles instead of kellicams? Should Battlestar Galactica (the original) have used minutes instead of centons? You're overthinking this. Have a little faith in the audience's ability to reason out unfamiliar units from context.

THIS.

The Martian made $55 million for its opening weekend. This makes The Martian the all-time second highest opening for the month of October. This is just $800,000 shy of Gravity, which still has the highest opening in October.

That is just $800,000 short of Gravity, which coincidentally also opened in October.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/the-martian-box-office-ridley-scott-1201609691/

That's amazing news-hopefully, this will also mean that it will be a lock for the Oscars in February, with a hopeful Best Picture nomination (and win!)

 

[Mudd]

We're doing fine here with imperial measurements. I appreciate that the Top Gear guys measure things in miles per hour.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've been in temperatures below -40 C. Within seconds you can feel your skin starting to burn due to the cold.

Yep, exactly. It's easy to visualize. If -40 is cold enough to burn the skin, well, it's not hard to visualize what adding 20 units of measurement would do.

 

[Danny99]

Cut and paste from the movies thread.

A+

I'll preface this by saying I didn't read the book, but as a movie on it's own, I was impressed.

I liked that this wasn't a Cast Away in space and turned into Matt Damon talking to himself for the entire movie. It could've been entertaining, but it can only be stretched so far. The other characters were developed just enough that they weren't cardboard cutouts, but they didn't take away from Damon's performance.

Matt Damon, if he stops saying stupid things in the media, has a real chance of being the next Tom Hanks, the everyman who slides into each role effortlessly and you know you'll be getting a strong performance each time out.

Usually, I loathe 3D movies. I wear glasses and without them, I usually get headaches. But this movie is visually stunning. The only time it took me out of the moment was some fake looking nuts and bolts.

 

[Trekker4747]

I generally don't find "censorship" in movies too annoying, I don't need to hear expletives and such to get into a story so if you're not going to have it, fine. Use the one or two "fucks" you get in a PG-13 movie (in a non sexual context) and then take it easy.

But this movie's approach was bizarre. Here we're looking at adult characters and they're using terms like "F-Word" when reading texts. Even the display for the messages censor out the curses like it's a censor-filter on an internet message board. Which, sorry, just looks and sounds silly. I know they make some lip-service that his messages and such are "going out to everyone" or otherwise will be readable by other people, but we're also told they have a full day before they have to release anything they receive to the public. So.... censor it then? Release an uncensored/redacted version and let whomever prints it for people to read censor it?

Why is the NASA computer editing out curse words?

I get that he curses a lot in the book, and that there's only so much language use you can get away with in a PG-13 movie; so if you're not going to use the language beyond what you're allowed then don't! It'd have been better for him to have used milder curses or no curses at all. Hell, I'll accept the reading of the text by the one NASA guy as him simply being a puss not wanting to cuss, especially to his boss. But when we see the texts? It looks a bit foolish that NASA's computer apparently curse-censors the incoming messages.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Just saw it. Amazing! Have to say I was really pleased at seeing how well adapted it was. Even with the changes made, I feel it was one of the better adaptations I've seen. Matt Damon really sold the character of Mark Watney, might be his best role. There were times where you could see him convey his thought process through facial expressions.

Saw it in 3D because our theatre didn't give us much choice, limiting the non-3d showings, but glad I saw it in 3d as the effect was very good. What was it Buzz said? "Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation" I think the same could be said of the visuals we got of Mars here, the 3d adding a good sense of depth to that desolation, and those shots gave off a nice sense of scale.

I didn't even mind the changes to the ending. In fact, I'd say the very end, the final scene...

Spoiler: Mark Watney

...I found Matt Damon channeled Chris Hadfield while speaking to the new astronauts, more precisely about his experiences and of conquering fear and having the abillity to move forward, such as in this video:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo62S0ulqhA[/yt]

Also, while I'm at it:

Spoiler: rover

In the book, there's a part where due to a mistake he made, the rover shorts out removing his link with NASA. Just more surprised that that's what it was they cut. But it doesn't take away from being an awesome movie and an awesome adaptation.

All in all, the movie exceeded expectations. Everyone that we saw it with, (party of 5), loved it.

 

[Unicron]

I liked that this wasn't a Cast Away in space and turned into Matt Damon talking to himself for the entire movie. It could've been entertaining, but it can only be stretched so far. The other characters were developed just enough that they weren't cardboard cutouts, but they didn't take away from Damon's performance.

I got a few Cast Away vibes while watching, but I agree it's in a good way and not a bad way. I think The Martian very effectively balances Watley's loneliness with his sense of humor, and it's not played for dramatic seriousness the way Cast Away was (and it did so very well). In some ways I think of it as being two sides of a coin.

 

[Autistoid]

Cut and paste from the movies thread.

A+

I'll preface this by saying I didn't read the book, but as a movie on it's own, I was impressed.

I liked that this wasn't a Cast Away in space and turned into Matt Damon talking to himself for the entire movie. It could've been entertaining, but it can only be stretched so far. The other characters were developed just enough that they weren't cardboard cutouts, but they didn't take away from Damon's performance.

Matt Damon, if he stops saying stupid things in the media, has a real chance of being the next Tom Hanks, the everyman who slides into each role effortlessly and you know you'll be getting a strong performance each time out.

Usually, I loathe 3D movies. I wear glasses and without them, I usually get headaches. But this movie is visually stunning. The only time it took me out of the moment was some fake looking nuts and bolts.

I hate matt damon, and hollywood liberals with an intense passion, keep in mind I'm a Canadian liberal myself.

Yeah I was expecting more of a castaway type deal, it really threw me off they didn't go that route.

 

[Autistoid]

Exactly. That's why it's so silly to complain about learning metric being too hard. It's actually so much easier and more intuitive than Imperial measurements. You don't need to remember 12 inches in a foot and 5280 feet in a mile and 16 ounces in a pound and however the hell many fluid ounces are in a tablespoon or whatever. The only number you need to know is 10. It's incredibly simple and straightforward. The only thing that makes it hard is trying to convert back to Imperial.

The superiority of metric is a load of nonsense.

Sure it's way easier for calculations, however in practice humans are piss poor in using divisions of ten.

Divisions of 3 and 4 are much easier for humans to grasp when working with their hands.

It's much easier to picture 1 inch and 3 inches in your hands, than 1 cm versus 10 centimeter.

Imperial scales are usually tuned to specific tasks in trades that actually make alot of sense.

Being able to switch between yards and feet etc is a strong advantage.

Metric is severely in a need for an alternative division system that is more flexible.

I.e. A metric foot 33cm, an inch 2.5 centimeters etc.

 

[Mach5]

I got a few Cast Away vibes while watching, but I agree it's in a good way and not a bad way.

Cast Away is a terrific movie.

 

[Autistoid]

My big 4 complaints.

1) They had way to much time spent with characters other than the main. I liked that the book only developed them primarily with the main character talking of them.

2) Not enough time spent on mars, in the book you feel like your in the middle of an isolated world on teh edge of nothing. the movie makes it feel like an excursion in the desert. In the book I enjoyed when he felt truly trapped.


3) Way too fluffy they left out stuff like a reference to his plan for suicide in case anything bad happened. He mentioned atleast twice that he wouldn't starve to death and had a plan. The book really has a person who is grim and funny. Behind every joke there is something deeper.

4) They focused way to much of the second half of the book which is when it gets kinda less interesting in my opinion. For much of the book his chances are actually pretty low, you get the feeling the reason he's called the martian is because he may finish his life on the planet. It's not just an obvious outcome, it shows how he has become truly a martian as he's willing to accept his life ends on the planet.

 

[Mach5]

Oh, Reddit...

 

[Owain Taggart]

I know they make some lip-service that his messages and such are "going out to everyone"

Well, this isn't going to directly address the complaints, but I think it's more of a script problem. That particular bit is straight out of the book. The book uses more language, therefore makes more sense as they're trying to restrain him from potential embarrassment. The movie version of that scene, however, loses some context as there's less cursing throughout. If anything, this is something that probably should have been cut or at least done differently. In the book, it makes more sense to have it as it's more part of his character, but the movie version of Mark Watney doesn't exactly let'em fly.

 

[shapeshifter]

Appears I really screwed up for judging this one by its trailer.

While I do still believe some trailers give too much info away, I admit that may not have been the case with this one.

But I unfairly jumped the gun, and offer apologies for my thoughtlessness which led to wasting of your time.

Thanks for all your responses explaining my mistake, and know I do now intend to see this at the theater, in 3D even!

 

[Trekker4747]

Appears I really screwed up for judging this one by its trailer.

While I do still believe some trailers give too much info away, I admit that may not have been the case with this one.

But I unfairly jumped the gun, and offer apologies for my thoughtlessness which led to wasting of your time.

Thanks for all your responses explaining my mistake, and know I do now intend to see this at the theater, in 3D even!

Good choice, it really is a great movie.

 

[Unicron]

I got a few Cast Away vibes while watching, but I agree it's in a good way and not a bad way.

Cast Away is a terrific movie.

I agree. One of Tom Hanks' best performances.

 

[DimesDan]

Just got back from watching it with the wife and we both thought it was brilliant and Scots best film since Gladiator.

 

[Mach5]

"A-" has been the lowest anyone has voted so far. People love this movie almost unanimously. When was the last time that happened?

 

[Trekker4747]

So, apparently some people think "The Martian" is inspired by real events. Because at some point in the last 20-years or so we not only sent multiple manned missions to Mars, but one of them was plagued with numerous problems; including a stranded astronaut, and this all happened without making national news enough to be notrworthily memorable.