The Martian - Grading & Discussion

[Commander Richard]

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Fall 2013 gave us Gravity and 2014 gave us Interstellar. This year's big space adventure is called The Martian. It stars Matt Damon as an astronaut who's stranded on Mars and has to survive. It's based on Andy Weir's best-selling novel of the same name, available on amazon.com. The movie will be released on the September 30th in some parts of the world with a wider release on October 1st and 2nd. It's been screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been exremely well received.

You've seen the trailer, now watch author Andy Weir talk in the YouTube clip below about how he got the book started, it's instant rise to bestseller, the film's quick development and scientific accuracy along with some personal thoughts and character insights. It's long but it's very entertaining and the time goes by quickly. If you're interested in the book or the movie, you'll come away with a lot.

Official Website | IMDb Page | Wikipedia Entry
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[intrinsical]

I just finished reading the novel last night. I am really looking forward to watching the movie as I already know I in will be tearing up quite a bit at how NASA and the world moved mountains to bring Mark back from Mars. Oh it also helps that the movie is opening on my birthday, so I am treating it as an extra birthday gift.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I love the novel and I'm really excited about this film. Sadly, I have to wait until the 7th to see it when it's released in Brussels.

 

[shapeshifter]

Not seeing this at theater, the previews removed all reason to by revealing TMI. I feel I already saw the damn thing.

 

[Trekker4747]

Not seeing this at theater, the previews removed all reason to by revealing TMI. I feel I already saw the damn thing.

Errrrrr... Okay. Can't say the trailers I've seen revealed that much, to the point of knowing what's going to happen over the course of the 2-3 hours of the movie. And if they did, not sure how that would dimish the spectacle of seeing the movie itself on the big-screen. But, I'm rarely bothered or upset by spoilers. Just knowing, generally, how storytelling works should reveal whats goingg to happen in the movie. If you've (general) read the book you know everything, would that stop them from going to see it?

Anyway, I have the book, haven't read it yet. Likely will see the movie first. Looks really good and these space-based, true-sci-fi, early-fall movies have*been good the last couple years and this one looks to be no exception.

It looks closer to what I want to see in a Mars mission movie. The two that came out a few years ago (99, 2000? Mission to Mars and Red Planet) drug themselves down by bringing in unnecessary "soft sci-fi" elements (the Face on Mars" being an alien base/ship in RP creatures on the planet creating a breathable atmosphere) a trip to Mars alone would be an ultimate and dangerous task for a group to take. This movie looks much more grounded in reality and showing what it comes down to for a mission to Mars.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yes, really excited about this one. I've been looking forward to it after reading the book ever since the movie was announced. Word is that they've done a very good job on it.

 

[JD]

I'm really looking forward to this. I've liked most of the Ridley Scott movies I've seen, and the movie has an amazing cast.
I did buy the book a couple weeks ago, but I haven't read the book yet. I've heard nothing but good things about it. It'll probably be one of the next things I read.

 

[shapeshifter]

Maybe we saw different previews. I previews saw revealed the stranding, struggle to survive, and the eventual cheering at his being rescued. The rest is simply connecting the dots in between.

I wish mystery at who/what The Martian actually was had been preserved. If the previews had left me wondering if the Martian represented some sort of first contact, or something like that, I probably would have been first in line.

But I know who the martian is, pretty much what his dilemma is, and that he's eventually rescued. So why bother going to a theater? I'll see it on one of my subscription channels or Netflix sooner or later.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

I wish mystery at who/what The Martian actually was had been preserved. If the previews had left me wondering if the Martian represented some sort of first contact, or something like that, I probably would have been first in line.

In that case then, I reckon the previews told you just the right amount of information you needed to let you avoid this, since Alien first contact isn't what this movie is remotely about.

It's like complaining that the trailers for Star Wars reveal it's set in space, rather than the documentary about celebrity feuds that you really wanted instead.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I wish mystery at who/what The Martian actually was had been preserved. If the previews had left me wondering if the Martian represented some sort of first contact, or something like that, I probably would have been first in line.

In that case then, I reckon the previews told you just the right amount of information you needed to let you avoid this, since Alien first contact isn't what this movie is remotely about.

It's like complaining that the trailers for Star Wars reveal it's set in space, rather than the documentary about celebrity feuds that you really wanted instead.

Or seeing Titanic because you see old Rose in the previews, pretty obvious in a tragic tale that she'd lose the love of her life when the ship sank. How the story is told, and the work of the actors doing it is every bit as important as the plot itself.

 

[Trekker4747]

Indeed. The trailers "spoiled" the whole movie by saying it was about an astronaut trapped on Mars and not about an alien coming from the planet in the most over-done sci-fi Mars-story done since the beginning of entertainment radio?

How is know the movie is about astronauts amd not aliens that spoilery?

 

[Owain Taggart]

Actually, I thought the trailer was fairly good. It only really laid out the basic concept without getting too specific.

 

[intrinsical]

Its like Apollo 13. If you knew its history, you know the crew survives and makes it back to Earth. Does knowing this fact spoil the movie? No.

The same is true of The Martian. Yes, Mark Watney makes it back to Earth. Knowing this does not spoil the movie.

 

[Reverend]

Very few films have surprising endings and knowing or deducing ahead of time how it's going to end only spoils the experiance if the end is the whole point. Most of the time, it's not the destination but the journey that matters.

It's not a film about Mark Watney getting home, it's a story about *how* he survived alone on a sterile, inhospitable planet long enough to be rescued. It's about the trials and tribulations.

 

[Starkers]

I wish mystery at who/what The Martian actually was had been preserved. If the previews had left me wondering if the Martian represented some sort of first contact, or something like that, I probably would have been first in line.

In that case then, I reckon the previews told you just the right amount of information you needed to let you avoid this, since Alien first contact isn't what this movie is remotely about.

It's like complaining that the trailers for Star Wars reveal it's set in space, rather than the documentary about celebrity feuds that you really wanted instead.

Or seeing Titanic because you see old Rose in the previews, pretty obvious in a tragic tale that she'd lose the love of her life when the ship sank. How the story is told, and the work of the actors doing it is every bit as important as the plot itself.

I'm not so sure about the Titanic example, the film's quite clever in that it tells us Rose's name was once Dawson, sure we might join the dots and figure out she and Jack don't have decades of marriage together, but early on in the film it's perfectly plausible that both Rose and Jack survive, get married and then, who knows, maybe Jack leaves her in 1925 or he dies in 1929, or she leaves him in 1930. It's definitely a feint to give us hope that Jack survives as well.

 

[Gov Kodos]

In that case then, I reckon the previews told you just the right amount of information you needed to let you avoid this, since Alien first contact isn't what this movie is remotely about.

It's like complaining that the trailers for Star Wars reveal it's set in space, rather than the documentary about celebrity feuds that you really wanted instead.

Or seeing Titanic because you see old Rose in the previews, pretty obvious in a tragic tale that she'd lose the love of her life when the ship sank. How the story is told, and the work of the actors doing it is every bit as important as the plot itself.

I'm not so sure about the Titanic example, the film's quite clever in that it tells us Rose's name was once Dawson, sure we might join the dots and figure out she and Jack don't have decades of marriage together, but early on in the film it's perfectly plausible that both Rose and Jack survive, get married and then, who knows, maybe Jack leaves her in 1925 or he dies in 1929, or she leaves him in 1930. It's definitely a feint to give us hope that Jack survives as well.

Seen enough film tragedies that Jack's survival was not likely to me. Life changing Love of One's Life in a movie about a doomed ship, Kirk's average red shirt had a better chance of coming out of the episode alive.

 

[RAMA]

I can't wait to see this

 

[Reverend]

Or seeing Titanic because you see old Rose in the previews, pretty obvious in a tragic tale that she'd lose the love of her life when the ship sank. How the story is told, and the work of the actors doing it is every bit as important as the plot itself.

I'm not so sure about the Titanic example, the film's quite clever in that it tells us Rose's name was once Dawson, sure we might join the dots and figure out she and Jack don't have decades of marriage together, but early on in the film it's perfectly plausible that both Rose and Jack survive, get married and then, who knows, maybe Jack leaves her in 1925 or he dies in 1929, or she leaves him in 1930. It's definitely a feint to give us hope that Jack survives as well.

Seen enough film tragedies that Jack's survival was not likely to me. Life changing Love of One's Life in a movie about a doomed ship, Kirk's average red shirt had a better chance of coming out of the episode alive.

More to the point, after about 20mins in it becomes pretty obvious that the plot is your basic 'Romeo and Juliet' knock-off. With that in mind it's surprising only one of them died.

 

[Dead Red Shirt #76]

Maybe we saw different previews. I previews saw revealed the stranding, struggle to survive, and the eventual cheering at his being rescued. The rest is simply connecting the dots in between.

I wish mystery at who/what The Martian actually was had been preserved. If the previews had left me wondering if the Martian represented some sort of first contact, or something like that, I probably would have been first in line.

But I know who the martian is, pretty much what his dilemma is, and that he's eventually rescued. So why bother going to a theater? I'll see it on one of my subscription channels or Netflix sooner or later.

Not sure if we saw the same preview, but it looked like the cheering to me was just the realization that he had survived whatever the initial disaster was, not that he was rescued. But that could just be my interpretation.

Either way, still high on my must-see list this fall.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's not a film about Mark Watney getting home, it's a story about *how* he survived alone on a sterile, inhospitable planet long enough to be rescued. It's about the trials and tribulations.

This! Nicely stated, sir Reverend!