The Martian

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

It's very good.

For a film solely about rocket scientists and astronauts not to get up its own arse is fantastic enough.

For a story that is basically just a Robinson Crusoe reworking in space to keep you captivated for two hours is better.

For ANY film to make you want Matt Damon to survive at the end is almost miraculous.

It's good. Seriously. The sweeping visuals are quite simply breathtaking (Ridley Scott, innit).

I'm sensing Oscars.

[San Bernardhinault]

The Martian

Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it is spectacular to look at. I assume they filmed it all in Arizona and Utah, but even so all the scenery is very convincingly Martian.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

The Martian

Jordan, apparently. The mountains and desert bits.

[Logan Mountstuart]

The Martian

I can thoroughly recommend the book. The film is very good and does a good job of cramming at least half of it in.

What the film doesn't quite manage is to convey the immense sense of permanent danger from the Martian climate, and also the sheer depth of his ingenuity in overcoming technical problems.

The book is a real technical trawl, but absolutely engrossing once you decide to go along with this.

His sense of humour and his self - deprecation come over even better in the book as well.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

The Martian

I read the book last year, and yes, it is as enjoyable as the film. Had they stuck faithfully to the plot of the book, of course, the film would have been about 5 hours long. I thought the film adaptation cut the right balance.

[François dan un fez]

The Martian

What's up with Matt Damon.

[RobW]

The Martian

Saw it at the weekend, and enjoyed it a great deal. Plenty of humour throughout, excellent cast including Sean Bean (fuck yeah!). Plenty of nods to other sci-fi films including Apollo 13, Silent Running, Alien, Interstellar and even the use of 70s music was reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy.

I've always liked Matt Damon. I assume he was first choice for the role, and I was thinking to myself whether i'd enjoy the film as much if it were another actor in his place. Probably not.

[meregreen]

The Martian

Likewise, saw it over the weekend. Really enjoyed it. Great script and excellent performance by Matt Damon. I'll probably read the book now. Not sure why Rogin dislikes him. As big Hollywood stars go he seems pretty grounded.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Martian

Good that women got major roles on the mission, and plenty of screen time. All the support cast were great, making it an ensemble piece. One gripe: Was the inclusion of the Chinese agency some Murdoch-esque grab for that national market?

One query: why did it take so long for him to stop shaving? Surely save the water for life or death needs?

[meregreen]

The Martian

There are quite a lot of Chinese characters in Hollywood films these days. China is a big market and it's growing fast. It's also why there are an increasing number of action blockbusters coming out of Hollywood (and fewer comedies) - films that don't rely on subtle scrips and lose nothing in translation.

[Southport Zeb]

The Martian

In as given the book for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, read it over the weekend and went to the film today. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

In the book it's the Chinese space agency, presumably because it's more plausible that they could have a 'secret' rocket booster than the Russians, with whom NASA has had a reasonable level of interaction with.

Water for shaving shouldn't be a problem, certainly while he's in the Hab, as it will be designed for recycling of water. It's only on the extended trip to Schiaparelli that this becomes an issue.

[Jah Womble]

The Martian

You'd think an electric shaver might be more practical in space. Then again, maybe not.

Just been to see this as well (in 3D, as all modern space movies must be seen by me, where possible). Pretty decent movie all told - I guess I'd like to have experienced a bit more of his feelings/emotions, given the apparently-beyond-catastrophic nature of the situation. Judging by how long the book is, I guess they had to motor things along.

The script was indeed of a high standard.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

The Martian

I don't dislike Matt Damon per se. Quite the opposite. He's just a bit TOO likeable for this role, though, I felt. You're rooting for him from the start. I wanted Watney (is it Watney?) to be a bit edgier, I guess. That's how I read the book, anyway.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Martian

He tries to be edgier (sending obscene message, etc) but it's very tame. I guess in a Hollywood film of this scale you need a goody two shoes. It's almost like a western (Damon = John Wayne, in his standard roles)

[Sam]

The Martian

Agreed about the book, it's very enjoyable. I read it in about four days, a hundred-odd pages at a time.

I haven't seen the film yet, I'm not sure when it's released here (possibly already has been). I probably will at some point.

[Come along, Min]

The Martian

Southport Zeb wrote:
In the book it's the Chinese space agency, presumably because it's more plausible that they could have a 'secret' rocket booster than the Russians, with whom NASA has had a reasonable level of interaction with.

Plus, the Chinese are the human rights abusers it's ok to like now and the rooskies are the new (old) baddies, again.

I enjoyed it. Visually spectacular. I saw it in double special hd (or summat) and 3D. Spunky!

The ending had a whiff of too much cheese about it though. Spoilt it a bit. Shouldn't get any acting gongs, probably best picture.

Although that Revenent film looks good.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Martian

Yes, really enjoyed this.

Intelligent, well-paced, dramatic, suspenseful and surprisingly funny.

I'll forgive the screenwriter the storm at the beginning, which I think was the only obvious implausibility (and it was a device to set up the movie).

Could have lived without the 3D as well (although I say that about every film).

[Louis Van Faartle]

The Martian

Enjoyed it a lot. The casting was spot on and its a pretty decent adaption of the novel.

Alien: Paradise Lost (Prometheus 2) is up next for Mr. Scott...