I thought it was a good movie, but would they really spend a billion dollars to rescue one person? I wonder if there will ever be the political will to go to mars. The best time might have been the 90's when there was a surplus.
Skip the 3d forrealz. Not 1 memorable 3d effect or anything I can remember. Its pissening. Do the Dbox for this one.
That's a good point. Also I just remembered... why would China give up its top secret research project to help ONE American man? Did anyone else notice thw Chinese boss' epic sensei eye brows?
Best time to go is right now before Obama's dumb plan about moving rocks around in space for billions of dollars goes past planning stage. The end credits showed the Chinese on the next mars mission next two Martinez. That was the deal worked out.
Yes, I think some people's disdain for Interstellar is insane for sure, but to each her own. The Martian (the book anyway) has zero big concepts in it. It is a scientific nerdy bro-down of one man versus an extreme environment. The side characters in the book are paper-thin cutouts. I loved the book but was reminded of the Doc Savage books I liked as a little boy. It has that kind of shallow glee in it, so I'm sure the movie is similar. Popcorn fest. I can't wait to see it, perhaps with smuggled beer. Ex Machina has big ideas, fairly believable people, true creepiness and a tight, tense plot. Great scifi movie. Can't wait to see it again sometime. Interstellar has been debated to death. I loved it but I'm a physicist. Many flaws, boundless ambition, loud organ music. Not really comparable to many other films or other genres, IMHO. Saw it twice and will see it again.
Read the book. Excited to see the film. JPL working with the Chinese to acquire boosters was truly a moment in which science defies all boundaries.
Are you kidding? The good PR generated by a successful mission would be through the roof. Unsuccessful? I think they have to look like they tried.
Yeah I remember that part. It's weird though, since I would imagine that the Chinese would be in competition with USA in terms of space technology and exploration, kind of the modern Russia of some sort. Is this set in the future? I missed the first 5-10 minutes. When I sat down, the crew had already left and Matt Damon just discovered he has a metal rod shot through his stomach. Anyway, I loved the part where they talk about the Council of Elron with Sean Bean present. Disappoint he didn't die though.
Lovely! Know going into it that you're about to watch a feel good movie with no villains in it. It's a fun movie showing appreciation for logic and awe of progress in science and engineering. The beauty of the book and movie is that the author is only a space enthusiast, and had almost zero input from space experts, so him imagining and working out a realistic situation & survival plan for an astronaut is a great feat. I really like this interview of Andy Weir with Adam Savage: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5SemyzKgaUU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I think history is plentiful with situations where the many risk everything for one or a small group of people. Maybe not on the scale in which we see in the movie, but still I can easily see a real life scenario where the world comes together to save someone trapped in space. The one thing I don't find particularly believable is the crew going back to save him instead of sending the pod and having him wait for the next mission to arrive. Seems the more logical choice and would a crew just defy orders so casually, even though they may want to? Seems somewhat implausible.
I haven't read the book yet but am about to take an overseas trip so probably won't get a chance to see the movie until I'm back in two weeks. I'm thinking about reading the book on the flight. For those who have seen the movie and read the book would it help to read the book first?
Yes, the movie montages the best parts of the book, so definitely read it first to have a better understanding of what exactly Watney is up to during those non-narrated or explained scenes
I saw the flick last night and loved it. As someone who is a big fan of the book (Doc Savage, B-Bob? Hey, I read Doc back in the day and I'm stretching my brain trying to find a connection!), I've given a copy of The Martian to 4 or 5 friends and relatives who aren't your typical SF freaks (which would better describe myself), and had some concern that Hollywood would make a mess of the story. To my surprise, they didn't, thanks to Ridley Scott. The film was marvelous. While the 3D won't blow your doors off, it's well done and I thought it worth seeing in the format. The topper? Damon does his best work in years in The Martian, thank goodness. Go see it, people. It's excellent.
The director has a weird fetish towards tarps and duct tape. You need crops, you need aerodynamics... I gotchu bro Duct tape and plastic tarps. You mean to tell me removing the front tip of the shuttle was efficient because it was going to weigh less even though it would create an immense wind resistance therefore making it even more redundant.
Sorry, but using duct tape was exactly what the marooned astronaut would be heavily dependent on. It wasn't a director's "fetish," it was how the fellow in the novel helped to stay alive, and it was realistic. As for "wind resistance," there is little atmosphere on Mars. What was used was the only reasonable alternative. The parachute material only had to last long enough to reach the even thinner atmosphere higher up, which would give very little resistance, becoming zero resistance very quickly. In my humble opinion and the opinion of others far more educated in this field than I am. You should read the novel. NASA's own scientists say that it is possible.
Maybe I am just going senile before you, old friend. I just meant the gee whiz-ness of it, the edge-of-your-seat great narrative tension, versus any big high brow message, I think. The book did reawaken that kind of feeling for me, in that the line by line writing wasn't that great. It just pulls you along with the great story. I too am a fan!
