The Martian

Great movie! I read the book, so I was looking forward to seeing this movie and it didn't disappoint. Matt Damon did a good job as Mark Watney who gets stranded on Mars. Since the movie just came out I don't want to say too much more. Worth seeing IMO.

I didn't realize the movie was out. Much of it was filmed in Wadi Rum, the southern desert of Jordan last summer. I look forward to seeing it!

I saw the movie today and I highly recommend it. I saw it in 3D, which is the first feature film I have seen in 3D. I think it added significantly to the experience. While this was a "science fiction" story, there was a lot of human interaction in the plotline. Especially telling was the way in which the NASA power brokers chose their decisions. I won't provide any plot spoilers, the reviews and other media coverage have already provided plenty.

rs said:

I saw the movie today and I highly recommend it. I saw it in 3D, which is the first feature film I have seen in 3D. I think it added significantly to the experience. While this was a "science fiction" story, there was a lot of human interaction in the plotline. Especially telling was the way in which the NASA power brokers chose their decisions. I won't provide any plot spoilers, the reviews and other media coverage have already provided plenty.

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I totally agree. I enjoyed the film very much. I thought the science behind Watney's (Matt Damon's character) and NASA's planning seemed plausible enough, and it was interesting to see the "jousting match" behind the scenes between NASA's director, the mission's director, and the media head.

I enjoyed the personalities and the humor as well. There is a really fascinating article in the latest Popular Mechanics regarding Ridley Scott, his movie making process, how The Martian was made, and why he wanted so much humor, if anyone is interested.



SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The biggest issue I did have with the movie was the crew's attempt to slow down the ship when returning to Mars orbit to intercept Watney. I just cannot see how they could realistically account for how much force the explosion would create to slow the vessel down enough. I guess I will just have to leave it to "movie magic" and enjoy the show as it were. Which is fine, I just had a hard time with that particular scene considering the bulk of the movie was otherwise very believable.

I'm noticing there's an actress that sort of likes to appear in propagandistic type of movies. This is a movie to announce the mars project from Nasa, but this actress also appeared in another movie where she hunts bin laden. So I don't know... the idea that the industry might be controlled by some CIA family members...

Well, not sure whether the movie is a promotion for NASA, or NASA is a promotion for the movie. There seems to be a clear symbiosis, especially since that announcement of water on Mars coincident with the movie release.

mkrnhr said:

Well, not sure whether the movie is a promotion for NASA, or NASA is a promotion for the movie. There seems to be a clear symbiosis, especially since that announcement of water on Mars coincident with the movie release.

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There is a project from NASA which supposes in 2023 they can take people to live in Mars.

That would be the Mars One project _http://www.mars-one.com not sure what to think about it.

mkrnhr said:

That would be the Mars One project _http://www.mars-one.com not sure what to think about it.

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There is also SpaceX _www.spacex.com (the odds on favorite with the gluts in Vegas, for whatever that's worth) and The Mars Society _www.marssociety.org , which proposes building a colony of small bases.

From what I've read about NASA, they aren't planning a manned mission till the 2030's. Apparently, they want to land on an asteroid first... (_www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars)

Either way, I think it will be the private sector that lands human feet on the ground first - that is if Interplanetary travel really is feasible in the foreseeable future.

Prometeo said:

I'm noticing there's an actress that sort of likes to appear in propagandistic type of movies. This is a movie to announce the mars project from Nasa, but this actress also appeared in another movie where she hunts bin laden. So I don't know... the idea that the industry might be controlled by some CIA family members...

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I'm not sure how a certain actress appearing in certain movies indicates CIA control of the movie industry. Since you seem to be talking about Jessica Chastain, she appeared together with Matt Damon in Interstellar, which was quite similar to this movie in some ways.

I also enjoyed The Martian and think it is the best movie that came out this year. My guess is that NASA scheduled their announcement of water on Mars right when then movie came out to benefit from the publicity.

Indeed Jessica, didn't want to name her to link it to the outside browsers. But anyway, there is an article from sott and of course, the real page which posts the books which explains how movies have suffered interference from the military. One of those had 1 thousand pages

I also watched this film recently and really enjoyed it. Matt damon did a great job and enjoyed the realistic depiction, even when some of it was a little far fetched.
SPOILER
Shout out to Sean bean and the Elrond secret meeting scene. Had to have a chuckle to myself about that!!

overall a solid film and i would agree, one of the better ones i have seen this year!!

Regarding the participation of NASA in the production of this movie, here is a link from jpl:
_http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4731

Interestingly, today NASA also put online this document (for the public of course) about its perspectives about missions to Mars: _http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/journey-to-mars-next-steps-20151008_508.pdf (heavy pdf file)

I guess I'll be something of a wet blanket here as I was disappointed in this film. It was well made and very believable and Matt Damon did a very good job but I had to stop myself from falling asleep closer to the end and when I roused myself found I hadn't missed anything. The rescue mission at the end seemed rushed through (thankfully) and shallow.

I guess I'm that simple sort that wants to see the "unusual" in sci-fi movies. I was hoping he'd run into The face on Mars maybe, fall through a hidden shaft taking him to ancient realms buried in the sands of time or something out of the ordinary. Maybe a hint of another life form or anomalous energy patterns warping space or something. This wasn't what the story line was about of course and I suppose there are plenty of sci-fi's with what I enjoy in this type of film. So after awhile I found it to be tedious. Ho Hum.

The scenery was fascinating especially in 3D, the desert of Jordon I see.

SummerLite said:

I guess I'm that simple sort that wants to see the "unusual" in sci-fi movies. I was hoping he'd run into The face on Mars maybe, fall through a hidden shaft taking him to ancient realms buried in the sands of time or something out of the ordinary. Maybe a hint of another life form or anomalous energy patterns warping space or something. This wasn't what the story line was about of course and I suppose there are plenty of sci-fi's with what I enjoy in this type of film. So after awhile I found it to be tedious. Ho Hum.

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I agree! I was expecting a plot twist, something to make the movie extraordinary, but it was just.. 'Eh'

Don't get me wrong, I do think it was a good movie, I just don't think it was great.

Matt Damon is a great actor though! He made the movie, without him, it would have been AWEFUL