The Martian (2015) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Andy Weir's The Martian, on which the movie is based (and I'm told is somewhat faithful to)
http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443125655&sr=8-1&keywords=the+martian

 

[andySu]

Not sure I can spend £20.00 at the cinema now as the clips in Dolby Stereo tells me no dialogue panning of 100% GRAVITY no £20.00 as I can't listen to over 2 hours of centre channel dialouge.


Looks like a rental or cheap bluray when I can be asked next year.

 

[Tino]

Currently 95% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. Getting great buzz including Oscar buzz for BP, Scott for director and Damon for actor. Seeing it this weekend in an ETX theater where I'm SURE there will be "dialog panning."

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yup, I'll be there this weekend. I'm really looking forward to watching this film on the big screen.

 

[Tino]

Not sure I can spend £20.00 at the cinema now as the clips in Dolby Stereo tells me no dialogue panning of 100% GRAVITY no £20.00 as I can't listen to over 2 hours of centre channel dialouge.

Looks like a rental or cheap bluray when I can be asked next year.

Just so I understand Andy. You're not going to the cinema to see this because the YouTube clips are just Dolby stereo??

 

[SamT]

 

[Todd H]

Hitting the local Thursday 8 PM showing. Looking forward to it.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Listened to an NPR article about the movie. It is being praised as perhaps the most scientifically accurate space travel movie ever made. The author is a nerd and he wrote it for nerds, "his people". He posted it online for free and got feedback which he used to correct mistakes. There is one glaring mistake which the author knew he was making, but decided he needed it anyway. I'll put it in a spoiler:

Spoiler

The Martian atmosphere is too thin to produce the damaging wind/dust storm that is the lynchpin for putting astronaut Mark Watney in trouble. He's gotta have someway to maroon the guy and he chose this. I forgive him. Looking forward to the movie.

 

[Todd H]

What an outstanding flick. This thing is going to be a crowd pleaser for sure. Probably Ridley Scott's best work in ages. Gonna have to go see it again.

 

[mattCR]

This goes into my list as one of the three best films I've seen this year (the other two being Mad Max & Pixar's In & Out)..


I enjoyed the book, and there are some changes here for time I was "eh" about, but the storyline is really one that is fantastic because it is such an optimistic reminder of how the world can pull together in hopes of helping someone. I found the entire movie uplifting, fun, entertaining and well done.


The cinematography in this film is fantastic.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Does viewing this in 3-D enhance your film experience?

 

[Sam Posten]

Getting absolutely rave reviews. I just finished the book and it was terrific. Seeing it tomorrow.

Interesting that the whole audio book is up on Youtube. Not sure I dig that narrator. I 'heard' the whole thing in my head in Damon's voice.

And I concur with Tino, I have no idea what your complaint is AndySu, avoiding the film despite the praise it is getting from all corners because of the sound quality of a low fidelity trailer seems a bit kookie.

 

[mattCR]

My son offered this review: "It's like Rudy but for scientists".


I'm pretty good with that review.

 

[TravisR]

The Martian is easily Ridley Scott's best movie since Blade Runner. I'll never understand all the internet love for Scott but even I have to say that he absolutely nailed it this time around. One of the year's best.


Also, I loved the use of all the 'good' bad disco.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think it's the best film so far this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

[TravisR]

I think it's the best film so far this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

There's a few movies that I've liked more but if the Oscars were tomorrow, I'd say that The Martian would have a pretty good chance at winning Best Picture.

 

[WillG]

Saw it earlier today. I'll start off by saying that without a doubt this is one of the most visually stunning films in the history of cinema (if nothing else, Ridley can always be counted on to deliver in that respect). If you're a 3D hater, make an exception here. See it in 3D on the biggest screen you can find (oddly enough as far as I could tell, this isn't playing in any IMAX theaters. I guess "The Walk" must be taking up all the IMAX screens).

Generally I enjoyed the movie. I'd give 4 out of 5...thoughts/questions on that below (maybe the book covers some of this in more detail)

Why is there even a Botanist on the Mars mission? It appears that he's there to study the Martian soil but since there weren't any plans on growing anything wouldn't that be more suited for a Geologist? Maybe he maintains an oxygen garden in the Mars Habitat and/or the Hermes?

Spoiler

why couldn't the others on the crew re-land on Mars after the storm to search for Damon or at least confirm that he was dead. I take it that the landing craft is a one shot design, but what was the contingency if that storm had occurred like 10 minutes after they first landed on Mars?

Spoiler

why was Damon so pissed when he learned that NASA hadn't informed the other crew that he was still alive. I would think he would understand the reasoning behind it

For me this movie required a good amount of suspension of disbelief, and not even for the physics and other scientific elements (which I'm sure will be torn apart on the Internet in the next few days) for me, it was more along the lines of

Spoiler

NASA spending what had to be in the billions to rescue one person (especially since I would imagine Damon being still alive could be easily hidden from the public, and even if not, it's not like any Astronaut isn't fully aware of the risks). As well as the Hermes crew taking suicidal risks so willingly (I tend to think that real astronauts are pretty by the book and strictly follow procedure)

I felt the movie ran a bit longer than necessary. I felt that a good 15-20 minutes could easily have been trimmed without virtually any impact to the story (this surprises me a bit since Ridley has repeatedly expressed the importance of pacing throughout his career)

Spoiler

In terms of cuts you could easily make, start with Kristin Wiig's character, she served literally 0 purpose in this movie (and is third billed among the cast?!)

The "Disco" joke throughout the movie got stale.

And one other thing that bothered me, although not specific to just this movie.

Spoiler

Why is it that the pragmatic characters in these types of films always seem to be portrayed as assholes/cowards? The Jeff Daniels character made the 100% correct call in his refusal to authorize the remaining crew to go back and rescue Damon. I would expect any real life director or NASA to make the same call.

And kind of a fun "Easter Egg"

Spoiler

A scene with the NASA guys referencing The Council of Elrond" that included Sean Bean

Also I warn on this, know that if you have younger kids that you were planning on taking to see this movie that it really stretches it's PG-13 rating

Spoiler

Two "Fucks" and some more inaudible "Fucks", Matt Damon ass, and a fairly graphic injury treatment scene (which frankly I'm surpised made past the MPAA)

 

[WillG]

There's a few movies that I've liked more but if the Oscars were tomorrow, I'd say that The Martian would have a pretty good chance at winning Best Picture.

It should be a lock for the cinematography oscar

 

[cinemiracle]

I want it to be good too, but after Interstellar I'm really about done with Matt Damon.

I am not a fan of Matt Damon so I won't be seeing it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

(oddly enough as far as I could tell, this isn't playing in any IMAX theaters. I guess "The Walk" must be taking up all the IMAX screens).

It's not in IMAX unfortunately. "The Martian" is being released by 20th Century Fox which at the moment does not have a deal for IMAX releases. 20th Century Fox has been a big supporter of the so-called "Premium Large Format" screens (like AMC Prime or ETX and Regal's RPX), so expect it to be at those.


I'm actually trying to figure out where to see this. I'm a NYC resident and I was planning it on seeing it in AMC Prime/Dolby Cinema (with Dolby Atmos) at the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, but when I contacted the theater, they told me that the AMC Prime showing is only in 2D. So I'm kinda at a loss for where to catch it in 3D because I'd still like to see it on as big of a screen as possible, but definitely in 3D. Any NYC residents solved this one yet?