The Martian (2015) (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

Run, don't walk, to see 'The Martian'! Now my favorite movie of 2015, it deserves to be seen on a big screen with an excellent sound system! If you wait to watch this on your 42" TV you are really missing the boat on majesty, spectacle and awe!

The Booth Bijou gives 'The Martian' 5 out of 5 stars! When the movie was over I was ready to turn around and see it again! I'll probably see it 2 or 3 more times before the Blu-ray arrives! I can't wait to show it in the Booth Bijou Garage Theater!

Mark

 

[WillG]

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?

Yeah that was kind of weird, I was prepared to go the the nearest BTX theater (Bow-Tie cinemas equivalent of AMC Prime/ETX/RPX I guess) but only 2D at that theater

 

[Patrick Sun]

I thought it was a solid film, with some odd casting (yes, the Wiig casting was simply odd, she didn't really bring anything to the table, I'm probably stereotyping her, though, but I didn't feel as weird with the Donald Glover casting.


I thought the pacing was fine for a 140 minute film, never felt it slowed down much at all. The characterizations were a little skimpy, but it's mostly Watney's plight anyway (Matt Damon).


I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+


(I saw it in 3D, pretty good in 3D).

 

[Tino]

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?

Hey Josh. It's playing in 3D ETX at the AMC Garden State 16 in Paramus. About a half hour from NYC. That's where I'm seeing it Sunday morning.

 

[Tino]

The Martian heading towards a $50 million weekend. From Deadline:

"20th Century Fox’s The Martian is conquering the weekend. Friday looks to be $17M-$18M with a three-day opening of $48M-$50M. Should the Ridley Scott film hit the upper part of that estimate, it easily will rank as one of the top four October openers. "

 

[Robert Crawford]

I chose watching it with Dolby Atmos audio over 3-D as my local theater had one or the other, but not one showing having both Dolby Atmos and 3-D.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Hey Josh. It's playing in 3D ETX at the AMC Garden State 16 in Paramus. About a half hour from NYC. That's where I'm seeing it Sunday morning.

Thanks Tino! I don't have an easy way to Paramus (no car), but I'm thinking I might just take my chances on regular 3D over the next couple days. (Working late both weekend days so maybe one of the Empire's after midnight showings) I'm really excited to see this!

 

[TravisR]

...but I didn't feel as weird with the Donald Glover casting.

I loved Glover on Community but here he seemed to be playing Troy (his Community character) when he pretended to be werido nerd Abed on the show.

 

[DaveF]

"The Martian". Science fiction. Matt Damon. By Ridley Scott. So, yeah, it's good. Take your kids and your parents and your friends.

That said, I liked it. Whereas, "Gravity" or "Inside Out" I love. They move me. "The Martian" is well crafted. But it wasn't stirring. It's a 4 or 5 out of 5. And I'm always hoping for that next movie that's a 6 out of 5.

 

[George_W_K]

Very good movie. I enjoyed it very much and had no problem at all with the runtime. I thought the pace moved along nicely. I saw this in 2D and really don't see what 3D would bring to this film. I'll probably see this again before bluray.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

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?

I wonder if 3D is just not part of the "Dolby Vision" specs. I often go to the AMC 16 in Burbank, and ever since they debuted their Dolby Cinema with Inside Out this summer, I don't think any of the movies they've shown have been in 3D.


That said, I just got home from seeing The Martian in that very auditorium, and it was great. Looked great, sounded great, and it was really a terrific movie. Ridley Scott's best in years, for sure.

 

[Greg.K]

I liked this a lot more than Gravity, but then any science issues with "The Martian" weren't as glaring.

I thought that the most unrealistic part was that somehow NASA's budget must have been increased 50-fold to build all of that stuff and send it to Mars. But I think it does a pretty good job with the science overall. I'm encouraged to go read the book now.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought this and "Gravity" were both brilliant, but what put this one a step above for me was the context: Once Clooney's character was out of the picture, "Gravity" became a Jack London-esque man versus nature story of survival. By contrast, once Vatney finds Pathfinder and uses it to jury-rig communications with NASA, "The Martian" became a powerful story of the greatest minds across the planet pooling their talents and ingenuity to get one man home. The broadcasts of the rescue mission, with crowds gathering in Houston, New York, London and Beijing, reminded me of what it must have been like to watch with bated breath as Neil Armstrong took the first step onto the moon.


"Gravity" was a parable that highlighted the dangers of even leaving our atmosphere.

"The Martian" was practically a promotional video for giving our space exploration program a jump start.

 

[DaveF]

My only quibble with the movie were the untethered space walks, leaping about the Ares. One missed grab from becoming a new satellite.

 

[DaveF]

I thought this and "Gravity" were both brilliant, but what put this one a step above for me was the context: Once Clooney's character was out of the picture, "Gravity" became a Jack London-esque man versus nature story of survival. By contrast, once Vatney finds Pathfinder and uses it to jury-rig communications with NASA, "The Martian" became a powerful story of the greatest minds across the planet pooling their talents and ingenuity to get one man home. The broadcasts of the rescue mission, with crowds gathering in Houston, New York, London and Beijing, reminded me of what it must have been like to watch with bated breath as Neil Armstrong took the first step onto the moon.

"Gravity" was a parable that highlighted the dangers of even leaving our atmosphere.
"The Martian" was practically a promotional video for giving our space exploration program a jump start.

Gravity and The Martian movies inhabit different cerebral spaces. The Martian emphasizes the intellectual experience of solving the problems to survive, with community support. Gravity emphasizes the raw emotion of the isolation, and getting through it wholly on one's own; hearing but never able to communicate with anyone else.

I think it's a great observation that The Martian brings out the community experience, from Waltneys crew mates, NASA engineers, and the man on the street. I loved the role of CNSA.

The Martian reminded me of the jury-rigging of CO2 scrubbers in Apollo 13 -- a fantastic sequence -- expanded into an entire movie.

I don't think Gravity is a better movie in some absolute sense. But for my tastes, that emotional ride is more thrilling than the more intellectual Martian.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Personally, I felt more emotionally connected to The Martian than Gravity because of the teamwork effort to rescue an abandon astronaut.

 

[TravisR]

Personally, I felt more emotionally connected to The Martian than Gravity because of the teamwork effort to rescue an abandon astronaut.

Yeah, I like that and the idea that the whole world was for once unconcerned about politics or nationalities and everyone was rooting to save him. It was a nice example of how things work better when we focus on doing good & working together rather than arguing & being divided.

 

[WillG]

I liked this a lot more than Gravity, but then any science issues with "The Martian" weren't as glaring.
I thought that the most unrealistic part was that somehow NASA's budget must have been increased 50-fold to build all of that stuff and send it to Mars. But I think it does a pretty good job with the science overall. I'm encouraged to go read the book now.

That was by far the aspect of the movie that required most of my suspension of disbelief.

The fact that Damon was still alive could have easily have been covered up by NASA (I think the movie paid lip service to NASA being completely transparent and they wouldn't be able to prevent the satellite imagery from being available to the public, but, look, they're NASA, I wouldn't believe for a second that they couldn't find a way)

But even from a PR perspective, even if Daniels flat out said "No, we have no plans to send a rescue" even though it seems sort of heartless it's still an easily defendable decision. All you have to say is:

A. Even if we could launch a rescue immediately, in all likelihood he would still be dead by the time we arrived.....
"But he's grown enough crops and stretched his rations far enough to survive long enough to be rescued"
"There are still literally hundreds of things that could happen that would make survival impossible, the habitat and the equipment is simply not designed to last as long as would be necessary for him to survive until a rescue team arrived"

B. We cannot risk the lives of the 5 remaining crew members to save one person

C. All NASA astronauts are fully aware of and have accepted the significant risks of interplanetary travel

 

[Robert Crawford]

That was by far the aspect of the movie that required most of my suspension of disbelief.

The fact that Damon was still alive could have easily have been covered up by NASA (I think the movie paid lip service to NASA being completely transparent and they wouldn't be able to prevent the satellite imagery from being available to the public, but, look, they're NASA, I wouldn't believe for a second that they couldn't find a way)

But even from a PR perspective, even if Daniels flat out said "No, we have no plans to send a rescue" even though it seems sort of heartless it's still an easily defendable decision. All you have to say is:

A. Even if we could launch a rescue immediately, in all likelihood he would still be dead by the time we arrived.....
"But he's grown enough crops and stretched his rations far enough to survive long enough to be rescued"
"There are still literally hundreds of things that could happen that would make survival impossible, the habitat and the equipment is simply not designed to last as long as would be necessary for him to survive until a rescue team arrived"

B. We cannot risk the lives of the 5 remaining crew members to save one person

C. All NASA astronauts are fully aware of and have accepted the significant risks of interplanetary travel

Mine was being on Mars in the first place. Once I accepted that concept, the rest of that stuff was easy to go along with. It's a movie made to entertain people not to be realistic to such a degree that everything has to be plausible in order for me to accept the premise for each situation presented in the film.

 

[Wayne_j]

I just got back from seeing this and while it was good, I preferred Gravity. The 3D was good, but I came out less than impressed having seen The Walk within the past week.

Spoiler

What is the difference between the "Iron Man" sequence in The Martian and the
often criticized fire extinguisher sequence in Gravity? It seems to
essentially be the same thing to me.