View Poll Results: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
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The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
#26
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Loved it. It sticks pretty close to the book, with just enough minor changes to keep things interesting for those who have read it. The 3-D was very well done (shot in 3-D, not just post-converted), and the casting was just about perfect.
#27
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
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).
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).
#28
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I gotta say, they did a REALLY good job of trying to get you to feel his pain when he's doctoring up his shrapnel wound
#29
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I saw it with the family last night. They did a good job with the adaptation. Matt Damon was absolutely the right guy to play Mark. You really do end up rooting for the guy. It was well cast all the way around and I thought the Mars landscape looked really convincing.
They cut out a few things for time. In the book he fries Pathfinder and has to spend almost half his time without contact with NASA and almost wanders into a massive storm he doesn't see coming. Guess they dropped that for time, but it robs the story of third act tension.
Also there was a bit with the Hermes crew where
Probably too morbid for the film, but lead to a hilarious joke from Martinez afterwards.
I agree about the scene where Mark removes shrapnel from himself. Was tough to watch, but really looked convincing. This makes the second movie in four years from Ridley Scott where the protagonist performs surgery on themselves while in space.
BTW : Having Sean Bean explain what the Elrond Council is?
They cut out a few things for time. In the book he fries Pathfinder and has to spend almost half his time without contact with NASA and almost wanders into a massive storm he doesn't see coming. Guess they dropped that for time, but it robs the story of third act tension.
Also there was a bit with the Hermes crew where
Spoiler:
I agree about the scene where Mark removes shrapnel from himself. Was tough to watch, but really looked convincing. This makes the second movie in four years from Ridley Scott where the protagonist performs surgery on themselves while in space.
BTW : Having Sean Bean explain what the Elrond Council is?
Last edited by Decker; 10-03-15 at 01:28 PM.
#30
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Saw it in 3D and enjoyed the hell out of it. The 3D wasn't too bad. Gave a lot of depth to the Martian landscape. Loved the humor, especially when referring to the music. Nice touch on the credits song. Special effects were almost perfect. Good job to Ridley and the cast. I will check it out again.
#31
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Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I saw it with the family last night. They did a good job with the adaptation. Matt Damon was absolutely the right guy to play Mark. You really do end up rooting for the guy. It was well cast all the way around and I thought the Mars landscape looked really convincing.
They cut out a few things for time. In the book he fries Pathfinder and has to spend almost half his time without contact with NASA and almost wanders into a massive storm he doesn't see coming. Guess they dropped that for time, but it robs the story of third act tension.
Also there was a bit with the Hermes crew where
Probably too morbid for the film, but lead to a hilarious joke from Martinez afterwards.
I agree about the scene where Mark removes shrapnel from himself. Was tough to watch, but really looked convincing. This makes the second movie in four years from Ridley Scott where the protagonist performs surgery on themselves while in space.
BTW : Having Sean Bean explain what the Elrond Council is?
They cut out a few things for time. In the book he fries Pathfinder and has to spend almost half his time without contact with NASA and almost wanders into a massive storm he doesn't see coming. Guess they dropped that for time, but it robs the story of third act tension.
Also there was a bit with the Hermes crew where
Spoiler:
I agree about the scene where Mark removes shrapnel from himself. Was tough to watch, but really looked convincing. This makes the second movie in four years from Ridley Scott where the protagonist performs surgery on themselves while in space.
BTW : Having Sean Bean explain what the Elrond Council is?
#32
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Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
It was great. I'm a big fan of the book. That I read after watching the trailer in the theaters LOL!
The 8:55 pm function was packed! They should easily win the weekend. And I think it can have long legs.
Not 3D, but after reading the posts here I want to watch it. And in a bigger screen than the one I watched.
The 8:55 pm function was packed! They should easily win the weekend. And I think it can have long legs.
Not 3D, but after reading the posts here I want to watch it. And in a bigger screen than the one I watched.
#33
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
It was great. I'm a big fan of the book. That I read after watching the trailer in the theaters LOL!
The 8:55 pm function was packed! They should easily win the weekend. And I think it can have long legs.
Not 3D, but after reading the posts here I want to watch it. And in a bigger screen than the one I watched.
The 8:55 pm function was packed! They should easily win the weekend. And I think it can have long legs.
Not 3D, but after reading the posts here I want to watch it. And in a bigger screen than the one I watched.
The big question for the number types is if it can perform as well as Gravity ($55.8m opening weekend, $274m domestic gross, A- cinemascore (the Martian got an A))
All I know is I'm enjoying this recent rebirth of big budget space movies, and that Matt Damon should probably
#34
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Saw it last night and loved it. It wasn't as ambitious as Interstellar (and shares two cast members) but it was executed so much better. Very solid all around on all fronts. Matt Damon gives a very likeable performance as the titular character, infusing him with charisma, intelligence, and a sense of humour.
#35
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I saw this last night and overall liked it a lot. Probably one of the best films I've seen this year and definitely one of Scott's better films. Damon did good and I agree that the humor worked really well overall with balancing the situation he was in. Probably my only slight complaint is that I felt like it was a bit longer than it had to be. Towards the end I still wanted to watch it but I felt like there was some unnecessary filler that padded out an extra fifteen to twenty minutes that weren't really needed.
#36
Moderator
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I thought it was just awful (mainly because of the script.) Way too long, and descended into silliness at the end. Seems I'm by far in the minority with this view.
#37
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Saw it, loved it. Went to a 4:15 show and it was a near sellout.
#38
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Saw both this and Sicario yesterday. While Sicario was definitely the better movie, this was more entertaining. Very faithful to the book, though they omitted a lot of the language for a PG-13 rating (although I was surprised they allowed to F-bombs with the rating) . Damon did a great job of conveying Watney's wit, but a lot of the wise cracks were also omitted as well it appears. Definitely the most light hearted Ridley Scott movie I've ever seen.
Loved the Lord of the Rings joke with "Boromir" sitting at the table. Disco soundtrack got a bit annoying at times, but I think that might have been part of the intention. 3D worked at times, but was mostly superfluous.
Loved the Lord of the Rings joke with "Boromir" sitting at the table. Disco soundtrack got a bit annoying at times, but I think that might have been part of the intention. 3D worked at times, but was mostly superfluous.
#40
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I saw this yesterday and thought it was cool enough. I don't know if I'll buy it on BD, because I don't feel it will have the same playback value as Scott's other films. Hell, I can re-watch Prometheus over and over but something like this? I don't know.
I'd be curious if they released Scott's Unrated cut. I just read an interview he did with Yahoo and he said that there's 15 minutes that were trimmed for the TC that would be restored for the DC. I'd be down for that.
I'd be curious if they released Scott's Unrated cut. I just read an interview he did with Yahoo and he said that there's 15 minutes that were trimmed for the TC that would be restored for the DC. I'd be down for that.
#41
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Saw it last night. Loved it. Laughed at the Elrond Council bit (also probably the only one in the theater that got it). The casting was great save for Wiig, she was very out of place. Daniels was fantastic. Glover was great in his little role. I look forward to more drama from him. Also the blonde with the short hair kept tripping me out, her voice was a dead ringer for Cobie Smulders, so much so I was convinced it was her in a wig.
The film was beautifully shot. The drama with Damon was good, I was never quite sure if it was going to have a happy ending
Other than that, very solid all the way around.
I only noticed the one in the first 5 minutes. I thought to myself, well, there's the one and only out of the way. They found lots of creative ways around it though.
Morbid? Maybe. I haven't read the book but it just sounds ridiculously stupid to me. Glad they left it out.
The film was beautifully shot. The drama with Damon was good, I was never quite sure if it was going to have a happy ending
Spoiler:
Other than that, very solid all the way around.
Saw both this and Sicario yesterday. While Sicario was definitely the better movie, this was more entertaining. Very faithful to the book, though they omitted a lot of the language for a PG-13 rating (although I was surprised they allowed to F-bombs with the rating) . Damon did a great job of conveying Watney's wit, but a lot of the wise cracks were also omitted as well it appears. Definitely the most light hearted Ridley Scott movie I've ever seen.
Morbid? Maybe. I haven't read the book but it just sounds ridiculously stupid to me. Glad they left it out.
#42
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Also the blonde with the short hair kept tripping me out, her voice was a dead ringer for Cobie Smulders, so much so I was convinced it was her in a wig.
#43
DVD Talk Reviewer
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I was actually pretty excited to discover that Wiig was cast as the PR spokesperson, because the character brings a little (vulgar) levity to the NASA content in the book that she could easily pull off. Unfortunately, her character was one of the few true casualties in translating the book to the screen, which resulted in her just feeling kinda there. Bet there's some cut content involving her (and her filthy mouth) lying around somewhere.
#44
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I think in two years, we'll be seeing Michael Pena in everything, kind of like Kevin Hart is now. He is certainly a star on the rise.
#45
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Well, I never read the book and once I found out they were making a movie out of the book, I intentionally avoided reading it, because I wanted a "pure" movie-going experience for this one...
This is my favorite (so far) movie of 2015, and probably the best movie Ridley Scott has directed in at least two decades. It's the rare film that is both smart and extremely entertaining at the same time. A lot of people are going to be comparing it with Gravity and Cast Away...but it's better than both those movies. It's more favorably compared to Apollo 13, in my opinion. If you liked that, you'll love The Martian.
"Who'd have thunk" we'd ever get a movie from Ridley Scott with so much joy and inspiration involved? It looks and feels like nothing he's done before, and it's awesome. I gave it a perfect 5 stars - I think it's a wonderful film that we're still going to be talking about years from now.
This is my favorite (so far) movie of 2015, and probably the best movie Ridley Scott has directed in at least two decades. It's the rare film that is both smart and extremely entertaining at the same time. A lot of people are going to be comparing it with Gravity and Cast Away...but it's better than both those movies. It's more favorably compared to Apollo 13, in my opinion. If you liked that, you'll love The Martian.
"Who'd have thunk" we'd ever get a movie from Ridley Scott with so much joy and inspiration involved? It looks and feels like nothing he's done before, and it's awesome. I gave it a perfect 5 stars - I think it's a wonderful film that we're still going to be talking about years from now.
#46
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I was actually pretty excited to discover that Wiig was cast as the PR spokesperson, because the character brings a little (vulgar) levity to the NASA content in the book that she could easily pull off. Unfortunately, her character was one of the few true casualties in translating the book to the screen, which resulted in her just feeling kinda there. Bet there's some cut content involving her (and her filthy mouth) lying around somewhere.
#47
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Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
Just saw it. It was good, nothing more. Competently made from top to bottom but still never once approaches greatness, and therein lies the disappointment. As with the book, the comedy entertains but to a significant extent also undermines the drama and supposed hopelessness of the situation and the story at hand. I totally understand why they decided to cut out the destruction of the Pathfinder late in the story and any mere mention of cannibalism. Money is the factor here, not art, and thus this thing is sure to rake in a boatload. In the end, The Martian is indeed a good ol' time at the movies. A terrific Hollywood production. But ultimately forgettable. I see no reason to ever revisit this once you already know that Matt Damon makes it back to Earth alive. For such a positively astounding story, the whole thing ends up feeling very slight.
Last edited by EctoCooler; 10-04-15 at 06:37 PM.
#50
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: The Martian (Scott, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
I know the Titanic sinks, but I still watch Titanic.
I know Roger Maris will break Babe Ruth's record, but I can watch 61* more than once.
I know Tom Hanks makes it off the island, but Cast Away is re-watchable.
Dorothy makes it home from Oz, but...well, you get the point.