Movie, "The Martian", due October 2nd, based on Andy Weir's great book

Agree with ChrisAttebery (and others). The audio book is indeed excellent. Even Andy Weir says so in several of the interviews that are out there - even though he hadn't met the fellow doing the narration, R.C. Bray.

I could not resist, I used a screenshot (at the 38 second point from the latest viral video) to make this:



So I can do this:



When I go, I'm taking my iPod Touch with me to display the "Bring Him Home" image before the movie starts. And in case anyone wants to do the same, download the above "Bring Him Home" image to display on your own smart phone or other appropriate device.

- George Gassaway

Got it on my iPhone now. Thanks, George

Also grabbed your image George. I booked a ticket for Friday at noon and plan to take the afternoon off to attend.

One thing about being unemployed at the moment... Nothing holding me back from going to the movie.

Tonight on HBO at 9:45 PM Eastern is "HBO First Look: The Martian". This 31 second clip shows some brief moments of how some scenes were shot, and cast interviews. For some people it might be a bit too much to see how the hot dogs are made, others will probably enjoy it, so give some thought as to whether to watch it or not.

[video=youtube;DiTiyQk-9q8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiTiyQk-9q8[/video]

In other news, this is not new news, but something I ran across. Andy Weir had a "secret AMA" on Reddit on June 13th, a few hours of Q&A:

https://www.reddit.com/r/themartian/comments/39rzyx/psst_im_andy_weir_secret_ama_for_the_next_few/

His screen name is "sephalon", from an unpublished book he wrote. Among a few interesting tidbits:

[–]sephalonAndy Weir 114 points 3 months ago*
I wasn't interested in Watney's backstory too much or any emotional entanglements. It's a story about problem-solving and I wanted to focus on that. No slow scenes allowed. As a rule, I ask myself: "would this be a place the reader puts the book down for the night?" if so, I don't put that scene in the book. I want you [F-word-ers] up all night reading!

[–]allankcrain 18 points 3 months ago*

As a rule, I ask myself: "would this be a place the reader puts the book down for the night?" if so, I don't put that scene in the book. I want you [F-word-ers] up all night reading!

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Me: [laughing]
My girlfriend: What?
Me: [Reads quote]
Me: Remember that book I was up all night reading last week?

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[–]sephalonAndy Weir 207 points 3 months ago*
Well I didn't want to fall into the trap of everything being Checkov's Gun. If every potentially dangerous thing became a critical issue, then the reader would be able to easily predict every problem the protagonist will have way in advance just by paying attention to the exposition. I didn't want that.
So some things were just "stuff Mark was concerned about" that never became an issue. Meanwhile, other stuff he never thought of became critical and life-threatening. Got to keep the reader off-balance.

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[–][deleted] 53 points 3 months ago*
How do you feel about the look of the film so far such as the costumes, sets, vehicles, etc. ? is it close to what you imagined? if not, do you still like how it looks? if not, what do you dislike about it?

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[–]sephalonAndy Weir 98 points 3 months ago*
Oh man, it's beautiful! And I'm really looking forward to seeing Ridley Scott's sweeping views of Mars. He's a master at those shots and it'll be breathtaking, I just know it.
I love the space suits. They're pretty much how I imagined them. The rover is a lot bigger than I had in mind but otherwise looks just like what I saw in my mind. The Hab is also a bit bigger, though not unreasonably so.
The biggest difference is Hermes. It's a lot bigger than what I imagined. But it also looks about 1000x cooler than the version I had in mind, so I'm not complaining.

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Here's a new picture from "The Martian". Seems that in the movie version, Watney may have been the only living person on the planet, but had even more technology and wasn't so alone, after all….



Yeah, I made that one up. Well, tomorrow night (Thursday), 10:15 PM, I'll finally get to see the movie!

- George Gassaway

We're going to be watching at about the same time since my ticket is for 8 PM on the west coast.....

SAW IT, LOVED IT!

Saw it last night too!! good flick, really enjoyed it.

(when can we discuss it & critique it?!)

dr wogz said:

Saw it last night too!! good flick, really enjoyed it.

(when can we discuss it & critique it?!)

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After I see it tomorrow evening.Any spoilers will result in my posting pictures of Justin Bieber in a thong.

ewww....

I saw it last night, it was ok, not great, not bad, some nice humor, guy in front of me was giggling the whole time, I don't think he had been to a movie in a long time.
A few things like a rondez vous in space portrayed as simple, astronauts cavalierly roaming around outside a ship without a tether...bother me...i don't think that's a spoiler...

Frank

Did you guys see the 3D version or the standard version? I'd like to know if the 3D effects actually add anything or if they're just used as a gimmick. A lot of films seem to do the later, either as sight gag or to make things more intense/scarier. I've only seen a couple films that used the 3D in a subtle way to add to the depth of field and grandeur of setting.

I saw it in 2D the extra $5 they charge means it would have to be a pretty darn good 3d movie to make it worthwhile...

I'd say the 3D did enhance it (that is how I saw it) but not in any spectacular way. It was most effective for big Martian landscapes and the Mars Ascent Vehicle launch(es). It also kind of helped the transitions between recorded "log" entries and "just" telling the story. It certainly is NOT essential.

The "without a tether" bit bugged me as well as Cdr. Lewis makes a big deal (as she should) about NOT going untethered at that point in the book.

Agreed...took a long lunch and enjoyed a few hours alone with The Martian .

Enjoyed in 3D , it did add some depth on those luscious landscape shots .

Kenny

EXPjawa said:

Did you guys see the 3D version or the standard version? I'd like to know if the 3D effects actually add anything or if they're just used as a gimmick. A lot of films seem to do the later, either as sight gag or to make things more intense/scarier. I've only seen a couple films that used the 3D in a subtle way to add to the depth of field and grandeur of setting.

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Saw it in 3D. It was used appropriately. Not gimmicky as far too many 3D movies do.

- George Gassaway

Just saw it. Deviations from the book were interesting to note and understood, movie-wise. Highly recommend but reading the book is a must too. Fun escapism.

dr wogz said:

Saw it last night too!! good flick, really enjoyed it.

(when can we discuss it & critique it?!)

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If you can discuss it in a general way w/o spoilers that would be courteous for us guys seeing it this week.
Plot issues or fact vs. fiction...go on PM.

I'm seeing it tomorrow in 3D.
My brother is seeing it today at The Udvar-Hazy Air & Space.

https://airandspace.si.edu/events/imax-planetarium/

Too bad that TRF is not set up for spoiler tags. They work like this:


But most online forums do not have that option, indeed have only seen it used on only one that I frequent.

Here is something I posted on Facebook that I've rewritten bit:

Some inevitable differences from the book, several things condensed or cut. But Andy Weir said he'd have made the same cuts if he'd been the one to make it fit into a 2 hour 15 minute movie (The book as written would have been several hours longer. The audio book runs over 10 hours!). Some things changed, which helps with the storytelling of the movie. Some new stuff, that adds to the movie. And I like the ending better than the two different endings the book had (I read an early e-book apparently before he sold the publishing rights, and then heard the audiobook. The original book ending was sorta bland. The second one better, and some of it was used in a trailer. The movie's I like more).

I also wonder if there may have been more that was shot, which would likely appear in DVD "extras", or better yet in a "director's cut" extended edition. Pure speculation though. There is a scene I hope they did shoot that would show up eventually (in the book there is a follow-up scene later about the same issue, which the movie used instead as it was more important for the big picture, cutting the first one for time, so I get why. But that is the one thing cut that I really wished they'd kept).

- George Gassaway

Saw it and it's worth seeing at the theater !

So who is going to build a model rocket version of the ascent vehicle, or better yet, a model rocket version of the Hermes spacecraft?

georgegassaway said:

Too bad that TRF is not set up for spoiler tags.

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You can enter a spoiler in all white text which will hide it in most browsers until the reader selects the text or ....

Just create a second thread with "Spoilers" in the title.

-- Roger

Just in case you haven't been able to get enough.... Here's Adam and Andy

[video=youtube;5SemyzKgaUU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SemyzKgaUU[/video]

I was just watching a question and answer session with people from Nasa and the film responding to questions from high school students on the Nasa channel. The excitement this film is building for Nasa and a Mars mission is terrific.

I've been avoiding watching any of the trailers since I am already convinced that I am going to see the film. But, right after the Q&A, they showed a trailer from the film and I couldn't help but watch. It looks incredible. I still have to wait about a week to see it ... it's tough.

BTW .. what tag line do you think they will use to market the home video release on DVD and Blu-Ray?

-- Roger

jadebox said:

I was just watching a question and answer session with people from Nasa and the film responding to questions from high school students on the Nasa channel. The excitement this film is building for Nasa and a Mars mission is terrific.

I've been avoiding watching any of the trailers since I am already convinced that I am going to see the film. But, right after the Q&A, they showed a trailer from the film and I couldn't help but watch. It looks incredible. I still have to wait about a week to see it ... it's tough.

BTW .. what tag line do you think they will use to market the home video release on DVD and Blu-Ray?

-- Roger

Click to expand...

Simple: Bring him home to your home....

Adrian (who is hoping to go tonight)

Saw it in 3D - great movie, enjoyed it.
While I wasn't as emotionally engaged as I was with Interstellar, it is visually well done, and the Martian landscapes in 3D were great.

On my way to the theatre now to see it in 3d. Looking forward to it!

Nate