"This is something my mind explicitly rejected..
We are talking about mutiny...
If it's a messed up film, the novel dies....
If I watch a messed up film, the story the way I imagined it is lost forever."
Thank you Mr. Scott for messing up my most favorite sci-fi novel of recent times. Now I need to recondition my mind into thinking that the movie never happened!!! And I need to gather whatever is left of my brains and help it piece all together through second reading of the novel, to bring it alive the way I had imagined.
- What 3D did to Gravity, it did exactly the opposite to The Martian. The film is just too dark and it fails miserably to convey the scale and perspective of the surroundings.
- Matt Damon carries the film, for whatever worth it is. Full points to him and the casting director as well. Cannot imagine any other actor in that role.
- I might change my view after second watching, but I really need some big motivation to do that now.
- Mr. Scott, the video/audio logs was the lifeline of the novel. You cannot ignore them. Watch Burn Notice - That's the right way to show improvisations using voice over evoking similar sense of humor.
- Mr. Scott, the journey to Ares 4 Mission Site had 2 rather daunting situations - The dust storm and the rover tumble and Watney's ingenious solutions to both of them - which you missed. Obviously you missed Watney's dance and the emotion associated with the completion of the long journey when he reaches the MAV. No mention of Phobos and Deimos too.
- Pathfinder never gets fried in the movie. So Watney's problems feel toned down in the movie as compared to the novel.
My rating: 6/10. It might still be a good movie, but it didn't come to close to any of my expectations. I will rather wait for the 2D HD print to enjoy it on my big-screen TV at home. Maybe then, I will be able to appreciate it and hopefully not hate it as much.
What it could have been: A great last installment of space sci-fi trilogy - Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian.
