The Martian by Andy Weir

[RuBisCO]

One problem I had with the adaption was that artistic stylizing in the design and look of everything took precedent over actual engineering.

Look the Hermes: it looks like an artist made it out of pieces of ISS, the book Hermes was nuclear powered, NO SOLAR CELLS! Huge windows in the centrifuge, looks great, not very practical though. Hab hatch sealed off with transparent plastic that flaps in the wind and even pops in and out somehow with a pressure differential of 1/100! Looks cool, not at all possible though. I could go on and on, frankly yes the movie was more realistic than Interstellar in spaceships design, but less so than Gravity or even Avatar!

I did like movie version of the rover more then the book version, but the alterations to the movie version made little sense.

[sp1989]

One problem I had with the adaption was that artistic stylizing in the design and look of everything took precedent over actual engineering.

Look the Hermes: it looks like an artist made it out of pieces of ISS, the book Hermes was nuclear powered, NO SOLAR CELLS! Huge windows in the centrifuge, looks great, not very practical though. Hab hatch sealed off with transparent plastic that flaps in the wind and even pops in and out somehow with a pressure differential of 1/100! Looks cool, not at all possible though. I could go on and on, frankly yes the movie was more realistic than Interstellar in spaceships design, but less so than Gravity or even Avatar!

I did like movie version of the rover more then the book version, but the alterations to the movie version made little sense.

First of all this is a Ridley Scott movie. He has an undeniable style and although this is a Sci fi movie set in the real world Ridley will be Ridley. So the style is future NASA but it's Sykes by Ridley Scott. When it comes to the Hermes they did take quite a few liberties but with the exception of the book saying "the Hermes was an enormous ship" Andy Weir didn't exactly go in to detail that much. The engines could still be nuclear but the ship and the habitation areas are as large as the ISS so they would need solar panels that big including that much power to maintain a nuclear reactor. Look at the movies they made for the constellation missions those solar panels are huge.

[RainDreamer]

I thought Hermes engines are ions? They didn't mention what it is in the movie either way.

Also, the movie Hermes has actual radiators. That is a small detail I didn't think they would care about if it is just any other scifi movie.

I dislike the windows, of course, but think about it in a movie director's perspective. How the hell do you show that your character is in space while they are in a simulated gravity environment? Welp, have a window in the scene and show the audience stars and the vastness of space.

[How2FoldSoup]

Gravity

The entire plot in gravity was based off of incorrect orbital mechanics and that is more realistic that the Martian was?

Granted I still have the book version in my head which faired better in realism than the movie did, but even the movie was more realistic in my opinion because it wasn't based off an impossible series of events(like gravity was).

[Parkaboy]

I thought the movie was good, but I was expecting more from watching the trailers. I'm okay with most of the changes from the book, but the Iron Man scene was frankly ridiculous... At that point, the movie almost turned into a parody of the book.

[RuBisCO]

The entire plot in gravity was based off of incorrect orbital mechanics and that is more realistic that the Martian was?

Granted I still have the book version in my head which faired better in realism than the movie did, but even the movie was more realistic in my opinion because it wasn't based off an impossible series of events(like gravity was).

I will grant the events were unrealistic, but at least the ships were more realistic.

[vger]

And... here it comes. The part where people rip it a new hole so big that Gargantua gets jealous.

Happened with Interstellar (even the President of the Planetary Society panned it) and it's going to happen again I think. And, this is why hard sci-fi films are so rare. Yes, it can be done, but in 99% of cases is going to be so terribly dry that nobody is interested in watching through 3 hours of boredom. So, they spruce it up a bit. And you get a hit film that gets tons of new people interested in science. But the people already interested in science, start getting infuriated.

Frankly, I'm just happy there's a film or two out there encouraging the public to look at the sky with the stereotypical wonder that civilization so desperately needs. Something with more substance than "Into Darkness."

Edited October 5, 2015 by vger

[Bev7787]

I just came back from watching the movie, I prefer a mixture of both movie and book. Just my opinion

[ibanix]

My largest complaint with the film - which is also with the book, I just finished reading it - was

the Hermes not having remote controlled airlocks, forcing them to make a bomb to cause explosive decompression. Seriously?! Most advanced spaceship ever made and they can't unlock the airlocks by remote?!

[Motokid600]

My largest complaint with the film - which is also with the book, I just finished reading it - was

the Hermes not having remote controlled airlocks, forcing them to make a bomb to cause explosive decompression. Seriously?! Most advanced spaceship ever made and they can't unlock the airlocks by remote?!

Iirc

they were unable to override the airlock to purposesly decompress the entire ship.

[TheSaint]

My largest complaint with the film - which is also with the book, I just finished reading it - was

the Hermes not having remote controlled airlocks, forcing them to make a bomb to cause explosive decompression. Seriously?! Most advanced spaceship ever made and they can't unlock the airlocks by remote?!

If I were designing a spacecraft I would install mechanical interlocks that would prevent both doors of the airlock from being opened at the same time, for safety purposes. I'm sure if they had a couple hours and a good tool kit they could defeat the interlocks, but they didn't have a couple of hours. My complaint with the film was that they made the airlock door look like a bank vault. It only has to hold in 14.7 psi you know.

[ibanix]

If I were designing a spacecraft I would install mechanical interlocks that would prevent both doors of the airlock from being opened at the same time, for safety purposes. I'm sure if they had a couple hours and a good tool kit they could defeat the interlocks, but they didn't have a couple of hours. My complaint with the film was that they made the airlock door look like a bank vault. It only has to hold in 14.7 psi you know.

I don't buy that explanation; everything else mission critical on the ship is done by remote. They mention the engines/flight/guidance checks being done from someone's cabin in the book!

You might have to say YES, YES, I REALLY DAMN MEAN IT, but you should be able to do it. It also makes sense so you can force *close* them remotely.

[G'th]

I don't think any spacecraft would ever be designed with the option to potentially destroy itself at the flick of a switch, no matter how many layers of security and what not you could put on top of it. And more over, they needed explosive decompression, and just going by how the doors were portrayed in the movie, they wouldn't have been able to generate near the same amount of thrust from just opening the doors as they would by blowing the door.

[Tex_NL]

I don't buy that explanation; everything else mission critical on the ship is done by remote. They mention the engines/flight/guidance checks being done from someone's cabin in the book!

You might have to say YES, YES, I REALLY DAMN MEAN IT, but you should be able to do it. It also makes sense so you can force *close* them remotely.

Of course they can operate all things remotely. But not both at the same time. As TheSaint explained it's a safety feature. Even if it would take a dozen buttons to push and menu's to confirm there is a possibility somebody would accidentally activate it. Or what about malcontent, an outside hack, a bug/virus or simply an electrical failure? By building in physical limitations you can completely avoid those scenario's. Look at the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. They do NOT have an off switch. They can be put into a sleep mode but never be turned off. This too is a safety feature. Even the best protected button can accidentally be pushed. If there is no 'button' to push you can never push it.

[Dodgey]

It doesn't matter how quickly the ship decompresses, they explained that in the book also, you get the same reaction either way.

[KSK]

I thought Hermes engines are ions? They didn't mention what it is in the movie either way.

Also, the movie Hermes has actual radiators. That is a small detail I didn't think they would care about if it is just any other scifi movie.

I dislike the windows, of course, but think about it in a movie director's perspective. How the hell do you show that your character is in space while they are in a simulated gravity environment? Welp, have a window in the scene and show the audience stars and the vastness of space.

They didn't mention the engines directly but it was pretty clear from one of the Hermes exterior shots. Camera pans down this enormous spacecraft and right at the end there's a (comparatively) diddy little engine glowing blue, that just screams 'ion drive' or VASIMR.

- - - Updated - - -

I completely agree. I definitely think I'm in the minority but I actually did not particularly enjoy this adaptation. Without being spoilery all I will say is that it took the middle road between two good possible paths for this film of which I would have been fine with either. I felt they tried to shift focus away from the technical nature of the book but then never really developed (or even met what I thought should have been the standard) the characters. I had friends leaving this movie thinking Watney was just pompous and cocky' date=' if you read the book you would know there is much more to it than that! [/quote']

They were watching a different film than the one I saw then. Cocky? Maybe a little but he's an astronaut for goodness sake - rampant self belief goes with the job. And he didn't come across as at all pompous to me. Actually, I thought the film did a great job with the supporting cast - if there was one complaint I had about the book its that the NASA characters (and the rest of the Hermes crew for that matter) came across as a bit two-dimensional. I thought the film did a better job with them.

[ibanix]

It doesn't matter how quickly the ship decompresses, they explained that in the book also, you get the same reaction either way.

I thought this as well. You get the same impulse regardless of instant or controlled decompression.

- - - Updated - - -

They didn't mention the engines directly but it was pretty clear from one of the Hermes exterior shots. Camera pans down this enormous spacecraft and right at the end there's a (comparatively) diddy little engine glowing blue, that just screams 'ion drive' or VASIMR.

-

They were VASMIR in the books. The author even makes a point about getting geeky over VASMIR drives in his comments about the book.

[vasco]

I'm really suprised but Holywood made it right this time.

They sticked to the book and the movie is really good. The cuts are in right places and the movie is not too dumbed down.

If I can nitpick something that I'll agree with Slashy that Whatney character is a bit too perfect, except one small explosion he doesn't make any mistakes. The book is so much better in this matter.

[RainDreamer]

What killed the potato again after the hab breach? Was it explained in the book? I forgot about that part.

[KSK]

What killed the potato again after the hab breach? Was it explained in the book? I forgot about that part.

Sudden exposure to cold and low atmospheric pressure killing them and more importantly the soil bacteria needed to turn poop+sand into something capable of supporting plants. If I recall correctly, the bacteria (or some of them) actually survived in the book but it was a case of too little, too late for the farm.

That was one of the nice little touches in the film I thought - the frosty ground in the hab after the breach.

I kinda disagree with Slashy and Vasco about Watney being too perfect. Sure you only see one instance of him screwing up directly, but it was a pretty serious one. I'm not sure if the film really needed more, especially since it covered 'Watney figuring things out' well enough that he clearly wasn't pulling out perfect solutions first time, every time.

Edited October 5, 2015 by KSK

[theonegalen]

Thoroughly brilliant. I saw it with my couldn't-give-a-crap-about-space-or-science roommates and they all loved it too, which also gave me the opportunity to do some education. The film easily jumps to the top of my "favorite Sci-Fi movies" list.

[Mister Dilsby]

Saw it last night with the whole family. Came home, loaded KSP, and did a docking maneuver orbital rendezvous and connection of one virtual ship in ksp to another virtual ship in said video game/simulation ksp--said to my wife, "I'm 4000 meters to target, relative velocity 40 meters per second"--AND SHE KNEW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! That was worth the price of admission alone.

ETA: You're all terrible

Edited October 5, 2015 by Kuzzter

[megatiger78]

I liked how instead of being broken, Sojourner was kept as a pet.

[RuBisCO]

I kinda disagree with Slashy and Vasco about Watney being too perfect. Sure you only see one instance of him screwing up directly, but it was a pretty serious one. I'm not sure if the film really needed more, especially since it covered 'Watney figuring things out' well enough that he clearly wasn't pulling out perfect solutions first time, every time.

Watney screw ups in the book were much more serious and prolonged, which I admit were simply impossible to fit in a 2 hour movie.

Look I fine with the movie, its a good movie, its a great sci-fi movie, it is just the book spoiled me.

Also many bacteria can survive freeze drying, sporing bacteria is rather tough in fact.

[ellindsey]

My largest complaint with the film - which is also with the book, I just finished reading it - was

the Hermes not having remote controlled airlocks, forcing them to make a bomb to cause explosive decompression. Seriously?! Most advanced spaceship ever made and they can't unlock the airlocks by remote?!

It's not a matter of having an override, it's simple physics. Both airlock doors open inward. When the airlock is pressurized, the force holding the outer door closed is far greater than what the door actuator can overcome. Likewise when the airlock is depressurized, the inner door is held shut by the air pressure in the ship. You need to close the inner door and depressurize the airlock before you can open the outer door, or close the outer door and pressurize the airlock before you can open the inner door. It's a simple failure-safe physical method of preventing both airlock doors from being open at the same time. Overriding this would require the actuators that open the doors to be strong enough to overcome the force of the ship's air pressure on the door, but the designers of the ship would have no reason to do that, especially as it would make the ship less safe if a software failure could open both doors and depressurize it.