Review: The Martian (Movie, 2015)

Title: The Martian
Release: 2015
Runtime: 141 minutes
Cast: Matt Demon (Mark Watney)
Jeff Daniels (Teddy Sanders)
Sean Bean (Mitch Henderson)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Vincent Kapoor)
Based on The Martian by Andy Weir

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. (IMDb.com)

   Last year I read the book that this movie is based on and loved it. It was one of my top 5 favorite books of 2014 and I told basically everyone I know about it. So when I heard that there will be a movie I was both super excited and scared. Most of the time book to movie adaptations, with the exception of very few, are not quite good, or at least not as good as fans of the books would wish them to be. But, The Martian was amazing.
   Ever since I saw the first trailer for it, which I've also reviewed and teared up while watching, my expectations shot sky high which only made me more nervous when I went to see it with my friends yesterday (thanks Germany for making me wait a week). But, as previously mentioned, I was not disappointed and my expectations were met, a huge relief really, because I wouldn't have forgiven Hollywood and Ridley Scott if he would have messed this up.

   I'm having a hard time with figuring out how to transfer my thoughts and emotions about this movie onto a review that would make sense so maybe let's start at the beginning of the movie.
   We start off right before the incident that leads to Mark being left behind on Mars since his crew thinks he is dead, though he obviously isn't. I enjoyed the fact that there wasn't some long made up stuff before that but that we were thrown right into the story just when everything got messy, though we started off with a joke about Mark having found dirt on Mars which I thought was actually funny.
   I know from articles and YouTube videos that the sandstorm is more fiction then non-fiction, but the author needed a reason for him to be left behind so that's okay, considering how scientifically accurate everything else that happens in the movie is. That brings me to my next point, the fact that this isn't one of those action filled space stories but one filled with actual survival, science and jokes. I liked the fact that the movie, and book, showed just how hard it would be to save an astronaut due to the cost and distance between the Earth and Mars. They didn't just mud that over and make it unrealistic and easy, but in a way that felt realistic which I always appreciate. Everything had a scientific base, though the movie science was a little easier to understand then some of it in the book.
   Next up, as someone who first read the book with no real knowledge how all things Mars missions look like, I definitely appreciated the fact that I now know how the rover really looks like or the HAB in which Mark lives during his Mars time. While reading I had no actual clue how these things look like and I can tell you that my imagination was very far of from how everything actually looks like.

   As for the actors, especially Matt Damon, I really liked all of their performances, even though Sean Bean did not die in this movie. Can you believe it? I've never been much of a fan of Matt Damon so when I first heard that he would play Mark Watney I wasn't sure if I liked that casting choice. But now that I saw the movie and his performance I definitely changed my mind. He played Mark amazingly and believably. Surprisingly enough he fit the role really well which is always a plus point. 
   I really like Mark's character and the fact that he never gave up, never just sulked around and contemplated how high the chance is of him dying. Every day he got up and kept himself busy to stay alive a while longer, to make his chances of surviving a little bigger. I cannot even imagine how hard that would be in reality and how lonely he felt but I guess in his situation you would try to not think about it since that could just ruin your motivation and you could run into just giving up which wouldn't really help you.
   We didn't get to see the rest of his crew that much throughout the movie but what we did get to see of them was also really good. I liked how mixed the cast of characters was and how well the actors fit their roles. That also goes for the NASA members. Usually when movies involve nerds or super intelligent people we only get to see them portrayed in a very stereotypical way but not in this movie. There were many different ones around and, as far as I've heard, the fact that they use Lord of the Rings references is also a thing that actually happens so that's awesome.

   The scenery shots of 'Mars' were breathtaking. I enjoyed all the wide shots of Mark driving around in his rover that allowed us to see more of the 'planet' and proved even more just how hard it would be for a real astronaut to survive on a planet like that completely on his own.
   What I also liked was that many of the jokes from the book made it into the movie, though it's too bad one of my favorite quotes about duct tape didn't. Even the Iron Man joke made it, though in the movie it was a little bit sillier then in the book but that's okay.

   All in all I loved The Martian and how true to the book it was. Sure, a couple of things didn't make it into the movie and others were changed a little to make the movie more interesting but that's not big of a surprise. I'm happy with how the movie turned out, with the actor's performances and everything.  I definitely want to see the movie again, many times though for that movie tickets are too expensive. I think this might so far be my favorite movie of 2015 so I recommend it to basically everyone. It's not scary, doesn't involve aliens or random jump scares and idiocy. It's a brilliant movie about survival on a planet that is definitely not made for humans as is.

I give The Martian 5 out of 5 Stars.

Ask the Author: Andy Weir (The Martian)

   Hey guys!
   For this weeks Ask the Author I'm bringing you someone I am infinitely excited about seeing as his book was one of my absolute favorites last year (here's my review) and the movie based upon it is coming out very soon - of course I'm talking about Andy Weir. I had the chance to ask him a couple of Q's which he took the time and answered.
   Here's his book and his A's for my Q's:

The Martian by Andy Weir
Published: February 11th 2014 by Crown
Number of Pages: 369 Pages (Hardcover)
Series: No

   Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? (goodreads.com)

Interview with Andy Weir

   1 - Describe The Martian with a haiku.
   Mark’s stranded on Mars
   No one knows he’s still alive
   He’s pretty much fucked.

   2 - What sparked the idea for The Martian? Was it the simple idea of an astronaut doing something extraordinary or something else entirely?
   I was imagining a manned Mars mission, putting it together in my mind. Naturally, you have to account for failure scenarios and have plans for what the crew could do. I realized those failure scenarios made for a pretty interesting story.

   3 - As someone who wasn’t the strongest in science back in high school I wondered which you found harder: figuring out the science in The Martian or the story itself?
   The science was easy and fun for me. I’m a dork with a lifelong interest. The hard part was the actual writing. That’s a lot of effort.

   4 - In retrospective, is there anything that you’d change about the story or are you happy with the way it turned out in the end?
   There are a few minor unintentional scientific errors here and there. They’re minor, but I’d fix them.

   5 - What were the first thoughts and emotions you had when you first heard that The Martian would become a movie? How do you feel now, weeks from it finally hitting cinemas all over the world?
   It’s amazing. It’s like a dream come true. You fantasize about this sort of thing happening when you write a story, but you never think it’ll actually happen.

   6 - What’s next? Are you currently working on a new novel and, if so, could you tell us something about it?
   I'm working on my next book now. It's a more traditional sci-fi novel with aliens, faster-than-light travel, etc. It’s tentatively titled “Zhek”.

   7 - Your publishing story is quite an interesting one, a very different one then that from most of the authors who were previously featured on my blog or even my own story. Could you tell us something about it?
   Originally the book was just a serial I posted a chapter at a time to my website. Once the book was done, people started requesting that I make an e-book version so they didn’t have to read it in a web browser. So I did and posted it to my site. Then other people emailed saying they want to read the e-book, but they aren’t technically savvy and don’t know how to download a file from the internet and put it on their e-reader. They requested I make a Kindle version they could just get through Amazon. So I did that as well. I set the price at Amazon’s minimum allowable price of $0.99. More people bought the book from Amazon than downloaded it for free from my website. Amazon has a truly amazing reach into the readership market.
   The book sold very well and made its way up various top-seller lists on Amazon. That got the attention of Julian Pavia at Crown. He told his colleague David Fugate (a literary agent) about it. David ended up becoming my agent and Julian offered me a book deal. It was a whirlwind of activity because 20th Century Fox optioned the movie rights that same week.

   8 - I’m sure your opinion might be at least a tiny bit bias since your novel has been turned into a movie and, looking at the trailer, looks like it does it justice, but what is your general opinion on book-to-movie adaptations?
   They can be amazing or they can be a disaster or they can be anything in-between. I think the adaptation of “The Martian” is fantastic.

   9 - What advice could you give aspiring authors?
   1) You have to actually write. Daydreaming about the book you’re going to write someday isn’t writing. It’s daydreaming. Open your word processor and start writing.
   2) Resist the urge to tell friends and family your story. I know it’s hard because you want to talk about it and they’re (sometimes) interested in hearing about it. But it satisfies your need for an audience, which diminishes your motivation to actually write it. Make a rule: The only way for anyone to ever hear about your stories is to read them.
   3) This is the best time in history to self-publish. There’s no old-boy network between you and your readers. You can self-publish an ebook to major distributors (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.) without any financial risk on your part.

Trailer Review: The Martian and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two

   Hey guys!
   It's time for some trailer reviews! Originally I planned on writing two separate reviews for these two but then I decided against it. Today I'll be talking about, as the title suggests, the just released trailers for The Martian and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two. Both of these are movies I am highly anticipating so let's get right into it.

First off The Martian:

   "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this."
   Heck yes! I am beyond excited for this movie, even more so now that we have a trailer.
   When I first heard that they are making a movie out of The Martian by Andy Weir, one of my favorite books of last year, I was skeptical about it. We all know how book-to-movie adaptations usually work out and therefore I wasn't sure if Hollywood had it in them to make a good movie out of this book I fell in love with.
   I've changed my mind and am quite sure this will be an amazing movie, based on what we get from the trailer.
   The idea behind The Martian is quite simple: it's the story of astronaut Mark Watney who gets stuck on Mars after his crew had to abort their mission due to a storm. They all made it off of mars, Mark did not. As simple as that may seem, the story is amazing and watching Mark try to figure out how to survive on a planet where nothing grows is brilliant. From what we see of Mars in the trailer it seems amazing, and I finally have a visual in my mind when I think about the hub Mark lives in, as I had no clue how one would look like while I was reading the book.
   Matt Damon plays Mark, which I wasn't too sure how that will work as I'm not the biggest fan of his and the movies he's played in before, but after seeing a bit of his acting in the trailer made me quite hopeful that he will be a really good Mark.
   All in all, everything that we get to see in the trailer makes me super excited for the movie and I get jumpy each time I as much as even just think about it. Let's hope the rest of the movie will be just as amazing as this trailer!

And now, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two

   "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 76th Hunger Games."
   As you guys know, I love The Hunger Games. I loved the first two movies, liked the third one and am anticipating the finale, just like everybody else. I was really excited when I heard that we will get a teaser trailer soon, even more when they said it'll come out June 9th, being today.
   The problem is just that, after watching the teaser trailer, I feel underwhelmed by what we get to see. I know many people feel like Mockingjay is the weakest book in the trilogy, that it doesn't have enough plot to fill out two movies, and, after watching Mockingjay Part One, I was kind of on their side. Personally, I liked Mockingjay the book, but I fear that the movie makers will go into either of two directions: too much focus on the love story or too much focus on big explosions and action sequences.
   Okay, I admit, the wedding looks super cute, the scenes where Katniss hugs Peeta and Prim are adorable, and yes we all know why they are in there, we know you want to make us suffer, dear movie makers, we know. But, even the action sequences with exploding cars, the black tar crashing through the streets and Katniss' speech somehow have no effect on me. Whereas I get excited each time I see the trailer for The Martian, I just feel underwhelmed and only mildly exited for Mokingjay Part Two. Of course I still want to see the movie badly, of course I am super sad that this will be the end, but the teaser didn't make me more excited, like a teaser should make you feel.
   Maybe my problem lies within the fact that it took me at least two screenings to like the third movie which makes me worry that 'what if the fourth one won't be as good? what if it'll be like the third one, and not as amazing and outstanding like Catching Fire?' but I guess a teaser won't easy my worries, as it is merely a teaser and not the entire thing.
   Nonetheless I am looking forward to the movies and the next trailers, I hope the movie will be excellent and a worthy finale to the series.
   "Snow has to pay for what he's done."

   All in all I am super excited for both these movies. Tell me what you think in the comments below or tweet me @Alice_Reeds!

Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir
Published: February 11th 2014 by Crown (first published 2011)
Number of Pages: 369 (Hardcover)
Series: No
Buy it: Book Depository
 ~ Free shipping worldwide ~

   Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars.
   Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.
   It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.
   But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

"I'm pretty much fucked."

   This first line perfectly describes the entire novel. I'm not even kidding you. Way to go, Mr. Weir!
   After that opening line, paired with the blurb and the cover, I was sold. I had to get my hands on this book. I had to read it so I decided to buy it for myself for Christmas.
   I did not regret buying a hardcover copy.
   This book is nothing like what I usually read. It doesn't really fit into any of the genres I usually turn to and I loved it. This book was very different from what I have read so far throughout my years of reading. I admit, there was a lot I didn't understand simply because there is a lot of science in this book. A LOT. But, despite all the science, I still enjoyed this book a lot. I had a fantastic time reading it and exploring all these things involved in trying to survive on a planet where everything is out to kill you.

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. 
Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

   Mark Watney, the protagonist of this breathtaking novel, is a botanist and engineer who flew to Mars with his Crew where he was supposed to stay for 31 days. But, everything came differently and he ended up up there all alone. Through his "diary" entries we explore what is on his mind and how he tries to do everything he can to stay alive. He has an awesome sense of humor and never loses hope, as far as that is possible when you consider the fact that you have no way of telling anyone that you are actually still alive. Mark is a great protagonist and I would gladly read another story from his perspective. 

“As with most of life's problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.”

   The way this book is written is very unique and captivating, not only because of the extraordinary setting, but because of all the things that happen throughout the story, the science and the humor. There are many things I want to say about this book, point out things I liked most, but that would spoil the story for those who have not yet picked this book up. You definitely should.

“I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. 
First, get some hot water, then add nothin’.”

   All in all The Martian is a very unique, spectacular and outstanding novel which has a lot to offer and, despite all the science which most humans without a degree in math, chemistry and/or engineering won't really understand, the story is more than just worth it. Don't let the science scare you. Just accept the science because it really isn't completely crucial to understand it. Mark's story is definitely worth reading. And I mean how often do you come across a book set on Mars?

   But, if The Martian still doesn't sound like a book for you, don't worry. The movie starring Matt Damon, Sean Bean and Jessica Chastain is set to come out November 2015 (Wikipedia). I hope they won't mess it up. Either way, I'm super excited.

I give The Martian by Andy Weir 5 out of 5 pirate-ninjas.