Saw it Wednesday. The opening is really fast, like the first 3 chapters happen in like 10 minutes. And I wish they fleshed out the memory parts a bit more. Nothing really triggers his flashbacks like in the book, and it doesn’t really seem to give him any revelations. There’s a big twist at the end and he just looks sad for a moment and that’s it.

But other than that, good movie. All the story beats are in there and the parts that they did focus on are really good.

I loved it, especially in imax. I think it was a good adaptation of the book even if I was thinking of plot point after plot point that would’ve been fun to see. Getting the nuking of the ice sheet to increase the blanketing of earth in the movie would’ve been good. I never go see movies opening day, this was worth it.

Amaze!

I just got back from watching this - when I found my other half hadn’t heard any spoilers it was an obvious choice what to watch. I’d read the book four years ago, so I remembered the story but not all the details.

We both had a great time and would heartily recommend it. Ryan Gosling filled out the character to a fuller extent then I remember from the book (I think Weir has gone on record admitting that character depth is his weak spot) and I can’t fault the supporting cast. The score is excellent - lots of choral elements that suits the majesty of space. The visuals made me glad I was seeing it on the big screen.

They really speed-ran the early part of the book, but it would be a very long film if they added everything and I think it’s a good adaptation of the book, and fairly faithful. They did include the setup (in a Chekhov’s gun sense) to some things that weren’t then mentioned; I wonder if that’s as a nod to the book readers or if the rest is on the cutting room floor.

I hear they’re going to do Artemis next, which I didn’t read due to the abysmal reviews. I think it’ll be worth watching as I expect they’ll fix the flaws (which iirc was partly that it was just Watney again but in a unconvincing female role) but I won’t read the book first.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but compared to the book it cut down on the science and engineering and amped up the emotion, humor, and action. But that fits the medium. There were a lot of things skipped over or not done in as much detail, like why the science officers were together in violation of protocol. I think the astrophoge drive looked nifty, but they explained the whole thing in under 30 seconds.