# What are the odds that the movie adaptation of The Martian will succeed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546 "2015-04-01T21:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/101 "2015-09-13T22:47:05Z")
There is\* An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge\*. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/102 "2015-09-23T02:33:18Z")
According to film review aggregator, [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/), with 39 reviews logged, The Martian (2015) is: 97% fresh (positive reviews) Average Rating: 7.4/10 Reviews Counted: 39 Fresh: 38 Rotten: 1 (negative review) Critics Consensus: Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/103 "2015-09-25T15:28:16Z")
I normally skip past commercials on TV, but I backed up to show my wife the trailer for The Martian, because I plan to see it, and wanted to see if she was interested. She guessed from the trailer that there would be a twist and Watney was never on Mars, the whole thing being a hoax on a soundstage for some reason. I didn’t get that idea, but of course, I read the book months ago, and wasn’t looking at it fresh like she was. Did anyone else get that from the trailer, or is she overreaching? ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/104 "2015-09-25T15:47:51Z")
Sounds like she saw Capricorn 1 and it stuck with her, or she is visiting unhealthy web sites. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/105 "2015-09-25T16:54:25Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > Sounds like she saw Capricorn 1 and it stuck with her, or she is visiting unhealthy web sites. No that’s real truth. They faked they Mars landing so no one would see GWB physically wiring the explosives in the WTC. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/106 "2015-09-25T17:00:11Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > No that’s real truth. They faked they Mars landing so no one would see GWB physically wiring the explosives in the WTC. Of course! That explains it all! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/107 "2015-09-25T17:12:44Z")
Finished the audiobook earlier this week and loved it. Just watched the trailer and I’m rather excited to see the movie now, as well. I do think that they revealed too much in the trailer, but as others have mentioned, that’s kind of the way it is these days. Still, I’m very encouraged by the positive reviews so far and I’ll be seeing it on opening weekend if I can. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/108 "2015-09-25T18:39:33Z")
Well, my wife is paranoid. Though sometimes I wonder if she’s paranoid enough. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/109 "2015-09-25T18:42:53Z")
“How’s Mom?” “She’s on the roof”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/110 "2015-09-25T18:45:21Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > “How’s Mom?” “She’s on the roof”. Is that a reference to the cat joke? ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/111 "2015-09-25T18:50:26Z")
🙂 Yes. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cI4qYsP9oME/hqdefault.jpg "The cat is on the roof - Capricorn One (Sam Waterston)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI4qYsP9oME) ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/112 "2015-09-25T21:26:50Z")
Per one of the review blurbs “Watney’s fear for his own life takes a backseat to his stand-up, an attitude that is this consistently entertaining movie’s biggest asset and also its flaw.” Personally, I found that to be compelling. There are people out there, who have the “right stuff”, who will react to a life threatening situation with calmness and even humor. After a certain scene where he’s in serious, serious trouble, he patches a couple leaks and takes a nap. He doesn’t waste his remaining oxygen panicking. I found this to be compelling, even heroic, and I greatly enjoyed his blasse attitude towards life threatening situations, where he considers equipment failure and potential mortal peril to be “Tuesday”. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/113 "2015-09-27T16:35:42Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > “How’s Mom?” “She’s on the roof”. No the best one was the poster whose mom got so scared of a horror movie a family member had to shower with her. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/114 "2015-09-29T23:56:22Z")
Andrew O’Hehir: [ **“The Martian” and the big Mars discovery: Here’s why we have to go, no matter what it costs** Was this week’s big NASA announcement a movie tie-in or a leftist plot? Either way, Mars is calling](http://www.salon.com/2015/09/29/the_martian_and_the_big_mars_discovery_heres_why_we_have_to_go_no_matter_what_it_costs/) ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/115 "2015-09-30T12:46:34Z")
Saw the trailer, read some of the hype online, and I got the book last Thursday. I was finished by Monday. It was a lot of fun – probably not Great Litracha, but a really solid page turner. (However since I saw the trailer first, in my head I assigned the wrong actor’s faces to most of the side characters…) I think I might even try to see the movie on opening weekend. > [@MostlyClueless](#): > > Also, more video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wygmxzp6VzY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wygmxzp6VzY) Hah, that was the perfect way to get in the Aquaman digression! Obviously there’s not a lot of time in a movie for all the random lengthy musings that happen while one is stranded on Mars. They’ve got to keep a few of the better zingers in the movie, but I’m glad they found a way to get some of the sillier bits out. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/116 "2015-09-30T13:47:47Z")
Does the book get better as it goes? So far I’ve read through 4 chapters and it’s a horrible slog. Listening to someone solve a math story problem out loud step-by-step is pretty dull. “If I have an extra area of X x Y I can plant another Z amount of plants that will produce A amount of calories every B days that will last me C. Yay.” zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/117 "2015-09-30T14:24:10Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Does the book get better as it goes? Yes, it does. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/118 "2015-09-30T16:31:36Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Does the book get better as it goes? So far I’ve read through 4 chapters and it’s a horrible slog. > Listening to someone solve a math story problem out loud step-by-step is pretty dull. “If I have an extra area of X x Y I can plant another Z amount of plants that will produce A amount of calories every B days that will last me C. Yay.” > zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… > **[The Martian](https://xkcd.com/1536/)** > > I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/119 "2015-09-30T16:43:27Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Does the book get better as it goes? So far I’ve read through 4 chapters and it’s a horrible slog. > Listening to someone solve a math story problem out loud step-by-step is pretty dull. “If I have an extra area of X x Y I can plant another Z amount of plants that will produce A amount of calories every B days that will last me C. Yay.” > zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… The rest of the book is stuffed full of even more technically detailed problem solving, briefly interspersed with Whatney’s snark and with scenes back on Earth. If you think that’s a slog you probably won’t enjoy the rest. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546/120 "2015-09-30T18:18:38Z")
The latest from film review aggregator, [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/). With 66 reviews logged, The Martian (2015) is: 94% fresh (positive reviews) Average Rating: 7.5/10 Reviews Counted: 66 Fresh: 62 Rotten: 4 (negative reviews) Critics Consensus: Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-that-the-movie-adaptation-of-the-martian-will-succeed/716546.md?page=7)