Weir's The Martian.

[onebigmonkey]

Spoiler:  Sean Bean's character does not die.

Well, now I've GOT to see it!

He seems to be consciously bucking the trend - he didn't die in Jupiter Rising either, I heard. Maybe it's a new contract demand - "My character shall remain on the right side of the earth when the credits roll."

...and will be from Yorkshire.

[Dalhousie]

Spoiler:  Sean Bean's character does not die.

Well, now I've GOT to see it!

He seems to be consciously bucking the trend - he didn't die in Jupiter Rising either, I heard. Maybe it's a new contract demand - "My character shall remain on the right side of the earth when the credits roll."

He doesn't die in Sharpe either, one of my favourite TV series, where he is lead.

[Bryanpoprobson]

...and will be from Yorkshire.

Robert Mugabe is from Yorkshire, the clue is in his name, just say his surname backwards.. Very English humour may not travel well..

[twik]

Spoiler:  Sean Bean's character does not die.

Well, now I've GOT to see it!

He seems to be consciously bucking the trend - he didn't die in Jupiter Rising either, I heard. Maybe it's a new contract demand - "My character shall remain on the right side of the earth when the credits roll."

He doesn't die in Sharpe either, one of my favourite TV series, where he is lead.

Sharpe rocks.

[ka9q]

Finally saw the movie last night. Terrific. It was surprisingly faithful to the book, and the parts that were missing weren't really essential to the story. It's easily the best hard science fiction on the screen in a very long time. But of course it has its nits, and like any other geek I feel compelled to discuss them.

So what's the deal? Can we give spoilers here?

[Peter B]

Finally saw the movie last night. Terrific. It was surprisingly faithful to the book, and the parts that were missing weren't really essential to the story. It's easily the best hard science fiction on the screen in a very long time. But of course it has its nits, and like any other geek I feel compelled to discuss them.

So what's the deal? Can we give spoilers here?

I've read the book, haven't seen the movie, but intend to do so.

As far as I'm concerned, discuss away.

Though perhaps it might be polite to mention at the start of the post that you're posting spoilers. If you're really concerned, just change the text colour to the same as the background.

But seriously, go for your life. I don't mind.

[bknight]

Finally saw the movie last night. Terrific. It was surprisingly faithful to the book, and the parts that were missing weren't really essential to the story. It's easily the best hard science fiction on the screen in a very long time. But of course it has its nits, and like any other geek I feel compelled to discuss them.

So what's the deal? Can we give spoilers here?

As for me, discuss ahead.  It will not make any difference  I have seen Star Wars (iv) about 3-4 times in theater and perhaps a dozen more times on the small screen.  Nothing detracts from a good movie, whether you know what happens or not.

[Dalhousie]

Seen the movie twice, read the book twice, it's very good.  I think prefer the movie to the book (which is unusual for me), probably because the technology is better thought through in some respects and with a better ending.

But without a doubt the best hard SF movie for a very long time, and the best Mars movie ever.  Full of teachable moments and surprisingly funny.

[Obviousman]

I haven't read the book but enjoyed the movie. Sure, there are the 'suspension of disbelief' moments but the overall story, acting, etc, made that suspension very easy to do.

I would recommend it to anyone.

[Kiwi]

Here's quite a good review of the movie which appeared in New Zealand newspapers. Includes a three-minute video. Four-and-a-half stars out of five.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/film-reviews/72749116/review-the-martian

[ka9q]

Okay, my list of nits is a little longer than I had thought...still working on it.

But it's still a great movie.

[smartcooky]

Just back from seeing it.

I agree with Dalhousie; for mine, this was by far the best hard sci-fi movie since Blade Runner, and yes, Matt Damon was absolutely the right space pirate actor for the part.

If someone had told me beforehand, the type of music they would use in this movie, I would have said WTF? However, it workeds really well

WARNING: BEYOND THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS




Just a couple of nitpicks and questions

1. the obvious one was the storm that injured Watney at the beginning. As has been stated, it could not have caused the damage it did due to the low pressure of Mars' atmosphere.

2. When the HAB airlock malfunctioned and blew off, Watney's helment visor was punctured, and he lost pressure, it seemed to take about 30 secoinds to get down to 5% pressure, but once he taped over the cracks and the small hole, it was almost instantly restored to nominal. Really? That quickly, and what anout the bends?

3. Would taping some plastic sheeting over the gapiing hole left by the malfuntion of the HAB airlock have been enough to keep the HAB pressurised?

4. Could they really have accurately calculated the deceleration effect of blowing the front airlock off the Hermes

5. Would puncturing his glove really have worked the way it was depicted? How was he able to stop it leaking, once Lewis caught him, long enough to get him into Hermes?

[12oh2alarm]

WARNING: BEYOND THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS

2. and what about the bends?

It is my understanding (and I'm not an expert) that the bends SCUBA divers may suffer from are an effect resulting from pressure decrease from far above 1 atm down to 1 atm.
In a space suit, the pressure decrease would be from, say, 0.6 atm down to near 0. Maybe that's not causing nitrogen bubbles in blood at all?

I remember seeing a video of a suited person, where the suit failed, the person fell unconscious and was rescued. After a while (measured in minutes) he was literally up and running again.

[smartcooky]

WARNING: BEYOND THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS

2. and what about the bends?

It is my understanding (and I'm not an expert) that the bends SCUBA divers may suffer from are an effect resulting from pressure decrease from far above 1 atm down to 1 atm.
In a space suit, the pressure decrease would be from, say, 0.6 atm down to near 0. Maybe that's not causing nitrogen bubbles in blood at all?

I remember seeing a video of a suited person, where the suit failed, the person fell unconscious and was rescued. After a while (measured in minutes) he was literally up and running again.

OK. I just thought that the bends was caused by a sudden decrease in pressure, and that a slow decrease in pressure, i.e. by stage decompression from a deep dive, would avoid it. IOW, I thought it was due to a relative pressure decrease, not a specific pressure decrease.

Does Weir actually mention the pressure/partial pressure the Ares crew would be breathing in their suits on the surface and in the HAB? I haven't read the book, and if it was mentioned in the movie, or there was a graphic showing it, I missed it.

[VQ]

Does Weir actually mention the pressure/partial pressure the Ares crew would be breathing in their suits on the surface and in the HAB? I haven't read the book, and if it was mentioned in the movie, or there was a graphic showing it, I missed it.

The book actually plays looser with partial pressures than with most of the chemistry presented. It talks about relative percentages but doesn't really go into ppO2 being the critical value at all. In the book the astronauts are breathing mixed N2/O2 at ~100 kPa in the fabric-constructed hab as well as on EVAs; I have no idea if that would be considered on an actual mission but it seems unlikely.