MovieChat Forums > The Martian (2015) Discussion > I really don't get all the love for this

I really don't get all the love for this

posted 9 years ago by joelinboca88
80 replies | jump to latest

I am usually a fan of Sci fi movies. Or as the academy awards claimed comedies which this is clearly not. Anyway I found this to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen. Not exaggerating. And it's not cause its just one guy most of the movie because I loved Cast Away. I Am legend is another although not nearly as good as Castaway.Anyway I'm just curious how this movie is 8.1 and recieved all these awards. For those of you who like or even love this boring boring movie please enlighten me on just a few things that entertained you. The weirdest thing is I love anything to do with outer space. I love seeing scenes of stars and planets and so forth. But this wqs just plain boring as hell from start to finish. Again anyone who feels differently whi ch apparently there's many of you feel free to enlighten me. .

[–] zerobeat 9 years ago

I give this movie a 7.2 so I also have absolutely no idea why it got an 8.1. It's outrageous. Actually, the only thing I can think of, and this might sound really silly (so please bear with me) is that more people liked the movie better than I did, and fewer people liked it less than I did. I got a a B+ in grade 9 math so I'm pretty sure this might be it.

But that would mean that not everybody likes the same thing, and by the same amounts.

This would merit further study.

[–] pjmcgill142 9 years ago

Crazy, but I think you're onto something...

[–] DeniP 8 years ago

You're a retard.

[–] stanleygoodspeed99 9 years ago

I find it weird that you love all those things and yet you didn't like this movie. I thought the movie had a bunch of good ideas which generally make for a decent story.

-triumph over adversity
-series of plot arcs culminating in a super-objective
-interesting characters that were explored a little bit but not too much
-good mix of lighthearted and serious moments.

For me it was one of the better movies this year, I felt an 8 is about right (ideally I'd say 7.5 but that's not an option). It's not a masterpiece (9 or 10) but it will solidly endure over the years and its rewatchable (IMO). It was exciting and there was something in it for everyone.

Shame you didn't like it but whatever, film is a subjective medium. I'm sure there's movies you like that I don't, it's really no big deal.

I am Jack's cold sweat.

[–] joelinboca88 9 years ago

Stanleygoodspeed I rarely post comments on movies. Even more rarely do i reply to someones rude comment to my original post. So I was shocked to see so many rude comments to my original post. People have a lot of hate in them. Anyway I just wanted to say it was refreshing to read your reply seeing you had the opposite feeling I had toward the movie but didn't attack me in the process. Thank you for being one of the limited it seems normal people on these boards.

[–] il_Cappuccino_part_2 8 years ago

Yeah but it's funny watching them froth and try to be clever.

The world is mine.....I just haven't bothered taking it yet.

[–] doubl3 9 years ago

I haven't looked at critic scores yet, but there's no way it could have it rated great, knowing what criteria they use. I was tempted to give this a 7, but had to give it a 6 because it flat has to be punished by ridiculous logic and only so-so acting.

[–] jesperlhansen 8 years ago

How is the acting only so-so?

[–] DeniP 8 years ago

What is the ridiculous logic? Did you know the book is as hard sci-fi as you get? There is probably just one thing in it that is not realistic/scientific, as per the science at the time it was created.
So what exactly is the ridiculous logic?

[–] fluffset 9 years ago

maybe you dont like all that physics, chemistry, math, high tech term stuff in this movie, maybe you prefer to watch some sci-fi that only speak layman's term. That's what I propose for you. Maybe you feel boring watching this because you are not in your best condition at that time? There is so many boring factor here.

THRILLER IS MY FOOD!

[–] Get_orf_moy_Laand 9 years ago

Despite the situation(s) Damon's character finds himself in there was no real sense of threat, danger, menace, that sort of thing...he never really seems to hit rock-bottom emotionally and as a result the whole tone of the film is a bit too lightweight.
That's about the simplest way I can sum up why I found it good, but severely lacking.

...do you REALLY love lamp?

[–] Pearl_Jade 8 years ago

Despite the situation(s) Damon's character finds himself in there was no real sense of threat, danger, menace, that sort of thing...he never really seems to hit rock-bottom emotionally

Amen! That was exactly why I found this movie dull. Every obstacle is overcome by Watney's optimistic can-do attitude. Although we do see a few setbacks over which he loses his cool, he ultimately rebounds with a plan B. I felt no suspense during the rescue mission because there was never any doubt that it would succeed. The same formula that shaped Watney's circumstances was applied to the crew: Everything that could go wrong was mentioned -- and then solved with a few recalculations.

If I'm going to see a movie about an astronaut stranded on Mars, I expect it to be eerie; I expect it to be nail-biting. I expect the protagonist to be psychologically affected and to show actual fear. At the end when Watney is back on earth, he seems to have bounced back to normal with nary a scar to show for it. A movie such as this should leave the viewer pondering questions that delve beyond science. Instead, the theme seems to be that the best scientific minds working together can conquer all worlds. This is the most pollyanna-ish sci-fi movie ever.

[–] danielgalun 8 years ago

I feel the same way, but for me that's exactly why I liked it a lot. It wasn't very believable or dramatic or scary, but it was really good entertainment. It was campy, fun, light and positive, as opposed to realistic, gritty and deep. It was a really nice change of pace for this type of movie, and personally I think it would have sucked if the creators had taken it too serious.

Another thing I liked was that it made me wonder if any real life human could behave that way in those conditions. I've often felt that when similar stuff is portrayed in a more serious way that people go nuts a little too quickly. Humans deal with situations differently, and I'm pretty sure there are quite a few people that could handle a situation like that and keep their spirits up at the same time. People on Earth do it all the time, some people diagnosed with a terminal illness take it quite well, a few can even turn it to the positive. And people living in isolation and extreme conditions often do so by their own free will, and some of them seem to live very happy lives, I mean like more happy than the average person. So if a person who posses those personality traits ended up in this situation he or she might not take it as such a big deal and end up acting more like the character in the movie?

[–] Get_orf_moy_Laand 8 years ago

Despite the situation(s) Damon's character finds himself in there was no real sense of threat, danger, menace, that sort of thing...he never really seems to hit rock-bottom emotionally and as a result the whole tone of the film is a bit too lightweight.
That's about the simplest way I can sum up why I found it good, but severely lacking.

Just rewatched this (extended version actually) and I have to admit it was much better second time round. The additional scenes made no real difference, as I couldn't spot them (beyond the one with the smoke) so it was not the changes that helped improve things.

I think it was just knowing up front what tone of film I was going into this time. This has happened in the past (with Road to Perdition off the top of my head, which I would now place in my all time top 10...or 15 at least) so I just think I went in with too closed a mind, a real schoolboy error for a film fan...!

I also discovered The Martian makes a good Sunday afternoon/evening movie, that's where it feels at home.

...do you REALLY love lamp?

[–] Jayroo 8 years ago

Maybe you're just retarded or suffer from ADHD, go get an evaluation with a psychiatrist, they will give you an official diagnosis.

[–] naDaht (1087) 3 years ago

I suffer from ADHD and I love both the film and the novel.

[–] tastytomatoes 8 years ago

Why I didn't enjoy this movie as much as most others do

1) The movie lacks tension (for me) - too light weighted. While the humor was good at times, there was never a display of danger or seriousness of the problem of being stranded on Mars. As a result I was not very absorbed into the film and found it a bit boring - which I didn't expect at all.

2) Too many "obstacles" were displayed without development, of which Mark solves them quickly and effectively before the impact of the obstacles and problems can hit me. Some of the humor I find forced such as in this scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcyfDRYKDJM For me the scene was cringy and characters like the director of NASA were too stereotypical, which all together brought me out of the story.

3) close to the ending - where we see clips of people all around the world celebrating the success of bringing Mark from Mars, every one filling the streets jumping and stuff...especially the falling paper confetti which I wondered during the movie if they were dropped by helicopters, I found it too typical and intending to manipulate my emotion (not sure if you get what I mean)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOWDaUDaVI8Unlike many of you I wasn't emotionally attached to the film, the characters, or the intended atmosphere of the film.

This is still a good film though I felt the rating on imdb (and the critical acclaim it receives) is higher then I have expected: comparable to movies like Life of Pi, Black Swan, Nightcrawler, The Fighter, the first Hobbit movie etc. ANYWAY, I AM GLAD THAT A LOT OF YOU LOVE THE MOVIE, I WISH I HAVE ENJOYED IT AS MUCH AS YOU DO!

[–] frankzappayay 8 years ago

Well said!

[–] LaLlama 8 years ago

I felt pretty similar to the whole experience. It seems like they wanted to go for somethings a little more cereberal but still have the typical Hollywood superhero antics. I just couldn't really immerse myself into the poor juggling of exposition babble and rescue mission cliches. While The Martian is by no means a terrible movie, it is not a type of film I would really be interested in revisiting.

[–] il_Cappuccino_part_2 8 years ago

I kind of get what you mean. The film is essentially, guy gets abandoned, then gets rescued from an impossible place. But i must say i enjoyed it. Just from the perspective of 'how do you inhabit Mars?' He figured out how to make water, grow crops and survive on a completely different planet. It just a concept i personally took to. Whether the science is accurate or not is another thing.

The world is mine.....I just haven't bothered taking it yet.

[–] chapwalker79 8 years ago

My belief is this movie would have been better and more believable if it was about a mentally ill patient.

[–] costumrs 8 years ago

How would that be better? Its just as stereotypical as a survival and rescue story. Personally, I prefer the survival and rescue story. It seems to me you have issues with a story that posits actual events in a "science fiction" aspect. I could be wrong, of course. I'm inferring from your comment.