The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

I went to see the film of the Martian yesterday. I really enjoyed the book so didn't have high hopes for the film but actually it wasn't bad. I was worried about the casting of Matt Damon, I wasn't sure if I pictured him as Mark Watney but I thought he carried the film well. The only thing that annoyed me was the last ten minutes that aren't in the book. Personally I think the book ended at the correct point and was better for it.

Anyone else seen it yet, what did you think?

I haven't read the book, but I did see the movie, and that put me off of the book unfortunately. I kinda knew it would but hey my friends wanted to see it. Like the force awakens (recent star wars), I was unhappy with it, but many others liked it. I did not like the acting in the way it portrayed a light almost gimmicky version of the astronaut. I like the style of Solaris as a comparison.

Alex V wrote: "I haven't read the book, but I did see the movie, and that put me off of the book unfortunately. I kinda knew it would but hey my friends wanted to see it. Like the force awakens (recent star wars)..."

The film was fairly true to the book apart from the very bit at the end so I think it's definitely not for you! Solaris is an excellent film though although the Sodebergh version is much more stylised than the Tarkovsky version.

I'm very pleased to hear somebody finally be unhappy with The Force Awakens - all my friends loved it but I thought it was just OK and basically a mixture of the other films.

Jo wrote: "Alex V wrote: "I haven't read the book, but I did see the movie, and that put me off of the book unfortunately. I kinda knew it would but hey my friends wanted to see it. Like the force awakens (re..."

Glad to hear the anti force awakens group doesn't hold just me. I think the teenager rebellious aspect was too large in the film. Too emphasised and made the 'dark side' to be something that most kids could venture into. Made the dark side issue almost like a common ailment of modern day family life when kids go astray. I actually believe that some of the indie authors here, could do a better screen play. Maybe we should organise a competition for it? 'can you indie writers out there write a better force awakens script?'

Alex V wrote: "JMaybe we should organise a competition for it? 'can you indie writers out there write a better force awakens script? ..."

Great idea! My other complaint was how can you spend 200 million to make a film that looks exactly the same as the one from 1977. I appreciate that the more recent films were bad and so they tried to go back to the original films but I would have like some new ideas.