I had heard good things about The Martian – both the novel and the film – from science fiction fans. Personally, my opinion on science fiction is very dependent on the material and presentation, and when I first heard the premise, I didn’t realize how soon in the future this film was set. It didn’t have the total futuristic feel of some more prototypical science fiction pieces, but it still had a lot that seems way beyond the limit of our capabilities in the next twenty or so years. The unit on Mars, the Hermes vessel, the technology in general seemed beyond the scope of what could happen in the next couple of decades.

Some things were actually quite distracting. For one, the cameras. There were all these cameras with responsive interfaces showing things like the partial pressure and oxygen composition that apparently were equipped to run and record into some memory somewhere a whole slew of vlogs long past what would be needed for the intended mission. And are recordings of everything, as in those consisting of normal surveillance-style shots, a good use of energy? And is it energy efficient to be heating the whole unit up to a temperature that’s fully comfortable? What sort of technological leap had to be made to get all the necessary stuff they brought with them to Mars and have it set up as operationally well as it was.

Other than that, I also had a hard time getting past some of the overly dramatic for no other reason than to be dramatic scenes. Perhaps this was one of the most annoying things about the film. The sounds, the shots, the motions – a lot seemed like it was added for what people might call cinematic effect, but I guess I wasn’t really convinced they were necessary.

One thing we were told to think about was being alone. Being literally alone with no real personal contact with anyone else, not knowing if you would ever see another person again. Personally, I think it takes a whole other type of person to want to survive something like that. I don’t know if I could even think that way. If I were completely stranded and didn’t figure out a reasonable (this is a key word because a lot of the things Watney did before he was safely on the Hermes were crazy) way to make it out alive, I would have just thought about what I might have left behind for people to find in the future, but also to find a way not to have to suffer in my last days alone. The tenacity some people have shown in their fight to stay alive is truly something that’s hard to wrap my head around.

Overall it was an okay movie. Because the movie was set pretty close to current times, it felt believable on Earth but felt unbelievably exaggerated in the extraterrestrial aspects. I probably would not really enjoy watching it again, but it was a decent film with some entertaining moments. I guess if you’re more into survival and imaginative science fiction pieces, this might be a better fit for you, but I guess it didn’t quite hit the target for me.