This is a movie that is very accurate to the book. Maybe because my copy of the book that I got had the movie cover. It is also because Andy Weir sold the rights to the movie very quickly after getting published. Also, next week I will start reviewing Alice in Wonderland.

“The Martian is about botanist Mark Watney, presumed dead and left behind on Mars after a fierce storm forces his Ares III crew to evacuate. He survives, using his ingenuity as a botanist and engineer to “science the shit” out of survival, growing potatoes in Martian soil and creating water, while NASA on Earth and his crew on the Hermes race to devise a daring rescue plan over several years. The film follows Watney’s humorous and resourceful struggle, the global effort to save him, and his crew’s risky mission to bring him home.”

This movie is very accurate to the book, with a few examples that make more sense for the movie. Also, check this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s9UXXAmlTg&t=646s here to see how accurate it was when the movie was made.

For this story, I have three thoughts.

Firstly, in reference to what I said in the spoiler-free review above, about the changes made to the movie that are understandable for the change from book to movie. There are two main ways that this happens. Firstly, the book provides almost all the information about what is happening with Mark Watney through written logs, whereas the movie adapted this by putting GoPros everywhere meaning that Mark’s explanations are done by Matt Damon talking directly into the camera. This makes sense because film is a visual medium. Secondly, the fact that when we first see anyone important to the story on Earth, their name and title pop up. This works because a good number of their people know each other, and therefore, there would be no logical reason for introductions.

Secondly, there are different ways of cutting things for adaptations. One is like Jenga, where you cut things in the transition from book to TV show or movie, but they leave hints to what was cut out, an example is the removal of the prophecy in the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell BBC Mini series. The other type is more like cutting a roast down to size, by which I mean that things get cut out with no reference to what was cut. The Martian is a good example of this. After all, if you have read the book, you would know that things like Mark pulling his back out and having to stay inside was cut; there is no reference to it, and it doesn’t matter.

Thirdly, I would like to talk about the ending. In the book, it ends on the Hermes in a whole speech about how when someone is in danger, there will be those who will do anything to help. Which, side note, is an incredibly sweet ending. In the movie, we see the crew 6 months later. Out of all of them, my favourite part of this if the fact that Mark is teaching future astronauts about how to deal with everything going wrong. Which, seeing as what happened to him, is definitely the worst-case scenario.

Thank you for joining me. I had a lot of fun writing this, and until next time.

Happy Reading to all and to all a good night.