And Eilleen Collins was 43 when she commanded the shuttle in 99. Most of the astronauts I know of are in their 30's to mid 50's. I'll also add that for a potential mission to Mars you won't be sending your grizzled veterans due to accumulated radiation exposure.
+kokofan50 Exactly, wth. the lack of education about the space program makes me sad. The old astronauts he is thinking of became old after starting young and NASA hiring fewer new ppl because of budget cuts. Astronauts have always been traditionally young, it's physically grueling and recruits came from military. .
+kokofan50 He said 28 year olds aren't astronauts, not 38 year olds. As in Kate Mara (who might be 30) and a very young looking male astronaut around her age in the movie.
+kokofan50 And the youngest astronaut in space was 25. The youngest American astronaut was 32. None of the cast is younger than 32. But, according to Ben, Matt Damon would be the youngest astronaut ever...
LOL! NASA would NEVER let a 60 year old into space.... you have to be in insanely good physical health to travel to space. As many others have been commenting, Neil Armstrong (commander of Apollo 11) was the EXACT same age as Jessica Chastain is now. Ben, man, you were off the mark on that one :)
+Josie Joslin I don't know if that is still current or whether they have dropped that idea, but for a long time scientists were talking about that it would make sense to send old people to Mars first, because apparently old people are better suited for a long distance trip in space. Their metabolisms are slower and thus their muscles don't shrink as fast under zero-G conditions, they are psychologically better suited to deal with the boredom, they have weaker sexual urges, they get by with less food and sleep and it is slightly less tragic if they don't make it back alive. It has been 10 years or so since I last heard anyone talk about that though, so I don't know whether they are still considering it or whether they came up with reasons for why it wouldn't be a good idea after all. The movie "Space Cowboys", about Clint Eastwood and other old guys on a space mission was inspired by all that talk about geriatric astronauts back in the day.
+TrangleC on long journeys it's a trade off between experience that comes with advanced years and the possibility of health complications on the way. you want the astronauts to be as old as you are comfortable with.
It also makes sense from a story perspective. NASA works closely the Russians, Europeans, Japanese and commercial and would have known if another booster was available to save the day. Weir wanted it to come out of left field and the only space agency we don't work with China. Plus it plays into the stories theme of coming together. Now I'm sure when Drew Goddard was pitching the story to Fox they asked if he could fit China in their somewhere and Drew was like they already are, which helped sell the the whole thing.
Ben surprised me here. He's usually the last guy to get so hung up on the most unimportant ambient details, but he channeled his inner Bibiani for this one. And his comment at the end, "I felt like someone needed to break up the martian party that you guys were having".........NO YOU DON'T. Be honest in your review. Don't feel like you need to force yourself to be the voice of descension, just....because
I'm not too surprised that Ben gave the lowest score out of the group here, but I was very impressed to see Chrisy give the highest score (she knows how to be overtly critical pretty well). I hope this movie gets a lock for a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars this year.
Joe V Funny thing is, his score wasn't bad. 8.6 is really good. Yet his comments were just so incongruous to that score. As it sounded like he was talking about something he was more likely to give a 5.6 to. Which, after hearing him essentially confirm that he felt like he needed to be the contrarian in the group, proved he wasn't even all that bothered by all the weird nitpicks he was throwing out there, but instead was throwing them out there just because he felt like he had to come up with SOMETHING negative
+Trav _ Well that's part of a critics job, to be critical. I think it's especially important when everyone's showering praise on something to be the devil advocate to give a comprehensive view of the movie. Because the reality is no matter how good something is there are people that won't like it, I just got Metal Gear Solid 5 and barely got into it before I decided to put it down for good. I dislike so many things about the game but the specifics aren't important here, what's important is that everyone was giving the game so much praise, you would be hard pressed to find someone say something bad about it and that will give people an unrealistic idea of the game. I felt really let down by the critics that failed to mentions o many failings of the game that were so obvious, mostly little things, a couple of big things, but it was enough to make me hate the game and hate the fact I pays seventy dollars on something I didn't like because the critics weren't critical.
Did not think he was a voice of dissension, he was just trying to make a point, he liked it. I would say to him - what do you expect from Hollywood though, it always mismatches age and character.
That awkward moment when it is argued that Jessica Chastian is too young to command a NASA mission at the age of 38 which is the exact age of some random guy you may have heard of named Neil Armstrong who commanded Apollo 11 at 38 years old.
+DrJhengsman I was referring to the hosts in the video. But yeah, twenty years ago it probably would have been the Russians. Given that the movie (and book) take place approximately twenty years from now, it could have just as well been the Indians.
You can't even get a 60 year old person two sit through a two hour movie about going to Mars, without at least two bathroom breaks. Hell you can't even get them in the theater in the first place, if the drive is too long. And Ben thinks they're the only people qualified to take an 8 month long round trip to the Red Planet?
I liked it cause it didn't have any bad guys in it, and yet was still great! It was a film about cooperation rather than competition and I think it set a good example that I hope we can follow in lots of other areas of life too.
Ben: NASA astronaut candidates have an average age of 34 and the training program is only two years. It's realistic for someone as young as 28 to be an astronaut. A Mars mission would likely be assigned somewhat more experienced astronauts but still it's not like the ISS only houses quadragenarians. astronauts.nasa.gov/content/faq.htm
+VitalVampyr Given the average age the commander would be around a 16 year military veteran gone to NASA and would seem to be named a Mission Commander right off the bat which seems to be Mankiewicz's major objection. I didn't notice the age thing while watching but it was Pilot Martinez going up again so soon during the epilogue.
I love this movie. Funny, when I began watching this video I looked at the body language of the 4 hosts. I could tell Ben Mankiewicz was NOT happy. I read the book then saw the movie ( in 3D). I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed the movie. Reading is worth the effort as you do get to know more about these people. The last 2 major scenes of this movie, do differ from the novel. However the film does keep to the general tone of the book and major plot points. I know this is vague, but am trying to avoid spoilers. Am going to see this movie again.
+Mariko True let me qualify your comment. If you liked the science in the movie, you'll love the book. If things like the hexadecimals put you off, you'll hate the book. It's described as Engineer's pornography, lots and lots of in-depth science, far more than the movie. In the movie he just puts some junk on the rover and moves away. In the book there's a detailed description of every piece of life-saving hardware he gets there, how he gets them to interact, why they are so important, how he overcomes their power consumption requirements and so on.
+littlemar22 It matters because if you're going to try and be funny, be funny, not corny. You could also argue why so much jokey-ness should even be in this type of movie. That's a whole other issue.
Eric Viola no many people thought it was funny dude humor is subjective i was saying this is not a comedy lol i thought it was funny so did many others i really had a problem with ben saying the astronauts can't be young comedy is subjective im not dumb for laughing and you're not smarter for not
Ben has always hated Science Fiction. He can't give a fair review to a sci-fi film because of his prejudice. It should disqualify him from being a movie critic.
+ThePhunboy Interstellar's biggest problem is pacing, although I feel that the pacing makes more sense on repeated viewings. Personally I rate Interstellar but it isn't as good as Nolan's other stand outs like The Prestige, Inception or Memento. The Martian is better too.
Did Mat seriously just say this was 1000 times better than Interstellar? Interstellar was a gut wrenchingly emotional film with a score and cinematography about as perfect as they can possibly get. The Martian was a fun look at science. An enjoyable movie, but ultimately forgettable. Interstellar was the kind of film that leaves you exhausted. One that grabs your complete and undivided attention both from an entertaining and intellectually stimulating perspective, and stays with you for days. The Martian was well made with no glaring flaws, but it doesn't even come close to the same level as Interstellar.
+Stuie Malan Interstellar was only gut wrenching in how many of the over used tropes we saw in what was supposed to be space epic, but comes out as something with only a few IQ point higher than Michael Bay movie.
Stuie Malan The Michael Bay part of was a bit much, but still Interstellar is much the same as many other movie in the last 10-15 years. An ex-whatever comes back while leaving the ones he loves behind so he can do something real dangerous but noble in some way, and there's mysterious force helping humanity, etc. Sure Interstellar did a better job of using those tropes than most movies, but it stlil had a lot of over used tropes in it.
Yeah, I think this is the problem with the The Martian vs. Interstellar comparisons. The Martian had no *glaring flaws*, while Interstellar definitely had. For some reason this has lead nearly all internet critics to say that Interstellar sucked in every way, in stead of praising it for the incredible scenes that it did have. That being said The Martian didn't have any emotional punch to it at all, which was incredibly sad. So much wasted potential in the scenes where he suffered huge setbacks, for instance, because we cut away to earth after 3 seconds. We never saw him deal with the problems EMOTIONALLY. That made it so that The Martian had no especially memorable scenes, while Interstellar had so many. The closest we got was Mark sitting in the hab with the tarp in stead of a door. That was amazing, but there wasn't enough of it at all.
karlzone2 The Martian is about having the grit and optimism to face all challenges, even when by all accounts you should be dead, not some story about a guy wallowing in self pity. The emotions of this movie are forlorn optimism and confidence.
Ben Mankiewicz, living proof that film reviewers too can be poster children for the Dunning-Kruger effect. He spoke so forcefully about who could and could not be an astronaut, shut down any debate and talked out if his ass totally. Way to go you muppet.
Apparently ben doesn't know that jessica chastain is 38 years old, the same age neil armstong was during Apollo 11. hell even kate mara is 32. Chiwetel is 38. sebastian stan is 33. all reasonable ages considering: There are no age restrictions for the NASA Astronaut Corps. Astronaut candidates have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average age being 34. (NASA)
I personally think this movie doesn't even come close to Interstellar, at least in terms of plot. I thought The Martian was, honestly, just above average. Maybe a 7.5 or 8. Nothing in the movie was very surprising. I was rarely tense. Interstellar had an amazing plot, unexpected events and great music to boot. I don't understand the Interstellar hate.
+John Mathews im new to this channel, seems his ben guy is those stuck up assholes who want everything to be realistic. i can tell the minute i saw him hes a idiot. fuck that guy, this movie was awesome and funny i give it a 9/10
+MarktheNerd 85 and come to think of it it needs 4 years to go to mars so a 50+ year old guy would not be the best idea. i think he didnt really thought about it. he just wanted to say something bad about the movie.
I just finish watching The Martian and I really enjoyed this movie. Ridley Scott once shine as his directing prowess comes to light. Excellent performance by Matt Damon.
Nolan's films tend to be overly ambitious and ended up not being able to execute everything properly due to realistic reasons. If Nolan was willing to simplify things a bit and just focus on the key points, I imagine Interstellar would be a much better film.
+Jazzmine E Actually her character resembles a little bit Margaret Hamilton, the young female computer programmer who headed the MIT team that wrote the software that got Apollo to the moon. The big difference is that the movie character is just a technician in the control room, not the head software designer for the space ship like Margaret Hamilton was.www.vox.com/2015/5/30/8689481/margaret-hamilton-apollo-software
I personally feel Ben is the smartest guy on the panel.. and he is more of a political person than a movie nerd, and he has a different and 'grounded in reality' kinda perceptive to his reviews.. And I do agree with him that the jokes just fell flat in this movie.. a decade from the jokes will just be unbearable and it so the movie wont have a timeless feeling to it.. But interstellar will be remember even in the next century because of the ideas it was tackling with (even though it has flaws)...
Interstellar is overly dramatic drama focused completely on the HUMAN aspects of space travel and relativity. The Martian is a science (pretty much non-)fiction movie focused mainly on the scientific aspects of the kind of space travel that is feasible and within reach for humanity right now. To me, it's the greatest PSA ever for the absolutely crucial funding of space exploration and science in general. Brilliant movie!
Why has no one mentioned the fact that they sent a return ship 1 year in advance of the next mission literally the mission after which their return ship almost blew over by the martian storms that don't exist in reality?
Google, how old is the average astronaut? There are no age restrictions for the program. Astronaut candidates selected in the past have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average age being 34. Actors for the Ares III Crew Matt Damon 44 Jessica Chastain: 38 Kate Mara: 32 Michael Peña: 39 Aksel Hennie: 39 Sebastian Stan: 33 Average: 37.5 years old. Ben fail! Of course movie stars are "younger looking" than the average astronaut, but these particular "asto-actors" have an average age above the average astronaut age.
"I like The Martian more than Interstellar." *How a normal, respectful person reacts to that statement:* Okay, they have a preference. *How a Nolan Fanatic reacts:* They are attacking me because I don't agree with that. I must respond and argue about them having an opinion. Nobody can have an opinion different than mine, if I could brainwash everyone into loving Interstellar instead of having their own opinion to it like with every other movie, I fucking would.
Stuie Malan Not really. If that guy said that, then he is ACTUALLY insulting the film to provoke its fans. If he disliked the film, he could've expressed his opinion in a different way, instead that really feels a flame-war starting statement. ...But simply saying that you prefer The Martian over Interstellar, or rathing it higher than Interstellar *and nothing else* shouldn't offend anyone with common sense. So it doesn't cut both ways. Some Nolan fan seriously gets mad as soon as someone prefers another movie over Interstellar, and they need to start arguments over someone's fucking preference.
Stuie Malan Look, I don't care about the Interstellar haters out there somewhere on the internet, I'm talking about the Nolan fanatics IN THIS COMMENT SECTION that are seriously making arguments just because the critics in the video said that they like The Martian better, scroll down and you'll see a bunch. Those need to shut the fuck up and let people have preferences and quit hearing "I like this better than Interstellar" as "I HATE INTERSTELLAR AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!"
I think most people are responding to Matt when he said "The Martian is 1000 times better than Interstellar". That's significantly different than than just saying you like one movie better than another one. BTW, I was talking about haters in this videos comment section.
Astronauts are upbeat and are trained to stay positive to solve problems. Mark jokes because he is staying positive so he can solve the problems that come up. His humor and up beat attitude would be a big reason why he would be chosen to go on a mission to Mars. Having China help is not only in the book but important to the overall message that the world unites to save one of our own. It's not so much an American stranded on Mars but an earthling
I think Mank may be talking out of his ass here. I just don't think he likes anything. First of all, weren't the Apollo 11 guys like 35? Secondly, Matt Damon is like 45, thirdly, when in gods name have nasa sent 60 year olds on 2-5 year missions? Never! Lol. Ben just sounds like a curmudgeonly, old money, Hollywood guy here.
I'll agree with Ben about one of his points. Everyone seems to think that this movie was so funny and full of humor. Damon had an inner (and outer) dialogue that had a sense of humor, but wasn't NEARLY as funny as everyone else is saying. Most of the jokes he makes (mostly to himself) are indeed a little too corny and are kinda hack just like Ben says. However, that's a small complaint from me. The movie is really good. I just felt somebody should stick up for Mr. Grumpy (Ben) on at least one point.. :)
I've read the book, and it really is funny as hell. If it weren't for the humour it would just be another suspense/action film. The practical "never give up" spirit of the guy is what makes it. The fact he rarely takes anything seriously is brilliant in my view. I will be watching the film (interestingly the dialogue they played at the start is actually from the end of the book. Weird.
Movie would be better if it was more like All Is Lost. Interstellar has a line about Murphys law, Martian is other way around, if something can go right, it probably will. All characters completely shit on authority in this movie, director of Nasa has a tough job, scientist are talking shit to him and he is responsible for this trillion dollar space ship. There is no international co operation in space travel, did Soviets and Ameicans go to moon together, no, Americans would pretty much have to give nuclear launch codes to Chinese for their help. Astronauts highjack the space station just to save this one guy and they are heroes, never mind the millions of people who worked to complete it, never mind the future of Nasa, never mind the American tax payers, just go to Mars and try to save one guy. Movie has sickeningly sweet optimism that works for Americans, but makes everyone else sick.
This movie was not better than interstellar. Interstellar was a lot more mind-blowing and really built up to the final themes. While the Martian being this series of challenges is sort of underwhelming. His biggest challenge happens relatively early and after that the rest of it is sort of just the process of getting watney home. Also I think it would have been better if someone(not watney) died
Interstellar is a different movie and should not be compared to the Martian. But if we are comparing the concepts and direction, I prefer interstellar ideas and over all concept. I felt the martian was cheesy at times and lacked the menace and awe of space. In other words I felt the movie felt too safe.
+6alcantara yeah, it's easy to say that, but the truth is that I want to understand why everyone loves this movie so much. I know why I didn't. I thought the ending was super clichéd, the jokes were cheesy, the length was very streched out and that the visual effects weren't as consistently good as in Interstellar or Gravity
Had near the same reaction. I was super hyped, but it really did come up short. "Okay" might be a bit strong, because the movie was definitely good and hilarious, but it wasn't even nearly tense, beautiful nor emotionally gut wrenching as Interstellar, which was the movie everyone kept comparing it to.
About the visual effects, did you too think that the weightlessness back on the Hermes looked incredibly fake? You could totally see that they were filming that by swimming.
Sounds like Ben joined the folks here after his Young Turks gig. He sounded like he was uncomfortable and even hostile with the "positive" themes underlying the story. Understandable, all things considered.
This movie wasn't that great. I just got back from watching it, I give it a 6.5/10. It's not a terrible movie, I enjoyed it overall. I really liked Matt Damon in it and I liked all of the science-y stuff throughout and I especially loved the underlying pro-science, pro-maths message. HOWEVER, the written dialog between the characters for the most part was FUCKING AWFUL!! NO HUMAN BEING SPEAKS LIKE THOSE PEOPLE SPOKE IN THAT MOVIE!! Ben's point about the jokes that weren't actually jokes was spot on!! That bit where the young hip astrodynamics dude comes in with his radical idea to save Mark, where he tells the head of NASA and that woman to stand at either end of the table and then explains the physics to them like they're children, flying the stapler around and making whooshing noises as he does it.... Has anybody ever actually met a human being who does that and hasn't thought "this person's insane"? Another negative aspect of the movie was the music. Not the disco music, that was all fine, I'm talking about the music composed for the movie... They needed to get Hans Zimmer on the job (although then the movie really would seem like Interstellar Part 2). The music wasn't emotive enough and didn't convey the awesomeness of what Matt Damon was doing well enough. The music and the written dialog both seemed like stock-standard corny American poorly thought out bullshit. I didn't absolutely HATE this movie, I'm just disappointed that it wasn't as awesome as what it could have been.
I really liked the movie and I thought that Mark Watney's dialogue and jokes worked quite well. That being said that astrodynamics dude was so over the top cringy. Apart from that, though, I'd say the movie was very well written. Soundtrack, yup. Main problem with this movie was the lack of emotion. Every time something terrible happened we just cut back to Earth before we saw Mark react to it as well as us not even once feeling the isolation of being stuck on Mars. That was the one thing this movie had to sell, and it just didn't. A great and haunting soundtrack like Interstellar's would have done wonders, although there would have still been a lack of emotional scenes. Really good movie 7/10 if 10 is the potential that it had. More entertaining than watching something like Gravity at home, issue is that Gravity absolutely blew it out of the water as a cinematic experience.
+Erald Ylli I think that is the point! Like he is on a planet...PLANET by himself. He is entertaining himself and maybe others and he has to keep it light so he doesn't go off the deep end!
You know what you need to be a commander in NASA, an advanced degree in aeronautical engineering, and background as a NAVY or Air Force pilot. Perfectly feasible for a woman in her mid 30s like Jessica Chastain to be the commander of this mission. And the other astronauts are usually just scientist who undertook astronaut training, so their ages are really irrelevant. Someone could be in their 20's and be a astronaut.
A smart dumb movie or dumb smart movie that takes no risks and has to type out every place and character (many superfluous). The science was dumbed down for the popcorn masses. The characters were boring and undeveloped especially Matt Damon's character who we learn nothing about his past or even much about his personality. We don't really get the impact of what it was like being the only person on a dead planet and being alone for nearly 2 years. At one point they just jump 7 months and Matt's just skinny and bearded. Robinson Crusoe on Mars did a better job even with pseudo-science and Martian slavers about a man on his own trying to survive on a hostile world.
I absolutely love this film and i'm very happy Ridley Scott is back in form... However simple minded people are constantly trying to compare this film with Interstellar. Honestly Interstellar wasn't a simple, ordinary story. That film was trying to reach for something more... literally!
@Matt : Like you said at the beginning , It is a very different movie from Interstellar even though belonging to probably the same genre. This movie is NOT better than Interstellar in my opinion. It is nothing but Cast Away in Space mixed with Gravity like ending. This Movie does not ask any question like Interstellar and that is why much more simpler in plot execution. Like any other Sci fi movie , this one also does have its problems like I could never understand why Matt's character had no emotional Effect after staying alone on a Planet.All the parts from Back earth are really boring. I dont think anyone would remember this movie after some time since its a good popcorn movie and I dont think INTERSTELLAR wanted to be this movie and no way this movie is better than that. Thanks :)
Btw the Chinese space program helping out was part of the book so they r not really trying to sell to the Asian market tho that might be a factor, but more like staying to the book.
A movie with no drama, no tension and one dimensional characters gets such Rave reviews. These guys like me down. I thought smart peeps like Christy and Alanso would have seen through the BS
I really don't understand why people are so over the moon, no pun intended, about this movie. What a piece of shit. I mean im surprised he didn't find a cure for cancer while he was up there, he seems to know everthing else about everything. And usually in these American patriotic Flicks we get a few moments of heroisme, but in this one pretty much EVERYBODY has a moment of heroisme, where Again im surprised they didn't figure out a cure for cancer as well. What a piece of shit.
WTF is the only movie review show I watch, because I love watching/listening to smart people talk about movies. Thank you guys and gal for entertaining and enlightening week after week. Doesn't matter if I agree or disagree with you, I just enjoy hearing your take on the latest flicks (and TV shows).
The youngest astronaut in the movie is played by Kata Mara at 32, but the youngest astronaut ever was Gherman Titov with just 25. Mr. Mankiewicz's argument is invalid. Plus there is more than a handful of other astronauts under the age of 30 to have gone to space.
They are wrong. This movie is set in a year in the near future. Andy Weir did the math for the orbital dynamics for the mission and the rescue. It all works. He has stated several times that he might run a contest to identify the launch date for the Ares III mission. It would have to be so that the crew would be spending Thanksgiving on the martian surface. Figure it out, space geeks.
In response to my previous comment, now having seen the film, it is indeed going for something completely different than Interstellar and I don't get the need to simultaneously bash Interstellar, a great film, while praising this one. Which was also very good.
It has been a long time since I have been this pumped up to see a movie. I'm probably still looking forward to Star Wars more, but I think it is likely that his will be the better all around movie. When I heard about this movie a couple months ago, I ran out and bout the book. It is great and it looks like they did a great job with the adaptation. I can't wait to see it.
Havent seen the movie but I seriously doubt its what Interstellar wanted to be. That to me shows the fundamental misreading of Interstellar by this panel. Interstellar was amazing. Flat out jaw dropping. People that hated it didn't understand what it wanted to be.
besides his really odd thing about the astronauts being too young annoyance, I finally agree with Ben on something and am glad someone is expressing a dissenting voice in the humor in this film, or imo the lack of smart humor. I think the crew hit the nail in the head as to why matt damon's shtick did not work for me for the most part. it was like that of a youtuber whom I generally find annoying. People give crap about Interstellar being too serious. I think this film is the opposite. it lacks a much needed level of seriousness and tension and urgency that it could've borrowed from interstellar or gravity, rather than be so pre-occupied with being a crowd pleaser. I know i'm a contrarian on this. but I was bored to death in a lot of this film. Mars does look insanely pretty though.
+Stuie Malan totally agree. The score was at times absolutely devastating but always instilled an immediate sense of urgency and tension throughout. I understand how some might think its too heavy-handed or whatever but it had me gripped with anticipation and at times, in tears.
Guy on the far right is the guy you don't want at a party. "That chick is hot." "Yeah, but what's really hot is the situation in Syria right now." "Ugh, just shut up."
Just from the trailer, the "science the shit out of it" and the Neil Armstrong lines are beyond dumb. Stuff a bro would say and I could never root for a guy like that.
+Chris Mankey Glad you can make assumptions about people without knowing them at all! Your talent is quite impressive! Vegas bound dear bro, you are Vegas bound! You are quite a good laugher as well. Truly truly talented. I salute at the altar of your bro-ness!!! Your mother must be very proud.
Umm, it's important to note that Ben is TOTALLY wrong about his age complaint. He's totally wrong. The average astronaut in the corps is mid-30s. Chris Hadfield, who comes up, is one of the most famous astronauts and just retired at 56 after 20 years of space flights. Mark Kelly, another very famous astronaut, is 51 years old and has been flying for 15 years. Again, he started in his mid-30s. Matt Damon - 44 Aksel Hennie - 39 Michael Pena - 39 Jessica Chastain - 38 Sebastian Stan - 33 Kate Mara - 32 They are all right in the age range of a typical NASA astronaut. And, unlike crew for a one-way mission (where you might pick people in their 50s) if you are bringing them back that's an endurance test for a younger person. Ben just flat whiffed on this one.
I saw it today, and it's more Michael Bay than Ridley Scott. Not impresses. It was incredibly predictable, the 3D wasn't immersive, and the ending was campy and uninspired. The disco music and the song Love Train at the end was just stupid. BTW: NASA spacecraft don't talk to the astronauts. "Air lock activated [computer voice]", "Pressure returning [computer voice]". Save that shit for science fiction/fantasy. I found it any slightly better than Interstellar. "I'm going to science the shit out of it" is the dumbest line this year.
The guy who was complaining about the actors ages is full of crap! The leader of the mission Commander (A navy rank - and yes, it might have been a NASA job title instead) Melissa Lewis was played by Jessica Chastain, who was 38 when the movie was made. The average age for a navy commander is 39, but obviously Melissa Lewis was much better than average to have been chosen for the astronaut corps and to have been chosen to lead the ARES III mission. (Remember that all of the applicants for astronaut positions - especially the ones who get picked - are super-achievers.) Matt Damon was 44 when the movie was being made (the critic got his age wrong too). Such an age is very comparable to the ages of the Apollo astronauts.
I loved this movie, but I did agree with Ben on one detail. The astronaut actors were great, but casting wise, it is annoying to see a spaceship full of beautiful young people. It pulled me out of the movie a lot. The average age of that crew should have easily been 10 (or more) years older. Look at the casting for Gravity. I mean, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are still beautiful, but at least they've got enough life experience to realistically be in that position; you believe that they could actually be there. Sally Ride was the youngest American astronaut to travel into space and she was 32 for her first trip.
I enjoyed the flick but had some problems with it. 1. Duct tape....do we really expect to believe that duct tape and cellophane can repair a pressurized HAB where there are sandstorms every night? 2. Hated Kristin Wiig's character. Her character was so contrived and the movie would have been better without her 3. Love Jeff Daniels as an actor, but didn't like HIM as that character. He seemed a little too business-like for him, and would've rather had a less likeable actor in the role, or change the character to be more positive 4. Do we really expect the Aries crew to just agree to turning around and extending their mission by 19 months? Would've liked to have seen a little more dilemma around that. 5. What about the other scientific problems like the fact that Mars is 1/3 the gravity of Earth. What about the effects on the body? Would've liked to have them talk a little more about the effects of long duration space flight on the body. Even with the Aries with artificial gravity, there is still the problem of loss of muscle and bone mass. What about radiation?
+patrick pangasinan You have to understand, this coming from reviewers who gave Fast n Furious 99 a rating of something like 9+. They just dont have the standards for all movies.. BTW Martian was a good movie.. but thats it.. just a good popcorn flick..
I havent seen their birdman review coz I didnt wanna spoil the movie for me.. I saw the movie way after it had left the theaters.. maybe I sld check their review. Birdman was great though..
I love Ben, but he was just plain wrong here. The average age of the 6 astronauts on the Aries III mission was 38: youngest 32 and oldest 45. The average age of the 21 astronauts that took part in the 6 manned Apollo missions was 39, ranging from 32 to 48. The age range for the STS (Space Shuttle) programme was even greater (32 - 61).
wow! seriously What The Flick? some of the most important astronauts ever were a decade younger than the age of Matt Damon now. Sally Ride, first American woman in space in 1983 at the age of 32, is a prime example. get your facts right before you give a review!! And besides, Instellar is a much different film dealing with a much different topic.
Saw this movie recently. If this is 1000x better than Interstellar, then I'm not touching that one with a pole long enough to reach Venus. This is one of the shittiest depictions of people responsible for critical stuff I've seen in my life and I barely made it till the end of the movie. There are some nice views to look at, cast is solid, and stakes are high, but there is absolutely no logical framework for the story to hang on and ultimately The Martian is just mediocre. Perhaps it's "good" if you suspend disbelief but it did absolutely nothing for me to get to that place. JPL scenes with folks replicating on the ground what has to be redone in space are the only believable part of the movie. Ben is accused of ageism and sexism in this review but he's spot on WRT my feelings about the movie: it's inconceivable that people disobey orders in these kind of situations. It's impossible for the head of NASA to be wrong on everything. It's impossible for mission critical staff to be crying every 5 minutes. It's absurd for PR person (Wiig) to be so transparent. It was a waste of my time. It's a chain of non sequiturs and I sure hope that the book this is based on is better.
