They simply cannot expect that everyone has read the book. That seems not very - logical? Agreed, actually. :D It wasn't very wise of them... Then again, this is the opinion of someone who has read. I think we would need also the opinion of someone who watched and hasn't read...
Well, in terms of sci-fi, The Martian is the opposite of Doctor Who, Stargate, Star Trek and likes. It's hard sci-fi of... (what the heck is the English term for this?) ...short range? No timey-wimey, no aliens, no ships fueled with the audience's imagination... Instead, you get thrust vectoring, gravity assist (rather important for understanding of one major plot point), numeric coding of language, resilience of bacterias, atmospheric resistance, reactions involving hydrogen and oxygen... all this merry stuff. Actually, the whole point of The Martian - more in the book, but the movie too - is about making it fascinating, enthralling, exciting. And it succeeds. Granted, I'm not opposed to such things in books and movies in general, so I guess it wouldn't work that good for you. Sorry to hear it makes an obstacle... :(
I like science fiction when it is about people. Me too, actually. It's just that the realization matters for me at least as much as the idea, and The Martian is just a very well written book. It hasn't perfect everything, no, but enough to love it. Though I must admit I always love it when the science plays a role in the plot. Though, of course, this must be well done.
As for writing on the screen, that sounds like an interesting effect, and I am very used to it from watching "Sherlock", where his thoughts are displayed on the screen beautifully. I think here they aimed at the effect of the header of an icoming message. "Xy Zeth. Chief of Department of This or That."
But sometimes it's not meant to be all read, rather taken in as a whole? Well, yes, as long as you don't care for wondering for the rest of the movie "Who's that dude again?", you can wave all those names and titles aside. It's not like anyone would really manage to keep the track of all of them anyway. I think so. :)
In the end, it is not about the science or the special effects - it is about the people. The Martian too, actually. After all, it's people who do all this science there, it's just their tool, their safety boat, everything they have. So it's like with a western - it's all about people, nevertheless it can be troublesome if one doesn't like horses and shooting...
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Agreed, actually. :D It wasn't very wise of them... Then again, this is the opinion of someone who has read. I think we would need also the opinion of someone who watched and hasn't read...
Well, in terms of sci-fi, The Martian is the opposite of Doctor Who, Stargate, Star Trek and likes. It's hard sci-fi of... (what the heck is the English term for this?) ...short range? No timey-wimey, no aliens, no ships fueled with the audience's imagination... Instead, you get thrust vectoring, gravity assist (rather important for understanding of one major plot point), numeric coding of language, resilience of bacterias, atmospheric resistance, reactions involving hydrogen and oxygen... all this merry stuff. Actually, the whole point of The Martian - more in the book, but the movie too - is about making it fascinating, enthralling, exciting. And it succeeds. Granted, I'm not opposed to such things in books and movies in general, so I guess it wouldn't work that good for you. Sorry to hear it makes an obstacle... :(
I like science fiction when it is about people.
Me too, actually. It's just that the realization matters for me at least as much as the idea, and The Martian is just a very well written book. It hasn't perfect everything, no, but enough to love it. Though I must admit I always love it when the science plays a role in the plot. Though, of course, this must be well done.
As for writing on the screen, that sounds like an interesting effect, and I am very used to it from watching "Sherlock", where his thoughts are displayed on the screen beautifully.
I think here they aimed at the effect of the header of an icoming message. "Xy Zeth. Chief of Department of This or That."
But sometimes it's not meant to be all read, rather taken in as a whole?
Well, yes, as long as you don't care for wondering for the rest of the movie "Who's that dude again?", you can wave all those names and titles aside. It's not like anyone would really manage to keep the track of all of them anyway. I think so. :)
In the end, it is not about the science or the special effects - it is about the people.
The Martian too, actually. After all, it's people who do all this science there, it's just their tool, their safety boat, everything they have. So it's like with a western - it's all about people, nevertheless it can be troublesome if one doesn't like horses and shooting...