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'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

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Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#31

I read the book and really enjoyed it, but I heard the movie isn't really like the book, especially not enough of the science stuff unlike the Martian movie which does indeed have more of the science stuff. Those of you who read the book, what do you think of the movie?

You've read the book. You don't need the science.

Heck, you don't even need a plot that hangs together. When I was a kid I had trouble figuring out why i loved the original Dune movie while everybody else hated it.

It was a bad movie because the plot didn't hold together. But the visuals and the characters were awesome. As an adjunct to the book it was great. It just didn't stand alone.

Hail Mary as someone who has read the book is a different experience than someone who hasn't. It brings the book to life.

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#33

I read the book and really enjoyed it, but I heard the movie isn't really like the book, especially not enough of the science stuff unlike the Martian movie which does indeed have more of the science stuff. Those of you who read the book, what do you think of the movie?

I read the book on release and loved it. The main themes and plot points are present in the movie, though it's overall a bit less nerdy and a bit more comical than the book. I think it is easily one of the best, most enjoyable sci-fi movies released this decade.

> I think it is easily one of the best, most enjoyable sci-fi movies released this decade.

I completely agree. I didn't read the book but the science the made sense to me. But then maybe I was able to fill in details mentally.

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#35
post #25

I read the book and really enjoyed it, but I heard the movie isn't really like the book, especially not enough of the science stuff unlike the Martian movie which does indeed have more of the science stuff. Those of you who read the book, what do you think of the movie?

It’s a movie, not a book. The audio book is 16 hours runtime. The movie is 2 hours. Some things were always going to be left out. The details of the science stuff was one of them. It works better in a book narrative where the process is told than a movie where it’s visual and you have to show. The Martian book has more of the science process than PHM book does to begin with. The movie hit all of the primary points bu…

What bugs me about the editing in the movie is they gave only a couple of seconds of screen time for key plot elements like the nitrogen resistance breeding and how/why this would cause issues for Rocky. It made the last 20% of the movie less coherent for anyone who hasn’t read the book.

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#36
post #6

Still wanna watch this movie, I haven't seen trailers (try to keep that to a minimum) and I like Gosling. Anybody here seen it?

Yeah, my wife and I saw it earlier this week. I thought it was an excellent adaptation of a very good book. My wife, who hasn’t read the book, didn’t like it and took a nap. (I think that’s a pretty minority position for most people who have seen the movie without reading the book.)

I heard someone snoring loudly in the cinema, so being “bored to sleep” seems to be a surprisingly common reaction to this movie!

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I really enjoyed it. Visually spectacular, pretty faithful to the book (as far as I remember the book) and Ryan Gosling was very good in it. They were even fairly faithful to the laws of physics (relative to other Hollywood movies, anyway).

Found it excruciating to watch. As in boring. And there are a few times where the movie seems ready to make its landing and finish but something happens to extend it. I just couldn't get myself to care. The recent Sam Raimi movie I enjoyed

I also saw 'Send help' at the cinema. I enjoyed it, but preferred 'Hail Mary'. Highly subjective, obviously.

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#38

Watched it with a few people who enjoy different movie genres, and nobody was bored, which is rare for the group I watch movies with frequently. Would I watch it again? Probably not. Was it my favourite Gosling movie? Nope. Tough to beat The Place Beyond the Pines. Is it better than the (audio)book? I have no idea. Ryan Gosling is one of those actors who make movies emotionally immersive, like Highlander wouldn’t be…

looking forward to this movie, hasn't seen him in really good movie where he would play lead since TPBTP though not sure I liked TPBTP more than Drive, Half Nelson, The United States of Leland or The Believer (2001)

Re: 'Project Hail Mary' Crosses $300M in Sales to Become Amazon/MGM's Highest-Gross

#39
post #30

I watched it twice, which is pretty unheard of for me. I thought the book was fine but not a favourite. And it's not like it was the best movie ever, but I did feel like it was the best self contained scifi film I've seen in at least 10 years. People acted like adults without being aggressive, decisions were made thoughtfully, it felt realistic which made the visuals more impactful.

> I watched it twice, which is pretty unheard of for me. I thought the book was fine but not a favourite.

I think it's interesting when a movie can be faithful, and yet hit differently. Conclave was like that for me—I enjoyed the book, but it came across as a political thriller with a Catholic twist. But the movie, by showing all of the uniforms, all of the architecture and art, came across far more significant than just a political thriller. A great cast helped with that, admittedly.

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