The Martian: Book vs Movie
The Martian by Andy Weir is one of the few stories that I have both seen the movie version and read the book. I saw the movie before the book, and normally I am not someone that would strive to read a story that I had already seen, but I found The Martian to be such an interesting movie that I was excited to read the book. One of the reasons that I wanted to read the book is that I heard from other people that major technical details were left out of the movie that were included in the book. I was excited to read the book after hearing how it was so good and after reading it I wasn’t disappointed.
The movie directed by Ridley Scott is potentially one of my favorite movies ever. Firstly the movie started out at an extremely fast pace where the main character Mark Watney was scrambling to figure out what to do with his fellow astronauts when an extreme dust storm was hitting their complex on the surface of mars. The movie made every detail pop and made it feel like you were actually there experiencing this story. Later in the story the movie portrays many details very well like Mark Watney traveling across the surface of Mars to go to another rocket to try to escape from Mars alive. During his travel across mars Mark Watney experiences many problems including his rover flipping on the surface and the movie does an excellent job portraying the situation in an engaging way. The movie did have drawbacks however. Most importantly the movie had vague explanations of some of the science of the things occurring so sometimes things would just happen without explanation. Overall however the movie is in my opinion a very good movie and anybody who wants to should definitely watch it despite some missing information.
The Martian by Andy Weir is one of my favorite books that I have read, but like the movie had drawbacks. The book is one of the most technical books that I have ever read, and I like books that include lots of information about technical things. During a scene where Mark Watney is trying to grow food for himself, the book explains in great detail the process of how that is done, including the chemical reactions that had to occur to make the food grow successfully. During this scene there was a lot of information about moisture, gas composition, and how to fertilize the plants so they would grow successfully. The book version also focused a lot on smaller scenes that didn’t end up making it into the movie. For example there were scenes about Mark Watney moving solar panels to send a message to the humans back on Earth, and those kind of in depth scenes were sometimes not included in the movie. Also, at the end of the book where Mark Watney was trying to escape Mars there was tons of scientific information about how he would leave, including how to turn water into usable rocket fuel (H2O(water) → H(hydrogen), O(oxygen)). Although I really enjoyed these details there was one drawback to this book. At times I found the book to be a little bit boring and not packed tightly enough with exciting information. Overall though The Martian is one of the best books that I have read.
To conclude, both the book and the movie are definitely worth reading and watching. If you are someone who likes more fast paced things, I would encourage watching the movie, but if you feel that didn’t give you enough information for your liking, I would encourage reading the book. If you are someone who really enjoys technical details and has a basic scientific understanding then I would encourage reading the book first and then watching the movie after for a more exciting version of the story. Overall I encourage both reading the book and watching the movie as they are both very interesting and engulf you in the story.
Hello Lucas! "The Martian" is also one of my favorite movies but I never knew there was a book on it. As you mentioned, I think the movie giving less scientific detail and more drama helps keep the audience excited, and may be a reason the movie could be preferred over the book. On the other hand, I felt some of the scenes in the movie were a bit too much (like in the beginning with the stapler), and thought the book might be better in that area. Also, we might all go to mars someday and might need to know how to make the chemical reactions occur to grow potatoes (I really liked the scene where he says, "Luckily, I'm the botanist") so I think I will try to read this book before we ever get to mars. Great post.
ReplyDeleteHey Lucas Braun! I actually just started this book the other day and am really enjoying it! I'm very fascinated by space and rockets and stuff, so it is a perfect fit. Although, I have to say you might want to warn the readers about the language in this book, and how sometimes the novel can slow down a bit when Weir babbles on about the science about holding hydrogen in a rover and stuff like this. I cannot speak for the movie thought and would absolutely love to see it sometime. Anyways, great review!
ReplyDeleteHey Lucas! I also loved the movie "The Martian" but I never got around to reading the book. I'm also a fan of his other well known book "Project Hail Mary" so I'll make sure to add this one to my reading list!
ReplyDeleteHey Lucas! I've never heard about The Martian but I may have to check it out after reading your blog! I've always been a fan of fast paced books or movies that throw lots of information at me. You did a great job at explaining how the movie and book were different but also how both are equally interesting. If I do end up checking out either, I'll watch the movie first based on your recommendation. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Lucas, great post! I've seen the movie but haven't read the book (didn't even know there was one). It definitely makes sense that the movie was less detailed since it didn't have as much time and also needed to keep the viewer's attention. I think the movie did a good job of telling the story through a filmed version, and by what you've said, the book did a good job of demonstrating the plot through literature. They're two very different styles of storytelling so it makes sense that they were made differently, and your blog explained that really well. Next time I don't know what book to pick up next, I'll definitely keep "The Martian" in mind!
ReplyDeleteWow, Lucas, I'm beginning to see a pattern in these kinds of reviews that compare movies and their books, where people always prefer the books. I personally agree with this recurrence, as the authors take time to describe the story through the narrator's eyes like you are in the story itself. This book sounds like a very interesting one given the advanced technology and out-of-this-world adventures present. It reminds me of an amazing series called the "Moon Base Alpha," which tells the experiences of the first settlement on the moon. If you're interested in these kinds of space stuff (I'm sure you are), I recommend that you read that captivating series. I'll make sure to read this book soon, so thanks for the review!
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