The atmosphere on Mars WAS really thin until Arnold Schwarzenegger activated that reactor thingy

Weir, the author, prided himself on how scientifically accurate he aimed to make the book. He said there was one except, however. A storm on Mars could never be strong enough to do what happened in the opening scenes, as the atmosphere is too thin. The wind could get extremely fast, but it wouldn't have enough energy to do much. It was put in there just as a plot device.

24:40 “The airlock’s on its side, and I can hear a steady hiss. So either it’s leaking or there are snakes in here. Either way, I’m in trouble.” - The Martian by Andy Weir

This movie does a great job of summarizing the book -- which is fantastic. But it's really Matt Damon's charisma that makes this movie so good.

My favourate thing that came from this book: In the book, Watley had to calculate power per sol usage a lot. Enough that he eventually invented a unit of measurement for it as a shorthand. Since it was one just for him, he decided to call it a "Pirate-Ninja". Since then, JLP has been using it informally (since they need to calculate power usage a lot as well). Engineers have been referring to it with each other, and it is even used in meetings with management.

"If we're going to call something Project Elrond I want my code name to be Glorfindel" Dude was serious, too

The atmosphere of Mars is very thin but still thick enough for storms. There are occasional planet wide dust storms that cover the entire planet with dust clouds, that's actually scientifically accurate, however high speed wind in air that is just 1% the density of Earth's just doesn't have enough mass to push around big objects and that is the biggest liberty with reality the book takes, the rest of the book is pretty good on the science. The movie isn't quite as accurate as the book but is still fairly good. Also when you said it takes months to get to Mars, that's true when Mars and Earth are well aligned, when they're not it takes much longer or is impossible. You basically have to wait for Mars and Earth to align which happens about every two years.

Perfect example of a story that doesn't need a traditional villain. Just teamwork, smarts, and the will to survive.

My absolute favorite part of this movie is him digging up pathfinder. Something about old tech like that being used again to help save someone’s life just feels awesome to me.

"Wouldn't the soil need a microrganisms?" That's, quite literally, what the shit is for.

If I was Mark, when I got back to Earth, I’d just make bunch of business cards identifying myself as a space pirate.

With very few exceptions, almost everything in the story is scientifically accurate. I have a suggestion for reading the book. Pick a weekend when you're not planning on doing anything. They left so much out of the movie. Every single chapter in the book ends in a cliffhanger where Mars is doing its damnedest to try and kill Whatney and will leave you thinking, "How the hell is he going to get out of this one?" To call the book a page turner is like saying breathing is nice.

As for the soil, its explained in the book that Mark mixes soil samples from Earth with the Martian soil, so the microorganisms needed to grow plants multiply and spread through the whole farm.

So funny that Simone really doesn't know much about space and says so often, but she knew immediately that spaceships just can't turn around. Lots of people would know space kills plants but wouldn't realise that spacecraft don't change direction. You're a gem 😂

In the novel, it is very clear that Watney's sense of humor, his tremendous intelligence, and his disregard for rules are collectively responsible for his survival.

I like how you translated the Mandarin dialogue on the spot when you were lacking subtitles

The Vicodin: A) The hab was equipped with a full suite of medical supplies, just in case. (Beck, AKA Bucky, was a medical doctor.) B) They didn't mention it in the movie, but at several points in the book Watney is in severe pain, for one reason or another, such as a lot a backbreaking labour moving dirt around.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but when you said you enjoy the levity despite dire situations. In the book, one of the main reasons Mark was selected for the mission was his personality. He has traits that are beneficial to maintaining a good morale when working as part of a team. Something that can come in handy in space where everything is trying to kill you at any moment

“Why would you bring Vicodin on a trip to Mars?” You can still throw your back out even on an alien planet.

26:43 In order to turn Hermes around, they would need to decelerate for an equal amount of time that it's been on the way back to Earth, then begin accelerating again from zero in the new direction...so essentially, it would take them twice as long as they've already been travelling, to get back, and that would not leave them with fuel/power enough to return to earth, once they got back. Also, the Hermes no longer has equipment for a planetfall, since it was single-use items that brought them down the first time, and much of that got left behind when Mark was left.

The book is fantastic and it answers some questions one might have from the movie - like the question of bacteria in the soil. A definite must read! Also... Sean Bean DOESN'T DIE!

25:40 "You can't sacrifice 5 lives to save one person". They put 8 lives at risk to save Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan, so...

Neil Degrasse Tyson who is astrophysicist said that this movie is his favorite sci-fi movie ever which is amazing.😁😁

I low key love Jeff Daniels' acting in this movie. He is a shrewd NASA director, but he believably gushes for a few seconds whenever Watney's prospects begin to look up.

To try and break into movies, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote a film script called Good Will Hunting. Their script won an Oscar and kick-started their acting careers. I strongly recommend the movie to you.

Mark Weir admitted that he used artistic license for the storm in the beginning, everything else is either current or near future tech.

Love how emotionally invested Simone is. Such a sweet, sensitive person. And don't worry, I like you as well, George.

Most of the science in this movie (and the book) are pretty accurate. The book was written as a series of posts on his website and a lot of the inaccuracies he came up with were pointed out by readers before it became a book book. The two things that Andy Weir admits are inaccurate or hand wavy are storm at the beginning and the radiation shielding. The atmosphere of Mars is less than 1% the density of Earth, so a 200 kph sandstorm (which do occur on Mars) would have as much force as a soft breeze here. It could not possibly tip a ship or carry a dish as debris, but it makes for a good reason to strand an astronaut on Mars. The other issue is radiation. Mars has no strong magnetic field, so the surface gets much more radiation from the sun and cosmic sources than we do, and spending as much time as Mark did without proper shielding would give you “so much cancer that your cancer would get cancer.” Blocking radiation like that needs either a few cm of lead, 50 cm of water or a full meter of rock between you and the world. In order to avoid that, Weir gave them perfect, flexible, thin, light radiation shielding. That’s not physically possible as far as the laws of physics dictates, but it removes a lot of cumbersome shields. Also, you’re right about the soil needing more than just water and fertilizer. In the novel, Mark has some Earth soil with all the usual bacteria and microbes that allows for plant growth. He wets some Martian soil, applies the Earth soil, and the bacteria and microbes in the soil multiplies and spreads. He calls it dirt doubling and has to do it a few times to get enough crop worthy soil.

That last part where he says, “You solve one problem, and then you move onto the next one. You solve enough, and you get to go home.” If you’re having a bad day, that hits really hard. I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but… Just do one thing. If you can do one thing, move onto the next one, and it’s already a better day than you were having.

I really love this movie, just such a feel-good but grounded in science movie. The best part I love about it is: There is NO villains. There's nobody scheming to ruin plans or get in the way or somehow exploit the tragedy for their own gains. They could have easily made like somebody at NASA be some greedy dude looking to reap some government grant or some shit. But nope, just pure human struggle and conflict and overcoming things. The only real villain is Mars itself, surviving. Its like Cast Away, where the protagonist has to just surmount impossible odds.Thats why I love this movie

The book (and audio book) is even better than the movie. Damon really nails the role of Watney in all aspects, but the book goes into more details and includes some obstacles that are not present in the movie. If anyone likes the movie, you will love the book.

Omg when Sean’s character talks about “Elrond” and secret meeting I died 😂😂

The Ares 3 mission brought a bunch of earth soil samples with them, for Watney to do botany experiments on, testing how to grow things on Mars. Watney mixed all those earth soil samples with martian soil to create workable soil with micro-organisms etc. This was all ruined when it was all exposed to Martian vacuum, though. Watney didn't have any more earth soil to work with.

I read the book, before the movie came out, in 2012. I got it from the library and I said to myself, "I wonder if they'll turned this into a movie," and it did! My parents and I enjoyed it very much! It's not just a Sci Fi movie it's also a comedy drama as well, and it won 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture, Musical or comedy.

"Do Martians find him and go to Earth?" No, that's Stranger in a Strange Land. Great book, but it's never been made into a film. I'm not sure how well it would work as a film, there are large parts of it that are difficult to grok.

It's only 6-ish months of travel if you leave at the right time, that right time happens about once every two years, and the return and departure windows usually don't match up. There was also only one interplanetary transfer vehicle, the Hermes. By the time they were on their way back to Earth there was literally nothing they could do to get back any sooner than the Rich Purnell maneuver, and even that was only possible because Andy Weir specifically chose the dates for his story to take advantage of the rare alignment of the transfer windows.

The main thing that's a stretch science-wise is the storm at the beginning...while massive dust storms do happen on Mars, you were right that Mars' atmosphere is way too thin to be tipping over spacecraft or hurling a satellite dish like that. Outside of that, the science in the movie is pretty damn accurate.

Thank you for the video. The book might have saved my life. I tore through it in 2 days at a time when I was legitimately suicidal. The levity in the story is what saved me. Being able to stare at adversity and find a way to make a joke - it's what kept me going. If you like the writing, Andy Weir's second novel (Artemis) has been optioned for a film. I think production is nearly done, but of course covid messed up their timeline for release date. But I tore through that book in 2 days as well. Can't wait for the movie. Project Hail Mary (Weir's third and most current) is also slated for a film.

In the book he didn’t “Ironman”. Beck entered the MAV and attached to him and they reeled them in

Matt Damon was such great casting. His incredible screen presence and charisma carries huge sections of this movie. He's just great.

NASA scientists actually asked Andy Weir how he got the science *so* right - it's an amazing book

I actually got choked up when I realized he was going after Pathfinder (and its companion Sojourner). I get very attached to the Rovers. When we lost Oppy to the storms on Mars it was also really sad. The cool thing about this movie is how scientifically accurate it is. All of the science in this is solid. Physicist Kip Thorne advised on it. (I work part-time for a theoretical physicist.)

Something that I love when watching reactions to this movie is seeing it from the point of view of people who didn't grow up in or work in aerospace as I did. I forget that things like orbital mechanics, especially in regards to spacecraft, as well as a mental catalog of historic equipment we've sent up, aren't something most people "just know". It adds a whole 'nother layer to the viewing experience for me, especially with the questions you ask and the solutions y'all posit. Very enjoyable.

My favorite description of this movie is in the xkcd webcomic by Randal Munroe: "You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says 'we have to figure out how to connect this thing to this thing using this table full of parts or the astronauts will all die'? The Martian is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene."

Pathfinder was the name of the lander that was dropped on Mars and it had a little rover called Sojourner which communicated with the lander and that sent pictures back through the software in the lander which is how it talked to and got updates from Earth. Another very real thing that adds to the realism and makes me forget it's a movie.

It's a very good movie based on a great book. The closest movie I've seen to this in sci-fi, is The Andromeda Strain (1971) based on Michael Crichton's book of the same name.

The thought of Simone being alone on Mars saying "I don't even know how to properly grow potatoes!" is pretty funny.

I always enjoyed this movie. The emotions get pretty intense and Damon did a great job pretty much acting alone. Very similar to the job Tom Hanks did in Castaway.

As long as you eat the skins, a diet of nothing but potatoes and a little dairy provides everything you need to be healthy. It's also a ton of carbs, though, so you'd better be active if you don't want to get fat. So having him survive on basically nothing but potatoes is actually pretty realistic. The few nutrients he needs that aren't provided by the potatoes would come from the food stores: he'd only have to eat a little bit from the packaged food each day.

The atmospheric conditions are the one thing that any scientist will tell you is the most stretched version of the narrative.

Fun fact! A clever person who read the book calculated the volume of the hab and worked out that to burn that much Hydrogen & Oxygen to make the water he required would have produced so much heat, Mark Watney would have cooked to death. Andy Weir was disappointed that he didn't realise this in advance because that would have given him another opportunity to science his way out of it. (one solution he came up with was to bring big cold rocks into the hab to use as heatsinks)

The potatoes story is one of my favorite part of the book. The hilarious thing is the only reason they had potatoes was to make a thanksgiving meal.

i love that they tried to keep as much stuff scientific as possible, while there is still loads of movie science to make the story better they tried to at least keep things as close to plausible as they could

I love the use of humor and levity in this book and film, combined with how they make the loss of the potatos hit just *SO* hard. "Ah yes, float towards me Jessica Chastain." and "I could fly around like Iron Man." also made me spit-take with silly giggles.

From what I've been told, pathfinder wasn't THE Mars rover that died. It was supposed to land but didn't slamming into the ground.

"Fly towards me Jessica Chastain" 🤣 I don't blame you one bit man.

One or two of the silliest things in the film (e.g., the "Iron Man" maneuver) do not appear in the novel, although Watney (being Watney) does suggest it...

Jessica Chastain was also in Interstellar. There was definitely a crossover in the cast. Both films are really great. Interstellar definitely poses a lot more philosophical questions and delves more into theoretical science, i.e. time travel. I really love both movies, though.

One thing I love about the NASA scenes is all of the utter geekiness on display! They are all on the same mindwave, except for the PR person. From the bureaucrat Teddy knowing enough Tolkien to name check Glorfindel to Kapoor completely understanding Mark’s space pirate reasoning.

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but...the reason Wattney talks to the camera isn't a personal quirk, it is to keep a log in case he dies. Then, eventually, on the next mission to Mars, his experiments, his knowledge, his accomplishments, will have been recorded even if he isn't there. That's fairly standard of most missions to space and even in ancient maritime, keeping logs.

The humor may be necessary for the audience, but, I believe it's also necessary for his survival! The humor is the result of his personality and character, which colored his outlook at attitudes, contributed to him being able to do what it took to survive!

The atmosphere is really thin. To get the wind storm like in the movie the winds would need to be much higher, if at all possible.

Pathfinder was a 1997 lander, and it carried a little rover called Sojourner, that was basically just some solar panels and a camera sent mostly as a proof of concept

Yeah, George is 100% correct - Mars' atmosphere is way too thin for a storm like that to occur. Andy Weir freely admits that for the novel he needed an instigating incident and so, basically, just made that part up. In the _book_ that's pretty much the only liberty taken, more or less everything else is at least plausible scientifically (the film stretches things a bit more for cinematic impact, time constraints etc.). Great book adapted into a great movie that then made for a great reaction :).

One Of Matt Damon's Great Performances

3:47 You are actually right, the sand storm in this movie is not actually realistic, they just made it big for cinematic purposes.. or else the movie would have end in just 10 minutes

The two moons of Mars are named Phobos and Deimos - Fear and Dread - after the two horses that pulled Ares' chariot. I love science.

Enjoyed watching this with you, however it appears you guys missed the credits at the end. There are scenes of each character thru the credits and what they did back on Earth that was pretty fun to see. Of course before there was The Martian, there was "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" (1964). 🖖😎

I absolutely LOVE this movie. There is a directors cut that adds about 20-25 minutes of stuff and it was pretty awesome.

In the book he is able to grow the potatoes by mixing the Mars “earth” with earth… earth. Slowly spreading micro biologies etc. Building fertile soil

I’m surprised no one has mentioned how adorable Simone’s reactions are

When you were questioning whether Pathfinder's signal was compatible....that's why they used the replica. It COULD talk to Pathfinder. Also re: Talking to himself and losing his mind. He's not talking to himself. He's leaving a video record for in case he dies.

This movie really surprised me. The humor made it perfect.

I'd recommend reading the novel. It's so good and it goes into even more detail. The film adaptation does a great job though. Matt Damon nailed the role of Mark Watney. I love how he plays Dr. Mann in Interstellar but Watney is so different from him in character despite both of them being astronauts in a desparate situation.

As a new subscriber to your channel, I've been binging your reaction videos all day. Love your interactions with each other, and the little tidbits of information George throws in every once in a while! This is one of my favorite movies, and now I have to rewatch it. Keep up the great work!

One crazy thing about Ridley Scott is that he became a household name while his brother, Tony, didn’t. It’s crazy, because Tony Scott directed Top Gun and Days of Thunder (both with Tom Cruise), The Last Boy Scout (Bruce Willis), Crimson Tide (Denzel), Enemy of the State (Will Smith) and, for me, the absolute standout in an exceptional crowd: Man on Fire (Denzel again). You’ve got some reacting to do!

I really enjoy the real use of Science and physics in this film especially the humor that Matt Damon brings to his character... fun fact the air pressure on Mars is so low that the storm at the Beginning wouldn't have had hardly any impact then again without that event I guess they wouldn't have been any film.... an answer to your question George they couldn't just turn the Ship Around because it requires too much fuel which is why they had to do a slingshot the Apollo or the Hermes the physics is still the same.

If you haven't already, check out Andy Weir's latest book, "Project Hail Mary". It's at least as good as The Martian, and is (Hollywood f*ckups permitting) also being made into a major motion picture. (The audiobook version is very good, too, if you don't like waving your eyes at pages.)

“Because it’s a secret meeting” “How do you know that?” “I was there!”

"Fly toward me, Jessica Chastain." I concur.

I highly recommend Weir’s new(er) book, “Project Hail Mary”. It’s got a lot of similar type humor and lots of engineering and theory of relativity stuff. It’s REALLY good

Great edit; I only saw this once, and I had no trouble following this video. 3:55 Simone: "I should read a f**king book." HA! Great reaction, yet again.

Nice pick for a review!! This is one of my favourite movies. I love it because his character never gives up. Everyone does such an exceptional job of acting their parts. Loved your commentary and keep up the work of giving us a huge variety of reactions to enjoy.

the book made me weep like a baby when they found out where he was going 17:05 i was reading it on a 7hr train ride to pick up illegal cannabis oil to treat my mums brain tumor, it effected me so much as mark and me were on the same type journey, not waiting for others to come to the rescue, but being pro-active and helping ourselves. that was 2014, she died last week on 1/8/23. it worked, her brain tumor melted shrunk away in 4months, but the docs treated her lung cancer with immunotherapy that messed up her organs and she died of sepsis all due to the immunotherapy side effects, but that oil saved her when she was only given 6months to live. i will never forget the book and the part where they dont know where mark is going, it still brings a tear to my eye.

I would highly recommend "Hidden Figures" & "First Man"

The "Ironman" move is technically physically possible, but the way it was portrayed in the movie is just cartoonish. In space, you have to align your thrust vector with your center of mass to travel anywhere without inducing unwanted roll/pitch/yaw. When you see him being propelled forward but his hand is out to the side of his body that's just not how physics works; he should be spinning out of control like that -- an extended arm with thrust pushing against it is just a lever to spin the rest of your body. If you want to have any chance (and I'm talking the slimmest possibility) of controlled flight, you would have to stick your wrist between your thighs and shoot the air out of your glove like you were farting, basically. Needless to say, in the book he only suggests the idea as a joke and doesn't actually attempt it.

"Turning around" was a potential option for Apollo 13 (that was thankfully not used) only because while compared to anything we're used to they were going very very fast, it was still very very slow compared to how fast you're travelling between planets. I think a burn to go back to Mars when they were halfway would have at best used up all of their fuel which would have left them stranded there as well.

In the book he was actually a botanist and the flight engineer. Makes a lot of what he does make way more sense.

The two of you have such great chemistry. I really enjoy watching your reactions 👍

The atmosphere was way too dense, gravity was way too high, and straight mars soil is generally considered to be full of perchlorates that need to be removed before you could eat food grown in it. There are a bunch of other issues as well, but it's a good book and movie if you give it some scientific leeway.

They had a special premiere for JPL employees and it was funny hearing all the JPL'ers laugh at odd points because for example, that building is much nicer than any building they have, or No One can sleep in their offices, sling shotting (gravity assist) is actually standard procedure, etc, etc. (I'm a JPL spouse.) But the best bit is Sean Bean being in two Councils of Elrond!

1, Apollo 13 did not turn around. After the malfunction, the Apollo craft proceeded to the moon and did a free return gravity assist around the moon. 2. A Mars day (called a Sol) last 24.6 hours. An Earth Day is 23 hours, 56 minutes

If you like the story and the characters, you should listen to the audiobook! The narrator is every bit as entertaining as Matt Damon. It is a fairly faithful adaptation and the vast majority of the good dialog is right from the book.

Loved your reaction! I think you'd really enjoy The Abyss, a James Cameron movie that takes place deep in the ocean, the other vast largely unexplored expanse. This one is known for its CGI, which was cutting edge and paved the way for Cameron's Terminator 2.

I love you guys! I’ve been watching your reactions for a month or so and just subscribed a couple days ago. Unlike a lot of reactioners, is that a word? lol, you actually know about film making and I appreciate that. I love that you guys get invested in the movies and plots and enjoy them as I do. I’m still catching up on your old reactions but I’m in. Keep it up! Love ya!

Neil Degrasse Tyson and Chris Hadfield both praised the book (and movie) for its meticulous approach to the science and detail. Andy Weir really did an amazing job making sure everything checks out in the book. There's many times while reading it I went cross-eyed from the scientific explanations.

Amazing reaction from you both. Please add Secondhand Lions to your list. It’s a gem!

The most Marvel non Marvel movie there is, a lot of Marvel actors are in this.

30:18. When Teddy says " If we're going to call something Project Elrond, then I would like my codename to be Glorfindel", that makes so many nerds and Tolkein lore masters very happy, as that's making reference to one of the most badass characters in the entire legendarium, Glorfindel. For those who don't know, Glorfindel was one of the lords of the great High Elven city Gondolin in the First Age. I think his official title was Glorfindel, Lord of the House of the Golden Flower. Also, it was so cool that they had Sean Bean as a character in the movie and particularly in that scene, because he played Boromir who was a member of the Council of Elrond.

I've only watched a few of your reactions but this one was the best so far. Your emotions were what I was feeling the first time I watched this movie. And you both seem plenty smart. I loved the real time Chinese translation (Mandarin?). Also, the editing captured most of the high points. Wonderful job.