I recently read “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir and remembered why and how much I love movies centered around space. There’s a reason why every space movie is almost always nominated for an award. There’s something equally calming as gripping about this movie sub-genre and the concept of humans exploring space. It’s as thrilling as it is magical. After reading and loving “Project Hail Mary”, I went down a space movie binge session and I thought that today, I’d share my thoughts on three of the space movies I’ve seen.
My rating: 3 out of 5
This was a long movie. I feel like the space movies that get nominated for the big movie awards meet three standards: they’re super long, they’re super slow, and they’re full of metaphors. This movie did all three things and unfortunately, this trio of movie traits are what I don’t like in space movies.
Space movies often explore deep introspective themes such as the meaning of human existence. Space exploration and traveling into the deep unknown just happen to be every award winning movie director’s perfect avenue into exploring the concepts of time, loss, regrets, and the other woes of humanity.
I think the only thing that was award winning in this movie is how frail and skinny George Clooney got to fit the role of his character.
And as you guessed, this movie was no different. It was three hours of a man trying to survive by himself as he endeavors to track down and make contact with a space ship up in space. The movie starts off with a bang and we are lead to think that the tone of the movie is going to be one of tension, action, and something that’s generally a bit more upbeat. But nope. The first few minutes of the movie were the only clips in the entire movie that contained any action.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie was beautiful to see and from a film perspective, I’m sure that this movie was a work of art and that it was filmed in a beautiful and gruesome way that’s worthy of an award. I don’t deny that the effort and rigor put into this movie was one to not take lightly. I mean, this poor man literally had to trek through blistering winter storms and other harrowing natural obstacles to fulfill his mission. Those moments of white wind and zero visibility added so much tension into the movie that I was literally on the edge of my seat. It was as dramatic as it was beautiful.
It’s just that the whole thing that he was working for and the overall outcome of the movie felt a bit anticlimactic after three hours of waiting to see what would happen. And the main symbol/deep metaphor that this movie was meant to explore wasn’t really that deep and wasn’t something that was obscure? So it didn’t feel that shocking when the big reveal came.
Please tell me I wasn’t the only who felt like this lol.
My rating: 4 out of 5
This movie has been on my “to watch” list for SO LONG. The plot of the movie gripped me from the get go. The idea of a linguist trying to analyze alien culture to save the world? I’m in. Fun fact, I’m also terrified of aliens. The movie Prometheus gave me nightmares for weeks and don’t get me started on ET. But as someone who watches horror movies for the jump scares, I watch alien movies to scream like a two year old who dropped their cookie on the ground. I’m a masochist, I can’t help it. So there was a part of me that was equally terrified as excited about watching Arrival and led me to keep hyping up this movie for myself.
This movie did not disappoint. While it did have this deeper meaning to it, it was still interesting and gripping. The way this film was put together was art and I love how the movie focused on the linguist so much. Yes, this is an end of the world kind of movie and probably one of the biggest turning points in this fictional earth’s history, but the directors made sure to focus solely on the linguist. And yes, there were aliens in this movie but this movie wasn’t about the aliens, it was about the linguist. Seeing everything unravel from her point of view was amazing.
Unlike other movies that are three hours long and full of metaphors and symbols that are basically plastered on the main actors faces, this movie was subtle and powerful with it’s messages. I really enjoyed it.
It isn’t an all time favorite because it wasn’t as action packed as I assumed it would be with an alien invasion but it’s a space movie that I truly did enjoy.
My rating: 100 out of 5 (I’m aware math doesn’t work like this but I make the rules here lol and anything less than 5 is just rude when describing this movie)
This is my all time favorite space movie. It’s a top tier, quality movie and honestly, it’s not just my favorite space movie, it’s one of my all time favorites. The comedy, the science, the tension, the drama, the action, this movie had it all. It’s kind of crazy that a movie about a man stranded in Mars by himself could bring me so much joy but it does. I watched this movie when it first came out years ago but I rewatched it a couple of months ago and proceeded to rewatch it right after finishing my rewatch lol.
A movie can be a good movie and it can be a great movie and the thing that sets it apart is how well the whole production comes together. The plot, acting, directing, score, and the soundtrack all are needed to come together in that perfectcombination to make a good movie a great movie and “The Martian” met all the standards.
If you don’t know, this movie is based on the book “The Martian” by Andy Weir and besides the fact that it’s a scientific wonder and a comedic piece of art, that book is written so uniquely different that I was really curious to see how it would translate to the movie. The movie did such a good job with the sets and the landscape they found to shoot all the Mars scenes. Everything was so red and realistic.
I loved the pacing of the movie and I think that the pacing was really what made this movie not drag and as action packed as it was. The constant back and forth scenes from Mark Watney and the team back on Earth trying to save Mark added so much depth to the movie and the a touch of authenticity to the whole plot.
As someone who loves science and nerds out at things like this, “The Martian” was truly a love letter to science and the aerospace/space/engineering industry. It made science and engineering and space into something that’s comprehensible and what we engineers like to say, “user friendly” lol.
I can go on and on about this movie but really, if you’re someone who wants to dive into a space movie but don’t want to be bombarded by deep metaphors and slow moving depressing themes, watch this movie! It’s fast, action paced, funny, and you’ll learn a thing or two about surviving on an inhabitable planet.
[…] Three Space Movie Reviews […]