So with the Oscar nominations announced and the Martian getting 7 nominations including best picture (which I was delighted with... though a best director nomination would have been nice) I was wondering which of the modern nominally hard sci-fi space dramas people like the most.
My personal fave is "The Martian". I love the lighter tone and the joy that the story takes in the power of science as a problem solver. It had varied and interesting characters who all felt like real people, with good acting across the board and a personal best from Matt Damon. His character's determined and cocky positivity in the face of disaster was very refreshing and made the times when that shell cracked slightly all the more impactful. The film didn't wallow in gloom and whinging or have characters acting like pricks for the sake of forced drama. It was always about the task at hand and the way that Earth's elite scientists combat bad luck in extreme situations. I loved every second of it.
"Interstellar" annoyed me a lot because it was a few flaws away from being a real masterpiece. Unfortunately those flaws were pretty major and kind of coloured the entire experience for me. Namely the "love can go back in time" bullshit and the dialogue bloated with clumsy overexplanation. I feel it tried to have it both ways, trying to be sentimental and mystical whilst also trying to be based in real science. "2001: A Space Oddysey" managed to straddle this line but for me "Interstellar" tripped over it. It was ambitious and had some really fantastic moments but as a whole it disappointed me.
"Gravity" I enjoyed at the time but when it comes to me writing about it here I can barely remember anything substantial about it... so I think that tells me everything I need to know already. It looked great, it was very well put together and exciting but without much engagement in terms of plot, character or writing that would warrant multiple viewings.
The Oscar's preferred order seems to be: "Gravity" first followed by "The Martian" then "Interstellar" but by imdb score it's the other way round so... what does the escapist think?
My personal fave is "The Martian". I love the lighter tone and the joy that the story takes in the power of science as a problem solver. It had varied and interesting characters who all felt like real people, with good acting across the board and a personal best from Matt Damon. His character's determined and cocky positivity in the face of disaster was very refreshing and made the times when that shell cracked slightly all the more impactful. The film didn't wallow in gloom and whinging or have characters acting like pricks for the sake of forced drama. It was always about the task at hand and the way that Earth's elite scientists combat bad luck in extreme situations. I loved every second of it.
"Interstellar" annoyed me a lot because it was a few flaws away from being a real masterpiece. Unfortunately those flaws were pretty major and kind of coloured the entire experience for me. Namely the "love can go back in time" bullshit and the dialogue bloated with clumsy overexplanation. I feel it tried to have it both ways, trying to be sentimental and mystical whilst also trying to be based in real science. "2001: A Space Oddysey" managed to straddle this line but for me "Interstellar" tripped over it. It was ambitious and had some really fantastic moments but as a whole it disappointed me.
"Gravity" I enjoyed at the time but when it comes to me writing about it here I can barely remember anything substantial about it... so I think that tells me everything I need to know already. It looked great, it was very well put together and exciting but without much engagement in terms of plot, character or writing that would warrant multiple viewings.
The Oscar's preferred order seems to be: "Gravity" first followed by "The Martian" then "Interstellar" but by imdb score it's the other way round so... what does the escapist think?