OKCAG02 said:

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Loved it. They did a tremendous job putting the book into visuals. Only slight critique was that I thought the sequence when he first saw Rocky's ship was a little too funny and not serious. I thought the tension was more in the book, leading up to meeting Rocky.

I also understand they had to condense a lot into a movie length.

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Not fully serious before meeting in the book. There was the part when he goes to turn on the lab to analyze the cylinder. When he does that, Blip-A starts spinning to match his ship in lab-mode.

Not the latest #Avatar over holiday stretch. Not the latest #ChistopherNolan or #Dune flick.
It’s #ProjectHailMary causing havoc at giant BFI IMAX in London for the next 3 weeks.
Demand has been such that BFI is keeping the sci-fi even after #TheSuperMarioGalaxyMovie debuts,… pic.twitter.com/v9J3zqYnQb

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) March 22, 2026

Mowdy Ag said:

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I read the book last month and saw the movie today. All of the book's key plot points were addressed in the movie but some of them were pretty abbreviated so I can see how those who haven't read the book and aren't paying close attention to the movie could get a bit lost. That said, given the constraints of human bladder capacity and ability to absorb science-dense material I think the movie knocks it out of the park. My wife did NOT read the book and had a few questions afterward but overall "got it". There were a few minor deviations from the book but as a whole they were net positives as they added to the character development and the nature of the Grace / Rocky relationship. Overall 10/10.

ETA: Weir's abilities to weave dire, high-stress situations and then offset them with subtle witty humor are unique among authors. I appreciate that aspect of his writing as it breaks the tension, lowers my blood pressure, and keeps me coming back for more.

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I never read the book but I have read a lot of HARD sci-fi in the past. So this movie didn't even remotely confuse me and seemed pretty straight forward as to the main conflict. A part of me wants to know the origins of the astro****e but I doubt even the book covers that

Philip J Fry said:

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Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Also, random thing we noticed was that there was a scene with Gosling at the conference table with the project head/team talking about important stuff and there was minor thing with his glasses in terms of continuity. Zero story impact but 100% noticeable. Just a random thing to see if anyone else noticed it, or if anyone who plans to watch will also notice it.

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I noticed it

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Saw it today. I noticed. i think they let him readjust off screen with his helmet off

Saxsoon said:

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Mowdy Ag said:

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I read the book last month and saw the movie today. All of the book's key plot points were addressed in the movie but some of them were pretty abbreviated so I can see how those who haven't read the book and aren't paying close attention to the movie could get a bit lost. That said, given the constraints of human bladder capacity and ability to absorb science-dense material I think the movie knocks it out of the park. My wife did NOT read the book and had a few questions afterward but overall "got it". There were a few minor deviations from the book but as a whole they were net positives as they added to the character development and the nature of the Grace / Rocky relationship. Overall 10/10.

ETA: Weir's abilities to weave dire, high-stress situations and then offset them with subtle witty humor are unique among authors. I appreciate that aspect of his writing as it breaks the tension, lowers my blood pressure, and keeps me coming back for more.

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I never read the book but I have read a lot of HARD sci-fi in the past. So this movie didn't even remotely confuse me and seemed pretty straight forward as to the main conflict. A part of me wants to know the origins of the astro****e but I doubt even the book covers that

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Andy Weir in a YouTube video discussed the origin. Life on earth and Eridani originated from Tau Ceti. As did the astro****e.

schmendeler said:

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Saxsoon said:

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Mowdy Ag said:

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I read the book last month and saw the movie today. All of the book's key plot points were addressed in the movie but some of them were pretty abbreviated so I can see how those who haven't read the book and aren't paying close attention to the movie could get a bit lost. That said, given the constraints of human bladder capacity and ability to absorb science-dense material I think the movie knocks it out of the park. My wife did NOT read the book and had a few questions afterward but overall "got it". There were a few minor deviations from the book but as a whole they were net positives as they added to the character development and the nature of the Grace / Rocky relationship. Overall 10/10.

ETA: Weir's abilities to weave dire, high-stress situations and then offset them with subtle witty humor are unique among authors. I appreciate that aspect of his writing as it breaks the tension, lowers my blood pressure, and keeps me coming back for more.

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I never read the book but I have read a lot of HARD sci-fi in the past. So this movie didn't even remotely confuse me and seemed pretty straight forward as to the main conflict. A part of me wants to know the origins of the astro****e but I doubt even the book covers that

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Andy Weir in a YouTube video discussed the origin. Life on earth and Eridani originated from Tau Ceti. As did the astro****e.

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This is in the book too.

TCTTS said:

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I don't know, I didn't want to ruin the vibes, but... I'm not quite as high on it as everyone else? Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun, I laughed, I loved the cinematography, the Grace/Rocky relationship is incredible, and Gosling absolutely knocks it out of the park. I definitely enjoyed myself.

But it wasn't as... harrowing as I wanted it to be? I guess I was just expecting a bit more action, and a couple more how-the-hell-are-they-going-to-pull-this-off sequences.

Also, as a non-book reader, the world-ending problem that needed solving felt a bit too complex at times, required more explaining than I wanted, etc. It just made me miss "asteroid heading to Earth" or "we need to nuke the sun." I don't fault the plot/movie for being "smarter" than that - I appreciate the science of it all, and I understood it - I just found myself having to think every so often, "Ok, wait, what are they they trying to do here again?" Which ultimately took away from the emotional impact at times.

Again, though, I really enjoyed it overall, it was a great time at the theater, and our packed audience applauded at the end. I just didn't feel quite as compelled to join in this time.

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As somebody who loved this movie (but did read the book) I am a bit in this camp.

It was thoroughly great by every possible metric but I was left wanting a bit more. It hit all the high notes but did miss just a bit of being perfect. I think the err was thinking it would be perfect just because it had such high praise by 90+% of critics and audience.

My 2 favorite movie are Its a Wonderful Life and Interstellar.

I think that PHM has some strong themes from both but doesn't match either as strongly. But also it isn't weighed down by trying to be the best movie of all time. It's trying to be a crowd pleaser and does that better than most movies could ever dream of.

Not to compare it to another Gosling movie but it's a lot like Crazy Stupid Love in that it will never be regarded as the best in its field but I think it's the most complete vision and got got the most out of the directors and actors as possible from an non once-in-a-century movie.

I would never want to detract from a great movie that is better than 99% of anything coming out of Hollywood (no offense) but it is imperfect but beautiful (which I feel about both It's a Wonderful Life and Interstellar)

I am in the same boat with not feeling as high on it as others. I read the book and LOVED it. I thought the movie was good not great. I actually think Gosling was miscast (hot take). Like I get why you cast him in a business sense, and he obviously got people into theaters, but I just don't buy him as the loner scientist character.

I also get why they blah blah blah'ed a lot of the science-y stuff from the book, but it felt like they did that with some of Grace's character arc as well, so the movie lacks some of the emotional punch of the book, especially at the end, for me.

I want to see it again now that I know how they adapted it, however. I may enjoy it more on 2nd watch.

I kinda agree.

I'd buy the extended edition

I think Jesse Plemons would have been perfect for this.

veryfuller said:

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I think Jesse Plemons would have been perfect for this.

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I don't have a prob with Goslin per se. I actually had Ryan Reynolds in my head when reading it.

c-jags said:

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Rudyjax said:

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veryfuller said:

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I think Jesse Plemons would have been perfect for this.

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I don't have a prob with Goslin per se. I actually had Ryan Reynolds in my head when reading it.

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I do t think you'll see Reynolds in anything he's not sel-producing for a while.

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While you're probably right, i don't think that has anything to do with how i originally visualized the character.

veryfuller said:

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I am in the same boat with not feeling as high on it as others. I read the book and LOVED it. I thought the movie was good not great. I actually think Gosling was miscast (hot take). Like I get why you cast him in a business sense, and he obviously got people into theaters, but I just don't buy him as the loner scientist character.

I also get why they blah blah blah'ed a lot of the science-y stuff from the book, but it felt like they did that with some of Grace's character arc as well, so the movie lacks some of the emotional punch of the book, especially at the end, for me.

I want to see it again now that I know how they adapted it, however. I may enjoy it more on 2nd watch.

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So what you're saying is the book is better than the movie? That's gotta be a first!

Having read the book, I believe they came very close to nailing it as a film. They didn't inject crap that was not in the book, they didn't expound on anything with unnecessary character traits or motivations. Yeah, they could not be quite as detailed in the film due to cinematic pacing reasons.

Casting was top notch - when I was reading the book, I was picturing a woman very much like the actress portraying Stratt due to Weir's description of her.

The film's design elements were excellent. I have seen some comparisons to Alien, but I'll disagree with that one. Alien was far more beaten down, used, and industrial to be a fair comparison. No, this one made me think of 2010. The well-lit controls in the cockpit looked quite a bit like the look of the bridge of the Leonov in 2010. While they didn't specifically focus on it, they had the same spinning technology present in 2001/2010 to generate artificial gravity.

But where I believe the movie dropped the ball is in the score. There were some good choices made for source music, but in terms of the actual composed score, I can't say that I even really noticed it. I look at movie scores as the emotional connective tissue between story and visuals. This score simply did not hook me into the movie as it should have. I know I'm making an unfair comparison (I have never heard of the composer, and film music makes up the majority of my music library), but think of Zimmer's music for Interstellar. Like PHM, Interstellar was at its base an emotional, human story that was augmented by the score. John Williams frequently wrote scores that told stories. So yeah, comparing this composer to two of the very bests to ever write film music is incredibly unfair. Maybe upon a second viewing, I'll get more out of the score, but with this one viewing, I just didn't feel like the score worked.

Ha I get that its cliche. But, I think if I wasn't a book reader I would have had a much harder time with the movie. My friend who I saw it with and hadn't read the book kept asking questions like, "why dont they just to such and such?" And I was like, well in the book they go into that. They just don't in the movie at all.

The biggest change for me was actually the fact that they didn't make it apparent that Stratt was grooming Grace as a back-up the whole time with all the coma science stuff and their interactions and his with other crew members.

But book aside, they didn't do a great job underlining his emotional stakes and his arc in the movie, IMHO. So its a fun ride, there are great jokes, the visuals are incredible, but it just doesn't get there for me as a movie because I feel like they miss a chance to really nail the emotions and the character. I don't think thats because I read the book, however. But I reserve the right to change my mind on rewatch haha.

veryfuller said:

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I am in the same boat with not feeling as high on it as others. I read the book and LOVED it. I thought the movie was good not great. I actually think Gosling was miscast (hot take). Like I get why you cast him in a business sense, and he obviously got people into theaters, but I just don't buy him as the loner scientist character.

I also get why they blah blah blah'ed a lot of the science-y stuff from the book, but it felt like they did that with some of Grace's character arc as well, so the movie lacks some of the emotional punch of the book, especially at the end, for me.

I want to see it again now that I know how they adapted it, however. I may enjoy it more on 2nd watch.

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I think that book readers are definitely going to have a bit a of different take. interestingly, this was more faithful to the book than I think just about anything else I can think of.

it's very hard to put a finger on why I'm not as high on it as everybody else, but I think you have an amazingly popular book and then it gets rave reviews. I honestly think people that loved the book and saw all the buzz and went and saw an 8.5/10 when they thought they were walking into a 10/10.

my wife and son are still over the moon and want to see it again in XD, and I happily will.

veryfuller said:

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The biggest change for me was actually the fact that they didn't make it apparent that Stratt was grooming Grace as a back-up the whole time with all the coma science stuff and their interactions and his with other crew members.

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As a non-book reader they didn't really have to spell it out - it was obvious. Between the look in her eyes and the fact he is the main character...those are just minutes best spent elsewhere.

javajaws said:

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veryfuller said:

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The biggest change for me was actually the fact that they didn't make it apparent that Stratt was grooming Grace as a back-up the whole time with all the coma science stuff and their interactions and his with other crew members.

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As a non-book reader they didn't really have to spell it out - it was obvious. Between the look in her eyes and the fact he is the main character...those are just minutes best spent elsewhere.

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There was a scene in the movie where grace asked to be apart of project hail mary and the look on strat's face was very disheartening like she knew he could possibly be a candidate to die. But yes, wasn't as obvious as in the book.

The Martian is my favorite science fiction movie of the 21st century but I wasn't a huge fan of the novel as I felt I was too often reading a text book. I think Project Hail Mary was a much better novel, but the movie wasn't quite as good. I still really enjoyed it, but I wouldn't put it among the science fiction greats.

The R.C. Bray narrated audiobook of The Martian is great. I've listened to it a lot but never actually read the book.

Also, The Martian was Andy Weir's first book so I'm sure he learned a lot.

bagger05 said:

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The R.C. Bray narrated audiobook of The Martian is great. I've listened to it a lot but never actually read the book.

Also, The Martian was Andy Weir's first book so I'm sure he learned a lot.

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I'm listening to it with Wll whhhhheaton.

I am not enjoying it.

He's the narrator on Ready Player One which I've listened to a lot.

He is not my favorite.


Ray Porter on Project Hail Mary is fantastic. Just recently found out he hadn't read it before he narrated. Just did it cold. So a lot of the emotion you're hearing in some spots is because he's finding all this out for the first time.

bagger05 said:

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He's the narrator on Ready Player One which I've listened to a lot.

He is not my favorite.


Ray Porter on Project Hail Mary is fantastic. Just recently found out he hadn't read it before he narrated. Just did it cold. So a lot of the emotion you're hearing in some spots is because he's finding all this out for the first time.

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He cold reads everything. I watched a tiktok live with him and that's how he does all his books.

Rudyjax said:

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bagger05 said:

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The R.C. Bray narrated audiobook of The Martian is great. I've listened to it a lot but never actually read the book.

Also, The Martian was Andy Weir's first book so I'm sure he learned a lot.

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I'm listening to it with Wll whhhhheaton.

I am not enjoying it.

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I like Wheaton as a narrator for John Scalzi. He's a good match there, maybe not for more serious works.