Fortunately, there are people who like to make simple movies in this complicated and tangled era, such as "Mad Max 4: Fury Road", such as "The Martian" directed by Ridley Scott.
With "Gravity" and "Interstellar Crossing" jewels in front, and even earlier "Mission to Mars" and "Red Planet" of the same theme, why did Ridley Scott make a film that is also outer space Adventure, the same team members are trapped, the same movie that shows human beings face the unknown nature? Because he found his own perspective: telling this seemingly terrible story with a positive and even ridiculous attitude, showing the firm belief and courage that technical power and scientific spirit bring to people. This is similar to the theme of the verse "Don’t walk into that good night gently" quoted by Nolan in "Interstellar", but the core is very different. In Nolan’s films, the desire and courage to survive comes from human emotions, especially It is the love of father and daughter that transcends time and space. In Scott's case, only engineer-like calculations, deductions, and practice, and only science and the collective spirit inspired by humans in the face of difficulties, are the basis for the protagonist's survival.
In essence, "The Martian" is in the same line as the director's classic "Black Hawk Down": although one is a cold war film, the other is a humorous science fiction film. But neither pursue depth, the theme is very simple and direct, and try to dilute the director's subjective attitude in an objective way. In terms of details, the pursuit of truthfulness, precision, and meticulousness is extremely; the film skills are entirely for the story, not fancy.
"Gravity", "Interstellar Crossing" and this "Martian Rescue" are the three best space science fiction movies in recent years. In terms of depth of thought, "Gravity" is the most outstanding. It attributes the terrifying and catastrophic theme of a space station in distress to the theme of "return to the mother body"; "The power of space and space" is actually very vague or even suspicious, but Nolan’s film is superior in the richness of the story, the integration of profound scientific theories into the plot, and Nolan’s analysis of the grand universe and grand events (human The description of survival) has elevated the protagonist’s feelings to an almost exaggerated and dramatic height-the strong emotional impact it forms is not available in the other two films; but in terms of texture, I think "The Martian" "Better than the other two films, and the texture of this sci-fi movie is very rare and precious, very difficult! This kind of texture is only found in the non-sci-fi movies of "Apollo XIII" or master classics such as "2001: A Space Odyssey".
The important thing is said three times, the most outstanding part of "The Martian" is: texture! Texture! Texture! Whether it is the Martian scene, or the shape, function, and operation methods of various space equipment, they are extremely realistic and lifelike. Unlike many sci-fi movies, for the sake of visual effects, they make arbitrary exaggerated settings, pursuing the effect of "smart laughter and horror". The technical beauty presented in the film has reached its peak - for example, Nolan and Scott agree to use less computer CG and more real-world/model special effects. But the spacecraft in "Interstellar" (especially the small spacecraft) is still somewhat distant from the spacecraft and other equipment in "The Martian" in terms of texture. The CG in "Gravity" is used a lot, and the texture is worse. Many scenes have a very obvious CG feeling-you can compare the scenes of the characters walking outside the space capsule in the three movies, and which one is more textured at a glance . This year's "Crazy Max 4" is also an example of winning with quality. The film uses a lot of real-time shooting, especially car chasing special effects. Only CG is used for post-optimization processing. Almost all of them are practical and real car shooting, and their texture is far Super many flashy racing blockbusters and even action blockbusters. The same is true of "The Martian", you can see clearly every screw of almost every device. There are many close-ups in the film ("Gravity" is also a lot of close-up close-ups, but that story originally happened in a small space station) to highlight the sense of reality. You will rarely see a lens that defocuss the distant equipment or objects in the film, and there is rarely a large-scale lens movement-in a word, Ridley Scott deliberately made this film regular. Moment, down-to-earth! This is the original style.
Among the three films, only Ridley Scott’s science fiction film has a positive and sunny attitude, and its sense of humor also comes from the cute and even funny flavor of the original. Coupled with the cute starring Matt Damon and pure nostalgic disco music, the heavy story becomes easy and interesting. Some viewers may complain: Too lightly, think about what happened to Matt Damon at the time, would he not panic? Would he not think about the meaning of existence? Will he not think about it? How can you overcome each difficulty with such enthusiasm, cheerfulness and sunshine, without even the twists and turns of decadence and fear out of control? On the one hand, this is the style of the original novel. On the other hand, with the skills of the two black sci-fi classics of Scott's "Alien" and "Blade Runner", it is obviously not impossible or impossible. Ridley Scott, who has never made a comedy (well, "Match Man" is a bit of a comedy) seems to want to try something completely different from "Prometheus." When the United States is restarting its space program and humans are keen on Mars again, "Gravity" and "Interstellar Transition" seem too culturally heavy. Over the years, sci-fi movies full of reflections like "Son of Man" have been filmed and filmed, but those technical sci-fi movies in the early years have rarely been inherited. Scott started from the perspective of a scientist, especially an engineer, and filmed such a positive and simple work, which is actually a special case. The big trend still seems to favor science fiction movies that have depth and are cautious or even pessimistic about space exploration.
Others feel that the film is still a set of simple heroism and the main theme. That’s right, but you can’t ask every film to be shot in accordance with "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "Blade Runner", right? There are actually many levels in the film, including the description of the bureaucracy, mentioning factors such as public relations, the feasibility of the rescue plan, and funding; the breadth of the incident has exceeded the narrow narrative angle in "Gravity". But Scott adopted a point-to-finish attitude and didn't want to stop the story and the characters. I think it is inappropriate to use "American heroism" and "main theme" to summarize this film. A more accurate statement about the core should be "optimistic and rigorous scientific spirit." The audience also complained that the supporting roles in the film are really thin, and they are all label-like characters. But think about it, in such an event, in such an environment (NASA is originally a gathering place for idealists), is it not normal for all relevant personnel to show enthusiasm, cooperation, and dedication — at this moment, they are all It's a "Martian"!
It is true that "The Martian" is included in Ridley Scott's work and cannot be compared with "Alien" and "Blade Runner". I am afraid that this year's Oscar will not award such a homogenous film a figurine after praising "Gravity". But for Ridley Scott, this film proves that he is not old and his creative momentum is still there! that's enough.
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