this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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[–] pwnicholson@lemmy.world 47 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

It's disappointing how much they cut out of his personal journey and replaced it with long sections of goofy gags. Those were ok, but not at the expense of character development. It did still feel indulgent in how long some scenes went.

Overall a good movie though. Just not as awesome an adaptation as The Martian was

[–] Godort@lemmy.ca 26 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Stratt had almost all of her character stripped away too. Without the Antarctica or Sahara bits she just felt like a project manager rather than the ruthless person she was in the novel.

[–] baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 9 points 4 days ago

Stratt: I believe in God.

Me: What?

Stratt: Evangelical karaoke

[–] PenguinMage@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I wanted so badly to talk about how they gutted what she did to keep humanity around til the Beatles (which were never named as Beatles so it was weird to see that they were still named after all 4 of em) arrived... but I went with two others who never read the book.

[–] giddy@quokk.au 40 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I wanna see that cut. They definitely glossed over many of the major leaps forward both in the prep for the mission (how did they make so much fuel) and during the mission (learning the language was made out to be much easier than the book)

[–] Eldaroth@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago

Which (learning the language) was also quite unrealistically depicted in the book imho, at least how fast he learned an alien language. But that might just be me.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io -4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Yeah, I don't see why it could not be split into two movies.

If The Hobbit could be made into 3 individually 2+ hour movies (the extended cut is 9 hours, you can literally read the entirety of The Hobbit twice in that time), I don't see why Project Hail Mary couldn't be split into two, or maybe even three movies.

[–] MBech@feddit.dk 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I was considering that myself, but honestly, I would absolutely hate having it end in the middle with some cliffhanger, and then having to wait 3 years for the ending.

I haven't watched it, only read it, so maybe they've cut too much, idk.

I loved and even recommended the book, but I think 4 hours would likely be too much for the majority of the people going to see this. Splitting it would have made the movie less climactic in general. Since they seemed to already have the 4 hours it was likely not going to take 3 years for a part 2, but I don't think there would have been much interest in a 2nd movie because just the first half of the plot with an ending in the middle would be a bit lackluster as far as pacing goes. That being said, I would personally watch the 4 hour cut of movie.

[–] Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip 7 points 4 days ago

I feel like splitting it would be a harder pitch to studios since it's not a recognizable IP. Sure you have a beloved actor in the lead role and quite a few people love the directors, but honestly how many average people knew about this book before the movie's announcement in comparison to something like Hobbit or Dune?

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 3 points 3 days ago

It’s still too long tbh. You could cut to credits at the point where he

Tap for spoilersends off the four probes

And it would changes nothing about the ending except that it explicitly shows everything you could have extrapolated.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 16 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Currently reading the book. I love the "schoolteacher in space" thing; not that that is all there is to the book. It's also one of the best dramatic applications of partial amnesia I've seen.

No spoilers please.

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker.

[–] FirmDistribution@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

The One Piece dies at the end

[–] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

The real treasure was the friend we made along the way

[–] Lommy@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I wish, he becomes a cop instead.

[–] Eldaroth@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago

I agree, although reading the book there were many moments I thought, how can a schoolteacher know that stuff. And yeah, Andy Weir tried to make it more believable by giving the character a background in academia and a doctor in molecular science. But it still felt strange at certain points in the story, especially in the flashbacks.

[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 15 points 4 days ago

Awesome... So give us the director's cut it deserves. Don't even need to release the theatrical version anywhere else.

[–] picnic@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

It was okayish, just saw in on imax.

I hate being a book snob, but thats how it feels here. So many things were rushed and yet the movie went on almost too long. It's like forgottable flick, one you stream some night with a phone in your hand, browsing memes while watching. I dont think it'll grip the viewer nor will many watch it twice

[–] AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Just got home from seeing it. It was gorgeous and a great story, but definitely some Return of the King vibes.

[–] hopesdead@startrek.website 5 points 4 days ago

I loved the movie, it’s my favorite novel.

We better be getting a director’s cut on home media.