Project Hail Mary

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I don't have much to add about this charming space adventure that hasn't already been thoroughly said in the wake of its success with critics and audiences. All of the praise heaped upon its clever use of science, witty dialogue, impressive production design, engaging acting, and surprisingly tasteful musical score is deserved. I wish it had gone into a bit more detail about the underlying scientific concepts, as that's been mostly sacrificed for narrative momentum, but I can understand the studio's pressure to maximize the audience after spending a fortune on a movie with virtually no I.P. supporting it (is Andy Weir a brand yet?), and clearly their strategy paid off. For genre fans, this movie is as essential-viewing as The Martian, and will be cited as frequently in years to come.

− May 28, 2026 • more by Scott • log in or register to reply

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Erik Bates: “It ruled.”

I've been waiting to see this one for a while now and never got the chance to see it in theaters, so I was very excited to see that it finally made it to streaming. I haven't read the book, and from what I understand, the movie did make some changes and some omissions, but that is to be expected, really, when it comes to an adaptation. Particularly an adaptation of an Andy Weir book. I say that as if I know what I'm talking about. I never read The Martian either, so I don't know how far that may have strayed.

All this rambling to say this was a fantastic movie, and I never thought I would cry over a living rock. But there I was.

− July 6, 2026 • more by Erik • log in or register to reply

Scott Hardie: Yeah, Kelly read the novel shortly before we saw the movie, and she was able to tell me a rather long list of changes in the adaptation. Weir presumably approved of all of them since he was a producer on the film, and an actively engaged one (according to him in interviews) rather than just getting a meaningless credit. Kelly said most of the changes were trims that cut out long tangents about speculative exobiology or other topics that interested Weir but were inessential to the story, so there isn't much to miss, but she was surprised at how much the character of Eva Stratt was softened for the movie. I remember thinking, if that's softened, how harsh is she in the book?! − July 7, 2026 • more by Scott