Project Hail Marry: major writer failure

[BeyondKnowledge]

Project Hail Marry

I actually saw it twice to verify it's fault. And it has a huge one. 

I was impressed by the lack of handwavium and the mostly believable hardware and actions. All the technical  developments are explained to a reasonable level of stisfation. 

The most dramatic action sequence in the whole movie is the least believable, can't go deeper without spoilers, the rest is well written technically. Insidently, in reality they would be killed in that little mistake. 

Parts are reminiscent of a serious Red Dwarf. The engines are kind of a biological Cavorite. It begins as the the whale in Hitchhikers Guide. "Who am I? Why am I here?" Then goes on to accomplish the near impossible. Almost. 

Overall a story of discovery, both scientific and of bravery. It brought out the heroisum in both main characters. The two who together accomplish what neather one was capable of. Supposedly.

The story itself gives the feeling of many of the HFY channels on YouTube stories of first contact and pending doom. But this is a professionally produced mistake.  Amazon, MGM, Sony Pictures all deserve some blame. 

If you like a good space movie and know nothing about spacecraft re-entry, go see it. Nice hardware on humanities first interstellar voyage of survival. That entirely failed to be survivable.

If it happend the way it was filmed, the fates of two planets, and the rest of the galaxy for that matter, is extinction. The writer failed big time.

[SteamyAmerican]

If you’re talking technicalities, maybe….?

But as an author that has at least two works turned into major motion pictures (and thus more widely read after the fact), I would argue for success.

Albeit through a different lens I suppose.

[Tecate]

If you’re talking technicalities, maybe….?

But as an author that has at least two works turned into major motion pictures (and thus more widely read after the fact), I would argue for success.

Albeit through a different lens I suppose.

Anything I may have read??
I don’t get out to the movies much but I’m a pretty big reader…

Tecate

[SteamyAmerican]

Anything I may have read??
I don’t get out to the movies much but I’m a pretty big reader…

Tecate

Well this is the second novel that’s been turned into a flick.

The first (that I’m aware of) being The Martian.

To be fair I’ve read neither but may yet.

[andy06shake]

Well this is the second novel that’s been turned into a flick.

The first (that I’m aware of) being The Martian.

To be fair I’ve read neither but may yet.

The Martian was a good movie also.

But sometimes full of mince.

You can't live off only potatoes.

You'd get malnourished without other food sources inside a few months.

And the soil is full of "perchlorates" which would make growing food safely somewhat more complex than just adding shit.

Additionally, the wind, that blew all that stuff over.

At 1% of Earth’s atmospheric pressure, it would be hard pushed to knock over equipment like in the film.

Still a great flick all the same, and great book.

Ive not read "Project Hail Marry" but ive seen the movie. 

And it will indeed encourage me to read the text.

[BeyondKnowledge]

Both The Martian and Project Hail Mary have the makings of a good story. Both are trying to be realistic but fail miserabley with major plot points being technically impossible. 

He ether needs to back off on the realistic writing or get technical advice before publishing. 

Most of the public never notices is how he gets away with it.  

This is the failing with many movies. Take the latest Planet of the Apes for an example. Entertaining movie that nukes itself in the last 15 seconds. Working satellites and ground stations after 300 years? Impossible.

When doing the impossible then go for it. Take The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as an example. It is so out there, you don't expect realistic. You expect things that make sense or in this case nonsense within itself. A whale and bowel of petunias falling from the sky as an example of this. 

I have long been a fan of science fiction and science. When the story has the two clashing, I get quite disappointed in the whole thing. It is mostly lazy writing. Ether at the book or the screen play level or both.

Get it right or get help when you work the story out before putting it to the printing press or video.

One should not be watching Star Trek and expect The Pink Panther to suddenly show up painting everything pink. While both shows are quite entertaining, the two don't mix well.

[andy06shake]

The answer is not really but i like the lady.




I do like Rocky... 

[BeyondKnowledge]

The answer is not really but i like the lady.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYHCTEnYOr4&t=649s]

I do like Rocky... 

Ah, but she only explains half of relativity. The other half is lost on the public.

Four years ship time is still eleven years Earth time. Time on Earth is not changed by the speed of the ship.

Have an explanation. A simple and complete explanation.




You see with 11 years there, and lets say a year working it all out, then another 11 years back by probe. That is 23 years before any news of the mission and the cure makes it to Earth.

The fact that it was only 4 years there, a year working it out, then another 4 years back, 9 years total ship and probe time is irrelevant to Earth. Earth is still 23 years older.

"They are all dead Dave." In the words of Holly.

Yes, yes, yes, Rocky best character in movie.

[andy06shake]

Ah, but she only explains half or relativity. The other half is lost on the public.

Four years ship time is still eleven years Earth time. Time on Earth is not changed by the speed of the ship.

Have an explanation. A simple and complete explanation.

[Video: https://youtu.be/xs-jXgNHW7Y]

You see with 11 years there, and lets say a year working it all out, then another 11 years back by probe. That is 23 years before any news of the mission and the cure makes it to Earth.

"They are all dead Dave." In the words of Holly.

Guess time was not on their side. 

Still, though it was a good story and half decent movie...

At the end of the day, they are catering to an audience.

And the audience is more than just a room of astrophysicists/cosmologists. 

But yeah, the story has some holes, big ones, and planet-sided, but nevertheless entertaining.

I would give it an 8/10.

But again, i did like Rocky.

Fictitious deepspace travel looks dangerous all the same, eh? 

Props on the RD reference by the way. 

[BeyondKnowledge]

Fictitious deepspace travel looks dangerous all the same, eh? 

My biggest problem is with the sampling. There are many other problems but this one bothers me the most.

A ship never designed to land enters an orbit within a planets upper atmospheres. It is using its engines as a heat shield. That is possible but it also means it is putting on the breaks to get slower and lower to the planet. Then what does it do? It drops an anchor on a 5 km chain. This anchor would slow the ship down even faster then just the engine and it would be unbalanced causing the ship to be unstable. This would lose the effect of the heat shield as the engine would not be pointing in the direction of travel. Have you ever seen a model rocket with streamer recovery? That is what would happen.

The outcome is ether it burns up or crashes. Most likely it mostly burns up then the rest crashes in pieces.

I have never claimed to be a scientist, I am keenly interested. 
Glad to meet you Keenly.

And yet I see many science problems. The writer is trying to stay with the science but he could have done much better.