Is The Martian Like Gravity or Interstellar?

Is there an all-star cast?

There is! Gravity has Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, Interstellar has Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, and The Martian stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover. Basically, The Martian employed half of Hollywood for a short time.

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But is Jessica Chastain in it?

Image Source: Paramount Pictures

Yeah . . . I just said she's in it. In Interstellar, Chastain plays Murph, Cooper's (Matthew McConaughey) brilliant daughter. This time, she's up in space as one of the astronauts who leave Mark Watney (Matt Damon) for dead on Mars.

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Wasn't Matt Damon in Interstellar, too?

Image Source: Paramount Pictures

Yes, Damon has a surprise cameo in Interstellar as an astronaut whom Cooper meets during his space journey. Sorry for the spoiler, but that movie is a year old. Obviously his role in The Martian is a lot bigger.

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But has Neil deGrasse Tyson talked about it yet?

Image Source: Getty / Taylor Hill

Renowned astrophysicist Tyson tweeted a storm about Gravity and talked about Interstellar, but he made an actual teaser video for The Martian's marketing campaign. He hasn't yet dissected the science of the movie, but he has discussed his excitement for the film.

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So, it takes place in space, right?

Image Source: 20th Century Studios

Yes and no. The majority of the movie takes place on Mars, where Mark is stranded, and Earth, where NASA is struggling to figure out if they can safely bring him home. There are scenes with his crew in the Ares 3 (their ship), but the majority of the floating-in-space stuff comes toward the end of the film. In contrast, Gravity is almost exclusively about Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) being isolated in space, and Interstellar begins on Earth, then a large chunk of the movie is in space.

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Were the other movies based on books?

While The Martian is adapted from Andy Weir's bestseller, Gravity and Interstellar are original scripts. However, author Tess Gerritsen filed a suit against Warner Bros., claiming that Gravity was based on her book of the same name. (She ended up dropping the suit.) If you really want to read Interstellar, there's now a novelization of the movie.

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Interstellar has an epic score; what's the music like in The Martian?

Image Source: Miramax

Gravity won an Oscar for its original score, Hans Zimmer was nominated for his work on Interstellar, and Harry Gregson-Williams provides a beautiful score for The Martian. The big difference is that in addition to an original score, The Martian also features a kickin' soundtrack. The only music Mark has access to on Mars is his fellow astronaut's supply of disco tracks — that means he's stuck listening to legends like Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor. In case you love disco, the soundtrack is available now.

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So you're saying I should see it?

Image Source: 20th Century Studios

Yes! Apart from all these reasons to see it, The Martian is probably going to be a title you hear a lot come award season. Interstellar was nominated for a bunch of technical awards, and Gravity won seven Oscars. Space dramas are all the rage right now, and this one is entertaining in so many ways.

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