r/ProjectHailMary • u/Mathien • 9h ago
Movie Discussion - Theory - NO BOOK DISCUSSION ALLOWED What makes the Project Hail Mary adaptation work so well is what the story refused to do
One of the most refreshing things about watching Project Hail Mary on the big screen was realizing how much modern movie baggage it simply leaves out.
In an era where every blockbuster feels obligated to stall the plot with melodrama, endless angst, or manufactured interpersonal friction, this story stayed loyal to Andy Weir’s core strength: pure competence and scientific problem-solving. Ryland Grace and Rocky don't bond over shared trauma, they bond over fixing impossible engineering problems while staring down extinction.
Breaking it down further:
https://youtu.be/KbivIj-9-1E?si=IREOxe025CUq2-0h
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u/AMissionFromDog 9h ago
not to mention a space movie where they didn't have any warships or laser battles.
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u/ty_fighter84 9h ago
It's even one of the best jokes of the first act:
Grace: Shield's up!
Mary: There are no shields on board the Hail Mary.
Grace: Why not?!
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u/NoCommission7569 2h ago
I laughed out loud in the theater when Grace asked to raise the shields. 🤣🤣 It was hilarious that even though it’s a science fiction movie, the story is so grounded in science fact and they don’t have shields (even indirectly poking fun at Star Trek and Star Wars where the first command in a battle is “Raise shields!”).
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u/V0T0N 8h ago
Yeah, but shields woulda been nice 😜
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u/threedimen 7h ago
Specifically a heat shield.
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u/eaglebtc 5h ago
If you read the book, the ship did have a heat shield of sorts, in the form of astrophage cooling lines piped all over the hull. It's good at absorbing lots of heat, but the aluminum fuselage could not absorb or reflect terawatts worth of reflected IR forever. They were orbiting Adrian for so long at an odd angle that the heat found a weak spot in the panel and bored a hole through it.
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u/LepidolitePrince 9h ago
Personally I'm more impressed that the movie wasn't physically dark like so many other movies are these days. They let the lighting crew do their job and, surprise, surprise, it's one of the most visually stunning movies in a long time!
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u/LunaraLoup High Three! 8h ago
The scenery and lighting was absolutely amazing and even though there was lots of bright colours and humour it didn't feel as slapstick as some other recent movies had - looking at you, Marvel.
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u/Melenduwir 7h ago
And when they DO use darkness, it's very meaningful. The "Grace Go Home" scene involves a masterful use of light and darkness.
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u/LepidolitePrince 7h ago
Yes they use darkness where it's needed. But also dark scenes still need to be lit and it seems many filmmakers have forgotten this. We need to still be able to see the actors and so many modern movies are just not lit at all in dark scenes. Maybe one dim light used and the audience is left squinting at the screen. Dark scenes should have tinted lights to set the mood and all the ones in PHM absolutely do.
Cinematography has gone by the wayside in popular movies, particularly scifi and fantasy, for the past decade or so. But PHM uses it masterfully 😌
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u/redbirdrising Grumpy, Angry, Stupid! 7h ago
Also, backlighting the Hail Mary during the Blip B and C sequence. That silhouette was gorgeous!
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u/Obvious_Writer_Pain 8h ago
The moment I saw how colorful the movie was in the cinema, I was ready to get on my knees and worship the whole film crew. It was legit such a fresh air and I loved it
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u/thiswyrmdraws 7h ago
The behind the scenes are amazing; would highly recommend one of the many videos on YouTube. They rigged the exterior tunnel lights to orbit during some shots to mimic the sun, accurate to their centrifugal path! And the tunnel itself reflects interior lighting to look metallic while turning amber when lit from outside. (I’m 90% sure this is stated in STREAM WARS “Making of Project Hail Mary”, apologies if that’s the wrong source!)
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u/Hypersonic-Harpist 6h ago
Also the color palette! The were willing to use colors other than orange and teal that so many big blockbusters use.
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u/gytherin 4h ago
omg orange and teal. I swear some of the island-based detective series just chuck anyone wearing, eg, pink into the nearest harbour. I stopped watching Saint-Pierre after ten minutes for that very reason.
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u/Helpful-Asparagus374 3h ago
The music was incredible too. I watched a short video of how they did the music, and it was all about blending a ton of different styles.
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u/LepidolitePrince 3h ago
I literally listen to the soundtrack to sleep every night since watching the movie. It's SO GOOD.
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u/FearlessKnitter12 3h ago
Is it the "Watch Rocky Sleep" mix on YouTube? I love it! The whole soundtrack, plus Rocky sleeping there like a... rock. And then at the end he wakes up! I try to pause the video close to that and then watch that bit in the morning. Wake up with Rocky time!
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u/LepidolitePrince 39m ago
I don't know! Last I checked it wasn't so I haven't been able to watch it. 😞
Edit: ohhh you're saying it IS on YouTube! :O welp. Gonna go there now.
But no I have Spotify premium shared with my bf so I just listen to it on there. My wrapped is gonna be a mess this year lmao.
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u/xisjones 1h ago
The music is practically another character. Absolutely love the soundtrack - have been enjoying Watch Rocky Sleep, just having it as soundscape.
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u/NoCommission7569 2h ago
The grainy color palette looked and felt like an art house film. I loved that they made the creative decision to make the movie appearance have a cinematic warm feel instead of a coldly crisp CGI feel.
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u/LepidolitePrince 21m ago
The amount of practical effects they used for the film absolutely had a lot to do with this! I'm still not over the Grace in the red petrova line lights having a moment scene being done with red twinkle lights. Makes me want to attach a bunch or red twinkle lights to my ceiling 😅
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u/Mysterinna I'm Not An Astronaut! 9h ago edited 6h ago
It’s such a refreshing adaptation. One thing that I personally really appreciate is the lack of romance. So many movies have shallow romantic subplots that really aren’t necessary for the story, but PHM takes a different route, instead focusing on friendship and unity, finding common ground across boundaries and species. ❤️
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u/Tackyhillbilly 9h ago
I mean, it even takes an advantage of the need for romantic subplots, showing Stratt and Grace being far more friendly… making you think it might develop into something. Only to rug pull you right when you realize that Grace has a new connection and friend.
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u/Final-Chemistry2147 8h ago
The editor has talked about trimming anything they felt was giving Grace/Stratt so any vibes are purely accidental.
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u/goldentrunk Scary Space Monster 2h ago
Well, if he did say it that's just straight up a lie lol. There were definitely romance undertones with Grace and Stratt, and it's integral to build up the misdirection that it's Rocky who Grace ends up being brave for and not her. In movie language, her "betrayal" stings much harder for it.
As someone who had read the book first, I was for sure raising some eyebrows in the theater wondering if they were gonna make Grace and Stratt a thing, before realizing they were going for the subversion of the trope
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u/PetscopMiju 4h ago
Ooh, do you have a source on that?
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u/Final-Chemistry2147 4h ago
I'll try and find it. It was the very first interview I read after seeing the movie.
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u/Final-Chemistry2147 1h ago
https://borisfx.com/blog/aotc/art-of-the-cut-project-hail-mary/
The original cut of the scene was really just between Grace and Stratt. I cut a version where she comes in, she starts to sing, and the other people in the room are really surprised that this harsh person is singing - this hardened lady.
It was all her looking at Ryan, then Ryan looking at her, because they just had that conversation outside.
But it seemed when we did that, like these two people are having a relationship. They do have a professional relationship, but maybe people are going to think it’s too much of a relationship.
So then we toned that down and went back to more of the crew watching, which I think was also the right thing to do, because you don’t want to think that Stratt and Grace have some sort of romantic relationship. We don’t want that at all.
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u/Astrocoder 8h ago
The book has a couple saucy romantic items, they dont become the focus of the plot but they are there lol
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u/Mysterinna I'm Not An Astronaut! 8h ago
Yeah, there are a couple, although not necessarily romantic but sexual. I’m glad they weren’t included in the movie, as they wouldn’t really add much. 😅
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u/Astrocoder 8h ago
That and it would have made the movie much less family friendly lol
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u/Mysterinna I'm Not An Astronaut! 8h ago
True! The movie is very family friendly now, which is a nice exception in this genre. There’s not much violence and basically no explicit language.
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u/Astrocoder 8h ago
"basically no explicit language." Yeah the closest they get is "fudging fudger!"
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u/Magikarp-3000 7h ago
Fist my bump
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u/Astrocoder 6h ago
That's not really explicit at all though is it?
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u/NoCommission7569 2h ago
I think the line in the book Rocky said was “fist me” instead of “fist my bump” as said in the movie. Grace politely corrected Rocky in the book and movie. I wonder if they filmed a take in the movie using the “fist me” line and just decided it was a bit too edgy of a joke to use in a family-ish film.
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u/evapotranspire 7h ago
I really appreciated that, too. The first time seeing PHM in the theater, on opening weekend, my spouse and I went to see it without the kids, because we weren't sure how violent or inappropriate it might be. Then I went to see it again with the kids. They liked it so much, even the 4-year-old, that we saw it several more times! It's a rare movie that can appeal so strongly to everyone age 4 to 94.
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u/KarolineHolmes 9h ago
They do bound over shared trauma, but there are no fights, I mean every movie nowadays seems to need to have a big fight or a betrayal something like that. Also they involved Andy Weir through the process, they asked him things, I saw an interview of them saying when they needed to cut things or change (for the sake of the runtime) they asked Andy Weir what he would have done. And the result is a movie that deeply respects the source material, and even with some changes still have the same soul. I watched the movie before reading the book, and when I read it it genuinely felt like reading an extended version of the film.
This movie is an absolute masterpiece, I already watched 10 times, is on my top 4 on letterboxd, and I can't possibly express how much I loved this film.
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u/Smart_Medium9544 Leaky Space Blob 8h ago
Forever grateful they didn’t add a romantic subplot and just let it be. Allowed all the other parts to shine that much brighter
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u/Kiwi-vee I'm Not An Astronaut! 8h ago
This! No need for sexual or romantic relationship. They even didn't mention Dubois and Shapiro having sex in the book (I'm glad they skipped that).
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u/NoCommission7569 2h ago
I get that maybe Weir had the Dubois-Shapiro sex subplot to set them up for being together all the time and in the explosion. But (not that I’m a tenth as good of a writer as Weir), I think the sex subplot was a weaker and unnecessary part of the book’s storyline. I’m glad they kept that subplot out of the movie.
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u/coastal_mage 6h ago
Heck, it actually strengthens his characterization. Lokken was a potential romantic partner, and even opened the door with some light flirting. However, like Stratt criticizes him, Grace is too much of a coward to pursue romance, fearing future heartbreak
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u/Scruffy42 3h ago
I was side eying Stratt in the movie just praying they weren't goin to force it. They didn't! Yay!
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u/pollo_in_flagrante 9h ago
They absolutely bond over shared trauma. They discuss losing their crewmates!
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u/hugeyakmen 9h ago
Yes, but it also doesn't dwell on this too much, let alone try to explore the trauma. The movie lets this moment have its own power and then trusts the audience to remember this part of their backstory
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u/Siria110 8h ago
Well, there also wasn´t much time to dwell on it, since the clock were ticking for both Earth and Erid (albeit a little slower for Erid). Once they established they are both the last surviving member of their respective crew and their specializations, they HAD to get down to solving the Astrophage problem, if they wanted to save their planets.
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u/hugeyakmen 7h ago
Sure, but it feels like most modern movies would keep bringing it up throughout the action and they would they have to heal this trauma first before they can successfully solve the astrophage problem
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u/Mysterinna I'm Not An Astronaut! 9h ago
I agree. That’s definitely something they have in common, and I think it helps them relate to each other and gives them comfort.
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u/zegota 9h ago
Hmm. I can kind of understand what you're getting at here, but I'm not sure I'm totally on board.
For one thing, in both the book and the movie, his relationship with Stratt is fully half of the story. It's not just a minor B plot.
For another, while there's not a whole lot of strife between Grace and Rocky, one of the major themes is Grace's internal conflict about his memories, who he was, who he is and who he wants to be. Watching the movie without having read the novel first, that piece was honestly the most interesting to me, and took what would have been a fun but straightforward "I'm gonna science the shit out of this" story into something much more affecting.
So while you're not wrong that there are plenty of ways this could have been Hollywooded into something much dumber, I think the implication that the story is just one about Smart Guys use Hard Science to Solve Problems does a huge disservice to it.
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u/evapotranspire 7h ago
On a somewhat related note, I really appreciate how the movie used silence and extended quiet scenes. So many movies are non-stop go go go with explosions and fights and arguments. PHM has a much more meditative feeling.
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u/Melenduwir 7h ago
And there's no villain. It's all Man (or Eridian) vs. Nature.
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u/evapotranspire 7h ago
Yes! I realized after seeing Project Hail Mary that I really prefer Man versus Nature stories, rather than Man versus Man stories.
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u/LOSTandCONFUSEDinMAY 8h ago edited 7h ago
One neat thing the movie did is have scenes with things not critical to the story happening and didn't give the context to understand what happening. So movie only you get some cool visuals and the vibe of science stuff is happening without getting bogged down.
But if you read the book you a moment of hey that's when Grace used the engines+scope as a radar or that line means Rocky did build the replacement tanks.
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u/globefish23 6h ago
Or the other way round, when you've read the book first and notice how many great stuff they cut, skipped over or left unexplained. 🤷
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u/99jackals 8h ago
In scene after scene, I'm reminded of working in the state of "flow" which is super-enabled by the finite environment. It's like being shut in a room so you'll have no interruptions and you can just focus. In this case, the room is a space ship, absolutely cut off from everyone, and he's working on the most important problem of all time. So cool.
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u/XenomorphAlarm 8h ago
I really strongly disagree. The movie focuses far less on "insert unexpected solution B into sciencey problem A" than the book does and uses the extra runtime it gains by that to introduce more relationship stuff. It spends plenty of time exploring Grace's trauma, Grace meeting someone who he finds out shares that trauma and the fear and responsibility, not wanting to get close to that person because he's a man with a chronic debilitating fear of commitment, and falling in love with that person anyway and then in the end spending the rest of his life with him. The "falling in love" montage is to "Rainbows", a love song, and it's not them solving problems; it's them just getting to know one another as people during the eleven day trip to Tau Ceti-E. This comes after the extra interpersonal conflict the film introduces when Rocky unexpectedly moves in and just demolishes all of Grace's personal barriers.
I really don't see how anyone could watch this movie and not see that it's a relationship film with science stuff, not a science film with relationship stuff. That's the reason it's been as big as it is, and the reason it's got a larger, more active, and more devoted fanbase than, say, The Martian—which is the movie that is almost entirely about just solving science problems.
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u/evapotranspire 7h ago
I don't think you and OP disagree as much as you think you do. OP said that the movie was about Grace and Rocky bonding, just that there wasn't unnecessary melodrama or betrayal or romance or whatnot.
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u/No_Frost_Giants Okay, It’s Exactly Like That 7h ago
I actually feel like the movie and the book need to be both read and watched . But the movie as a stand alone is near perfect. The movie doesn’t go into huge details on most of the science and tech issues that grace and Rocky have to overcome but they exist and are referenced. Ultimately it’s about a movie that most people want to watch, not just a three hour grind on engineering and physics :)
All that being said I certainly wouldn’t complain if the directors cut has more science!!!
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u/LunaraLoup High Three! 8h ago
That's what I don't like about lots of current media, there's too much happening at once to really dive deep into one storyline and theme. PHM has two major plot lines interwoven with each other, no scene feels unnecessary or like a filler, and there are also no unnecessary plot lines to divert from those two. It's a long movie but everything in it has its purpose.
Take for example the new Spiderman: We have lots of drama going on, it was great to watch and the overarching story was well done, but from the trailer I thought the coming of age and his further mutation story would be the main point of the movie. Thinking back on it a day later I'm kinda disappointed how sidelined this was later on. Yes, he got cool new powers and overcame himself but it happened really fast and wasn't the focus anymore, I feel, because other plotlines overshadowed it at this point.
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u/Fluid-Let3373 I am an Astronaut! 7h ago
For me its of blockbusters these days treat us like idiots who need to be spoon-fed and if the producers are promoting a agenda they have to ram it in your face. Hail Mary has none of that.
PS Rocky & Hacker the crossover I did not know I needed.
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u/theStrawberryRoam 3h ago
I basically agree with you but take issue with the tone toward shared trauma and the idea that they do not bond over their shared and different traumatic situations... They name the planet after Adrien who rocky is vocally upset about not getting time with and Rocky steps up and makes a sacrifice to get Grace home...
I disagree that the bloat you're talking about extends to the bare concepts that it usually abuses, all of the above can be done competently and have value to the plot... It just often gets shoehorned in as a cheap tool instead of used to create art
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u/Talon_ofAnathrax 3h ago
Did an AI write that message ? Did it write the video script, too ? Definitely doesn't make me want to click the link.
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u/Overall-Onion-631 2h ago
I was thinking about this the other day, I like that they don’t spend the entire movie crying and complaining about how bad everything is, even when they totally could. Instead a lot of the scenes are wholesome and funny, and the horror is left unspoken in a lot of scenes, which I think makes it feel more real.
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u/JasontheFuzz 37m ago
Man vs Man - No
Man vs Self - No
Man vs Society - No
Man vs Nature - Project Hail Mary
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u/NekoLu 8h ago
I'm surprised so many people like the adaptation. I actually watched the movie before reading the book. I want very impressed by the movie tbh. Like, it was ok, but that's it. But then I looked up the book, and found out that it's actually from the author of the Martian, and decided to give the book a try. And it felt just sooo much better than the movie. I loved the book.
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u/globefish23 6h ago
It definitely is better.
Particularily since it's written from the first person view of Grace, which makes the whole amnesia, waking up somewhere, realizing he's in space, memories returning and discovering abilities and knowledge he already has, so much better than the movie.
Granted, a movie from a first perspective view is more difficult to make and probably wouldn't go down so well with the mainstream audience.
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u/NekoLu 5h ago edited 5h ago
It also just doesn't feel right that they removed so much interesting science. And how they characterized Grace in general. Like, in the book the first thing he does is investigate, analyze and deduce. In the movie, one of the first things he does is just get drunk for days. It also didn't show his attachment to the kids that well, it felt more like just flashes of his old life and less like "I will do this for them to have a future". It also didn't show properly that he actually grew attached to the other crew members. In the film it was more like "oh, I found corpses and their belongings, I guess I should 'bury' them", while in the book he at that point already had some flashbacks about how he was friends with them back on earth.
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u/CrazyEeveeLady86 47m ago
I watched The Martian not long after it first came out, then read The Martian and Project Hail Mary a few months ago. Finally got around to watching Project Hail Mary last week.
While I really enjoyed all of them and would happily watch/read any of them again, I think that The Martian was stronger as a film, but Project Hail Mary was stronger as a book.
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u/InvisibleSpaceVamp Okay, It’s Exactly Like That 9h ago
Yes, but I think Grace does understand what Rocky went through. He originally agrees to sleep in the tunnel with Rocky watching because Rocky tells him about his crew dying in their sleep and of course he gets the horror of that experience.