Daily Dialogue — February 5, 2019

“So, yeah, I blew myself up. Best guess, I forgot to account for the excess oxygen that I’ve been exhaling when I did my calculations because I’m stupid. I’m gonna get back to work here just as soon as my ears stop ringing.”

— The Martian (2015), screenplay by Drew Goddard, novel by Andy Weir

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Science.

Trivia: Many of the issues flagged as errors in the film are instances where information was omitted or edited from the novel for time or pacing. For example, in the novel, Watney accurately calculates how much soil he will need for his crops, which is substantially more than what is seen in the film; repairing the airlock is a more involved process; “hab canvas” is actually a high-tech radiation-resistant material and not a simple tarp; the explosion during the water experiment happens for more complex reasons than depicted in the film; and Watney actually punches a hole in the scavenged rover so he can use it for extra storage, rather than in the operational rover.

Dialogue On Dialogue: It’s great when a science fiction movie actually embraces science as with The Martian. This scene is an example:

As with all science-based movies, the filmmakers had to take liberties with the actual science. Check out this episode of “Science vs. Cinema” which explores the science of The Martian: