Great book, Average film

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2015)

When I first watched Gladiator, I remember thinking the film was pretty poor. It felt too much like it was trying to out-do Braveheart which preceded it by some 5 years. It felt over acted, over dramatic. This was a let down as I had big expectations for the film with Ridley Scott behind it however over time, the depth of the film shone through and now Gladiator is an undeniable classic.
So, having watched The Martian last night, I am contextualizing my disappointment in the same vein as the above. I am certain The Martian will grow better over time......unfortunately, for the first viewing I was disappointed.
Now, I have to admit to reading the book which was excellent. A build up of drama, tension, relentless adversity and then euphoria of success at the end. The film just missed the mark. Major plot lines were missing from the book....and yet, these were intrinsic to the build up towards the finale. In the film the trip to the MAV is like a relaxed Sunday drive to the shops. In the book, it's a terrifying endless mission against the odds, through dramatic storms, a crashed rover etc etc....why Ridley canned this part of the story I will never know.
Matt Damon was good and the cast were well balanced however, Sean Bean stuck out like a sore thumb. There's clearly a favor owed from Scott to Bean behind the story of him being given that role. It just didn't work. Jeff Daniels was excellent by the way.
I agree with some of the other comments on IMDb. The Martian missed the true isolation of Cast Away, it missed the drama of Apollo 13. It's scientific grounding was poor too with dramatic dust storms and tornadoes occurring in a martian atmosphere that's practically non existent and as for some reason, not too much concern about solar radiation either even though this would be a huge issue on the surface of mars. Small details.
For the scenery and high quality direction, the cast excl Bean and the expectation that I'll grow to enjoy the film more and more over time I rate this a generous 7.