History YMMV / TheMartian

** The film has a fairly diverse cast with some very talented actors of color like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover and Michael Peña. Some critics have speculated that this might have been in response to the intense backlash ''Exodus'' received over its MonochromeCasting and "[[RaceLift whitewashing]]".

* OlderThanTheyThink: Moviegoers often assume the "China saves the day by offering their unsolicited assistance" was original to the movie to pander to the powerful Chinese market. Nope, it was in the book (although in the book, China does explicitly get something out of the transaction rather than being [[WhatYouAreInTheDark purely altruistic]].

* AngstWhatAngst: Mark Watney goes though an ordeal that would leave an ordinary person on the ground in a fetal position. Him? He notes in his daily log that it's really lonely on Mars and he's probably going to die, then he keeps on trucking. He's a highly-trained astronaut, but still it's a distressing experience.

* AngstWhatAngst: Mark Watney goes though an ordeal that would leave an ordinary person on the ground in a fetal position. Him? He notes in his daily log that it's really lonely on Mars and he's probably going to die, then he keeps on trucking. He's a highly-trained astronaut, but still...

* HilariousInHindsight: Mark compares the stripped-down MAV to "launching me to space in a convertible". In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy_test_flight February 2018]], [[UsefulNotes/SpaceX SpaceX]] launched an ''actual'' convertible, a Tesla Roadster, into a solar orbit for the maiden launch of their Falcon Heavy rocket.

* HilariousInHindsight: Mark compares the stripped-down MAV to "launching me to space in a convertible". In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy_test_flight February 2018]], UsefulNotes/SpaceX launched an ''actual'' convertible, a Tesla Roadster, into a solar orbit for the maiden launch of their Falcon Heavy rocket.

* HilariousInHindsight: Mark compares the stripped-down MAV to "launching me to space in a convertible". In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy_test_flight February 2018]], [[UsefulNotes/SpaceX SpaceX]] launched an ''actual'' convertible, a Tesla Roadster, into a solar orbit for the maiden launch of their Falcon Heavy rocket.

* AngstWhatAngst: Mark Whatney goes though an ordeal that would leave an ordinary person on the ground in a fetal position. Him? He notes in his daily log that it's really lonely on Mars and he's probably going to die, then he keeps on trucking. He's a highly-trained astronaut, but still...

** The film has a fairly diverse cast with some very talented actors of color like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover and Michael Peña. Some critics have speculated that this might have been in response to the intense backlash ''Exodus'' received over its MonochromeCasting and "[[RaceLift whitewashing]]."

* HilariousInHindsight: Watney going on about how "Live Another Sol" sounds like an awesome title for a ''Franchise/JamesBond'' film and if he was cast for the movie he would be a better [[MrFixit Q]] than a Bond is pretty chuckle-worthy considering that [[Creator/MattDamon the actor that portrays him in the movie]] played ''[[Franchise/TheBourneSeries Jason Bourne]]''

* InternetBackdraft:
** On something of a meta-level and a smaller scale, 20th Century Fox inviting Creator/AlexDay to the "Martian Live" event has led to a backlash from the Website/YouTube community, due to the manipulative behavior of Day. This applied to a lesser extent with Danny Hooper, Alex's cousin.
** In a counterpoint to his pointing out the scientific flaws of ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', Neil Degrasse Tyson was so excited to see a hard science-fiction film [[spoiler:in which EverybodyLives]] that he praised this aspect on Twitter without any kind of spoiler warning very shortly after the film's release. This is even more ironic in light of the fact that the film is replete with scientific flaws, some of which invalidate the rescue scenario in the film, while almost all of them are addressed and justified in the book.

* SpiritualAntithesis: In interesting version as it has to do with two different characters MattDamon played for two different movies about space with both of them being scientists and astronauts. Mark Watney is a clear Foil to Doctor Mann from the movie Film/Interstellar. Both are TheAce when it comes to abilities and well respected by their peers. Both were stranded on an alien world until help came for them. The big differences are that Mann was a DirtyCoward with feet of clay who could only remain idealistic and noble so long as circumstances went his way. When he realized he was trapped on another world until the unlikely event that help came, he slowly went [[SanitySlippage crazy]] and couldn't cope with the fact that his sacrifice may have been AllForNothing while quickly passing the DespairEventHorizon. When he was rescued he quickly showed his ego twisted by insanity with an ItsAllAboutMe attitude while trying to throw others under the bus to complete his mission and also to stay alive even if it meant others would die. In contrast, Mark was stranded by accident and after coming to terms with the situation, resolved to make the best use of his time and do whatever it took to survive even in the face of uncertain rescue. He focused on his problems rather than what would happen to him while staying in contact with earth. He never held it against his crew for leaving him and would have even preferred them not try to rescue him if it meant their lives would be in jeopardy. Mark was also very much TheNiceGuy and a humble guy all around with a good sense of humor and [[HopeSpringsEternal hope]] to keep him going. Doctor Mann was basically a BrokenAce, DirtyCoward, who became a StrawNihilist that put himself before others. Mark was TheAce, HumbleHero, AntiNihilist, who never lost hope and believed SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers.

** Watney can bitch and moan about the disco that Lewis left behind, but for those who love the genre, [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJi5On34EtnFfqtF536w94_sLy1WtNqkd it's a pretty nice selection of tunes]].

** Then Vincent and Bruce went on to become [[Film/DoctorStrange2016 magicians]].

* DeusExMachina: It sure is convenient that [[spoiler:the China National Space Administration just happened to have a secret heavy-lift booster on hand after NASA got theirs blown up]].

** In a counterpoint to his pointing out the scientific flaws of ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', Neil Degrasse Tyson was so excited to see a hard science-fiction film in which EverybodyLives that he praised this aspect on Twitter without any kind of spoiler warning very shortly after the film's release. This is even more ironic in light of the fact that the film is replete with scientific flaws, some of which invalidate the rescue scenario in the film, while almost all of them are addressed and justified in the book.
* MemeticMutation: The film's bizarre and inexplicable nomination and ''win'' for the Best Comedy Film Golden Globe. You can probably expect people to go out of their way to sarcastically call it a comedy for a while now.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:

** There were a few complaints about [[spoiler: Lewis being the one to pull Mark back in]] when it was Beck who did it in the book, especially since the change turns him into TheGenericGuy.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: A given, considering the director. Special mention must be given to the sequences in space, which brings to mind the aforementioned ''Gravity''.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This movie fared better in territories outside of the US. Japan in particular, loves this movie enough that it reached top box office numbers during its' theatrical run.