Project Hail Mary: We cried over a rock alien

You know that rare sci fi movie that makes you laugh, then quietly punches you in the chest five minutes later? Project Hail Mary did that to us. We saw it together in theaters and walked out with the same reaction: we need to talk about it right now while the sound, the visuals, and the feelings are still ringing in our ears. Full spoilers ahead, because there’s no clean way to describe what works without getting into the turns.

We dig into Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace as a surprisingly grounded emotional core, then pivot to the real breakout: Rocky. The “rock alien” could have been a gimmick, but the movie turns him into the most lovable character in the story, and we unpack why the friendship works so well. We also compare key choices against Andy Weir’s book, including how the movie handles memory reveals, how it reshapes Strat’s emotion, and why some science details get streamlined for the screen.

Then we go deep on craft for anyone who loves behind-the-scenes filmmaking: the eclectic Project Hail Mary soundtrack, Daniel Pemberton’s score built from unusual sounds, the color grading that makes space feel alive, and the shifting aspect ratios that sell confinement versus scale. We even share the practical effect tricks, puppetry details, and little production stories that made us appreciate the movie more.

If you’re into smart sci fi, space movies, and stories about sacrifice and friendship, hit play, subscribe to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, and share this with a friend who needs a new theater pick. After you listen, what’s your rating out of 10 and did Rocky make you cry too?

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Transcript

Welcome And Housekeeping

Dylan 0:18

Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Joe 0:23

This week we did something a little different. We went and saw Project Hail Mary Together in Theaters.

Dylan 0:29

And we're breaking it down fresh out of the experience. What worked, what surprised us, and whether it lives up to the hype.

Joe 0:36

If you enjoy the show, make sure to follow it on your favorite podcast app and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps us grow.

Dylan 0:43

And we want to hear from you. Text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description.

Joe 0:48

This week's movie, Project Hail Mary, is rated PG 13 for intense sequences and thematic elements. That's not suitable for little ears. We hope you'll tune in next week.

First Impressions Before The Plot

Dylan 0:59

Alright, Joe. What was your first impression of this movie? What did what did you know about this movie before going into it?

Joe 1:07

See, if if it's a have you seen event, I have I had heard nothing about it. Yeah. I seen the trailer and didn't understand other than me making you watch the trailer.

Dylan 1:21

Yeah, yeah.

Joe 1:22

Watch the trailer. Okay, what is this? Um and then I still didn't understand it in the beginning. Yeah. Like because, you know, I mean, he's pretty much alone, and I'm like, oh no. This is just one of those like one guy in space uh till he dies kind of thing.

Dylan 1:44

Allah Martian. Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, but the the Martian and Project Tell Mary is written by the same person. Okay. Um Andy Weir. Yeah. So but yeah, like I hadn't read the book or anything like that, and I had just seen like trailers for it and heard like uh like how excited people were about it and how good it was. And I was like, I feel like this is gonna be one that needs to be seen in the theater.

Joe 2:18

Yeah, oh yeah, and it was so worth it. Um uh I'm kind of a geek when it comes to sound, yeah. And it was like Adobe Vision, Dove audio, like all the Dovey.

Dylan 2:31

Right, yeah, seriously. And I'm not a big I'm not a big theater person, yeah. Like I'm too tall for the theater seats, you know? Like, so like you know, I said I spent most of the movie like kind of turned sideways just to get some room. Yeah. So it's yeah, it's kind of painful to sit in years. Yeah, but yeah, I was like, we need to go watch this.

Spoiler Setup And Emotional Whiplash

Dylan 2:57

All right, well, so obviously we're talking about a movie that just came out, so definite spoilers ahead. Definitely. If you haven't seen it, here is the quick setup. Project Hail Mary follows a man who wakes up alone in space with no memory and slowly realizes he might be the only person who can save Earth. Crazy. Pretty good synopsis. Yeah. I was really debating on how um if we wanted to try to do this as a spoiler-free or spoiler-light episode. And I'm like, there's just too much good stuff to get into.

Joe 3:39

Yeah, I I can't, I I don't even know if I can explain a movie without giving away stuff. You're right.

Dylan 3:47

Yeah. So for you, what what hit you like immediately walking out of the theater?

Joe 3:53

Oh. I just want to keep wanted to continue to cry. Yeah.

Dylan 4:02

Because I think that's the first thing you said to me was man, that was such an emotional roller coaster.

Joe 4:07

It was. It was. And I was just like, where are my emotions right now? Am I mad? Am I sad? Yeah.

Dylan 4:16

Yeah, because it it definitely doesn't have the the ending to it that you would that you were expecting. Yeah. That I was expecting. Yeah. So what was something that surprised you from the movie?

Joe 4:33

I think it alluded to to Rocky's character, but I didn't know that it was gonna be such a like like lovable character as well. Yeah. Like I I just really didn't. I didn't know if it was just gonna be this like I don't know, uh kind of just weird. Yeah, and not even like a huge part of it. Like I didn't maybe he had contact with an alien and you know, but yeah.

Dylan 5:02

And then you wind up crying over an alien, a rock creature.

Joe 5:06

A rock creature, yeah. You're like, oh, is he dead?

Dylan 5:12

Yeah, and then you don't know if he's gonna wake up or yeah, you know, so man. I love that um like in that moment too, um Ryland Grace, which is um Ryan Gosling's character, um like st keeps recording like a bunch of like video diaries, pretty much, and is like, you know, just trying to be like so positive about it, and is like, you know, when you wake up, you're going to hate, you know, calling it the um the goo that they collected, you know. Tell what was it? Tell no, I'm totally blanking on the name.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Yeah.

Dylan 5:59

But yeah, how how Rocky's gonna hate the name of it and stuff like that. Oh yeah.

Joe 6:04

Yeah, I I think just going back to like the roller coaster of it all, like it just it it's crazy because you don't know they they they kind of play it from like a side of his curiosity and like you almost see from his point of view a bit from Rockies, no, from Grace. Oh yeah, and and so then as everything unfolds, it starts to become clearer and clearer. So you know, there's enough uh you know kind of not giving away a lot before as as he would understand it, you know.

Dylan 6:42

Yeah, so when something happened, like on the spaceship, is what triggered the memory to like come back. Oh that's the way so that's the way the book is written.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Okay.

Dylan 6:56

So um, but so in the book, uh-huh, um, he has a catheter in. Oh. And like get like falls out of bed, yeah, and the catheter gets ripped out. Oh, and so there's like a little bit of blood on the floor.

SPEAKER_04 7:14

Uh-huh.

Dylan 7:15

And so that's what like triggered his memory of the Petrova line.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

Oh.

Dylan 7:21

And that like kicked it back into the before you know, before time of like discovering the Petrova line, and like Yeah. So I was thankful they left that out of the movie. Yeah, that's too painful. Yeah.

Joe 7:34

Yeah, but I get how to, you know, it's it's a challenge, especially coming from a book of how to, you know, transition from one thought to another without doing the you know uh 1995 or six months ago. Two hours later.

Dylan 7:55

It's kind of funny, like, with Rocky, that he's not used to emotion as a whole.

SPEAKER_04 8:03

Yeah.

Dylan 8:03

And so, like when um when Ryan Gosling like hugs him for the first time, or when uh you know Grace is outside of the ship collecting the sample and has his moment, which we'll get into later, he's like, he like, I don't understand. This is boring.

SPEAKER_04 8:27

Yeah, yeah.

Dylan 8:29

So it's it was definitely interesting, like showing kind of the emotional growth of Rocky on that.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Yeah.

Characters And The Rocky Surprise

Dylan 8:39

So yeah, let's talk characters. So you have Ryland Grace played by Ryan Gosling, who is really the you know, he's our main character, but he's really the the emotional anchor for the whole thing. Um man, Ryan Gosling just does such an amazing job at portraying emotion.

Joe 9:05

Yeah, for just a Disney actor who came out of the Mickey Mills Club. Yeah.

Dylan 9:16

But yeah, um, I mean, there's so much that goes into that character. Yeah. And like the fact that like later in the movie he finds out that he pretty much was kidnapped. Kidnapped to go up there. And sent on a suicide mission. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:39

Yeah.

Dylan 9:40

Like so that's just that's one of those moments that like you don't know whether to like like kind of laugh in horror or like cry for the you know character.

Joe 9:53

Yeah. You're like, what?

Dylan 9:55

And the yeah, just knocking them out and sending him and just with that scene of when he talks to Strat and she almost seems like upset about it, yeah. Trying trying to, you know, put on a good face, but also you know, trying to not be upset about it.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

Yeah.

Dylan 10:28

Because, you know, you feel like you're doing that for humanity. Yeah. And um a lot of her characters um emotion was added into the film.

SPEAKER_04 10:45

Okay.

Dylan 10:46

Um so like that scene has a lot more emotion in it from her. Um and like the when they're in on the ship and Strat sings the Harry Styles song.

SPEAKER_04 11:02

Uh-huh.

Dylan 11:02

Um, that's not in the in the book. In the book.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Yeah.

Dylan 11:06

Like stuff like that. Kind of it does well being able to portray more of that emotion towards her, or for her, yeah. I guess you'd say. And so I I really appreciated that because I felt like in the books, she was a very I feel like she was written as a pretty like cut and dry character of like, oh, I'm just doing this for the good of humanity.

Joe 11:34

Yeah. And then she's like stoic or like non-emotional, like very detached from it.

Dylan 11:43

Yeah. Um, and so I appreciated that they added that in in more. Give her, give her a little more. Right. And it's interesting too, because in the in the book, she is actually pretty much a scapegoat for all of the governments of the world. Oh. So once the world is saved and somebody needs to be the fall man, yeah, that's her.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Wow.

Dylan 12:16

And so it's interesting too, because she also plays with that aspect of it.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Yeah.

Dylan 12:20

Um, something that happens in the book is that they decide to pave like a quarter of the Sahara Desert in like these black tiles, and that's how they breed their astrophage.

SPEAKER_04 12:41

Oh.

Dylan 12:42

So kind of switch it up. Yeah. Um, but like, yeah, but obviously that you disrupt a lot of the you know, climate of the world and yeah, ecosystem. Right.

Joe 12:57

Yeah.

Dylan 12:58

And then we get to Rocky.

Joe 13:01

Yeah.

Dylan 13:02

So definitely played such a big part just in the film as a whole.

Joe 13:08

Yeah. I you know, one thing about with Rocky, um, I'm glad that they gave such a backstory to Grace first.

Dylan 13:19

Yeah.

Joe 13:20

Because the amount of work that it would have taken somebody to be able to like take an uncognitive, under not understandable word or voice, you know, right, um to translate into words, and then have the patience to be able to, you know, like basically go through and say, say this word, or what does this word mean? You know, and uh, and so then I think having his background helped me to believe that it it would be like simple for him to do.

Dylan 14:02

Yeah. And in the in the book, it talks about how like when it comes to Rocky, that he's just so excited about it all. And like, as a scientist, yeah, is just so curious about you know this different life form and how it has evolved, yeah. And how you know kind of something they showed in the movie is like the clocks and how they both have time.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah.

Dylan 14:32

And so, like, so of course, in the book it goes into a lot more detail on that. Like um, it talks about how um Rocky's math system is base six. Oh because they're his front two you know arms have three fingers. Yeah. And so like all of the clock and stuff is like is base six. Oh, yeah. Stuff like that. Just it's good. But yeah, um, so Rocky was played and voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz. Okay. Um, I hope I pronounced that right. I would say Ortiz. Ortiz. Okay. Um, so we might both be wrong, I don't know. Right. So yeah, he performed the character on set by using a physical puppet and then also provided um Rocky's translated voice. Nice. So the whole uh the character was brought to life with a whole team of puppeteers. So they would they would call themselves the Rocky Tears. That's awesome.

Joe 15:44

That's so awesome. Disney tie on right.

Dylan 15:49

So um a lot of uh Rocky stuff is the physical puppet, and then there is some motions that they had him like computer generated with um just because it would be too hard if he shot.

SPEAKER_04 16:04

Yeah.

Dylan 16:05

You know, it would take more to edit out the puppeteers than to add in Rocky. So um they would have the f the what is it? Like they would have three appendages usually, okay, and then they would just like CG in the other two appendages.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Okay.

Dylan 16:24

So with Rocky's voice, there's also a couple of additional voice contributions in um different versions and scenes. So when he's going through and finding Rocky's voice, um, that actually goes through several of the um production crews voices. Yeah. And um the producers pretty much went like, you know, what would you think that this would sound like? Yeah. Uh-huh. And so I thought that was pretty neat because I feel like that's something that's usually not done and kind of gives a fun nod to the production crew.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Yeah.

Dylan 17:12

So um another voice that they had in there um is Ray Porter. And so he did the narration for the audiobook.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Okay.

Dylan 17:23

And so, you know, from listening to the audiobook and then like seeing the movie, yeah. I was like, oh, that's that's awesome to have that in there. Yeah. Because it's something like that that just, you know, they didn't have to do that, yeah. But like just a you know, just such a nod like that is was great.

Joe 17:43

Yeah, that's cool.

Dylan 17:44

And then of course, they also have the one and only Meryl Streep who provided some voice elements. It's Meryl Streep. Right. So yeah, I love that. Um, so that started as a joke too. Um, Rocky or uh uh Grace was just like they were just playing with it. Uh-huh. Was like, oh man, you know, Meryl Streep, you know, she she could just do anything. Yeah, yeah. And so so that actually made it into the movie. Yeah. And so um the producers were planning on having her do that.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Yeah.

Dylan 18:25

And um Ryan didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Okay.

Dylan 18:28

And so that like his reaction to that was totally like a natural surprise reaction.

Joe 18:34

Nice, nice. I think I heard I think Ray Porter did Darkseid in the Snyder cut. Oh, really? Oh, that's cool. Yeah, and I I really want to listen to the audiobooks now because you know, there's some you know attachment to it, I guess you can say. I just yeah.

Dylan 18:53

Yeah.

Soundtrack Picks And Score Secrets

Dylan 18:54

All right, Joe. So nothing complements a movie like the music.

Joe 19:01

Or destroys. Or destroys. Depending. No. Um, yeah, it was it was great. Um I'll start with talking about more of the soundtrack and the um so yeah, you have Sunday morning come down by Chris Christofferson. These are just a couple that I listened to and um kind of pulled out that you know stuck out to me. Um, Wind of Change by Scorpions, um, which yeah, Scorpions are classic rock band. Wind of Change was about like the Berlin Wall and and all this stuff. So it's just I like the use of it. Um, sign of the Times. Uh I never thought that I would like, you know, Harry Styles was from what was the boy band? He was from One Direction. Yeah, One Direction.

Dylan 19:57

I'm kind of ashamed that I know that. Yeah, yeah.

Joe 20:00

Sounds like one of those Christian boy bands. There's only one direction. Um but Harry Stiles, uh, I never thought I'd like a song of his, you know. Not that I really not that I haven't bothered to listen, but I just like, you know, I'm just like, ah boy band, you know, I've heard that stuff, you know, because it's just forced upon you sometimes. Right, right. Um, and so Sign of the Times is really cool. Uh, it has this like early 70s British rock feel to it. Yeah, like I almost thought it was a Pink Floyd song, or uh it has this like sort of David Bowie-esque feel to it, in that like there was this era Ziggy Stardust era that he had where he kind of was a character and sang in this way, and that really brought that back to me. Yeah. Um, yeah, and then being used in this movie was, you know, so with Sign of the Times too, they that was such a last minute edition for her to do that.

Dylan 21:06

Uh huh. So um when her and Grace are talking on at the bow of the ship, uh-huh, she made the comment that she was in um uh a voice uh children's voice choir.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Oh yeah. Uh-huh.

Dylan 21:26

Which she actually was. Oh, like that wasn't that wasn't even added in like for the movie, it was added in like for her. Yeah, yeah. And so they're like, well, we can't have an amazing singer not sing. Right. Um, because I guess like her dressing room was like, I don't know if it was by Ryan's or how that kind of worked out, but apparently she would just sing to herself in her dressing room.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Yeah.

Dylan 21:57

And they heard that and they're like We can't let this go to waste. And so they came to her and they're like, We want you to sing a song in this. We have 36 hours left on this ship. Yeah. Before we have to get off. Uh-huh. And so she asked her daughter what song she she would sing.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Yeah.

Dylan 22:26

And so her daughter suggested that.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Yeah.

Dylan 22:29

And they were talking about like they didn't really know because they just didn't know how it would fit. Yeah. And then they like had her sing it and listen to the lyrics. And they're like, that's the one. Yeah.

Joe 22:46

Yeah. That's awesome. Um, the other one that's close to my heart is uh the uh two of us by the Beatles. Um that was a nice touch, um, especially when it was used in the movie, yeah, you know. Um, because it's it's it's just like him, uh Grace and Rocky just have this friendship and and start to, you know, it's like right in the middle of their friendship when they're together, they accept that they're together and you know they're bonding and all that stuff. And I just like it because it's like the ultimate buddy song.

SPEAKER_04 23:23

Yeah.

Joe 23:23

Um, I used it in my wedding slideshow. Did you really? Um, and it was originally written about when Paul McCartney and his wife were st first dating. Um, but uh yeah, it's just it's just a cool song, uh, you know, to hear that in there and you know, be familiar with it. And so yeah, those were just a couple of soundtrack songs that I liked.

Dylan 23:49

Yeah. Another song that was in there too was Rainbows by Dennis Wil Dennis Wilson. Oh yeah, Dennis Wilson, yeah. And um, it's it's so interesting because that's such like kind of a a feel-good.

Joe 24:07

And it's very niche. Like the the the thing about all of these songs is it's very eclectic. Oh yeah. And it's very like uh because Rainbows wasn't like a single, I don't think, of David Dennis Wilson. Like uh his biggest song was Forever, and so to use a song like which essentially is like a B song on an album or something like that.

Dylan 24:32

Yeah, because it's it's one of the Beach Boys like solo work. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um so yeah, it's used like during a like what would be a feel-good montage, but then it's when Grace gets kidnapped and drugged and put in the coma. Um apparently part of their reason for choosing that song is because in the background of that shot, yeah, when he's lying on the ground struggling with them like on top of him holding him down, yeah, there's a rainbow in the background. And so um they filmed a lot of the outdoor scenes in England um because it's so gray and windy there.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

Uh-huh.

Dylan 25:29

Um, a lot of the outdoor scenes were like purposefully shot so that it's gray and windy because of the sun dimming. Dimming, yeah. That's that was their movie portrayal of that. Yeah. And so I guess they were like working on these shots and just kind of out of nowhere the rainbow, you know, showed up. And they're like, they're like running to get this shot then.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Yeah.

Dylan 26:03

And um because it's, you know, also there to signify Grace's, you know, savior of humanity.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Yeah. Wow.

Joe 26:17

That's so cool. Sorry, I just had to throw that in there. Yeah. Um so then the composer of the um score is uh Daniel Pemberton. Uh, and I think he did a Spider-Verse movie and a lot of other yeah, yeah. So pretty cool. Um, so he wanted he want he was looking for a good project to experiment with.

Dylan 26:43

Yeah.

Joe 26:44

And uh the earliest idea was to do everything in wood blocks. Um really oh that would have been wild. Like all the pieces would be full on just wood blocks, and he he just thought that wouldn't work. So they tried still drums, ambient, electronic music. Um, and the biggest thing for them was to try to balance the scale of the universe, uh the you know, the expanse of the universe versus this small intimate relationship between uh Rocky and Grace. Yeah, you know, and so they they wanted that balance. Um and they wanted to communicate like humanity is cheering on Grace, you know, right? Um and so he recorded voices and live orchestra performances, um, mixed with synthesizers, uh, and I'll go more into that. So it's a real it's a mix of the real and the synthetic. Um so the a phrase that they had was hope core.

SPEAKER_04 27:55

Yeah.

Joe 27:56

And and so they at the core of everything that they wrote for the music that there was still some hope in it, like it wasn't entirely ominous, yeah.

Dylan 28:06

Well, and they were saying um in the director's cut, or you know, in the director's commentary, thank you. Um when they were talking about like the soundtrack and stuff, that they wanted like the like you were saying, that like organic and familiar sound, yeah um, but then they also wanted it to mix with the the synthetic and just things that you couldn't quite place where they came from. Right. And so that way Grace never feels, or like to the audience, you know, like he's fully alone. Right. And um yeah, like you were saying, they they wanted it to seem they wanted to show that the both of the planets were cheering them on. Yeah, and I just think that was such like when I listened to that, like I just kind of had to take a minute because I'm like, wow.

Joe 29:05

Yeah, yeah, there's just so much put into it. Um, and so here are a couple of of the you know score songs that I uh kind of picked up from um God Willing, uh one of the effects that was recorded uh for this song in particular was a leaky faucet that had pressure. Whoa, and so when you turned up the water, it made this like wheezing sound, like a and so like so they what he did was he recorded it on his phone and then put it onto a synthesizer and then was able to play that sound throughout and compose with that. Uh so the main you know centerpiece is a leaky faucet, um synthesized, and then glass harmonica and a crystal bachet. Um a crystal bache is like a keyboard made of glass that you play with water on your fingers. Oh, weird, and so you would just run your fingers up and down, and it's set up like a keyboard, but you just run your fingers up and down, and so a lot of those high pitch kind of uh voicings is is that wow and then they use just bowls of water, like literally a silver bowl or stainless steel bowl with water and splashing into it. Huh.

Dylan 30:29

Um because that would like reverberate. Oh, I see.

Joe 30:36

So invalid operation, they had 30 school kids uh play body percussion, hand claps, stomping, knee slaps for the percussion of the whole that whole piece. Um, and they just wanted to continue to have unusual ways to compose the score. Um erratic maneuver detected, uh wood block, still drum, and choir. Um he he wanted to feel like what the heck is going on. Uh the words and the phrases the choir sings are phonetically worked, but they have no meaning. Like oh yeah. So there's no like lyrics to it, but there's words that they're singing that just phonetically work for the piece. Yeah. Um a moment. Uh there are uh so there are thematic motifs, but not necessarily themes per character, like right, you know, John Williams. He has like his uh hero score, you know, whether it's indie or it's uh Star Wars or you know, Superman.

Dylan 31:50

Every time that character is on screen, that score's playing.

Joe 31:53

Yeah, yeah. And so um the sounds of choral-treated vocals. Um there are sounds there are sounds of choral-treated vocals for Rocky because he brings an alien element, yeah. And so Pemberton wanted that sound for him, and it helped him seem unusual and strange. Um they use sopranos, but with treated vocals or overdubs with different sounds, and so you would have the you know, ah or the ooh, but then that would be underlined with something like the uh Bashay or or something else to just give it a different feel. Yeah. Um time go fishing uh is the intense scene where Grace is injured. Um, so it starts with a single wood block and then it just builds to another rhythm, building and building, and that was woodblock voices, electric cello, huh? Um, creating tension. Uh, and when he said when you're watching it, you're trying, you're you want to say, uh, I need this to end. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Um so yeah, he was on the film for two years experimenting and writing, yeah. And about two months to record and two months to mix.

Dylan 33:18

Wow.

Joe 33:18

Yeah. He said, I try to be like Christopher Columbus or an explorer. Like I think there's something over there. Just trust me, I'm going to try to get there and find it and try not to die trying. Yeah.

Dylan 33:33

So man. Yeah, just talent. Yeah. I'll even know what else to say.

Joe 33:40

I know. I my favorite one is learning to communicate because I think it's like the quintessential Rocky song. Yeah. And there's just something cute and you know, animated, but that's I don't know.

Dylan 33:57

I I kinda I don't remember which one it actually is. I think it's blip A.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Uh-huh.

Dylan 34:04

But so they're kind of approaching each other in the ships, and one starts um, you know, when Grace like starts piloting the ship and uh getting away from him, and he's being chased down. Oh yeah. And um, so you hear like a waltz kind of tango. Oh yeah. Uh-huh. Um, so they added that in because when they were like moving around all sporadic like that, yeah, and then they finally kind of synced up and you know, we're we're synchronous in that. Yeah. Um, the director said that that was Rocky inviting Grace to dance. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. All right.

How They Built The Movie

Dylan 34:52

So let's talk about how this movie was put together. So, you know, already talked about where some of the stuff was shot.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Yeah.

Dylan 35:01

Um for where the when Grace gets taken to the lab, um, and it has all of the different like nationality generals were all in the in the room watching him. Uh-huh. Um, so that was actually a engine testing site, like for like aircraft engines.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

Uh-huh.

Dylan 35:32

And so um, so that's why they they already had the those rooms of the the kind of glassed in rooms that could see out. Yeah. And so um when the scene where Grace is like sitting on the curved wall, and it's kind of just a big oval, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

Yeah.

Dylan 35:56

Um, you know, Strat comes out and like talks to him. That scene. Yeah. Um, that's actually the exhaust uh I was gonna say chamber. Yeah. But like the pretty much the exhaust, like the vent that they're sitting in right there.

Joe 36:13

Yeah. Oh, interesting.

Dylan 36:14

So like, you know, just something like that is was, you know, it looked very, you know, techy, secret basic. Yeah.

Joe 36:24

Yeah. I think the biggest thing for me, um uh with the visual part of it, is so most movies when you go into space, like we just covered Apollo 13, it's bleak, it's black and white almost. Uh there's barely any color, uh, mostly grays or something. And this really um this really actually did the opposite. Yeah. Uh if you really look at it, there are earth tones in space, you know, and there's the color grading pops more, and when you're on earth, it's bleak and you know, gray, and it's like just it's just like they did the opposite of what you would normally do for a space movie, you know.

Dylan 37:20

Yeah, I mean, just speaking of color pop, um oh, what's the planet? Tulsetti E.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

Uh-huh.

Dylan 37:30

That they, you know, go fishing on. Yeah. Like just the the vibrant green of it. Oh, yeah.

Joe 37:35

Oh, I was absolutely obsessed.

Dylan 37:38

Yeah.

Joe 37:39

Yeah. Um and the other thing too is I thought I didn't think about it uh, you know, till later, but when they're at Earth, where they're in Earth, there's an aspect ratio that kind of uh kind of makes it smaller. Yeah. And then when they're in space, the aspect ratio grows and it's you know wider.

Dylan 38:05

Yeah. So actually, um, along those lines, when when Grace first wakes up, it has the tightest aspect ratio to show you just the cramped, confined container that you're in.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Yeah.

Dylan 38:24

Um and then when it goes to Earth, it kind of widens out. Uh-huh. And then when it goes back to space, like that's when you get your full acid. Yeah. Yeah. Talking about like the space colors and stuff. Um, during like the end credit scenes, yeah, all of the space pictures there are from an actual photographer. Like those are actual pictures of space.

Joe 38:49

Space, yeah.

Dylan 38:50

That's awesome. Yeah. I found the photographer on on uh online and started like following him in his work and stuff. Something that was changed between like the book and the movie was kind of the science of it all. Um so the general you know, aspect of it stays the same. Right. Um, like a lot of the finer um kind of science stuff got changed. Yeah. So um they tried to follow the book as closely as they could with that.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

Yeah.

Dylan 39:31

Um so like when he is like figuring out his fuel calcul or uh uh not fuel calculation, how how like how long he's been in space pretty much.

Joe 39:46

Oh yeah.

Dylan 39:47

Um I guess the the math that he did on the board is actual math from um Andy Weir that was used like for the book. And so he Ryan had uh earpiece in and was just writing out like what they were telling him telling him in his ears. Yeah. So um like some of the math and stuff was was you know kind of Hollywoodified, if you will, yeah, where it was changed to portray more emotion.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

Yeah.

Dylan 40:26

But I I still felt like it did it did it justice.

Joe 40:31

Yeah, yeah. It uh he really just did a good job with it all. Yeah. I believe he's a genius.

Dylan 40:43

Yeah. All right, Joe.

Favorite Scenes And Big Moments

Dylan 40:46

So what was what was one of your favorite scenes from this movie?

Joe 40:53

Um it's one of those things that's hard to choose.

Dylan 40:57

Yeah.

Joe 40:58

And uh if uh favorite scene is the whole movie, I choose that.

Dylan 41:07

Yes, I fully agree with that.

Joe 41:09

Yeah, I think um uh I think what emotionally got me is there's a verse that talks about um sacrificing your life for a friend, and that really just showed like when when Rocky goes to to save him. Yeah, yeah, that just that that just tore me up. You know, just to have a friend like that to do that for you, that that was risking their own life, uh you know, tearing up uh that really, man, uh well and like that's such a good scene too, because like they added in the the smoke effect you know from Rocky in with it like flashing like that.

Dylan 41:54

Yeah. So like you never got a good look at it. Uh-huh. And um like you could see like silver like splattered on Rocky and where he was, and that was his blood. Oh wow. And so um kind of how that all starts is the fuel tank got a leak in it and started them spinning in like you know, a giant centrifuge. Uh-huh. And um like you hear all the noise going in and out, and so that's like Grace's perspective of like going in and out of consciousness. Oh. And so he can't reach the button to stabilize, yeah. And so Rocky breaks out of his um confinement, yeah. You know, and to cocoon. Yeah. Um you know, full well knowing that the oxygen is poison to him because he breathes pure ammonia.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

Yeah.

Dylan 43:05

And so um he breaks out and flips the switch and you get just the um like flashes of him taking him to the the room.

SPEAKER_03 43:21

Yeah.

Dylan 43:23

Yeah. Um but yeah, that's such a I don't even know how to follow that. That's such a powerful moment. Yeah. Um one like my favorite scene just has to be um Grace's moment when he's in space and just looking at the planet and just the just the how beautiful green it is. Yeah. Um I have the picture saved on my phone to make my background. Oh, nice. Um But yeah, so like just how beautiful green it is, and then he he um switches to the ultraviolet, and it's just the pink sparkly. Yeah. And like it's just so beautiful.

Joe 44:12

Yeah. I think next to that, my next would be when when he's trying to uh translate Rocky's voice, yeah, you know, and then also just having the different voices that he's trying out as a no, not this one, you know, yeah.

Dylan 44:33

Yeah, just the the first meeting of Rocky in the hall, um, you know, in the tunnel that has like all of the different um all of the different surfaces on it, yeah. And then there's just one little translucent uh surface, and um like that was Rocky's way of figuring out how they could see each other to communicate, yeah. Because for for Rocky, you know, he uses um sound to see because he doesn't have eyes, uh-huh. And so, you know, for Grace to go pretty much choose the one that he could use to see.

SPEAKER_03 45:23

Uh-huh.

Dylan 45:24

Would you like to get into some behind-the-scenes nuggets? So in the beginning of the movie, when they have the the astrophage on the projection screen, and you can see all the little, you know, black dots moving around. Um they did that by using steel wool that was pulled apart and then burned.

SPEAKER_04 45:48

Oh.

Dylan 45:49

And then they inverted the picture, and that's how they got that. Nice. Yeah, stuff like that. Like you don't even think about. But like, you know, being able to just do it practical like that. Yeah. Yeah, amazing. Um so like talking about the the having a moment moment uh with all of the pink sparkles. So that was shot practically.

Joe 46:24

Oh, the pink sparkles?

Dylan 46:26

Yeah. What? So um, so when you see the close-ups, it uses a dual camera with one of the infrared filters removed.

SPEAKER_04 46:37

Uh-huh.

Dylan 46:38

And so they built like a cage of chicken wire and infrared lights around Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 46:45

Yeah.

Dylan 46:46

And so that's what caused the sparkle with the infrared. Yeah. And so um Ryan said that he had no idea what was happening and was just, you know, looking around. And um, he didn't like people were crying when they saw that shot. Yeah. And he like he had no idea why. Uh-huh. And so then um they showed him the monitor of what the camera was picking up on.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Yeah.

Dylan 47:18

And um, I guess he started like crying, tearing up because of it too.

SPEAKER_02 47:22

Yeah. Wow.

Dylan 47:24

The voice of the AI assistant on the Hail Mary.

SPEAKER_04 47:29

Uh-huh.

Dylan 47:30

Um, she was actually a live actress who was there on set with them.

SPEAKER_04 47:40

Yeah.

Dylan 47:41

So when he would like riff and like ask it stuff, yeah. And like she just responded to him, yeah. Kind of in the unhelpful AI.

Joe 47:52

Right. Yeah.

Dylan 47:54

Um the reason that the AI was so unhelpful is to sh is to show you how much Grace needed Rocky, yeah. An actual companion who was, you know, who was helpful. Right. So so yeah, super interesting. Yeah. Um the whole ship was built out. Like it was built out on a soundstage.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

Yeah.

Dylan 48:27

And so they had parts of it that could pull away, you know, when they were filming and stuff. Uh-huh. But it gave such a unique perspective that they could go out and just play around with it and just see what shots they could get.

SPEAKER_04 48:45

Yeah.

Dylan 48:46

And so for the Zero G stuff, um, they had Ryan in like a wire harness. Okay. And so, you know, he trying to figure out how to be the clumsy science teacher in space. Yeah. Um, because I guess a lot of um I guess that they had like a str actual astronauts like commenting, putting their input on it about just how difficult it is to move around in zero gravity.

SPEAKER_03 49:20

Yeah.

Dylan 49:20

And so that's why in the movie you see a lot of like ropes tied around the place. Oh. Is is to like for him to pull himself along. Oh. And then like in kind of the uh equipment, there was a lot of duct tape.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

Okay.

Dylan 49:39

So or space tape. Yeah. And so um that was that was a nod to the producer's dad. Oh. Because he said that growing up, um, his dad fixed everything with duct tape. And so the scene where Grace is like pulling all the wires and like the cameras and duct taping everything, yeah. Like was just such an like homage to his dad. Yeah. Because he said that's what it was like growing up. Yeah. You had a problem, you fixed it with duct tape.

Joe 50:15

Yeah. Well, you know. I was it actually duct tape. But I remember when uh in the Polo 13 when they had to build that little like box filter thing, you know, they just had like duct tape.

Dylan 50:30

Yeah, yep, they had it all taped up.

Joe 50:32

Yeah. Who knew? Yeah. Come full circle.

Modern Sci Fi Ranking And Ratings

Dylan 50:38

All right. So, Joe, where would you say that this movie lands for a modern sci-fi?

Joe 50:44

I don't know. I it's because it's not your typical, like, you know, we're gonna fight in space, and you know, it's feels more educational in a way, you know. Uh there's more there's more of a relationship, you know, between people in it and our things. Yeah. Um, you know, yeah, Grace and Grace and Rocky, and and like it starts off as this lone spaceman, yeah, and then it turns into this like almost a buddy comedy. You know, right. It's I think about planes, trains, and at the end, and how they, you know, he goes back to get them with the trunk and he brings them inside the house and stuff. It it kind of has that feel to it, you know, like all we needed was uh some kind of 80s John Hughes soundtrack. Yeah, we would have been there.

Dylan 51:55

Um so when Rocky, you know, when they first start talking back and forth and Rocky introduces himself, um Rocky says his full name, so it's like this long, you know, elaborate sound, yeah, and puts his front, you know, forearms together. Um so he's pretty much saying, like, my name is Rocky of the You know, Northern Rocks, whatever, and like you know, the full thing.

SPEAKER_03 52:38

Yeah.

Dylan 52:39

And on his arms, on his front arms, that's his family crest made out of the rock work.

SPEAKER_03 52:46

Nice, yeah.

Dylan 52:47

Um and then when like Rocky points to his arm and there's like some like shiny, almost like gold on it, that's that's his um mission patch.

SPEAKER_03 53:01

Oh something interesting too.

Dylan 53:07

So when an astronaut goes to space on their um jumpsuit, yeah. I was gonna call it onesie. On the jumpsuit, it has a silver silver wings on it. Then when they return back to Earth, then they get gold wings.

SPEAKER_04 53:28

Oh.

Dylan 53:29

So if you notice in this movie, Grace has gold wings on the jumpsuits.

Joe 53:37

Because he's never gonna return.

Dylan 53:38

Because he's not he's not coming back. Yeah. They wanted to give him full honor. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Oh. You know, with having just watched like Apollo 13 and, you know, talking for a moment about you know the Martian. Um, another one uh, you know, another big space movie is like Interstellar. Yeah. And I feel like this is such a different take on the space adventure. Yep. Like it kind of felt refreshing. Yeah. It's not like the same, you know, three beats that that you hit throughout the, you know.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

Yeah.

Dylan 54:25

Well, Joe, I would have to say for ratings, I would probably give this a nine.

Joe 54:31

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I give it a nine. Yeah.

Dylan 54:38

I mean, I you know, you've seen my movie collection. Yeah. It can fit in the palm of your hand. Yeah. Yeah. But like this was one of those movies that I like I saw it and I'm like, now I have to buy it. Like when it comes out.

SPEAKER_02 54:54

Oh yeah.

Dylan 54:54

Um, you know, I've got the good sound system at my house. Yeah. And uh, so like I'm like, I cannot wait to watch this movie alright. Right.

Joe 55:05

Oh yeah, me too. Um, yeah, up till now, Bradley Cooper was the only one who could make me cry. Now it's Rank Gosling. But I gotta say, like, um, you know, I I joke, but there are a lot of he comes from a lot of talented Disney, you know, actors that came, you know, like Kurt Russell, and you know, there's so many. Um and so to to see him on screen and and you know, the notebook was great, and probably most people have never seen it. So I'll take your word for it. Yeah, we'll cover it sometime. Uh but then um, you know, I think the last I think the last big movie that I did was uh Barbie or something. Yeah, you know, which I didn't see. But you know, so you've seen that? I have not, no.

Dylan 56:04

We'll add it to the list. Would you go see it again in theaters?

Joe 56:11

Yeah, I'm trying to get my wife to go before they pull it because it's just yeah, I it just it was emotional roller coaster in the best way. Yeah, yeah.

Dylan 56:23

Um because you and I went Tuesday to see it, and then I made some of our friends go see it on Saturday. Oh, really? Yeah. So yeah, I was I got my second take there. Nice. So yeah, I not only would I see it again in theaters, I already have. Yeah, nice. Thanks

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Dylan 56:49

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Joe 56:52

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Dylan 56:59

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Joe 57:05

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Dylan 57:10

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