Noted sci-fi author Andy Weir is very much in the public eye this year because Phil Lord and Christopher Miller adapted his 2021 novel “Project Hail Mary” into one of the best films of the year. Set in the near future, “Project Hail Mary” tells the story of Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) as he takes a prolonged mission into deep space to investigate the health of a distant star. Earth’s own sun is rapidly extinguishing, you see, and Grace needs to find out why this particular distant star isn’t succumbing to the same fate. While investigating, Grace encounters an alien spacecraft that is visiting the distant star for the same reason. He ends up befriending the rock-like alien spider on the inside, nicknaming it Rocky, and working together with it to find vital, world-saving facts.
Andy Weir, while writing about alien life forms and ineffable cosmic threats, is very fond of scientific verisimilitude and pays close attention to the actual physics of space travel. This is evident in “Project Hail Mary” but is especially clear in his 2011 novel “The Martian,” which was adapted into a hit film in 2015 by Ridley Scott. Both works are about shuttle missions in the near future and the realities of life in space.
Weir’s books have attracted considerable positive attention, and the author has, naturally, been asked repeatedly over the years for various book and movie recommendations. Indeed, when “Project Hail Mary” was first published, Weir took to Reddit to engage in an AMA with his many fans. Naturally, people asked him what they should be reading, and also what his favorite sci-fi movie might be. Not surprisingly, Weir selected Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 ultra-hit “Back to the Future.”
Andy Weir, like so many of us, loves Back to the Future
A fan asked Andy Weir a two-for-one question about his favorite sci-fi author and his favorite sci-fi movie. Weir, to the point, said that his favorite author was Isaac Asimov and his favorite movie was “Back to the Future.” He doesn’t elucidate as to why he’s fond of Robert Zemeckis’ movie, but it’s popular enough that many of us have seen it and can easily intuit the reasons.
“Back to the Future” is over 40 years old; some younger readers might not have seen it, so perhaps a brief description is in order. The movie is about a teenager named Marty (Michael J. Fox) who is close friends with a local kooky scientist named Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). And yes, the characters Doc and Marty served as inspiration for the title “Rick and Morty.” Doc Brown, as it happens, has invented a time machine, which he has integrated into a DeLorean sports car. When the time machine travels at 88 miles per hour, it can zip back to a pre-programmed time period. Naturally, an accident leaves Marty traveling back in time to 1955, when his parents (Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson) were still teenagers.
The bulk of the film involves Marty, trapped in the past, trying to get back to the future (in unison, now). He also needs to orchestrate a romance between his parents; otherwise, he will never be born. “Back to the Future” takes a fun approach to causality, but moreso, the script (credited to Zemeckis and Bob Gale) is one of the tightest you’ll ever encounter. Everything is set up, and everything pays off. It’s a broadly satisfying movie.
Other movies and TV shows that Andy Weir recommends
It’s a pity that Andy Weir didn’t delve into “Back to the Future” more, however, as it also possesses a distinct politics that is worthy of discussion. The 1980s were a time of conservative shift in the United States, with Ronald Reagan in office. As such, there are many films of the decade that interrogate the nostalgia of the post-War 1950s, sometimes to lambaste the era, and sometimes to bolster it. “Back to the Future” does little to criticize the 1950s, seeing the decade as a halcyon, loving time of comfort and innocence. It’s worth noting that John Carpenter’s “Christine” was released only two years prior, and that was about a living 1958 Plymouth Fury that wants to murder people in the 1980s.
On the small screen, Weir noted that he was very fond of the biographical miniseries “Death By Lightning,” which was about the presidency of President James A. Garfield. Garfield, as we all know, was shot by Charles Guiteau on July 8, 1881, but he didn’t actually die until September 19. “Death By Lightning” recalls the horrendous medical experiments that were conducted on Garfield after his assassination attempt that ultimately led to his death by sepsis. Ouch indeed.
/Film has previously discussed Weir’s film recommendations, and in addition to “Back to the Future,” he encouraged everyone to watch Ron Howard’s 1995 biographical space movie “Apollo 13,” about the failed Apollo 13 mission to the moon. That film stars Tom Hanks. And, pairing Tom Hanks with Robert Zemeckis, Andy Weir also recommended the 2000 film “Cast Away,” a movie about Hanks surviving on a desert island for several years. It’s no wonder the author of the survival tale “The Martian” would like “Cast Away.”
