Back in March, I wrote that “Project Hail Mary blends science, humor, and heart into a thrilling space adventure as Ryan Gosling faces impossible odds to save humanity.” After watching it again, I still feel the same way about the film.
Watching Project Hail Mary shows just how impressive big science fiction films can be. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller mix science fiction, comedy, drama, action, and adventure so well that no single part takes over. The humor keeps things light when the science gets tricky, the emotional moments add weight to the mission, and the action brings real suspense.
Ryan Gosling delivers a strong performance as Ryland Grace, a scientist who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he arrived. Grace isn’t your typical action hero, and Gosling brings out his awkwardness, fear, humor, and vulnerability. Whether he’s worried about a new problem or excited about a breakthrough, his reactions feel genuine, and his “every man” persona makes you root for him.
But the heart of the film is Grace’s relationship with Rocky. Their friendship turns the story from just a space survival adventure into something much deeper. A lot of the film’s humor and emotion comes from watching them learn to talk to each other, build trust, and share what they know.
Their friendship also highlights one of Andy Weir’s main ideas: progress comes from working together, sharing knowledge, and not giving up even when things seem impossible.
The film delivers everything I look for in great science fiction, especially with its amazing space visuals and sense of scale. While it has big ideas and striking images, it’s the humor, humanity, and friendship that really make it stand out.
Movie Review: 5/5 atoms
Video
Project Hail Mary is available on Ultra HD Blu-ray in native 4K, HEVC/H.265, Dolby Vision/HDR10 presentation with a mix of 2.39:1 and 1.78:1 aspect ratios. Project Hail Mary delivers a beautiful native 4K image that fits the format perfectly. First of all, the contrast really stands out, with the ship displays, stars, and spacecraft lighting shining clearly against the dark space. Highlights look bright and strong but never overexposed, and the black levels are just as impressive. Shadows are deep and realistic, and the darkness outside the ship creates a truly black background without hiding the details in the ship’s darker corridors.
The color saturation is another highlight, with deep reds and rich greens bringing the image to life, especially when Tau Ceti e—nicknamed Adrian—first appears. The background colors pop against the bold red of the spacesuits. The detail is impressive, showing things like Grace’s light stubble and the textures and flaws on Rocky’s surface. I didn’t notice any major artifacts, and the edges look clean without any fake sharpness.
The film used a ‘film out’ process, which means the digital footage was transferred onto real film stock and then scanned back in. This adds a bit of grain, which keeps the image from looking too clean and gives the sharp 4K presentation a nice cinematic feel.
Video Review: 5/5 atoms
Audio
Project Hail Mary is available on Ultra HD Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos or, if Atmos is not supported, a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio presentation. This review will cover the Blu-ray’s Dolby Atmos mix. The Atmos mix for Project Hail Mary focuses on precision rather than just power. The sound panning through the soundscape is dynamic and smooth, and the placement of sounds within the Hail Mary is especially impressive. For instance, alarms, notification pings, mechanical creaks, and Rocky’s movements are all accurately positioned. The ship’s computer voice and the chimes also add a playful sense of direction.
The mix uses the height channels to add nuance to the ship’s setting, where sounds from above create a realistic sense of vertical space without drawing too much attention. The quieter atmospheric effects might be even more effective. The surround channels use echoes, mechanical noises, and ambient sounds to gently wrap around the listener, making you feel like another passenger on the ship.
Daniel Pemberton’s score fills the room but never overpowers the quieter character moments. At the same time, the dialogue always sounds clear and natural, and it never gets drowned out, even during the more chaotic scenes. The bass follows the same approach: the subwoofer adds a satisfying weight to engines, ship movement, and bigger scenes when needed, but never feels overdone.
Audio Review: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
Project Hail Mary has the following bonus features that can be found on the disc:
- Audio Commentary by Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
- Earth’s Favorite Eridian
- Deleted Scenes
- Day 1 Food Paste
- I Think I’m Handling Things Pretty Awesome
- How To Put On A Spacesuit
- You Sleep, I Watch
- Maybe We’re Cousins
Features Assessment
The bonus features may not be extensive, but they give fans a nice behind-the-scenes look and add some enjoyable extra value to the 4K release.
The feature-length commentary stands out as the most in-depth extra. Lord and Miller have great chemistry, making their discussion about adapting Andy Weir’s science-heavy novel, balancing humor and tension, and handling technical and storytelling challenges fun to listen to. They share helpful information in a way that’s easy for anyone to follow, while still giving film fans plenty of behind-the-scenes insight.
The featurette on Earth’s Favorite Eridian runs just under eight minutes and focuses on making Rocky feel real. It covers the different techniques used to create the character, including puppetry, animatronics, and digital effects. It’s interesting to see how many methods went into making Rocky seem believable, especially since the final result never looks like just a visual effect. The only downside is that it’s a bit short—Rocky deserves a longer making-of, so this feels more like a fun introduction than a full behind-the-scenes look.
The disc includes five deleted scenes, totaling just under ten minutes. While these scenes aren’t crucial to the final film, they offer a little more time with Grace and Rocky and are fun to watch after seeing the movie.
Special Features Review: 3/5 atoms
Overall, Project Hail Mary is a fantastic film that, at this point, is still one of my favorites of the year. The video and audio presentations look and sound fabulous, while the special features are a bit lacking.
Overall Review: 4.5/5 atoms
Project Hail Mary is now available in stores on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.
This Blu-ray was provided by Alliance Entertainment for review purposes.
