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'The Martian' a realistic yet exhilarating survival story on the red planet
Extreme survival: Astronaut Mark Watney tries to cultivate Martian soil
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Extreme survival: Astronaut Mark Watney tries to cultivate Martian soil.
The Martian tells a story of a lone astronaut left behind on Mars who tries his hardest to survive against all odds.
After the gloomy father-daughter drama slash time-travel flick Interstellar, audiences can enjoy a more cheerful side of outer-space travel in the latest science fiction blockbuster, The Martian, in which Matt Damon, as a lone astronaut, charmingly cultivate the land and survives on the inhospitable planet of Mars.
Helmed by Ridley Scott, director of 1979's critically-acclaimed seminal sci-fi release Alien, The Martian depicts the ingenuity and curiosity of a human trying to survive in hostile conditions. It starts with a manned mission to Mars, where astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind by his crew following a fierce storm. The crew embark on month-long trip back to the Earth and mourn over Watney's presumed demise.
Watney wakes up and finds himself wounded and stranded on the planet. He rushes to the crew's Martian habitat and single-handedly cures his wound with minimal surgical tools. He then calculates, based on the remaining food, how many sol (a day on Mars) he can survive.
With only enough food to last 400 sols and the next manned mission to Mars being four years away, Watney has no choice but to cultivate the land on Mars. Luckily, he is a botany specialist.
Watney is as tough as Sandra Bullock stranded astronaut character in 2013's Gravity, but unlike her, Watney wastes little time despairing or forlornly thinking about his family.
In fact, he has a blast on Mars. Audiences will laugh at Watney's mocking of the 70's disco tracks left behind by astronaut Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), something that he prefers to listen to rather than the soundless void of the planet.
He transforms the base into a farm, with arid Martian soil fertilized by his own excrement and water, which is produced by burning off hydrazine. The seeds comes from vacuum-packed potatoes intended for Thanksgiving.
The cameras installed on every corner of the base serve as a companion similar to Tom Hanks' friend Wilson in Cast Away, a volleyball with a face daubed in blood. Watney makes a series of video logs to maintain morale and occasionally cracks a few jokes.
'They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially 'colonized' it. So technically, I colonized Mars,' he tells the camera after his potato farming efforts succeed. 'In your face, Neil Armstrong!'
From reviewing satellite photos of Mars, NASA engineers Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) realize that Watney has survived, and swiftly start planning a rescue mission along with NASA chief Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels).
When NASA's initial rescue plan ends in disaster, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return, even the China National Space Agency (CSNA) are willing to declassify a secret space program in order to help him.
Meanwhile, his former crewmates, after being informed of Witney's condition, plot a daring, rebellious rescue mission to recover Watney by changing their spaceship's route.
Matt Damon is perhaps the best actor to play a man left alone on Mars. As Watney, Damon is a good-humored, self-depreciating astronaut who always finds new ways to survive. Thanks to his charming personality, the major screen time dedicated to him alone on Mars never feels tedious.
Adapted from the best-selling novel The Martian by programmer Andy Weir, the film remains faithful to the original storyline. Additionally, scriptwriter Drew Goddard adds more scientific explanations through consultation with NASA, making the film a homage to science nerds.
Maybe in an effort to maintain the storyline, Goddard maintains some scientifically incorrect facts described in the novel.
Due to its low atmospheric pressure, a 'fierce storm' on Mars would only be a very light breeze blowing your hair.
Watney is seen walking around Mars just as he would on Earth (the filming took place in the red colored desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan). However, in reality, his steps would be far lighter as Mars' gravity is 38 percent that of Earth's.
The films gets several other facts right, including the possibility of growing crops on Martian soil, which was proven in a 2014 study.
Despite not having a 100 percent scientifically feasible storyline, The Martian still comes off as a realistic outer-space survival story.
Although it lacks as many white-knuckle moments as Interstellar, The Martian still presents a thrilling space journey that shows the best in humans: their curiosity, wit and tremendous will to survive.
' Photos courtesy of 20th Century FOX
