The Martian (2015)

An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Drew Goddard (screenplay), Andy Weir (book)

Stars:

Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 33 wins & 174 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Mark Watney
Jessica Chastain	...	Melissa Lewis
Kristen Wiig	...	Annie Montrose
Jeff Daniels	...	Teddy Sanders
Michael Peña	...	Rick Martinez
Sean Bean	...	Mitch Henderson
Kate Mara	...	Beth Johanssen
Sebastian Stan	...	Chris Beck
Aksel Hennie	...	Alex Vogel
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Vincent Kapoor
Benedict Wong	...	Bruce Ng
Mackenzie Davis	...	Mindy Park
Donald Glover	...	Rich Purnell
Nick Mohammed	...	Tim Grimes
Shu Chen	...	Zhu Tao

Storyline

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

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Plot Keywords:

left for dead | space habitat | astronaut | nasa | presumed dead | 

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Taglines:

Help is only 140 million miles away

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, injury images, and brief nudity.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

2 October 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Martian 3D

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$108,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$54,308,575 (USA) (2 October 2015)

Gross:

$228,430,993 (USA) (11 March 2016)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, TSG Entertainment, Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min 151 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film makes reference to the Chinese space program, but not to the Russian (and predecessor Soviet) space program. The Chinese space program is in fact a spin off of the Russian one, and uses similar modules to this day. In the book, the only mention of the Soviet space program is an unflattering reference to the "module" that Watney has to use to try and leave Mars and its lack of protection. This is despite the fact that the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin was Russian/Soviet.

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Goofs

When Watney is placing his supplies on the trailer before traveling to the Schiaparelli Crater, his name appears on the back of his helmet, like the helmet that got destroyed in the hab airlock explosion. He could have had a backup that had his name on it, or he could have transferred the nameplate, or he could have repaired his helmet with the face shield from another.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Melissa Lewis: All right team, stay in sight of each other. Let's make NASA proud today.
Rick Martinez: How's it looking over there, Watney?
Mark Watney: Well, you will be happy to hear that in Grid Section 14-28, the particles were predominately coarse but in 29, they're much finer and they should be ideal for chem analysis.
Rick Martinez: Oh, wow. Did everybody hear that? Mark just discovered dirt.
[laughs]
Rick Martinez: Should we alert the media?

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Crazy Credits

During the first half of the ending credits, the names of the cast members (with the exception of Matt Damon) corresponds with their character in the film.

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Connections

Featured in Honest Trailers: The Oscars (2016)

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Soundtracks

HOT STUFF
Written by Pete Bellotte, Keith Forsey and Harold Faltermeyer (as Harold Faltermeier)
Performed by Donna Summer
Courtesy of Island Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Smart, exciting crowd-pleaser

Exceptional sci-fi drama from Ridley Scott about an astronaut (Matt Damon) stranded on Mars and the efforts made to rescue him. As others have pointed out, there's more than a little bit here that reminds you of movies like Apollo 13 and Cast Away (particularly the former). I fail to see how that's a knock on it but it's being presented as such by some. We all come to movies with our own expectations and baggage. I'm not a Scott fanboy expecting him to wow me (his last two films were not great). I just wanted to be entertained and this did the trick. It's a movie aimed at the masses that is smarter than your average movie aimed at the masses. Maybe it's not for all nerds (a quick glance at some of the reviews shows a lot of inane nit-picking from people who seem to have no concept of dramatic license), but I didn't find the movie dumbed-down at all. I also want to say how much I appreciated that this managed to stay remarkably light and positive while still maintaining the tension, proving once again that you don't have to be depressing to be good drama. If you haven't seen The Martian yet, you should. It's a great film with a first-rate cast, good direction, and stellar effects. If you're just looking for a quality movie to entertain you for a while, this should be something you'll enjoy.