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 by), Andy Weir (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 39 wins & 189 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:

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

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Taglines:

Bring Him Home

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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.

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Expanse (2015) novel "Babylon's Ashes" makes a casual reference to a Mars-based colony ship named Mark Watney.

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Goofs

In the ending scenes on the control room screen the Ares V stage separation happens not later than T plus 47 seconds. It is too early for the burnout of the first stage. And also the flight time not consistent with the altitude what is appear from the on-board camera.

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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

In the opening credits, the letters of "THE MARTIAN" fade away but as the top of the "T" fades, it then leaves an "I" onscreen for a fraction of a second, reminiscent of Ridley Scott's "Alien," where the letters slowly fade in one at a time.

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Alternate Versions

In June of 2016, an extended cut was released on Blu-Ray and Ultra HD 4K Blu-Ray that adds 10 additional minutes of footage.

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Connections

Referenced in The Question Jury: Episode #2.1 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Starman
Written and Performed by David Bowie
Courtesy of RZO Music

User Reviews

A welcome return to form for Ridley Scott.

The Martian is a science fiction film starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott. I'm a big fan of Ridley Scott's work as a director, but I feel that most of his recent films have been very hit and miss. However, The Martian serves as a firm reminder as to why I am a fan of him in the first place. Not since Interstellar have I seen a sci-fi movie this thought-provoking or cleverly written.

After an intense sandstorm devastates a manned mission to Mars, the crew are forced to abandon the desolate planet and astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead and left stranded. Unbeknownst to the crew, Watney survived, albeit injured from the storm, and tries to find ways to survive the inhospitable climate of the red planet. Being a botanist, Watney figures out how to grow food for himself out of the crew's leftover vegetable supplies and uses his scientific knowledge to create water using hydrogen crystals and oxygen from the crew's base camp. However, these supplies can only sustain him for a matter of months as a rescue mission from Earth will take 4 years to reach him. Watney must find a way to signal back to Earth that he is alive and is in urgent need of rescuing before he runs out of food and water.

Despite its somewhat bleak tone of survival in a hostile terrain, the film still manages to have its fair share of funny and heartwarming moments, which are seamlessly intertwined into the film's more dramatic scenes. Matt Damon is perfectly cast as the wisecracking, yet intelligent astronaut Mark Watney and his positive attitude toward his survival is what keeps us invested in the story. The rest of the cast are great too, which includes Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara, Jessica Chastain, and even Donald Glover from Community. I was also particularly pleased with the film's pacing, there was never a moment that felt rushed or slow and boring. This is a welcome return to form for the legendary director Ridley Scott.

I rate it a solid 9/10.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

UK USA Hungary Jordan

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 USA:

$54,308,575, 4 October 2015

Gross USA:

$228,433,663

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$630,162,235

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, TSG Entertainment, Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min 151 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1 Datasat SDDS Auro 11.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1