Based on Andy
Weir's best-selling 2011 novel and released in 2015, The Martian is
about astronaut Mark Watney's (Matt Damon) efforts to stay alive after being
presumed dead and abandoned following a gigantic storm on Mars.
Watney uses
his science knowledge to survive, knowing he has four Earth years (each day is
a "sol") before Aries IV arrives. Thank God for the human waste the Aries III Marsonauts saved. With it,
soil is produced and he grows potatoes for seed and food.
Meanwhile,
NASA receives satellite pictures showing movement of Mars base camp elements.
The discovery starts a public shit storm back on Earth. Led by agency director
Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels), NASA tries to read Mark's mind and figure out
what he's doing.
Communications
are facilitated when Mark finds the 1997 Mars rover, Pathfinder, and
turns on its still camera. It's a very emotional moment when they exchange
their first messages, a moment that I fully appreciated and shared. And I fully
understand how his returning Aries III
crew feels when they are finally advised two months later — simultaneously
offended and dismayed.
Problems do
arise, but thank God for duct tape and the Chinese. The conclusion is tense and
emotional; I loved the book with its twists and turns, and I love the movie for
the same reasons. Plus, the '70s songs in the soundtrack are relevant and are there
for a reason. Not to mention that there's real science involved in his survival story.
~ "Good
thing I'm a botanist. Mars will come to fear my botany powers." ~ Mark
Watney (Matt Damon)
3 comments:
Having read the book, I can tell you it kept me turning one page after the other. I was a little disappointed in the end. (No spoiler here for those who have not read the book nor seen the movie.) I mean . . . I really liked the book, I guess I just expected a little more at the end. After "everything" I felt it ended a bit too abruptly. A comedy it was not. Just a darned good book and I hope to find time to see the movie.
It's on Amazon Prime, I believe, and/on Hulu, if you subscribe. The ending is much more tense in the movie than I expected it to be.
No spoiler，PLZ
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