The Martian
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	Simon Kinberg Ridley Scott Aditya Sood Michael Schaefer Mark Huffam
Screenplay by	Drew Goddard
Based on	The Martian  by Andy Weir
Starring	Matt Damon Jessica Chastain Kristen Wiig Jeff Daniels Michael Peña Kate Mara Sean Bean Sebastian Stan Aksel Hennie Chiwetel Ejiofor
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography	Dariusz Wolski
Edited by	Pietro Scalia
Production companies	Scott Free Productions Kinberg Genre
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11) (TIFF) October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02) (United States)
Running time	141 minutes[1]
Country	United States[2]
Language	English
Budget	$108 million[3]
Box office	$435.6 million[4]

The Martian is a 2015 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film is based on Andy Weir's 2011 novel The Martian, which was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Damon stars as an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on Mars, and who then fights to survive. The film also features Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor in supporting roles.

Producer Simon Kinberg began developing the film after 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013. Drew Goddard adapted the novel into a screenplay and was initially attached to direct, but the film did not move forward. Scott replaced Goddard, and with Damon in place as the main character, production was green-lit. Filming began in November 2014 and lasted approximately 70 days. Around 20 sets were built on a sound stage in Budapest, Hungary, one of the largest in the world. Wadi Rum in Jordan was also used as a practical backdrop for filming.

The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015. 20th Century Fox released the film in theaters in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2015, and in the United States on October 2, 2015. The film was released in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX.^[5] The film has grossed over $430 million worldwide.

Plot[edit]

In the 2030s, the crew of Ares III, a manned mission to Mars, has established a temporary artificial habitat, called the Hab, on Mars, where they are to stay for thirty-one Martian days, or sols, and depart back to Earth in their orbital probe. Six sols into the Mars mission, however, the crew is forced to abandon the planet to escape a massive Martian storm rather than risk their launch vehicle collapsing. While evacuating, astronaut Mark Watney is lost and presumed dead as his biomonitor is damaged. With the lives of her crew at stake, mission commander Melissa Lewis is forced to leave the planet rather than risk the launch vehicle collapsing, leaving Watney behind.

Watney is unable to contact NASA, and presumed dead by the crew and mission control. However, Watney awakes to the sound of a low oxygen warning and makes his way back to the Hab, though injured. After performing self-surgery to remove a piece of antenna wire impaled in his stomach, Watney speculates the broken wire is what damaged his biomonitor and is the cause of the communication failure; while the coagulation of blood and the wire itself kept the suit sealed and pressurized. After calculating that he has 300 days of food, he uses his knowledge as a botanist to make a makeshift organic potato farm using the central room of the Hab, anticipating that he will need to survive for at least three years and journey to the landing site of Ares IV (around 1480 days), which already has some of its infrastructure on Mars. He keeps a series of video logs to maintain morale and begins to modify the habitat's rover to make it capable of long journeys.

While reviewing satellite photos of Mars, Mars mission director Vincent Kapoor and satellite planner Mindy Park realize that Watney has survived, and immediately start planning to establish contact. Mitch Henderson, the Hermes flight director, immediately assumes the Ares III crew, who are currently traveling back to Earth aboard the spacecraft Hermes, will be informed of the survival of their crewmate. However, NASA director Teddy Sanders believes the crew must instead focus on their own mission, especially since NASA has no viable rescue plan in place at the time. Watney locates the Pathfinder probe, defunct since 1997, and uses it to regain contact with Earth. Watney and the JPL team use the Pathfinder's camera and signs showing the hexadecimal alphabet using the ASCII code to improve efficiency of communications. Later on, using instructions from NASA, Watney modifies his rover to be able to send and receive text messages from NASA.

As Watney continues to grow his crop, Henderson and JPL director Bruce Ng formulate a plan to send a space probe to Mars and resupply Watney with enough food to allow him to survive until Ares IV can reach him. As the launch date approaches, an increasingly optimistic Sanders authorizes them to tell the crew, and they are informed in a video message from Henderson. After being told the launch window will run out before inspections can be completed, Sanders makes the decision to skip inspections to save time and hope for the best. This decision backfires when the probe explodes shortly after liftoff. Watney suffers his own disaster when the airlock on the habitat explosively decompresses, killing his potatoes and reducing his projected supply of food.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) offers NASA a lifeline: a classified booster that can carry a payload to Mars. Rich Purnell, a JPL astrodynamicist, discovers a method of rescuing Watney using the booster and the Hermes, postponing their return to Earth. They can send the rocket to Mars, arriving barely in time to resupply Watney, or instead use the rocket to resupply the Hermes so that the Ares III crew can return to Mars and recover Watney. Sanders insists on sending the probe to resupply Watney. Someone (presumably Henderson or Purnell) sends the Hermes crew the necessary calculations to put them on the gravitational slingshot back to Mars. Lewis and her crew vote unanimously to rescue Watney themselves. NASA successfully resupplies the Hermes and Lewis's crew begins the return journey.

After 459 days, Watney leaves the Hab for the final time and begins the journey of more than 3200 km in his modified rover to reach the Schiaparelli crater, the site of the base for the "Ares IV" mission. He arrives with all his key life support systems in tow 90 days later. Following instructions from Kapoor, he strips the Ares IV launch vehicle (placed on Mars in advance of the Ares IV mission) down to save weight, using his spacesuit to protect against the vacuum of space. As Lewis and the crew of the Hermes orbit Mars, they launch the Ares IV vehicle remotely, intending to intercept Watney in space. When Watney's vehicle fails to achieve the altitude needed to be intercepted, Vogel improvises an explosive device to slow the Hermes down without wasting fuel by rupturing an airlock to release the ship's atmosphere and generate thrust. Still too far away, Watney pierces the glove of his pressure suit, using his escaping oxygen as a miniature thruster, in order to come close enough for Lewis to catch him in her MMU.

After returning to Earth, Watney begins "Day One" of his new life, taking a position with NASA as a survival instructor for new candidates to the astronaut training program, emphasizing his own experiences in problem-solving and creative engineering in worst-case scenario. The film ends as the Ares III crew members watch the news about the successful launch of the Ares V (not Ares IV) space vehicle, with Martinez as part of the new crew.

Cast[edit]

Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain star as Mark Watney and Melissa Lewis respectively

Chastain prepared for her role by meeting with astronauts and scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. She was inspired by astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, saying "She's very matter of fact, very straightforward. My character is dealing with the guilt of leaving a crew member behind, but she's still responsible for the lives of five other crew mates. I tried to play her as Tracy would have been in those moments."^[6]

Damon did not prepare as Chastain did. Instead, "For me the rehearsal process was sitting with Ridley and going kind of line-by-line and moment-by-moment through the script and playing out a plan of attack for what we wanted each scene to accomplish."^[7]

The Media Action Network For Asian-Americans criticized the casting of white actor Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park, who was assumed to be of Korean-American descent in the novel. The group also criticized the casting of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor, who was assumed to be of Indian descent with the novel naming him Venkat Kapoor and revealing his Hindu background. The group called the casting whitewashing and said Asian actors, being under-represented in Hollywood, were deprived of acting opportunities.^[8] Author Andy Weir said in October 2015 he perceived Mindy Park as Korean but said he did not explicitly write her as Korean. He also dismissed criticism of Ejiofor's casting as Kapoor, "He's an American. Americans come from lots of different sources. You can be Venkat Kapoor and black."^[9] The previous May, Weir said he gave characters demographically different names so readers could tell them apart without prompting, "You don't have the face on-screen or voice being heard to remind the audience who's who. They need to know it immediately from the name... You’ll find I pulled the same trick with the NASA characters: Teddy (white guy who is in charge), Mitch (white guy who isn’t in charge), Venkat (Indian), Annie (white woman), Mindy Park (Korean woman), Rich Purnell (African American)."^[10]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

The Martian was directed by Ridley Scott and based on a screenplay by Drew Goddard that was adapted from Andy Weir's 2011 novel The Martian. The studio 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013, and producer Simon Kinberg was attached to develop the novel into a film.^[11] In the following May, Goddard entered negotiations with the studio to write and direct The Martian.^[12] Goddard wrote a screenplay for the film,^[13] and Matt Damon expressed interest in starring under Goddard's direction. Goddard then pursued an opportunity to direct Sinister Six, a comic book film about a team of supervillains.^[14] Kinberg then brought the book to Ridley Scott's attention.^[15] In May 2014, Scott entered negotiations with the studio to direct the film with Damon cast as the film's stranded astronaut.^[16] Scott said he was attracted by the emphasis on science and thought a balance could be struck between entertainment and learning. Damon said he was attracted by the novel, the screenplay and the opportunity to work with Scott.^[17] Following Scott's commitment, the project picked up the pace and was quickly green-lighted.^[18]

Filming[edit]

Wadi Rum in Jordan was a practical backdrop for Mars in filming The Martian

Korda Studios outside Budapest, Hungary was chosen for filming interior scenes of The Martian; it was favored for having one of the largest sound stages in the world.^[19][20] Filming began in Hungary on November 24, 2014.^[21] Ridley Scott chose to film The Martian with 3D cameras.^[7] Around 20 sets were constructed for The Martian (where 70 were built for Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings and over 100 for American Gangster).^[20] Actual potatoes were grown in a sound stage next to the one used for filming. They were planted at different times so that different stages of growth could be shown in film scenes.^[22] A team of six people built 15 suits for the film. A practical backdrop for Mars was filmed in Wadi Rum, which is a UNESCO world heritage site located in Jordan.^[20][23] Wadi Rum had been used as a location for other films set on Mars, including Mission to Mars (2000), Red Planet (2000), and The Last Days on Mars (2013).^[24] Filming lasted approximately 70 days.^[20] A special Mars rover model was built for the filming; the movie cast and team presented the rover model to Jordan in return for the hospitality they had received. The rover is now exhibited in Jordan's Royal Automobile Museum.^[25][26]

Andy Weir avoided writing Watney as lonely and depressed in his novel. While Watney's humor is preserved in the film, Scott also depicted the character's isolation in the vast, dusty Martian landscape. Damon said he and Scott were inspired by the 2003 documentary film Touching the Void, which featured trapped mountain climbers.^[27] Scott also expected to film Watney as a Robinson Crusoe, a character in full isolation, but learned to film Watney differently since the character would be self-monitoring his behavior under the watch of various mission cameras.^[22]

NASA involvement[edit]

Damon while making hand prints in cement at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is accompanied by Jim Erickson (left) and Andrew J. Feustel (right).

When the novel was first published, NASA invited Andy Weir to tour the Johnson Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When Ridley Scott began preparing the film, Weir contacted NASA to collaborate on the film.^[28] When Scott and producer Mark Huffam had their first production meeting, they called NASA and spoke with its film and television liaison Bert Ulrich.^[29] NASA decided to assist the filmmakers with depicting the science and technology in The Martian since it saw potential in promoting space exploration.^[28] Key NASA staff members that joined the partnership were James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, and Dave Lavery, the Program Executive for Solar System Exploration.^[29] Scott conversed with Green twice before filming started. Over a period of a month, NASA answered hundreds of questions—on a weekly basis—on everything from radioisotope systems to the look of potential "habs"—the residences for future Mars astronauts. The questions were answered by Green or passed on to the right expert, and then came back to Scott's team to make their way into the production.^[30][31] The space agency also sent hundreds of files of real images of Mars and images of control centers, down to what the computer screens look like, to the production team.^[32] Green arranged a tour of the Johnson Space Center for production designer Arthur Max, who met with individual specialists, taking hundreds of photos as he went for eight hours.^[32][30] The production designers created a futuristic, heavily modernised Mission Control as a studio set; Ars Technica described its depiction as "the space agency that we all dream of" and the opposite of the real Johnson Centre's appearance as "a run down college campus."^[33]

Newsweek said NASA collaborated more with The Martian than most other films, "Staff from many NASA departments consulted on the film, from script development through principal photography, and are now helping with marketing timed to the theatrical release."^[29] As part of the collaboration, the production's NASA liaison included the front page of the script for The Martian in the payload of the spacecraft Orion during its Exploration Flight Test 1 on December 5, 2014.^[34]

The Los Angeles Times said NASA and the wider scientific community anticipated the film as a way to publicize a human mission to Mars. The New York Times reports that the film "serves as a nice plug for NASA, which has returned the favor by pushing the movie on its website. (On Monday [September 28, 2015], scientists announced that signs of liquid water could be seen in photographs taken on Mars by a camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,^[35][36] timing that suggests NASA certainly has the whole cross-promotion thing down.)".^[37] Jim Erickson, NASA project manager, said the film would show moviegoers "the risks and rewards" of humans traveling to Mars.^[38]

In October 2015, NASA presented a new web tool to follow Watney's trek across Mars,^[39] and details of NASA's next steps, as well as a health hazards report,^[40][41] for a real-world human journey to Mars.^[42][43][44]

Music[edit]

Harry Gregson-Williams composed the score for The Martian. It is the fourth collaboration between Gregson-Williams and Scott. Williams previously worked on music for Scott's films Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Prometheus (2012) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).^[45]

A running gag in the film is mission commander Melissa Lewis's love for 1970s songs (especially of the disco genre), which are the only music available to Watney on Mars and often appear as diegetic music. Non-original songs featured in the film include:^[46]

• "Turn the Beat Around" by Vicki Sue Robinson
• "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer
• "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation
• "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston
• "Starman" by David Bowie
• "Waterloo" by ABBA
• "Love Train" by The O'Jays
• "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor (end credits)

Marketing[edit]

Studio 20th Century Fox launched a viral marketing campaign for The Martian.^[47] On June 7, 2015, NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino shared via Twitter an in-universe video diary depicting Matt Damon's character and the other crew members.^[48][49] Ars Technica compared the video diary to similar viral videos marketed for Ridley Scott's 2012 film Prometheus in having a similar "style of slickly produced fictional promotional material". The studio then released an official trailer on June 8.^[50] Forbes said, "20th Century Fox has cut together a pretty perfect trailer in that it absolutely makes the sale. It establishes the stakes, offers a sympathetic lead character, shows off an all-star cast, tosses out a potential catchphrase, and ends on a grimly humorous tagline."^[51] In response to the trailer, Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, released a spoof trailer The Mastronaut: Emission to Mars that edited the original to parody the film.^[52]

As a part of promotional cooperation from NASA, the space agency screened The Martian at the International Space Station on September 19, 2015.

At the start of August, Fox released another video, depicting interviews with each of the main crew members.^[53] Mid-month, the studio released another film trailer, and NASA hosted a "Martian Day" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to both promote The Martian and highlight the space program's ongoing efforts to carry out a human mission to Mars.^[31] At the end of August, Fox released another video, presenting it as a special episode of the TV show StarTalk in which astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the hazards of traveling to Mars.^[54] In September, Ridley Scott's RSA Films released a teaser for The Martian that depicted Matt Damon wearing Under Armour sports clothing and being active in his off-world tasks.^[55] The teaser originated from a collaboration between RSA Films and the marketing shop 3AM (under theatrical advertising agency Wild Card), initiated in 2014, to produce advertising content for The Martian. RSA contacted the advertising agency Droga5, under whom Under Armour is a client.^[56] Droga5 ultimately collaborated with WME and 3AM to produce the teaser.^[55]

Forbes‍ '​s Peter Himler said American astronauts had traditionally been used by public relations to promote commercial products, starting with the drink Tang. Himler said it "came as no surprise" that NASA astronauts in the International Space Station were reported by The Guardian and CBS News as having read Weir's novel and hoping to see the film on board the ISS.^[57] NASA participated in the marketing of the film despite its lack of involvement with previous films. Though it turned down a request for Interstellar to be screened on the ISS,^[32] The Martian was screened on board^[58] 402 km (250 miles) above the Earth's surface on September 19, 2015, and also at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on October 1, 2015.^[32]

Release[edit]

Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Bozán Barroso at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

The Martian premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015.^[2] The film screened in a sneak preview at the New York Film Festival on September 27, 2015.^[59] It also screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas on September 29, 2015.^[60][61]

Box office forecast[edit]

Two months before The Martian‍ '​s release, BoxOffice forecast that the film would gross $46 million on its opening weekend in the United States and ultimately $172 million in its theatrical run in the U.S. The magazine said positive factors for its performance included the continued sales of Andy Weir's novel, Ridley Scott's success with past science fiction films, and the positive reception of prior space-based films Gravity (2013) and Interstellar (2014). The magazine said negative factors included Matt Damon not being a consistent draw at the box office, Gravity and Interstellar setting high expectations, and Ridley Scott's "stumble" with his previous film Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).^[62] A week before the film's release, pre-release trackings in North America (United States and Canada) showed that the film was on pace to earn between $40—50 million in its opening weekend from 3,826 theaters.^[63]

In comparison to other contemporary space films, Gravity, facing far less competition, opened to a better-than-expected $55.8 million in 2013. In November 2014, Interstellar debuted to $47.5 million.^[63] Unlike Gravity and Interstellar, which had the benefit of IMAX locations, boosting profits, The Martian was not initially playing in IMAX, since IMAX has instead been committed to an exclusive run of Robert Zemeckis' The Walk. The Martian is playing in more than 350 premium large-format theaters including 2,550 3D locations.^[63][64] Also, the film was released several days after the announcement of NASA's discovery of water on Mars' planetary surface,^[35][36] which might have aided in boosting its opening.^[65] Ticket selling website Fandango reported that the film was outselling Gravity.^[65] Unlike Gravity, The Martian does not contain abundant 3D spectacle and is an hour longer than Gravity which means fewer showtimes.^[66]

Theatrical run[edit]

As of November 3, 2015^[update], The Martian has grossed $185.7 million in North America and $248.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $434.5 million, against a budget of $108 million.^[4]

The film was released in theaters in 2D and 3D.^[67] In the United Kingdom, it was released on September 30, 2015, a Wednesday,^[68] and in the United States on the following Friday, October 2, 2015.^[69] It was also released in 49 markets including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan from the weekend October 2—4, 2015 and expanded to Germany, Russia, and South Korea the following weekend. It opened in Spain on October 16, then France on October 21. China will open on November 25 and Japan will bow in the first quarter next year on February 5.^[70][71] Various sites estimated the film to gross between $45 million and $50 million over its opening weekend in the U.S.^[72] CinemaScore polled sample audiences, who gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Audience demographics were 54% men and 59% over 35.^[73]

In the United States and Canada, it opened on Friday, October 2, 2015 and earned $18.06 million on its opening day of which $2 million came from premium large formats from 3,831 theaters.^[74][75] The film's Friday gross included a $2.5 million from late-night Thursday screenings that took place in 2,800 theaters.^[76] During its opening weekend, it earned $54.3 million from 3,831 theaters ranking first at the box office which is the second biggest October opening (behind Gravity) and the second biggest for Scott (behind Hannibal) and Damon (behind The Bourne Ultimatum). The film made $6 million at 375 premium large format screens.^[77] 3D accounted for 45% of the ticket sales while RealD 3D accounted for 42% or $23 million of that sales which is the highest for the 3D company in 2015.^[77] The film fell short of breaking Gravity‍ '​s record which might have been hurt by Hurricane Joaquin, the NFL season and the last day of the Major League Baseball regular season.^[77] In its second weekend of release, it dropped gradually by 31.9% and earned $37 million from 3,854 theaters (+23 theaters) maintaining the top position. The Martian‍ '​s demographics in its sophomore weekend remained in sync with its opening frame drawing 52% males and 72% over 25.^[78] It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends before being dethroned by Goosebumps in its third weekend after a close race between the two.^[79][80] It returned to the top of the box office for the third time in its fourth weekend,^[81] and went on the top the box office for four non-consecutive weekends.^[82]

Internationally, The Martian will be released in a total of 81 countries.^[83] Outside North America, it opened on the same weekend in 54 markets and grossed $44.6 million from 9,299 screens topping the international box office as well as opening at No. 1 in over 15 markets.^[70] The following weekend, it added 23 more markets and grossed an estimated $57.5 million from 77 markets from 12,859 screens.^[83] Its opening weekends in South Korea ($12.5 million)^{[nb 1]} the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($10.2 million), Russia and the CIS ($7.4 million), France ($6.9 million), Australia ($4.5 million) and Germany ($4.3 million; behind Inside Out) represented its largest takings.^[70][83][85] In terms of total earnings, the United Kingdom ($33.3 million), South Korea ($31.2 million) and Australia ($16.57 million) are the top markets.^[86] In South Korea, it is Fox's third highest-grossing film ever behind Avatar and Kingsman: The Secret Service.^[86] It topped the box office outside of North America for two consecutive weekends before being overtaken by Ant-Man in its third weekend^[87] but returned to the top in its fourth weekend.^[85] In its fifth weekend, it was surpassed by Spectre thereby topping the international box office for three weekends in total.^[86]There are two more major markets to come: China (November 25, 2015) and Japan (February 5, 2016).^[83]

For the US, the film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2015, but 20th Century Fox switched The Martian with Victor Frankenstein, so the former would be its first film for all audiences in the country's autumn season (September – November).^[88] On the film's 3D screenings, RealD's chief Anthony Marcoly said 3D technology was proliferating from action-packed blockbuster films commonly released in the United States' summer season. Marcoly said the technology was being used in more immersive storytelling, citing late 2015's The Martian and The Walk as two examples.^[67]

Critical response[edit]

The Martian received many positive reviews when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[89] Variety said, "Critics are calling the film a funny, thrilling ride, and a return to form for [Ridley] Scott after The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings fell flat."^[90] Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregation website, said critics found Ridley Scott "examining more hopeful territory" in The Martian than in past films, "The result is an awe-inspiring adventure that explores vast ideas while staying grounded in very human emotional territory." Critics commended the visual effects, the scientific accuracy, and the film's likability largely due to Matt Damon's performance.^[91] The website, which categorizes reviews as positive or negative, surveyed 261 critics and determined that 93% of the reviews were positive with a rating average of 7.9 out of 10.^[92] The similar website Metacritic surveyed 46 critics and assessed 40 reviews as positive and 6 as mixed. It gave an aggregate score of 80 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[93]

According to Robert Zubrin, commenting in The Guardian, "[the film] is the first genuine Mars movie. It is the first movie that attempts to be realistic and that is actually about human beings grappling with the problems of exploring Mars, as opposed to various movies set on Mars that are essentially either shoot ’em ups or horror films. It does not engage in fantasy: no monsters, no magic, no Nazis. However, there are a number of technical mistakes."^[94]

Writing for the New York Post, Lou Lumenick considered the film to be Scott's and Damon's best and felt that it is a "straightforward and thrilling survival-and-rescue adventure, without the metaphysical and emotional trappings of Interstellar."^[95] Manohla Dargis, of The New York Times, stated that the film, "involves a dual journey into outer and inner space, a trip that takes you into that immensity called the universe and deep into the equally vast landscape of a single consciousness. For this accidental castaway, space is the place where he’s physically marooned, but also where his mind is set free", from a film director, whose "great, persistent theme is what it means to be human".^[37] Another positive review came from Steve Pulaski of Influx Magazine, who gave the film a B and stated, "Above all, this is a film destined to please a crowd; in addition, it also keeps its pathos down considerably, doesn't do a whole lot of pandering to a crowd anxious to see action, and never loses sight of its deeply human and remarkable story."^[96]

Scientific accuracy[edit]

James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, worked as an adviser for the film.^[97]

When Andy Weir wrote the novel The Martian, he strove to present the science correctly and used reader feedback to get it right.^[98] When Ridley Scott began directing the film, he also sought to make it realistic and received help from James L. Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA. Green put together teams to answer scientific questions that Scott asked.^[99] Green said, "The Martian is reasonably realistic," though he said the film's hazardous dust storm, despite reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h) would in reality have weak force.^[100] Green also found the NASA buildings in the film to be more stylish than the functional ones NASA actually uses.^[101] Film critics picked up the point that the Martian winds could amount to "barely a light breeze" in their reviews,^[102][103] and screenwriter Drew Goddard agreed the winds had to be considerably exaggerated in order to set up the situation that sets the story in motion.^{[104][105][106]}

The process used by the character Watney to produce water was accurate and is being used by NASA for a planned Martian rover. The radioisotope thermoelectric generator was also appropriately used for heat.^[98] When his rations begin to run low, Watney builds an improvised garden using Martian soil and the crew's feces as a fertilizer. "We could probably grow something on Mars," says Dr. Michael Shara, curator, Department of Astrophysics, Division of Physical Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History.^[107] It is also thought possible that microbial organisms could potentially live on Mars. In one scene, the glass face shield on Watney's helmet cracks; as oxygen momentarily drops below the critical level, he quickly patches the helmet with tape and avoids suffocation. According to Shara, "As long as the pressure on the inside is around 30 percent, you could hold it together before your eyes blow out or you had an embolism."^[107]

While Martian gravity is less than 40% of Earth's, director Ridley Scott chose not to depict the gravitational difference, finding the effort less worthwhile to put on screen than zero gravity.^[28] Scott said the heavy spacesuits would weigh the main character enough to make up for not showing the partial gravity.^[38] The climate on Mars is also cold enough that it would make Watney's initial plan to disable the rover's heater immediately impractical. The average temperature is −80 °F (−62 °C); it is cold enough on Mars for carbon dioxide snow to fall at the poles in winter.^[107]

Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, said, "What this story does really well is imagine a near-future scenario that doesn't push too far of where we are today technically."^[38] British physicist Brian Cox said, "The Martian is the best advert for a career in engineering I've ever seen."^[108]

See also[edit]

• List of films set on Mars
• Robinsonade
• Survival film

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

	Film portal
	Mars portal
	Speculative fiction portal

• Official website
• The Martian at the Internet Movie Database
• The Martian at Box Office Mojo
• The Martian at Metacritic
• The Martian at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Martian - Mark Watney's trek across Mars at NASA
• The Martian - Nine real NASA technologies at NASA