Potatoes.
For 551 sols, approximately 565 days, this was Mark Watney’s diet. After being stranded by his crew on Mars, astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, must survive by engineering his food supply and communications with Earth to stay alive. All the while, on Earth, NASA scrambles to find solutions to bring the marooned astronaut home.
My own interest in this movie stems from first reading Andy Weir’s book, The Martian, this summer. Weir’s novel got me interested in Mars, and, as my favorite book, it solidified my plan of studying engineering in college. Using a diary format to convey Watney’s personal ordeal, Weir does a great job of convincing readers with intricate details about the engineering process of diagnosing problems and solving them. In the movie, this detail for true geeks is not as apparent, so I highly recommend reading the book as a supplement to the movie. In fact, there are some major details that are kind of brushed over in the montage of when he prepares his rover for travel.
However, the less detail-oriented approach to the film makes sense, as it is intended to reach a broad audience. I think overall the film captures the essence of engineering at its finest for the general public to appreciate. As a propaganda film for NASA, this essence represents STEM fields well, displaying botany, chemistry, orbital mechanics, intricate machinery, and rapid problem solving. It certainly caught my attention by representing rocketry and specialized planetary technology in exciting ways. For those who are more interested in the emotional experience of the film, The Martian is also packed with drama in its beginning and end, although it does seem to drag on a little bit at 144 minutes long.
Something interesting to think about is that this movie is not far off from reality right now. First of all, most of the science in the film is 100% correct, save a few details at the end. Second, we basically have all of the technology needed to get there, with a new NASA rocket being developed, called the Space Launch System. Also, a sort of race has developed between SpaceX (plus other related options) and Nasa for who can set foot on Mars first. Most likely, humans will reach Mars by 2035, if not five or so years earlier.
Finally, the special effects, animation, and props all contributed to a realistic experience that puts the viewer on Mars’ desolate surface. In addition, the acting was actually very good, which you don’t see often with space movies.
My two main complaints about the movie are that the details were lacking and the last scene was just tacked on the end to make it a true Hollywood production. One of my favorite aspects of the movie is how it emphasizes how nothing is impossible when accompanied by the tenacious human spirit. Overall, the movie was a thrill ride showcasing an accurate representation of physics with a lot of NASA plugs in it (in a good way). So if you like Apollo 13 or Castaway, you might like to see The Martian.
