Movie Review: "The Martian"

"The Martian": B+.  Ever since the United States landed a man on the moon in 1969, NASA's next outer space target has been Mars, the fourth rock from the sun.  Even before that, the Red Planet has fascinated science fiction writers and movie makers for decades.  "Is there life on Mars?" is a question which captivated both astronomers and amateur stargazers alike.  Hence the word "Martian" has long been a part of our language.

To date, we have not managed to send a manned mission to Mars, but in 1997 NASA was successful in landing a spacecraft called the Pathfinder on Mars.  It patriotically touched down on the Fourth of July, no less!  One of the devices aboard Pathfinder was a rover dubbed Sojourner, which miraculously sent back images and other priceless data from various locations on Mars over a period of three months before conking out.

Flash ahead to the year 2035, when the movie, The Martian, begins.  A six person crew headed by Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) has been living on and exploring Mars for eighteen "sols," i.e., Martian days, which are roughly a half hour longer than Earth days.  Their mission is called Ares III.  Each of the astronauts has a specialty, such as geology, mechanical engineering, astronomy, flight operations, communications, etc.  While they are all outside their spaceship, Hermes, a tornadic dust storm kicks up, threatening the ability of the docked vertical ship to remain upright.  They scamper back to Hermes, but crew mate Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is missing.  With every precious second ticking, they desperately but unsuccessfully search for Watney.  Debris is flying everywhere, and landslides off the Martian peaks loom.  Signals emitting from Watney's space suit indicate that he is receiving no oxygen, and with responsibility for saving the rest of her crew in mind before it's too late, Lewis orders blast off, leaving the presumably deceased Watney behind.  As they head back toward Earth, the crew is extremely despondent about losing Watney.  Lewis knows she did the right thing, but still feels pangs of guilt.

But rejoice!  Watney lives!  That is the good news, but the bad news is twofold.  First, a long slim metal rod has impaled the astronaut's torso.  After making his way to the "hab" (the crew's large canvas-covered living quarters), he must anesthetize himself and yank out the shaft, then stitch himself up before he bleeds to death.  Director Ridley Scott doesn't turn the cameras away from the blood.  Secondly and obviously, Watney must figure out how to survive for four more years until the next planned manned mission, Ares IV, arrives from Earth.  This is problematic, because Watney concludes after taking inventory that he has only enough food for three hundred Sols, less than one year.  Luckily for the stranded spaceman, his field of expertise is -- wait for it -- botany.  Using manufactured water coupled with fertilizer made partially from the crew's frozen human waste, he soon has an impressive crop of potatoes to ration for himself over the anticipated four year wait for rescue.

What has already been a fast paced movie picks up even more when Mission Control in the US realizes from comparing satellite photos that Watney must be alive.  Certain pieces of equipment seem to have been moved over a period of a few days.  The mission specialists can hardly contain their enthusiasm, but NASA director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) decides to quash publication, mostly on the theory that the Ares III crew will be distracted by such news from their responsibilities during their dangerous and complex return to Earth.  About the same time those developments are occurring on Earth, Watney manages to drive the Hermes rover, still functional after the dust storm, dozens of kilometers to the site of the Sojourner.  Using his mechanical prowess, he is able to salvage and connect certain parts of the Sojourner to his own equipment to establish rudimentary communication with Mission Control personnel.  The excited earthlings truthfully tell him they only recently became aware of his survival.  One of Watney's first reactions is to ask, "What did my crew say when they found out I'm alive?"  Of course, due to Sanders' silence order, the Ares III crew has not been told, and Watney is apprised of this decision.

From there the drama builds.  Is Watney doomed to an indefinitely long life on Mars, or will he perish among the red rocks?  Neither outcome is appealing.  Is returning to Earth out of the question?  With all those rocket scientists at Mission Control, surely someone will come up with something.  Will his crew continue to be kept in the dark or will they figure in the rescue plan?  Even a cold war rival of the United States comes into play.  As Yogi Berra once observed, "It ain't over 'till it's over." The final act is very exciting.

There is a lot of technological interplay going on in the story, much of it explained in the video diary referred to below, but to director Scott's credit he makes it understandable to us laymen without blatantly dumbing it down.  He and producer Mark Huffam collaborated with NASA throughout the project to make sure what the film displayed to the viewers was scientifically accurate.  Thus we are not only entertained, but instructed as well.  When The Martian won a Golden Globe award this week for Best Picture in the "Musical or Comedy" category, many chuckled at that designation.  Yet, there is more humor than you're likely to find in most science fiction scripts.  Some of this is supplied by Watney while he keeps a usually light-hearted video diary in the hab to pass the time and perhaps to serve as his legacy if he perishes.  One of his funniest moments is when he opens the packages of the human waste to use as fertilizer and mocks nearly passing out.  There is also a running joke about Commander Lewis' taste in music.  The only tunes Watney can find in the hab is her collection of '70's disco.  Paul McCartney's Venus And Mars, Elton John's Rocket Man or David Bowie's Space Oddity might have better fit the circumstances.