B2K At The Movies: The Martian

It’s November 2035, and NASA has sent 6 astronauts to Mars on an Ares III space mission.  On Sol 18 (the 18th day of the mission) a severe storm terrorized the mission, but not before it knocked Botanist Mark Watley yards away.  The crew couldn’t find his body in the storm, and their escape from the storm was to be in danger, so the commander decided that Watley was most likely dead and had to save the rest of her crew.  When the storm passes, Mark Watley wakes up only to find himself alone on the red planet with limited food, water, and resources.  NASA learns that Watley is NOT dead and has to find a way to bring him back before he dies for real this time.

This is one of those movies where I can’t really say too much or I’m going to end up giving something away.  I’ll say that this is not the same movie as “Interstellar” where Matt Damon was stranded in space and they rescue him.  Nope.  Not the same.  This one is a little more involved and had a “Aliens” feel to it.  Which it should since it was directed by Ridley Scott.  Mr. Scott knows how to make space movies.  That’s for sure.  We spend the movie watching Mark Watley (Matt Damon) try to survive on only 31 days of food that has to last him 900+ sols (which is 900+ days).  And we watch as NASA has to figure out how to make the rescue mission shorter so Watley doesn’t die.  

I’ll admit it….I was all weepy at the end.  I was up and applauding and “hell yeah!” all over the place.  It’s a great Friday night movie with the gang.  And, trust me, it will play all Friday night since it’s well over 2 hours long.  Matt Damon (and the rest of the cast) play their roles well.  I genuinely felt like I was in space the entire time and was happy to be back on Earth.  I’ll also note that education is important in today’s society since you can’t be a dumbass when you’re stuck on a planet alone.  It pays to be smart.  REAL smart.  If it were me on Mars and I got stranded….you might as well kill me.  I would never have made it.  

Great movie!  This is well worth the rent.  Tim and I paid the $15 to buy it to add to our Amazon collection.  This is a movie we’ll be watching again.