#79 Dear Rocky - The Martian

Dear Rocky,

From the moment I saw the preview of The Martian I was engrossed and counted down the days till it came to our cinema. While the rest of our nation watched the AFL Football Grand Final last Saturday, my Dad and I went to see Matt Damon in The Martian.

How ironic that a film with that title is actually a very human film. Human spirit, human connection, human survival instinct, human humour, human nature. The list goes on.

The first observation I made was during the opening scenes of just how at home the astronauts appeared on Mars. I think this speaks to our adaptability, our adjustability as humans, and of course, our evolutionary processes. Granted, they weren't living up there without oxygen, but we could easily see the steps human beings were taking to ultimately cultivate life on another planet - once we completely destroy this one...

Next, Mark (played by Matt Damian = see photo above = HOT!) regains consciousness after being knocked out during a storm and ABANDONED by his crew mates (aka second family). He is about to run out of oxygen and has to do some very quick thinking to get himself to safety. Here we already see his scientific mind at work. Faced with his mortality - and what a harsh way to go! - Mark comes out fighting.

By this stage, we as an audience, have already asked ourselves 67 times, "what would I do if I was left on Mars all alone?"

Mark begins his video recordings. I guess in part this greatly reduces the sense of isolation - talking to someone who may or may not be listening. And here is where Mark's scientific brain really kicks in as he evaluated his very real (except it's a movie) situation and decides to "science the shit out of it". He truly is brilliant. I mean he grows potatoes after creating water and gives himself all sorts of humorous accolades along the way.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, NASA discover Mark is still alive! Doh! And we see the struggle between the desire to cover up a big fat mistake or to create a rescue plan. So much psychology at play - I was loving it!

Finally, thanks to all the genius brains being able to read each other's intentions from different planets, communication is made and Mark knows there is at least a little hope he'll be getting off this planet. His first question is about his crew - how are they now that they know he is alive - as well as reassuring them that it wasn't their fault.

But, the big bad NASA people haven't actually told them yet.

What!

They are returning to Earth on their 19 month long road trip and no-one as let them know their mate is actually alive?

Luckily we have one emotionally intelligent character back on Earth who slips the information into a secret email! And we are on! The crew are planning their return to save their friend (who they must feel incredibly guilty about abandoning!).

There's a whole heap of cool human connection stuff that goes on in here, but this is already the longest blog post I've ever written so I'm going to cut to the important bits.

I loved that Mark would go out on his expeditions every day and still find time to take a mindful moment and sit on the top of a hill and breathe in the vista Mars afforded him "just because I can". I love that!

I adored how his spirit lifted when he was back in touch with his family (the crew), not to mention the lengths they went to, to come back and rescue him. I personally have a very irrational fear of being left in space, floating endlessly until my death, so there were times in this movie where I almost had to leave because of the suspense of those scenes. It was so well done.

This film makes me love science again and I wonder how many kids it will inspire to choose science as a career path. Maybe I could delve into some more study to be able to write some book about space! Ha! Who'd have ever thought I'd do that.

Anyway Rocky, I really loved this film. I'm still thinking about it a week later.

I can't wait to read your review. I want to know where they filmed it!!

Jodie

You can read Rocky's review here!