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Science & environment
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The Martian review: the only man on the planet

No one is going to save you if you don’t save yourself.

The Martian: Mark Watney (Matt Damon) was left alone on Mars and he was the only person on the planet.
The Martian: Mark Watney (Matt Damon) was left alone on Mars and he was the only person on the planet. (Credit to 20th Century Fox)

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Running time: 141  minites

Rating : 4/5

After Saving Private Ryan and Interstellar, it is the third time Matt Damon was lost and waited for rescue. But this time it is a more difficult task to achieve than ever. Mark Watney (Matt Damon), a NASA astronaut was presumed dead after a nasty storm hit Mars where Mark and his crew were working on. Other five crewmembers hated to leave him dead on a completely hostile planet but have to go back on mission and head back to the earth.

A fierce storm hit the Mars, Mark Watney was left behind by his fellow crewmembers because they thought he was dead. (Credit to 20th Century Fox)
A fierce storm hit the Mars, Mark Watney was left behind by his fellow crewmembers because they thought he was dead. (Credit to 20th Century Fox)

There is nothing worse than that – when everybody is convinced you were dead, what does it matter even you still have a strong will to survive which can’t be achieved without other’s help. Every single necessity, water, oxygen, food is meager, Mark is forced to tighten his belt, yet he never thinks about giving up.

All the 538 Martian solar days he spent on Mars alone, nearly a year and a half, Mark has to figure out how can he survive by creating water and farming potatoes in feces meanwhile entertaining himself with some old fashioned disco music and camera.

"The greatest botanist" Mark is growing potatoes in human feces to deal with the shortage of food supply in the Mars. (Credit to 20th Century Fox)
“The greatest botanist” Mark is growing potatoes in human feces to deal with the shortage of food supply on Mars. (Credit to 20th Century Fox)

Loneliness eats people, but how lonely can a human being be? The film doesn’t tell us and the audience would be so much glad it doesn’t because the biggest difference between Martian and other typical American blockbusters is that it doesn’t play on audiences’ emotion, it doesn’t keep telling people Mark is so lonely and make us feel sorry for him. Simple narrative, smooth and perfect transitions among three story lines – Mark, Crew and NASA, no gaudy music, no dazzling effect, it’s just a story about human, a man who strives to survive with his wisdom and light-hearted attitude.

Mark says, “It’s a strange feeling. Everywhere I go, I’m the first.” Maybe it is loneliness, but there is something stronger than it, never give up, even if you are the only person on an entirely deserted planet. “Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work, you just begin, you solve one problem and you solve the next one, if you solve enough problems, you can get home.”