The Martian

What, they’re still not back from Mars? Sean and Cody are on number two of a double-header (with last episode) as they take on Ridley Scott’s popular 2015 science fiction drama. In The Martian, plucky and somewhat jerky botanist astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets the Home Alone treatment as his shipmates accidentally leave him behind on Mars. It’ll be four years until anyone from Earth can rescue him and he’s only got 68 packets of potatoes and some freeze-dried poop. Wait, wasn’t that the plot of the last film on the show? That’s not a coincidence. Environmental issues discussed include the scientific and environmental accuracy of this film, radiation exposure for astronauts, Mars’s toxic soil, and various schemes and scams involving real-life proposed trips to the fourth rock from the sun.

Why do we keep changing our minds on whether liquid water exists on Mars or not? Are dust storms on Mars as epic as the way they’re portrayed in this film? Why is growing anything in Martian soil a challenge at best, and a suicide mission at worst? Given the amount of radiation and cosmic ray exposure that astronauts in space and on Mars would receive over the course of a mission, would a realistic sequel to this film necessarily be The Martian 2: Watney Dies of Leukemia? What was Mars One and why was it a scam? Why is the idea of putting Libertarians in space alarmingly dangerous? What do all those different kinds of producers listed in a film’s credits actually do? Why do so many movies involve rescuing Matt Damon as their plot premise? All these questions and more are sprouting from the rusty soil ready to be picked in this adventurous episode of Green Screen.

Where you can find The Martian: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-martian

The Martian (2015) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/
The Martian (2015) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-martian/

Next Movie Up: Dr. Zhivago (1965)

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