Fox and director Ridley Scott have just done something ingenious. They have released a video clip that is not in their film The Martian, but adds so much emotional power to the entire story.
The Movie Mensch saw The Martian yesterday and was completely blown away by the story of Matt Damon’s astronaut who was left for dead on Mars when his team had to evacuate the Red Planet during a raging storm. When the world learns that Damon is still alive, a massive effort is launched to try to save him. That emotional resonance is captured in the below video, brilliantly and effectively by Scott and his team.
Mark Watney (Damon) isn’t just biding time sitting up there on Mars. It will be years until a rescue mission can even get to him so he has to “science the shit” (that’s from The Martian trailer!) out of his situation, including growing food on a planet notorious for having no signs of life.
More in our The Martian review in the coming weeks, but the film is a marvel at celebrating science and also raising up smart people in a time when it seems that the dumbing down of the public is the norm.
Don’t miss Damon, along with Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Donald Glover, Michael Pena and Kristen Wiig when The Martian hits theaters October 2.