Bring Home 'The Martian' on Blu-ray
Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's
Matt Damon won a Golden Globe for his performance in this film and was just nominated for an Academy Award. The Martian is a story of survival and humanity.
The story begins on Mars. There is a crew from NASA that has been working on the red planet. When a super storm approaches, they prepare to abandon their mission and take off but in the midst of the storm, Astronaut Mark Watney is injured. The rest of the crew think he is dead and must launch to get out of danger. Even though she is hesitant to leave a crewmate behind, Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain) gives the order to go.
What follows is the heart of the story, which takes place mainly on Mars where Watney is very much alive. He is injured, but alive. When he regains consciousness the enormity of what is happening hits him. He is all alone on a distant planet. He has no communications with Earth. No one knows he is alone. He doesn’t have enough food to last until the next scheduled mission lands on the planet.
Watney is a botanist, which gives him additional skills in this situation. He devises a plan to grow potatoes. It’s genius. Although it has never been done before, Watney dives right into the plan and sets out to create a garden, which will sustain him for months and years.
Back on earth NASA discovers something is moving on Mars. They conclude Watney is alive. Through some very ingenious maneuvers, Watney manages to set up communications with earth. Finally he has some contact with other humans. What a relief.
While NASA tries to figure out how to get a supply ship up to Mars ASAP, Watney encounters one difficulty after another. His sense of humor is endearing and is what sustains him throughout the ordeal. Then when his fellow crewmates learn their colleague is alive, they decide to risk their own lives to rescue him.
Back on earth the entire world is watching this heroic mission, and praying for Watney’s safe return. This is an episode that brings the entire planet together.
Damon is amazing in this role and deserves his awards and nominations. He carries the film and everyone who watches will feel his courage, disappointment, frustration, and hope. Every emotion is captured in this one man as he manages to stay alive all alone on the desolate planet.
A bonus feature on the Blu-ray examines the original story and how it became a popular book and then how the book was produced into this dramatic, intense, and entertaining film. Other bonuses add plenty of additional entertainment to the film. They’re definitely worth watching.
The movie co-stars Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, and Sebastian Stan. It’s another space story of survival similar to that of Apollo 13 only much more dramatic. This is more a story of courage and strength as well as intelligence. Watney has them all. The science behind what unfolds in the movie is plausible. It will definitely amaze viewers as they see what a human being can accomplish.
The Martian is rated PG-13 for some strong language injury images, and brief nudity.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for 20 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
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