After Rich Purnell finds a way to rescue Mark Watney, he slips and falls and tells his boss, "I need more coffee." Donald Glover said in an interview that he actually slipped, got up and kept acting, and that the footage was kept in the film's final edits.
In the novel, when Watney is rescued, he remarks that if this were a Hollywood film, the whole crew would gather in the airlock and high-five each other. At the end of the film, that is exactly what happens.
Matt Damon admitted that the scene in which Mark becomes emotional upon hearing Commander Lewis's voice was real. The other actors had already wrapped and gone home, and their pre-recorded voices were actually played to Damon from inside the space suit. Damon was moved to tears when he began to think about how his character had been left all alone on Mars for two years and was hearing only the pre-recorded voices of his castmates, who had already finished their scenes. Sir Ridley Scott was so impressed by Damon's performance that he shot only one take of the scene used in the film.
Matt Damon wanted to lose a large amount of weight for a scene near the end of the film, but Sir Ridley Scott forbade it. Damon had already done this during the shooting of Courage Under Fire (1996), but it had seriously endangered his health and he had subsequently required medical supervision for a long time. For The Martian, a body double was used instead.
When NASA and Watney communicate in writing for the first time, Watney drops an F-bomb. He is warned to watch his language because everything he writes is broadcast worldwide. In the film, his reaction is not shown, only the reactions of others. In the novel, his reply is: "Look! A pair of boobs! -> (. Y.) "
A real potato farm was set up on the studio lot, with potatoes at every stage of growth that could be used for filming.
In his novel, Andy Weir personally created a piece of software to calculate the ship's arrival times (to Earth and to Mars) down to the minute.
NASA was consulted to get the aspects of space and space travel as accurate as possible, especially with regard to Mars. NASA is federally funded, but it does not charge anyone, including for-profit private organizations, any fee for the use of and access to its archives and consultancy.
At the beginning, it is said that a compromised space suit would cause decompression and give a person about a minute to live. This is scientifically accurate; contrary to popular belief, acute decompression in space or on a planet with very low pressure such as Mars does not cause the body to immediately explode or expand. The main effects include confusion, loss of consciousness and some subcutaneous bleeding, but it is generally accepted that a healthy human body can survive in a vacuum for a minute without life-threatening consequences.
Sir Ridley Scott claimed that Matt Damon's solo scenes were shot continuously for five weeks, after which Damon was removed from the schedule. As a result, Damon did not see most of his castmates again until the actors reunited for the film's promotion.
In the novel, Mark Watney did not cut a hole in the palm of his suit to propel himself toward the Hermes; that was only an idea rejected by Commander Lewis. He stayed tethered.
The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars averages 600 Pa (0.087 psi), about 0.6% of Earth's average sea-level pressure of 100 kPa (14.69 psi). It is so low that what they call a "fierce storm" would be something like a very light breeze that ruffles your hair. Author Andy Weir admitted that this is the biggest inaccuracy in the story. Because of the low air density, sound does not travel as it does on Earth, and in the freezing cold, toxic atmosphere and lack of pressure, someone would have to stand next to you and shout for you to hear them.
Sir Ridley Scott claimed that one of the hardest scenes to direct was how to explain to the audience the hexadecimal system Watney uses as a code to communicate with Earth; Scott admitted that he himself found it hard to understand.
Mark Watney's journey to Ares 4 was much more grueling in the book. He had to deal with a dust storm that could largely prevent the solar panels from charging fully. His rover and trailer also rolled over while descending Schiaparelli's slope.
Author Andy Weir wrote his own computer programs using real Earth and Mars alignment data to determine the best theoretical date for the launch of the Ares 3 mission.
After performing surgery on himself, Mark puts the pieces of the antenna back together to make sure no other piece is missing (and it therefore remains stuck inside the wound, which increases the risk of sepsis).
The exterior scenes on Mars were shot at a slower frame rate to simulate Mars's gravity, which is 38% of Earth's. For this reason, anything on the Martian surface had to appear lighter and make a slight bounce. However, the desired frame rate did not allow the cameras to run in sync. To eliminate this, the film was shot at 48 frames per second for the exterior scenes and then slowed down to the standard 24 frames per second. This meant that a great deal of sound had to be re-recorded in post. As a result, it would have been impossible to sync the sound with Mark's lips, which were shot at the slower frame rate. To avoid this problem, Sir Ridley Scott preferred to have Mark be present in the scenes rather than having him "narrate" by talking in the suit.
In the film's final scene, a Chinese astronaut is shown on a later mission to Mars. This is a reference to a storyline that appears in the novel but is not shown in the film, in which the Chinese space agency arranges a trade to place a Chinese astronaut on the next Mars mission in exchange for the use of booster rockets.
"Steely-eyed missile man" is a reference to flight controller John Aaron's actions after two lightning strikes hit the Apollo 12 rocket within the first minute of launch. The electrical surge caused numerous problems in the craft's telemetry system and, if unresolved, would have led to the mission being aborted. Aaron recognized that the telemetry problem resembled one seen in tests a year earlier and advised the crew to switch the Signal Conditioning Electronics (SCE) system to auxiliary position. The control was so obscure that neither the Capsule Commander nor the Flight Director knew what it was, or even where it was, but pilot Alan Bean knew to follow Aaron's advice. Changing the setting solved the problem instantly and allowed the mission to continue. Aaron's quick, calm and effective response to the crisis earned him the title regarded as the highest praise possible at NASA.
Author Andy Weir first wrote the novel as a series on his blog. Writing with this serialized approach allowed him to build the story as it went along, essentially constructing each plot around something that could go wrong and then working out how Mark would get past it. Weir stated that he could not resolve a failure of the vital life support systems, so if the oxygenator, water reclaimer or RTG failed, Mark would die.
One of the panoramic shots of Mars shows Olympus Mons, the largest volcano discovered in the solar system. It is nearly three times larger than Mount Everest and covers an area the size of Missouri. It is also twice as tall as Everest, reaching a height far beyond the atmosphere.
The "cloak-and-dagger" meeting held to propose the Rich Purnell Maneuver is named the Elrond Project, after the Council of Elrond in the "Lord of the Rings" series. When the name is questioned, the first character to explain it is Henderson, played by Sean Bean. Bean played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and was present during that council.
It was shot in only 72 days.
The film's acceptance by the Golden Globes eligibility committee in the 'Comedy or Musical' category, and its subsequent wins for 'Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical' and 'Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical' (Matt Damon), sparked some controversy. Many filmmakers, such as Judd Apatow, criticized the producers' decision to submit The Martian as a comedy in order to avoid strong competition in the Best Drama category. The controversy led to a rule change stating that dramas with comedic undertones should be entered as dramas, not comedies.
In the film, Watney has no way to communicate with NASA, so he finds and digs up Pathfinder, a spacecraft NASA launched to Mars in the 1990s. After some hacking, he uses the robot to communicate with NASA using a duplicate on Earth. In the real world, NASA builds a working copy of every spacecraft in case something happens to it after launch. This way engineers can troubleshoot problems and find fixes on Earth. Speaking to Tech Insider, Green said the real-life Pathfinder copy should be "turned on and dusted off," but it exists. So NASA could theoretically really use it to communicate with a stranded Martian astronaut.
In The Martian, Watney digs up a radioactive power source to use for heat. It is called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), and NASA relies on them for long-distance space missions. RTGs are essentially batteries powered by radioactive plutonium-238. Because plutonium decays naturally, it produces heat, and the battery casing converts the escaping warmth into electricity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it is nearly impossible to turn Plutonium-238 into a nuclear weapon. Its radiation is not the dangerous, skin-penetrating type people need to worry about (unless it is inhaled). Even so, because it is very hot, it is dangerous to have the nuclear battery lying around.
The mission is named Ares 3, a tribute to Ares, the Greek god of war whose Roman name is Mars. The large ship traveling between Earth and Mars is named Hermes, after the Greek god who was a messenger and herald. Hermes was regarded as the patron and protector of travelers. The Roman version of Hermes is Mercury.
Andy Weir (the author) stated that the only moment in the book he was disappointed was not used in the final film was after Teddy Sanders wonders what Watney is thinking on Mars, when Mark Watney records an audio log that goes "How come Aquaman can control whales? They're mammals! Makes no sense." It can be found in the extra content of the Blu-ray release.
In the novel, Mark Watney has two master's degrees, one in botany and the other in mechanical engineering. In the film, however, he has a doctorate in botany, and although he is shown to be knowledgeable about the engineering and maintenance of the mission equipment, no engineering background is mentioned.
Matt Damon was asked to grow a beard a few weeks before filming began. The scene in which he shaves it with hair clippers was one of the first scenes shot and had to be filmed carefully, since it could only be done once.
Drew Goddard, who wrote the screenplay, also decided at one point to direct, but he gave up that role to direct a Spider-Man spin-off that never came to be. After that, Sir Ridley Scott read the script and joined the project.
After the probe explodes during launch, Sean Bean can be seen saying "GC, lock the doors," the same command given in 2003 by NASA Entry Flight Director LeRoy Cain after the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry. The command instructs the Ground Controller (GC) to lock the doors of the control room so that no one can enter or leave until all data is secured for an internal investigation.
The costume designer looked at most of NASA's real Mars suits while designing the spacesuits for the film and said that, because of their bulk, they were "exactly like a Buzz Lightyear suit." Even Sir Ridley Scott didn't like them, so the final designs of the suits were based on pictures of the real suits but aimed for a more practical approach.
Real-life NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins reported that during an unscheduled break while the crew was serving on the ISS in 2022, she would watch The Martian, her favorite film.
Much of the research and development related to Prometheus (2012), especially the spacesuits, was used in this film.
The original cover page of the script draft was aboard a real NASA vessel, Orion, when it launched. The cover featured a drawing of Matt Damon's character on Mars saying "I'm gonna science the shit out of this planet."
According to author Andy Weir, the story takes place in 2035.
As Watney sets out on his long walk, he stops to stand on top of a hill. In the distance, a group of dust devils can be seen. When NASA sent the Opportunity rover to Mars in 2004, it was expected to last 90 days, largely because of the prediction that over a three-month period enough Martian dust would collect on its solar panels that they could no longer recharge. Despite this, it surprisingly continued to operate for 14 years, traveled about 28 miles, performed hundreds of tests and sent back thousands of photographs. NASA attributes this durability to the dust devils that occasionally pass over and blow the dust away. Its successor, the nuclear-powered Curiosity rover, landed on Mars in 2012 and, as of 2024, is still operating. The Perseverance rover arrived in 2021 to begin its exploration with the primary mission of finding evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.
On September 28, 2015 (four days before the film's release in the US), NASA announced that it had found evidence that salty water still flows on the surface of Mars.
In both the film and the novel, Watney grows his own food by planting potato eyes in the soil. He fertilizes the plants with human waste and produces liquid water for the crop from rocket fuel. Given what is already known about Martian soil, there is no reason this wouldn't work in real life. Botanist Bruce Bugbee, who works with NASA, told Tech Insider that NASA has already made progress on farming in space. In 2015, for the first time, astronauts on the International Space Station tasted some of the lettuce they had grown in microgravity.
In the film, the buildings representing NASA Headquarters and the Chinese space center are two famous cultural centers in Budapest that in real life are only three tram stops apart.
In the novel, it emerges that there is a possibility that the Hermes crew will carry out the resupply mission during the Rich Purnell Maneuver — it was decided that, because Johannsen is the youngest member of the crew and therefore needs the least amount of food, the rest of the crew would commit suicide so as not to A) waste valuable food resources and B) leave her as the sole survivor by eating them for protein. When the supply effort succeeds, Martinez asks whom he will eat first and says he thinks the tastiest one will be his; Johannsen moves away from him and calls out: "What? I thought you liked Mexican!"
According to NASA, Mars is like this: During the day, Mars has a reddish-orange glow because of all the dust. Since there is almost no atmosphere on Mars, sunrises and sunsets appear blue. A day on Mars, or a "sol," is about 37 minutes longer than an Earth day. The natural human circadian rhythm (or sleep-wake cycle) is about 24 hours 11 minutes, but experiments have shown that people have no trouble adapting to cycles ranging from 23 hours 30 minutes to 24 hours 36 minutes, so people would not experience major disruptions to their biological clocks on Mars. A Martian year is nearly two Earth years. This is because Mars is much farther from the Sun than Earth is in its orbit, and therefore the red planet takes longer to complete one revolution. The average surface temperature on Mars is a cold minus-80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-62 degrees Celsius). However, temperatures can range from as low as about minus-195 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-126 degrees Celsius) in winter to a comfortable 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) in summer. Gravity on Mars is only 40% of Earth's, so a person on the Martian surface would be 60% lighter than their weight on Earth. There is almost no atmosphere on Mars; it is about 1% of the density of the atmospheric "blanket" around Earth, which is not enough to protect the surface from the dangerous radiation of space. Dust storms can wrap around the planet for days. In the novel, these storms cause Watney's initial stranding as well as other significant plot points.
After flying through Mars's atmosphere toward the end, Watney (Matt Damon) says he is experiencing chest pain, likely because G-forces broke some of his ribs. The cause is undoubtedly spaceflight osteopenia, a condition in which bone density decreases after prolonged exposure to low or zero gravity. Since Mars's gravity is only 38% of Earth's, Watney's long stay there made his bones brittle, and this was probably worsened by a lack of vitamins and minerals from his food. The subcutaneous hemorrhages visible on his back could also be a result of vitamin deficiency, particularly vitamin K, of which potatoes provide very little.
Production designer Arthur Max: "We built this at Korda Studios in Budapest; it has the largest - the reason we went there was because it currently has the largest stage in the world. As large an area as the enhanced stage at Pinewood that held the previous record. But 6 meters taller. So we were also able to put in the world's largest green screen, a four-walled green screen. There was enough space to create a large Martian landscape, to drive our rover at speed, to reset, walk around immediately, build our habitat, and later place the legs of our climbing vehicle." [Various 2015].
Except for a few interior shots and close-ups, all of the EVA suits' helmet visors (both the glass visor and the retractable shiny gold sunshield) were created digitally. The aim was to minimize the complications of shiny visors reflecting green screens, studio lights, cameras and crew members. This is done by creating a similar environment in CG and capturing virtual reflections in the visually generated visors along with the astronauts. This is captured by a virtual camera in 3D space. The virtual camera's position, angle and distance, lens, f-stop and other settings are adjusted to match exactly the settings of the real physical camera.
The Mars mission in the film mimics the real missions NASA plans for the future.
Mars's surface is being examined, and currently is being examined, by a camera satellite orbiting with enough precision to pick out an object the size of a basketball. When the images were examined, it was discovered that the worm-like shapes on the surface are actually collapsed lava holes. It was also discovered that the vents contain passages descending deep into the surface. The greatest danger on Mars is cosmic and solar radiation, so the best shelter would be deep underground, which would provide far better protection than any spacecraft. Therefore, the latest research as of 2020 indicates that the first humans to arrive on Mars will set up their facilities inside an empty lava tube underground rather than on the surface. An additional advantage is that the most likely place to find actual life thriving on Mars is also underground.
The Orion constellation can be seen in almost every frame of space throughout the film. It is even visible in the background of most scenes, even through the windows of the hab and the Hermes.
In the film, the romantic interest between astronauts Beth Johanssen and Chris Beck is not revealed until just before Watney's rescue and is kept secret from the rest of the crew. In the book, not only does Watney know there is romantic tension between the two, but Commander Lewis also knows; when they return to Mars, she lets them share a room after a heating problem in Martinez and Watney's bunk makes the room uninhabitable, which meant Martinez had to use Beck's bunk.
The film ends with Mark returning to Earth and teaching a group of astronaut candidates. None of this is in the novel, which ends with the crew rescuing Watney and beginning the journey back to Earth. Watney writes in his log, "This is the happiest day of my life."
The supply rocket was lost because the protein cargo liquefied. Liquid cargoes are safe if held tightly in full containers, but if they are allowed to slosh, serious stability problems arise. Sloshing allows the liquid cargo to shift with a force much greater than its actual weight. For example, naval damage control principles take into account both the loss of buoyancy due to flooding and the loss of stability caused by partially flooded compartments, and it can be advantageous to completely fill a compromised compartment with water to eliminate sloshing.
The costumes in the film are complex and use a working lighting system, as in all space dramas of the past few decades. In real life an internal lighting system would be questionable, but for film and TV, even if it creates a glint in the actors' eyes, their faces need to be visible.
Mark Watney spends a total of 568 Martian sols on Mars. Of these, 543 were spent stranded there after the Ares III evacuation. In terms of Earth days, Mark spent 578 Earth days (roughly 1 year 7 months) stuck on Mars. Counting from Earth's departure, including the emergency evacuation from Mars and the Earth/Mars gravity assists to rescue Mark, the entire Ares III mission totaled 772 sols. This means the entire Ares III mission as a whole lasted 795 Earth days (or roughly 2 years 2 months).
Whenever Mark boots up a computer (that is, when he finds the MAV), a series of source code appears on the screen. The code is written in PVS (Prototype Verification System), an experimental macro language that NASA actually uses, and it is very likely to appear on a future spacecraft. This particular piece of code is taken from the already existing NASA PVS Library, and if you type part of it into Google, you can find this code snippet as open source.
In the novel, while Mark is still in contact, he occasionally sends emails to the Hermes crew; he emails Beck and tells him to hurry up and to "tell Johannsen how you feel." In these emails it emerges that Mark considers Martinez his best friend.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said this was the most accurate film he had ever seen in terms of astrophysics and habitability on Mars.
The tent-like shelter where Watney spends most of his time is called the "hab," short for Mars Lander Habitat. NASA already has working prototypes of Mars habs equipped with oxygenators, water processors and airlocks to protect astronauts from Mars's nearly airless, radiation-bombarded surface. The space agency also recently hosted a competition to see who could design the best 3D-printable Mars Hab. Some of the designs might actually go to the red planet one day.
At the end of the film, while Mark Watney is in the lecture hall, the slogan written on the floor is "Per ardua ad astra," a Latin phrase meaning "Through hardships to the stars," "A rough road leads to the stars" or "To the stars through difficulties." Besides being the motto of many air forces and institutions around the world, it is also the slogan written on the Apollo 1 memorial plaque.
Minor changes were made to the script during shooting, partly to achieve better scientific accuracy. Producer Mark Huffam said: "We're working with %90 of the script that we started with."
During the "Council of Elrond" discussion, Teddy Sanders states that he wants to be referred to as Glorfindel. In fact, there is a very important character from The Lord of the Rings novels — namely one of the high elves named Glorfindel in "The Silmarillion" who fought against Sauron and was also partly responsible for carrying Frodo on the final leg of the flight to Rivendell (the role played by Arwen in the film), and who would later join the Council as one of Elrond's chief advisers. His name means "golden-haired," and the actor Jeff Daniels has blond hair.
About 20 sets were built, not many compared to other films, but they were much more "technical." To put this in perspective against other Sir Ridley Scott films, he used 70 in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and over 100 in American Gangster (2007).
In the novel it is Beck who rescues Watney in space, while in the film it is Commander Lewis.
The launch footage used for the next ARES mission at the end of the film was real footage of the test flight of the new ORION capsule, launched from NASA's Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
In the novel, Mark Watney accidentally destroys Pathfinder's circuitry and thereby eliminates his communication vector with NASA. The entire journey to the Ares 4 MAV took place in a complete blackout, apart from one-way communication from Mark to NASA. This was done using visual Morse code with Mars rocks. Mark would 'spell out' his message while waiting for the batteries to charge during daylight hours. Toward the end of the film, the NASA administrator says, "limited contact with Watney," which potentially references this event.
By completing the shooting ahead of schedule, we saved two million dollars from the budget.
Teddy is seen reading a speech from a red folder. In the novel the color of the folder carries more significance, as there is also a blue folder containing an alternative speech with a different outcome.
Andy Weir mentioned that there is a hierarchy among the crew. From highest to lowest, it goes Lewis, Martinez, Vogel, Beck, Johanssen and Watney.
Irrfan Khan was the first choice for the role of Vincent Kapoor (actually Venkat Kapoor, of Indian origin). He was unavailable due to his commitment to the Bollywood film Piku (2015). Chiwetel Ejiofor was later cast in the role.
Part of the cabin used in the film is actually the rear galley of a Boeing 737.
The same alarm sound from the Nostromo (the ship in Alien (1979)) can also be heard after the main hatch of the Hermes is opened during the rescue.
While examining Johanssen's laptop, Mark notices that it contains copies of "Zork II" and "The Leather Goddesses of Phobos." These were 1980s computer games that Infocom called interactive fiction, in which text was used to describe scenes and the player typed actions to accomplish things. Phobos is also the larger of Mars's two moons. "Zork" is perhaps the most famous of these games, and the fact that Johanssen has the sequel as well as the Mars-centered Goddesses game shows that she is a serious fan of the games (which were very popular in the '80s). Infocom had numerous titles set in space, and if you look carefully enough they can still be found online.
The rocket technology in this film is based on real-life plasma rockets designed and manufactured by the company Ad Astra Rocket. The company was founded by former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, a Costa Rican citizen.
The shooting schedules were so specific that Kate Mara and Sebastian Stan arrived on set before sunrise and left after sunset. During filming, they applied this "isolation" to help them get into their characters.
Most of the issues flagged as errors in the film are cases where information was removed or rearranged from the novel for reasons of time or pacing. For example, in the novel Watney correctly calculates how much soil he needs for his crops, which is far more than what is shown in the film; repairing the airlock is a more extensive process; the "hab canvas" is actually a high-tech, radiation-resistant material and not a simple tarp; the explosion during the water experiment stems from more complex causes than what is described in the film; and Watney actually cuts a hole in the rover that was cleaned so he can use it for extra storage instead of the operational rover.
Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan praised the film. Cernan was on the Moon in December 1972. He was the subject of the documentary The Last Man on the Moon (2014).
Watney's remarks about space piracy make more sense in the novel. In the film, he stays in contact with NASA throughout the journey to the Ares IV MAV, and therefore he is given implicit permission to use the MAV rather than seizing it as an act of technical piracy. In the novel, losing radio contact with NASA before reaching the MAV makes it impossible to obtain any permission to use the vehicle, making his claim of being a space pirate far more valid.
According to Neil deGrasse Tyson, this "may be the first SciFi blockbuster - ever - in which nobody dies."
The door of the NASA building shown in the film is actually the gate of Korda Studios in Etyek, near Budapest, Hungary, where many scenes of the film were shot.
The text on the computer screen where the astronauts have their first remote conversation from the ship to the planet is displayed just like MUTHER, the computer in Alien (1979), also directed by Sir Ridley Scott.
The missions to Mars are named Ares. In real life, NASA was developing launch vehicles called Ares I and Ares V for the crew and cargo of the Constellation Program. The program was canceled in 2010 and replaced by the Space Launch System, which has greater lift capacity.
Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) questions the logic of risking the lives of five people on the Hermes crew to save one man's life. A similar debate was the subject of Saving Private Ryan (1998), and coincidentally, in both films Matt Damon was the man who needed to be saved.
The Martian Rover was donated to the Royal Automobile Museum in Amman, Jordan, to thank the Jordanian people for their hospitality. The desert scenes were shot in Wadi Rum, Jordan.
The front antenna of the Hermes (the large round dish with two small dishes on either side) is the same as the AE-35 antenna on the Discovery spacecraft, which was shown as a significant plot point in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Watney's story about JPL, which began when a group of Caltech students nearly burned down their dormitory, is mostly accurate. The students in question were Frank Malina, Jack Parsons and Ed Forman, and they were expelled from campus after the incident. They continued their experiments and later founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Some scenes were shot in Wadi Rum, Jordan. A desert valley several miles long had previously been used as a stand-in for Mars, particularly in the film Red Planet (2000).
Although the film used one of the largest green screens in history to shoot the exterior scenes outside the Hab, the entire green screen initially had to be covered and draped with dark materials while shooting the storm scene. This was to allow the real use of sand and high-powered fans to create a sandstorm in which the actors could relax. Shooting this against a green screen would have been difficult for two main reasons. First, the green screen is so bright that it would have been impossible to see the sand flying around even after the CGI backgrounds were added, and second, the scene takes place during a storm in the middle of the night. Therefore, no background VFX was needed.
At the press conference held for the film, Sir Ridley Scott admitted that the only regret of his career was re-editing the film for an extended cut.
NASA estimates that a journey to Mars with current space travel technology would take about six to eight months. In The Martian, Watney and the rest of the crew use the fictional Hermes spacecraft to reach the red planet. In the film's promotional video, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says the Hermes is "the most complex and expensive object ever built." On a real journey to Mars, we would have to worry about astronauts losing muscle mass and bone density while spending too much time in a microgravity environment. Space is also full of dangerous cosmic radiation that can break down human DNA.
President Barack Obama's favorite film of 2015. "It shows humans as problem solvers," he said.
According to some NASA scientists, the plot point of a lone JPL scientist suddenly working on a gravity-assisted return to Mars for the Hermes is not realistic, because it would probably be one of the first possibilities investigated. It is noted that the "Hermes" would likely be used for all the remaining Ares missions, including Ares IV, which would be the one to rescue Watney. A gravity-assisted return trajectory would clearly be faster and less time-consuming than slowing the ship into Earth orbit, loading the Ares IV crew and supplies aboard, and breaking out of Earth orbit to return to Mars, and it would be only marginally riskier, unless the ship generally required a major overhaul between missions.
In the book, the trips to the Pathfinder and to Ares 4 required far more effort; during these trips Watney nearly died several times. Moreover, preparing the rover with the drill, for example, took several days; for this film this was a time-compressed situation.
The idea of using a gravity assist to send the "Hermes" back to Mars is similar to the flight plan used to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts home after their spacecraft was disabled. In the latter case, the Moon was used to accelerate the ship and send it back toward Earth in order to save fuel and shorten the return journey.
Matt Damon was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in this film. This makes him the only nominee in the Best Actor category at the 88th Academy Awards to be nominated for portraying a fictional character. All the other Best Actor nominees were nominated for portraying historical figures.
Matt Damon plays a character named Mark Watney. "Mark" is the English version of the Latin name "Marcus," which means "of Mars."
The film stays extremely faithful to the book. A few minor plot points were changed or omitted. A particularly noteworthy point is that the amount of dialogue in the film is almost the same as in the book.
The Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive," which plays in the final section of the film, is significant not only because it is a widely hated disco song, but also because Watney manages to survive for months on Mars's inhospitable surface. The song is also fitting because it contains the phrase "And so you're back from outer space."
Just before leaving the Hab for the last time, Mark Watney goes outside without his helmet and then goes back to get it. This is a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which Dave Bowman makes a nearly fatal mistake by leaving his helmet behind while going to rescue his crewmate.
At 1:34:50 of the film, the windows of the place that is supposed to be the Chinese Space Agency Headquarters appear to have Star Trek: The Next Generation communicator symbols etched into them. This is actually the symbol of the China National Space Administration.
The wounds or marks observed on Mark Watney's body during the period when he was at his weakest (especially visible in the shower scene before his final departure) are generally interpreted as a combination of skin infections, lesions and pressure sores (bedsores). These physical ailments were caused by various factors: Malnutrition/Vitamin Deficiency: A prolonged, limited potato diet and, in the film, potentially compromised nutrient sources (due to earlier accidents) lead to symptoms resembling scurvy or, more specifically, pellagra (B3/tryptophan deficiency). Wearing an EVA Suit for Long Periods: Wearing the same Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit for a long time causes friction, sweat accumulation and skin irritation. Poor Hygiene: Being unable to shower properly or clean oneself for more than a year. Physical Trauma: He took severe beatings from dust storms, explosions and long, cramped drives in the rover. While some viewers debate whether these are radiation burns, the prevailing interpretation is that they are "bed sores" or skin lesions caused by harsh living conditions, poor nutrition and lack of hygiene.
The Expanse (2015) novel "Babylon's Ashes" makes a casual reference to a Mars-based colony ship named Mark Watney.
In the book, immediately after being rescued, Watney recounts how, due to the injury he suffered during his ascent from Mars, he 'screamed like a little girl' and turned down the volume on his microphone so the others would not hear him. He then says, 'What they say is true. No one can hear you scream like a little girl in space.' This is a reference to the tagline of Alien (1979): In space, no one can hear you scream. That film was also directed by Sir Ridley Scott. In addition, both films earned Scott the Saturn Award for Best Director.
Cate Blanchett was Sir Ridley Scott's first choice for the role of Commander Lewis, a sign of a reunion between the actor and the director after Robin Hood (2010), but Blanchett was unable to take the role due to a scheduling conflict. The role went to Jessica Chastain instead.
There is no human villain in this film. However, Mars itself can be considered the antagonist, and writer Drew Goddard sees the "conditions" as the villain. There were some thoughts about turning Teddy Sanders into a villain who does not take Watney's situation seriously and refuses to listen to his advisers, but this idea was quickly set aside in order to keep Sanders as a good man whose disagreements over how to rescue Watney are reasonable. The script emphasized that Mitch Henderson, after defying Sanders's decision and putting his own plan into action, resigned from NASA as ordered, since he is not present alongside Sanders and the other senior officials when the new Ares mission is launched in the film's final scenes.
Mars's landscape and environment were created through a combination of location shooting and CGI.
It is adapted from the first published novel by science fiction writer Andy Weir.
The opening word of the title, MARTIAN, gradually fades away letter by letter. This is the reverse of Ridley Scott's ALIEN title, which appeared piece by piece letter by letter until the title was fully readable.
It is Ridley Scott's first Oscar nomination in 14 years. His last was for Black Hawk Down (2001).
The character listed in the cast as "CNN Reporter" is played by CNN's real Berlin-based correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. "Fred," as he is known, is German, but speaks with a flawless American accent thanks to his German undergraduate and master's education, which focused partly on North America, and his graduate studies in the US.
The film and the book make small references to each other regarding their differences. In the film, Teddy interrupts Bruce and tells him that when they decided to build the first Iris probe, he would have said the overtime alone would be a nightmare. That is exactly what Bruce says in the book. In the book's closing monologue, Mark Watney says that if this were a movie, everyone would be waiting for him at the airlock to high-five him, and that is exactly what happens in the film.
The rocket seen above the escalators at NASA is a Mercury Redstone.
In the film, the rocket used to launch the Iris supply probe to Mars for astronaut Mark Watney is an Atlas V (500 series) that explodes shortly after a launch that appears successful. In reality, Atlas V rockets had never failed up to the making of the film. A launch can be considered a partial failure because the payload was not delivered to the correct orbit, but the customer still declared it a success.
The film begins on Sol 18, but the book begins on Sol 6.
Gladiator (2000) surpassed it as Sir Ridley Scott's highest-grossing film.
As Mark Watney prepares the rover and the MAV for the final leg of his journey, ABBA's "Waterloo" plays as background music. This song is on the B-side of the "ABBA's Greatest Hits" album that Commander Lewis's husband displayed during their earlier video chats.
When Watney sits on a bench on Earth at the end of the film and says "hey there" to a small plant sprouting in the path between his feet, it is a potato plant, just like the potato plant he grew on Mars and that saved his life.
Mark Watney asks Martinez not to do a barrel roll. This is a valid order for Boeing test pilots. Tex Johnson did it in August 1955 at the Seattle Seafair festival flying the Dash 80 (the first 707).
Along with Brooklyn (2015), it is the only feature film at the 88th Academy Awards that did not win in the Best Picture category.
Former astronaut Clayton Anderson praised the film: "It shows NASA's workforce working together, sometimes making great personal sacrifices, to get the job done." Microbiologist and former astronaut Kate Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA in space, also praised its scientific accuracy: "It does a great job of showing how biology and chemistry can be used to make what you need from what you have on hand."
For the launch of the Iris-1 probe, footage of the Atlas V 541 Mars Science Laboratory is shown lifting off. The in-flight breakup is footage of the in-flight breakup of the Delta 3614 carrying the GOES-G satellite in 1986. The difference is clearly visible in the blue color of the core booster and in the solid rocket motors spaced evenly around it. No Atlas V vehicle ever failed in flight.
The score references the ping sound at the beginning of Pink Floyd's Echoes and the horns at the beginning of Jerry Goldsmith's score for Patton (1970). Echoes mentions sand (and is quite long), and part of Patton takes place in the North African deserts that recall the Martian landscape.
Naomi Scott shot Ryoko scenes that were cut from the film's theatrical release. Her scenes were eventually restored for the extended cut released in late 2016.
When Teddy tells Bruce via teleconference that they need to finish the Iris probe within three months, one of the JPL employees in the front row scribbles the word NO in capital letters and holds it up to Bruce in protest.
During pre-release research, it emerged that many people thought The Martian would be a horror film and that the title referred to an alien rather than Mark Watney. This was probably due in part to director Ridley Scott's association with the Alien series and Prometheus.
To have the necessary 126 square meters of soil area that Watney mentions, the HAB module's diameter would have needed to be more than 41.5 feet — in reality it appeared to be around 25 feet, and therefore would have had an area of only about 50 m2 — which would have had a major effect on his potato crop.
The plot lines of the returning vehicle's obligation to be perpendicular to the Martian surface in order to leave the planet, and of a botanist/astronaut growing Earth plants in Martian soil, had been seen before in George Pal's Conquest of Space (1955). A space funeral scene from Conquest of Space (1955) was in some way copied in Alien, also directed by Sir Ridley Scott.
The second Ridley Scott film nominated for Best Picture. The first, Gladiator (2000), won the award.
Compared with the previous Sir Ridley Scott space epic Prometheus (2012), which was given 34 weeks to complete post-production, the production problems on The Martian (2015) pushed shooting back four weeks and gave the post-production team a tight 24 weeks to finish the film.
Filming the NASA scenes took three weeks.
The footage used for the launch of Iris 1 is footage of the Mars Science Laboratory on an Atlas V-541 rocket. The trailer shows an accelerated image of the same rocket's portal retraction. The Mars Science Laboratory logo can be seen on the payload fairing below the NASA "meatball" and above the US flag and the Atlas 'A' logo.
Watney likens poking a hole in his suit glove to create a reaction control thruster to Iron Man (2008). Many of the actors in this film had appeared, or would later appear, in various Marvel adaptations: Sebastian Stan played Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) at the time, and later in Captain America: Civil War (2016); Kate Mara played Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four (2015) and a US Marshal's deputy in Iron Man 2 (2010); Michael Peña played Luis in Ant-Man (2015) and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018); Donald Glover is the voice of Miles Morales/Spider-Man in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) and later appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong later appeared in Doctor Strange (2016); Matt Damon appeared as the Loki actor in Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Jessica Chastain played the villain Vuk in the X-Men-based film "Dark Phoenix."
During the failed resupply attempt, the first shot shows the resupply rocket at Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; the launch footage they used was actually from Launch Complex 41, also at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
While discussing his relationship with Ares 4, Mark describes his actions as those of a space pirate. In the Metroid video game series, the notorious Space Pirate Ridley was named after this film's director, Ridley Scott.
Much of the film's plot, and of the novel it is based on, resembles Mission to Mars (2000). Both concern a crew trying to rescue the sole astronaut left on Mars, and in both the astronaut survived by growing food during the years he was stranded on the planet. Both films begin with a dust storm that causes an astronaut to remain on Mars. In Mission to Mars the dust storm is created by an alien species that kills all but one of the crew, whereas in The Martian it is a natural event that causes all but one of the crew to escape. Both films feature an astronaut being rescued just outside the planet's orbit using thrusters and a rope.
Matt Damon's fourth highest-grossing film worldwide, after The Odyssey (2026), Oppenheimer (2023) and Interstellar (2014), all directed by Sir Christopher Nolan.
Although there are many small differences between the book and the novel, there are some major changes implied in the film. In the book, Mark Watney first loses contact with Pathfinder early because of his own negligence. In the film this is reflected by Sanders mentioning that he has difficulty communicating close to the arrival at the MAV for Ares IV.
In the novel, Mark Watney also displays a distinctly appreciative dislike of disco music.
Sol is a Latin word meaning sun.
Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio were the 2016 Best Actor Oscar nominees who were nominated for Best Male Performance at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards for The Martian (2015) and The Revenant (2015). DiCaprio took home both awards.
During the technical checks before launching the rescue probe, a technician announced that the signal was 'five by five.' Besides being a term describing the strength and clarity of a radio signal, this was a phrase repeatedly uttered by the character Faith in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), which counted screenwriter Drew Goddard among its staff writers. The phrase is also used by the character Corporal Ferro in James Cameron's Aliens (1986), the sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). It is also a way of describing how good an audio signal is. During the Apollo test missions (and most notably the audio of the Apollo 1 fire), you hear mission control counting from one to five, and the astronauts respond as to how good the quality is. For example, 4 to 5, 3 to 5, etc. If they missed a number).
Matt Damon shrugs his shoulders to the music while playing the song 'Hot Stuff', which he described as 'the least disco' song. This song and the shoulder drop were in the film 'The Full Monty', as a nod from The Martian to The Full Monty, when the men line up to look for work at the Job Centre.
At about 1:50:50, Sebastian Stan's character discusses their intervention speeds and what he can and cannot do, saying "(Anything faster than) 10 m/s is like jumping on a moving train", which is exactly what his character did shortly before his "death" in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
At the beginning of the film, after Mark is left behind, there is a computer screen showing a section of the HAB losing pressure. Later in the film, part of the HAB blows up due to the pressure loss.
The Martian (2015) shares the following similarities with Red Planet (2000) with female mission commanders. A six-person crew. Pre-launch HABs. HAB explosions. Crew member(s) stranded on Mars. Radio communication re-established using Pathfinder. A long journey between past and future Mars mission sites. Relaunch into orbit using the existing rocket that must be dismantled. The restart causes the front of the vehicle to be exposed. Restart the blackout. Retrieval back into orbit by the commander using a rope. The crew member loves the interest subplot.
In the DVD extras, the credits of the ReFocused program indicate that the program was made in 2045.
Matt Damon's character 'narrates' most of this story on screen to a screen, and presumably the character will archive it so others can see it when he returns. Damon has also done voice-over narration for many films in which he has appeared, including Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), The Rainmaker (1997) and many more. He also narrated the documentary Inside Job (2010).
The film's cast includes two Oscar winners: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain; and three Oscar nominees: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig and Sebastian Stan.
Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain had previously appeared in Interstellar (2014) but did not share any scenes. Both films involve space travel.
The film references the Chinese space program but does not reference the Russian (and predecessor Soviet) space program. China's space program is actually Russia's space program and to this day uses similar modules. In the book, the only mention of the Soviet space program is a rather unpleasant reference to the "module" Watney has to use to leave Mars and its lack of protection. This is despite the fact that the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, was Russian/Soviet.
In Destination Moon (1950) and Red Planet (2000), the jettisoning equipment on the spacecraft was also used to lighten the load and save an astronaut's life.
Michael Peña and Kate Mara had previously appeared in Shooter (2007).
About four minutes in, while storm warnings are being discussed, a cartoon taped to the monitor is visible. It is a great stroke of luck that the producers are paying homage to Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels.
Near the end of the film, a scene shows people around the world watching news about the attempt to rescue Watney in city centers such as Times Square in New York and Trafalgar Square in London. In Matt Damon's next film, Downsizing (2017), one of the scenes at the beginning of the film shows people around the world watching news about the first humans to shrink themselves down to 5 inches tall, and Matt Damon's character is shown watching it.
Several shots of the NASA Control Center focus on a glowing sign reading "CAPCOM", the abbreviation for Capsule Communicator. Popular video game producer CAPCOM produced the game Mars Matrix, which features a food shortage on Mars as a major plot point.
Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matt Damon, Benedict Wong and Donald Glover have all appeared in Marvel Comic films. Kristen Wiig also appeared in a DC comic book film.
Matt Damon and Sean Bean played Odysseus in Odyssey (2026) and Troy (2004) respectively, and the journey home mirrors Mark's journey of ten years longer. However, the second film was generally based on the Iliad. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey were written by Homer. Christopher Nolan was determined to direct Troy decades earlier before collaborating with Damon for the third time on Odyssey. Damon also starred alongside Brad Pitt, who appeared with Bean in Troy, in the Ocean's films, and George Clooney, who starred in The Odyssey, a loose adaptation of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), as Ulysses Everett McGill, based on Odysseus.
Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain's previous space travel film, Interstellar (2014), stars Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey had appeared in an earlier space travel film, Contact (1997). That film also featured Tom Skerritt and John Hurt, who had previously appeared together in Alien (1979), another space travel film directed by Sir Ridley Scott.
Kate Mara's sister Rooney Mara appeared in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), directed by David Fincher, director of Alien³ (1992). Noomi Rapace, who played the role in the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), also appeared in Sir Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) prequel Prometheus (2012).
Jeff Daniels's breakthrough role was also in Terms of Endearment (1983), in which he played a Houstonian and Jack Nicholson played an astronaut.
Four of the actors were born in the same years but in different months. 1977: Jessica Chastain was born on March 24, and Chiwetel Ejiofor on July 10. 1983: Kate Mara was born on February 27, and Donald Glover on September 25.
The large telescope at Parkes in New South Wales was crucial for communications during the Apollo moon landing. The first person to notice something was off and realize that it had "moved" on Mars was Mindy Park, a satellite communications engineer at NASA's Satcom.
Mark Watney acts as if he were a pirate named Captain Blondbeard. The film's lead actress, Jessica Chastain, had previously appeared in 2006 in the TV movie "Blackbeard" about the real-life notorious pirate Blackbeard.