The Martian Review

By: Maverick Raymundo

The MARTIAN's Astronomy (PGP)

    From this week's featured film, the Martian was a really entertaining movie at a considerable dramatic pace. Against the ten cliches (that Hollywood presents) described by Philip Plait, there were a few that were played out and some that were not. Here are the points used by the author that will be compared to the movie.

Sounds In Space

• Sounds for most of the movie (conversations and sound effects) were on a planet. When the crew was talking to each other they had spacesuits that was filled oxygen where sound can propagate. However, when Mark cuts a hole in his suit and air was released it shouldn't have made any noise at all. It should've been as quiet as Captain Lewis's assistance navigation pack.

Dense Asteroid Field

• There weren't any encounters with any asteroids as the whole movie was about the rescuing of an abandoned man on Mars. It would've been interesting but pushing the limits if they did. The asteroid belt is located past Mars so there would be no need to be concerned about it. As Plait stated, Hollywood movies underestimate the size of space and the distance between each asteroid would be far too apart in reality.

Spaceships Banking Hard

• The spaceship in the movie did not perform any angular turns and only shown linear movements. They used the planet's gravitational force to gain acceleration in an oval shape route. When the crew required to get closer to Mark they invented an explosive device to redirect their trajectory by using the force created by the bomb.

Laser Beam Dodging

• There were not any deadly lasers present since the mission was primarily for discovery and research purposes only. This type of technology wasn't necessary for the plot of the story.

Distant Galaxies

• The vastness of space was surely accounted for in the movie, so it kept this property by emphasizing the large time gap between planets. They always displayed how many days Mark had to endure in Mars. Astronauts had to contemplate about going another year in space, missing their families and life on Earth. The rotation of the ship was the only time the stars were moving but other than that, they portrayed it accurately.

To Steal All of Earth's Precious Water

• Unfortunately, there weren't any advanced race to take/suck up any of Earth's water. The only water problem introduced in the movie was how will Mark Watney obtain the resources to live on inhabitable land. He solved this issue by lighting hydrogen on fire.

The Enemy tries to escape Earth's gravity

• The movie only had to worry about Mar's escape velocity and how Mark could achieve this to reach the rescue ship. He had to sacrifice many necessary equipment to decrease the weight and gain the necessary speed to reach space.

Stars Flashing By

• The movie portrayed accurate visuals in the star movements in space. Here we see no emphasis on speed of traveling. The crew journey through a slow process showed as the same stars are rotating the same as they travel to Mars.

Explosion in Space

• We are dealt with an explosion within the ship necessary to propel and gain closer distance with Mark. The bomb was located inside the ship and the energy created blew the door open as the debris quickly rushed into the vacuum of space in every direction.

Phases of the Moon

• The movie did not give any minutes in showing the moon. The author explains that the common misconception of movies portraying the authenticity of Luna would be the source of light. Different angles of the sun and exposure to it would induce certain phase of the moon.