Watney's Time To Communicate With NASA In The 1979 Film Alien

For thousands of years, the universe fascinated civilizations, allowing individuals to gaze longingly into the distant emptiness of space. However, centuries later, space travel has become a reality, and with that, society embraced the science fiction elements often found in movies today. In 2015, Ridley Scott, director of the 1979 film Alien, released The Martian, another renowned movie to occur outside of Earth. After a ferocious storm on Mars, the crew abandoned the station, unintentionally leaving a wounded—but alive—Mark Watney behind. Watney, played by Matt Damon, then colonizes Mars by growing potatoes and discovers how to communicate with NASA back on Earth to plan a rescue mission. Eventually, the crew returns to recover him, permitting them all to return home safely. Following its release, the film immediately received critical acclamation, gaining seven Oscar nods and making a gross profit of over $54 million during opening weekend alone. Part of this fame could be attributed to …show more content…
Once a solid rescue mission is in place, NASA mimics tasks that Watney must perform in order to reach a launch site. People in the lab drill holes in the roof of the rover, jump on the top, and fall in, just as Watney does when Scott juxtaposes the two scenes together. Because of the close placement of these frames, Earth and Mars likewise appear to be much closer in location, therefore it seems like hardly any distance separates Watney from his home planet. Additionally, when Commander Lewis temporarily abandons her crew on the Hermes to retrieve Watney flailing around in space, Scott juxtaposes Lewis with Watney, further emphasizing how near Watney is to finally being rescued. As Watney finally has survival within his grasp, Scott juxtaposes Watney’s experiences with those happening on Earth to demonstrate how Watney’s journey for survival is finally coming to an