From space epics like 'Gravity' to survival movies like 'Cast Away.'
Many blockbuster science fiction films focus heavily on the fiction and leave the actual science to the wayside. Sometimes though, we see a truly intelligent smash hit film like The Martian that leans heavily on science to ensure its success, a winning combination of entertainment and learning. Many NASA departments consulted on the film to make it as realistic as possible, resulting in a standout piece of genre fiction that became a huge critical and commercial hit.
The Martian depicts astronaut Mark Whatney's (Matt Damon) solitary struggle to survive after the rest of the crew (including Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Michael Pena) from his mission unknowingly abandon him on Mars, believing him to be dead when they take off from the martian surface. Like in the novel by Andy Weir on which the film is based, our hero is overwhelmingly optimistic, retaining humor and cheer in the face of insurmountable odds. Throughout Mark's rousing journey we never forget that we are watching someone fallably mortal, who yearns to once again feel the warmth of human connection. Whether it is the thrill of survival or the cerebral musings of sci-fi that led you to enjoying The Martian, here are thirteen films you will want to watch next.
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Pioneering the grand tradition of stranding Matt Damon alone in space was Interstellar, an engrossing and complex film by master film-maker Christopher Nolan. A true masterpiece of sci-fi cinema, no fan of the genre can miss this. Like The Martian, Interstellar never shies away from the science part of sci-fi, delving into concepts as varied as wormholes, time dilation, multi-universe theory and five-dimensional space. Don't worry if your first viewing leaves you in a heady daze, you will enjoy each subsequent re-watch more than the first as the intellectual layers of the film become clearer. Plus, you will never tire of the outstanding performances from Matthew McConaughy, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Timothee Chalamet.
Originally conceived as a sequel to Stowaway, Writer/Director Joe Penna changed the setting of Arctic from the surface of Mars to an icy locale of the far north. Overgård (the always superb Mads Mikkelsen) is stranded in the Arctic after his plane crashes. Following a fatal attempt at rescue he is left with a wounded patient in urgent need of medical care, and must decide whether to leave the relative safety of his makeshift camp or embark on a perilous journey in the hope of rescuing them both. Arctic is an immersive thriller whose chilly locale and overwhelming obstacles will leave you with goosebumps.
The empty abyss of space has never felt more claustrophobic than in Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are mostly relegated to spacesuits as they try to outrun the high-speed debris that destroyed their ship, and threatens to remove any chance of them ever returning home.
The sense of impending doom weighs heavily on the audience and the characters as the timer is set for each subsequent disastrous wave of the debris. The Earth featuring largely in the background so desperately close but so far out of reach. Nevertheless, underneath the immediate threats there is an undercurrent of hope, of getting through trauma not unchanged but unbroken. This defiant spirit of optimism and faith is also strongly present in The Martian, with both films presenting a case for challenging death and searching instead for connection.
"I'll be right back" calls Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) to his girlfriend Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt) before boarding a doomed FedEx flight across the Pacific Ocean. After a storm crashes the plane, Chuck and a handful of FedEx parcels are all that washes ashore a deserted island. With only the contents of the parcels and the natural resources around him to survive, Chuck learns how to use everything he can to stay alive, and eventually forms a plan to try and sail home and return to the live he once knew. Imagine how well Chuck would have thrived if he'd also had potatoes!
The film is dominated by an iconic performance from Hanks, who approaches the role with such vigour that we feel every high and low, from the thrill of discovering fire, to the deep heartbreak at loss of his volleyball, Wilson. Cast Away is a survival tale that shows us that sometimes Earth can be as hard to survive as Mars.
Our sun is dying, and an international team of astronauts is sent on a dangerous mission to re-ignite it. The first crew has already failed, and humanities last hope threatens to be lost after a detour threatens the entire operation. Man's inability to survive easily in space comes to the fore in both The Martian and Sunshine, with the crew of Icarus II (A star-studded cast including Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cliff Curtis and Benedict Wong) slowly succumbing to the the dangers inherent in space travel, including mans inability to comprehend the expansive scope of the universe. Written by sci-fi vitruoso Alex Garland and directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle, the film is a foreboding parable of the vulnerabilities inherent in humanity.
Stranded in sand, with dwindling supplies and nothing but intellect and ingenuity to help you survive? Sounds like The Flight of the Phoenix, a 1965 survival film about a group of men whose plane crashes in the Sahara desert. Short of time and with no help on the horizon, their only hope is to rebuild their airplane and fly themselves out again. Though the film featured a stellar ensemble cast (including James Stewart, Peter Finch, Richard Attenborough, Ernest Borgnine and Hardy Kruger) it was considered a financial flop upon release, but remained critically adored and was nominated for two Academy Awards. This admiration meant film was subsequently re-made in 2004, although to much less critical acclaim.
A near-wordless script does nothing to dull the phenomenal performance of Robert Redford in this sea-faring action film. An un-named man sailing the Indian Ocean (Redford) awakes to find his vessel is taking on water after a collision with a shipping container. With his navigation equipment and radio both damaged in the impact, the man must face a violent storm, the harsh sun, circling sharks and his own mortality. In a career forged with stand-out performances this is a is no exception, with Redford taking full command of the screen despite the sparse dialogue.
A survival blockbuster of epic proportions, the 1996 disaster on which Everest is based was the deadliest Everest expedition until the time of filming, but has since been eclipsed by two other fatal seasons. On a fateful May morning two mountaineering guides (Jason Clarke and Jake Gyllenhaal) join forces to guide their amateur climbers (including John Hawkes, Josh Brolin, Vanessa Kirby and Michael Kelly) to the top of Mount Everest. Congestion on the mountain delays summiting, and the two teams are inadvertently caught in a violent blizzard, forced to contend with nature at its harshest. The emotional sincerity of the film is only eclipsed by the spectacular scenery, and the harrowing journeys of all involved is a testament to human endurance.
At the height of the moon-landing hype of 1969 came Marooned, where three Astronauts Buzz (Gene Hackman), Jim (Richard Crenna), and Clayton (James Franciscus) find themselves stranded after a malfunction leaves them drifting in space. With only two days of breathable air left, the director of NASA (Gregory Peck) plans a bold rescue mission to save them before their oxygen levels reach empty, but with a hurricane bearing down on the launch site salvation is not guaranteed. The tense ending will have audiences awaiting each moment with the same bated breath as our endangered astronauts.
The collective effort required to bring stranded astronauts home is also apparent here, with both Marooned and The Martian juxtaposing the quiet, solitary helplessness of an astronauts struggle with the crowded and bustling workplaces of those back at NASA who are charged with aiding their plights. The need to communicate features heavily in both films, with a lack of clear communication causing pivotal failures in both stories.
Based on the true story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft, Adrift is part-survival thriller, part-romance. Shailene Woodley plays the on-screen version of Tami, a novice who agrees to sail a luxury yacht across the Pacific Ocean with her sailor boyfriend Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin.) As the pair sail into a devastating hurricane, Richard instructs Tami to go below where it is safer. When she returns to the deck, she discovers she is left with a broken boat and a broken fiance, as Richard has fallen overboard and has severe injuries when she finds him, and Tami must try and return all of them to the relative safety of Hawaii, despite her inexperience. Woodley commands the screen throughout much of the film, selling the films final heart-breaking twist, and relishing both the physicality required by the role, and the more tender moments between the two lovers.
Before their record-breaking collaboration on Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski worked together on this dazzling sci-fi actioner. After a drone repairman (Cruise) discovers a crashed spaceship with startling contents, his reality of the destruction of Earth due to a long-term war between the alien 'scavs' and humankind is brought into question. The film is desolate and cold, full of cold hues against dark sand, making Earth look like a foreign land. While it lacks the warmth and charm of The Martian, it is visually striking and full of twists and turns that will keep the audience guessing right up until the last minute.
The only thing more dangerous than nature is human nature, as we discover in this tale of intrigue and survival starring Anthony Hopkins, Elle Macpherson and Alec Baldwin. A beautiful model (Macpherson) invites her wealthy husband (Hopkins) to accompany her on a remote photo shoot with a young photographer (Baldwin) in the Alaskan wilderness. After the small plane carrying the men crashes they devise a plan to get back to civilisation, but there are more dangerous forces at play than just the bear that is stalking them. Strong performances and beautiful scenery anchor this gripping tale of lust, jealousy and the primal nature of man. Similar to The Martian's insistence on realistic science, you will probably also learn a thing or two from Hopkins' fact-touting genius to help you should you ever find yourself stranded in the wild.
David Bowie's commercial breakthrough song was "Space Oddity" and his son, director Duncan Jones, broke through with his own space oddity - Moon. Lunar resident Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is the only worker at a heavily automated mining station on the dark side of the moon. He looks forward to returning to his wife and daughter on Earth, but just as his three-year shift is nearly at an end, his health takes a dramatic turn for the worse. During a painful hallucinogenic episode he has a near-fatal accident, but wakes up alive and well back in the mining station. Sam becomes increasingly convinced there is a conspiracy afoot, and contrives to return to the scene of the crash to discover the truth behind the strange occurances at the station.
Moon has gained a cult following since its release, using the same winning combination of cerebral sci-fi and dramatic survival thriller with a lovable leading man who predominantly carries the film, stark outer-space setting and emotionally satisfying ending that also made The Martian a hit. Appeasing our primal need to survive will never go out of style, and so it looks like Hollywood will continue to abandon stars in space with nothing but their intellect and instincts for a long time to come.
Sarah Lewis is a Melbourne-based freelance writer for Collider who loves Sci-Fi, disaster movies and anything with Jon Bernthal. When not whittling down her to-watch list (or more likely, adding to it) Sarah enjoys coffee, reading and her family.
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