Winter Movies 2017: The Martian

Our last winter movie is The Martian (2015), directed by Ridley Scott and screenplay by Drew Goddard, based on the book by Andy Weir. Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Krissten Wiig play the lead roles (but we know plants have the starring role)! In this movie, a team of scientist from earth is nearing the end of a multiple-year mission to mars. The crew consists of various scientists, including a botanist, Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon. Their mission is cut short by a mega storm that threatens their lives and planned departure date. They leave hastily, just as the storm hits, leaving behind one member of their crew, Watney, thinking he died in the storm. They begin the long journey back to earth.

Watney regains consciousness once the storm has passed. He is wounded, but very much alive (his suit’s ability to transmit his vital signs had been damaged). He patches up his wounds and assesses his situation, realizing the crew has left the planet. Using his scientific skills, he analyzes how to extend his survival until the next mission arrives based on the food and materials left behind. He repairs what he can, plants a potato garden for food, and reestablishes communications with earth, all to the sounds of a lively disco sound track that was left behind by one of his crew members. Watney is on track to survive, until a series of events jeopardizes his food supply and fragile existence. However, his chances for survival increase once his crew members and the world realize he is alive.

I enjoyed the film’s interesting story line, appealing characters, and crew comradery (evident even after living in close quarters for a long mission). I appreciated Watney’s cool, scientific approach to his situation, and his adaptability and ingenuity using available materials. Best of all I enjoyed his potato garden project—creating a greenhouse, emulating sunlight, distilling moisture from the atmosphere, enriching the native soil, and monitoring plant growth. Take a look at the trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/

Winter Movies 2017: Silent Running

Our next movie, in which plants have the starring role, is Silent Running (1972), written by Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino, and directed by Douglas Trumbull. In this sci fi adventure, set in the 21st century, man has brought plant life to the brink of extinction. Freeman Lowell is a botanist on a four-man mission to transport the last remaining plants from various habitats on Earth into space on a specially constructed ark, the Valley Forge. Several drones aid the team in running the ship.

Lowell spends his time tending the various habitats, growing food in his garden, and expecting to receive the order at any time to return to refoliate the planet. Instead, the crew is ordered to destroy the payload of plants, and return to Earth. Lowell grapples with the ramifications of this order, and takes matters into his own hands to ensure survival of at least some of the plants.

I appreciated seeing the movie again - to see a young Bruce Dern in the title role, and hear Joan Baez sing the title songs. The habitat pods (the "green houses in space") are quite imaginative, and artificial intelligence and robots are evident. The themes of conservation and stewardship are still relevant today. We have cleaned up many of our environmental practices, but the world’s population has doubled since the movie was released, so vigilance is still required. Take a look (click Watch Trailer): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RPK1P0/ref=atv_feed_catalog?ref_=imdbref_tt_pv_vi_aiv_1&tag=imdbtag_tt_pv_vi_aiv-20

Winter Movies 2017: Elysium

Life is back to “normal” after travelling to Seattle to celebrate Christmas with our son and daughter-in-law. Now, back in the San Francisco Bay Area, decorations have been put away, a few resolutions have been eliminated or down sized, and the days seem to be getting longer. Spring is still a couple of months away, so I like to seek out a few movies where plants are the movie stars (even if only in a supporting role). This winter I’m viewing movies with “green houses in space”. Grab some cocoa and a bowl of pop corn, and come join me!

Elysium

Our first movie is “Elysium” (2013), written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, and starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley. This futuristic movie is set in 2054, at a time when two classes of people exist. The very wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Elysium is spacious, disease can be eradicated, and the environment is like a pristine garden. On earth, the world’s resources have been stripped, garbage is everywhere, robots police and administer the land, and people eke out a living. The health care industry is overloaded, and citizens of the world are prevented from visiting Elysium for treatment (space is the ultimate wall).

Max is a parolee, trying to turn his life around, and working at a factory job “on the line”. After a small police-related incident, he reconnects with Freya, a childhood friend at an orphanage run by sympathetic Catholic sisters, and now a nurse, with a daughter who has inoperable leukemia. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that, as children, Max vowed to take Freya to Elysium for a better life. Meanwhile, a coup is unfolding on Elysium masterminded by the ambitious and ruthless Secretary Delacourt, with aid from unsavory criminals on Earth. After a major industrial accident that renders Max with only days to live and nothing to lose, he signs on to take evidence of the coup to Elysium, and obtain medical care for himself and Freya’s daughter. An action-packed adventure ensues as he carries out the plan to bring justice and healing.

I love science fiction as a vehicle for exploring the what-ifs of other realities and situations. What if we failed to provide stewardship for the Earth? What if robots ran the world? What if overpopulation outstripped the planet’s resources? What if the disparity between haves and have-nots became too imbalanced? These themes are laced all through the action packed, sci-fi tale. Elysium is a garden paradise, with no hunger, disease or want, but at the expense of everyone else left behind on Earth. This movie may not be for everyone, but I appreciated its insight and gritty action. Take a look (click Watch Trailer): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GH75V1S?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_aiv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_aiv-20