The Martian, an award-winning sci-fi film, will be FOLA's (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) next movie on Saturday, June 3 at 7 PM at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium.
The Martian is a 2015 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, based on Andy Weir's 2011 novel The Martian. Matt Damon stars as an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on Mars. The film depicts his struggle to survive and others' efforts to rescue him.
In 2035, the crew of the Ares III mission to Mars is exploring Acidalia Planitia on Martian solar day (sol) 18 of their 31-sol expedition. A strong dust storm threatens to topple their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), forcing them to abort their mission. During the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney is struck by debris and lost in the storm; the last telemetry from his suit indicates no signs of life. With Watney believed dead, and the storm worsening by the second, mission commander Melissa Lewis orders the crew to take off and return to their orbiting vessel, Hermes.
Watney awakens after the storm to a low oxygen warning and makes his way to the "Hab" (short for "habitat"), the crew's base of operations. He removes the piece of antenna which destroyed his suit's biomonitor and lodged in his torso by performing self-surgery. He begins a video diary and realizes that his only chance of rescue is to rendezvous with the Ares IV crew at the Schiaparelli crater, 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) away in four years. His immediate concern is there will not be enough food to survive that long. Watney, being a botanist, improvises a farm inside the Hab utilizing Martian soil fertilized with human waste, water produced by extracting hydrogen from leftover rocket fuel, and potatoes intended for Thanksgiving dinner. He also begins to modify the only functional rover for longer journeys in preparation for the long distance travel.
The Martian received praise for it visual effects, musical score, scientific accuracy, writing and likeability, largely due to Matt Damon's performance. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, which categorizes reviews as positive or negative, indicated the film was "Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott."
The movie is open to everyone and is free; donations are appreciated. Popcorn is provided by Berkshire Bank, water by FOLA. For information call (802) 228-7239 or visit the FOLA web site at www.fola.us.