In 2013’s “Gravity”, Sandra Bullock played a rookie astronaut who, in less than 90 minutes, alone and against all odds, did everything she possibly could to get back home. In 2014, Bullock’s haircut was then styled for Anne Hathaway, who joined space explorer Matthew McConaughey on a groundbreaking “Interstellar” adventure from the mind of Christopher Nolan. Midway through Matt Damon showed-up and nearly killed McConaughey. But he survived (alright, alright, alright!) However, he still had to face his biggest test: getting back home. And I still don’t understand that film’s final few moments.
This year’s blockbuster space movie (because, apparently, it’s become an annual thing) is “The Martian”, starring Mr. Damon. And here’s the tagline on the film’s poster: “Bring Him Home.” That’s right, after a Mars mission goes wrong and all the other astronauts leave the planet thinking that Damon’s character is dead, he wakes-up. And so the others decide, again all odds, to go back and try to rescue him. Jimmy Kimmel is sure to either love or hate “The Martian” depending on how it ends.
It’s clear that Hollywood is more in love with exploring space than anyone currently working at NASA. And the connection between the Cinema and celestial exploration has been around since movies began. Among the highlights – “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which is still considered one of the (if not the) greatest sci-fi movie ever made, “E.T.”, one of my all-time favorites, and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”.
But this triple-header of similar Awards Season go-getting, astronaut-saving movies is a bit unique. I’m not sure if “The Martian” will earn Visual Effects Oscar honors, as “Gravity” and “Interstellar” did (it could end-up battling the latest in another space saga – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – for that statue). But maybe we’ve seen the last “astronaut in peril” film for a while. Next time, he/she can just “phone home.”