"Help is only 140 million miles away"
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña
The Martian — Movie Quotes
Memorable Quotes
I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this.
Context
Spoken to the camera in a video log after Watney assesses his meager supplies and realizes the impossibility of his situation.
Meaning
The film's thesis statement. It encapsulates the refusal to give up and the reliance on knowledge rather than luck or force to solve problems.
Technically, I colonized Mars. In your face, Neil Armstrong!
Context
Spoken while looking at his potatoes successfully growing in the Hab.
Meaning
Highlights Watney's humor and the historical significance of his survival. By growing crops, he moves from a visitor to a settler.
Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out... This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception.
Context
Voiceover at the end of the film as we see the montage of the rescue operation and the world watching.
Meaning
This quote serves as the moral core of the film, explaining why billions of dollars and international efforts are spent to save just one person.
Project Elrond... because it's a secret meeting where the fate of the world is decided. Also, his name is 'Glorfindel'.
Context
During the secret meeting where they discuss the Rich Purnell maneuver, explicitly referencing Lord of the Rings (with Sean Bean present).
Meaning
A pop-culture bridge that humanizes the scientists. It frames their high-stakes meeting in the language of geek culture, bonding the characters and the audience.
Explore More About This Movie
Dive deeper into specific aspects of the movie with our detailed analysis pages