Project Elrond

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2018)

A NASA crew on Mars evacuates during a bad storm, Mark (Matt Damon) is believed dead and is left behind. However, he is not dead and needs to be resourceful to survive until the next mission, over a year away. However it it not as bad as "Gravity" or "Cast Away" without Wilson. Mark (plot spoiler revealed in previews) manages to make contact with Earth and we have a subplot to break up the monotony of a one man play.
The film is designed primarily for science geeks. There is a lot of terms for them, many are broken down, some inanely as when a sling shot effect had to be explained to the head of NASA, something they do all the time.
With all the hype of an Oscar nomination, I thought the film would have been better. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I don't believe it belongs in the Science Fiction hall of fame. There are no space aliens, ghosts, or anything crazy like that. Science fiction, not science fantasy.
As far as science goes, my understanding is that Martian soil has a high perchlorate content hindering plant growth. Also NASA is leery of sending anyone to Mars as the radiation dose they will get on a round trip would be considered a lifetime dose for the astronauts, ending their careers and greatly increasing the risk of a latent radiation induced cancer etc.