10 Times Movies Did Their Research (And Nailed It)

There's a moment in The Martian where protagonist Mark Watney bluntly states how he plans to survive on Mars - "I'm gonna have to science the s**t out of this". It's a great line, as it not only encapsulates Watney's sense of humour and no-nonsense approach to survival, but also summarises the film crew's attitude towards depicting Watney's life on Mars.

The Martian may have been adapted from the Andy Weir book of the same name but, rather than simply relying on the science as depicted in Weir's novel, director Ridley Scott went the extra mile and corresponded with James Green - the then-director of NASA's Planetary Sciences Division.

As you'd imagine, Green was a huge help in ensuring the film remained as scientifically accurate as possible, and his observations actually made one of the film's key scenes even more spectacular. As detailed by Mental Floss, the storm that results in Mark Watney being stranded on Mars was originally meant to just be nothing more than wind and dust. James Green, however, pointed out that a dust storm that severe would likely result in lightning strikes as well, resulting in the studio adding lightning to the scene.

Granted, Green also stated that Mars conjuring a dust storm that deadly is in itself unlikely. Yet the fact remains that following the former NASA director's advice made The Martian's opening set-piece that much more dramatic.