Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey just hit theaters and it’s already being called his magnum opus, with plenty of critics floating it as the best film of the year so far. A big part of that conversation is Matt Damon, who leads the film as Odysseus in what’s being praised as a career-defining performance. And whenever a Damon performance starts generating this kind of buzz, one particular film from his career always finds its way back into the spotlight. It’s widely regarded as one of his best movies, and once again, viewers are rediscovering what made it such a hit. And no, this time it isn’t one entry from his The Bourne films that made him say no to Avatar.
The film pulling focus is directed by Ridley Scott, the filmmaker behind Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, and Gladiator, among plenty of other genre-defining hits. It’s also based on a novel by Andy Weir, the author whose work became one of this year’s other big novel-to-screen success stories with Project Hail Mary. Long before that adaptation hit theaters, though, Weir’s very first novel got the big screen treatment, and that film is the one suddenly climbing the charts again.
That film is The Martian, and more than a decade after its original theatrical release, it’s trending on streaming. The movie was just added to Prime Video this month, and according to FlixPatrol, it has already cracked the platform’s Top 10 in the United States. It ranked as the #10 most popular movie on the service yesterday and has since jumped up to sixth place.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
‘The Martian’ Is One of the Greatest Space Movies Ever Made
Much like Project Hail Mary, The Martian follows a man stranded far from Earth, except this time it’s Mars instead of deep space, and there’s no Rocky around to keep him company. Damon stars as astronaut Mark Watney, who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind by his crew during a violent dust storm on Mars. Alone and with limited resources, Watney uses his scientific know-how to grow food and stay alive long enough to make contact with Earth, which sets off a rescue mission unlike anything attempted before.
The film holds a strong 91% score from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it even won the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. There aren’t many truly great space movies out there, but The Martian earns its place in that conversation alongside Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gravity, and of course, Project Hail Mary. Seriously, if you loved Project Hail Mary and have been looking for something to scratch that itch, The Martian is the closest thing out there. Watney has all the classic Weir-isms that made Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) so lovable. The sciencey problem-solving, the dry humor, the wholesome emotional beats, the “well, this situation is terrible, but let’s try and figure it out anyway” attitude – it’s all here and works just as well as it did in Project Hail Mary.
The Martian is available to stream on Prime Video. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
