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Space
Space
Science
Richard Edwards

'The Martian' is 10 years old. Looking back at sci-fi's answer to 'The Shawshank Redemption'

Split image showing Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" on the left and Mark Watney (Matt Damon) from the movie "The Martian" on the right.

"Get busy living or get busy dying."

It's the mantra that motivates wrongly imprisoned Andy Dufresne throughout his brutal 20-year stretch in Shawshank State Prison, and it's safe to assume that "The Martian"'s marooned astronaut had "The Shawshank Redemption" on his pre-flight watchlist. After all, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) lives by exactly the same credo when his Ares III crewmates accidentally leave him behind on Mars, even though he faces even more insurmountable odds.

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