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

"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.

Both films are built on a knock 'em down/pick 'em up structure that ultimately makes their respective — SPOILER ALERT! — escapes from confinement all the sweeter. It's also worth noting that the survival of both men is dependent on close encounters of the turd kind, with human excrement playing pivotal roles in both of their salvation. Coincidence? We're not sure…

The walls of a prison cell are, on the face of it, rather more claustrophobic than having an ENTIRE PLANET to yourself. But with Watney trapped between a habitation module, a Martian rover, or a spacesuit, fresh air is just a pipe dream. And with tens of millions of miles between himself and the rest of civilisation, Watney trumps Dufresne in the isolation stakes. On the plus side, at least he doesn't have to avoid Shawshank's more hostile residents.

And while the only tools Dufresne has at his disposal are a rock hammer, the holes in his pockets, and a succession of movie posters, Watney winds up with the whole of NASA trying to get him home. In fact, along with "Apollo 13", "The Martian" may just be Hollywood's greatest celebration of the US space administration and the scientists who make it tick.

Ridley Scott's place in the sci-fi hall of fame had been assured long before he dispatched Damon to the red planet. "Alien" (1979) and "Blade Runner" (1982) remain among the most influential movies ever made, writing the blueprint for sci-fi horror and futuristic dystopias, respectively. So while his 2012 return to the genre, "Alien" prequel "Prometheus", struggled to live up to considerable pre-release hype, the veteran British director had little to prove when he signed up for "The Martian".

Andy Weir had written the original novel in his spare time. It became a surprise hit after the author self-published on Amazon Kindle in 2011, before finding itself a mainstream book deal and eventually topping the New York Times bestseller list.

Pitched as "Cast Away" in space", the movie rights were quickly snapped up by 20th Century Fox, with "X-Men" producer Simon Kinberg attached to the project before the book had even made it into shops. It was the script from Drew Goddard ("Cloverfield", "The Cabin in the Woods") that ultimately piqued Matt Damon's interest, though Goddard eventually turned down the opportunity to direct, opting instead to make Spider-Man spin-off "The Sinister Six". That film never made it out of development hell, but the airlock had already been opened for Scott to come on board.

Set in 2035 — 16 years after "Blade Runner", though in a very different timeline — "The Martian" exists in a much more optimistic future than Scott's previous sci-fi hits. He turned out to be equally at home on Mars, however, finding the humanity — and the unexpected humor — in Mark Watney's plight. He also made brilliant use of the stunning scenery of Wadi Rum in Jordan (see also: "Rogue One" and "The Rise of Skywalker") to create some stunning Mars vistas.

But it's Damon, as the eponymous, accidental Martian, who's the film's real MVP. He'd played an astronaut a year earlier in Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar", but Watney is the polar opposite of the cynical, broken Dr Mann. He has the likeable everyman quality of Tom Hanks in "Cast Away", but with a rather better understanding of science and math.

Crucially, he rarely lets the situation get on top of him, even when his new temporary home proves extremely hostile to life. He's also funny — like, really funny — and unleashes his own unique brand of gallows humor to keep himself sane. Using Watney's video diaries to narrate his story proves a masterstroke, as an unseen camera becomes a mute sounding board in the spirit of Wilson, the volleyball in "Cast Away". As a result, you really care when things inevitably go wrong, from the significant (explosions taking out airlocks) to the downright disastrous (Watney running out of ketchup).

And then there's his penchant for "sciencing the s**t" out of the situation, a phrase that's since crossed over into the pop culture lexicon. Whether he's using his own poop to fertilize a crop of potatoes, or jerry-rigging the long-defunct Pathfinder probe to contact mission control, Watney's ingenuity is truly inspirational. It's easy to see why NASA was happy to consult on this particular space odyssey — indeed, it's hard to imagine a more appealing recruitment drive for the astronaut program, despite Watney's unfortunate predicament.

Of course, Damon's not the only star of the show. As Watney's fate becomes an international cause célèbre, scientists and engineers at NASA, the Jet Propulsion Agency, and later, the China National Space Administration perform mathematical gymnastics, laugh in the face of deadlines, and — just occasionally — bend the rules to get him home. The crew of the Ares III, meanwhile — racked with guilt after leaving a man behind — sacrifice an immediate rendezvous with their families to make the lengthy return trip to Mars.

It's a big-budget space movie that celebrates teamwork, intelligence, and calmness under pressure over spectacular set-pieces. In fact, the only real concession to blockbuster action comes in the climactic scene, when Watney punctures his spacesuit, impersonates (in his own words) Iron Man, and attempts to propel himself the last few meters back to the Ares III. Where's JARVIS when you need him?

For many years, Hollywood regarded Mars as a cursed planet, after a string of high-profile releases — including "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars", "Red Planet", "Mission to Mars" and, most infamously, "John Carter" — underperformed commercially. "The Martian" bucked the trend, and despite not being 2015's most successful trip to outer space — unsurprisingly, that title went to "The Force Awakens" — it was a bona fide box office smash.

In that regard, "The Martian" was nothing like "The Shawshank Redemption", which famously flopped before finding a new life on VHS. If you come across "The Martian" on TV, however, it's just as hard to switch channels. Mark Watney's ongoing cycle of wins, score draws, and losses pulls you in, keeping you rooting for the loneliest guy in the universe — even though you know everything is going to be fine.

"You do the math," he tells a class of aspiring astronauts at the end of the movie. "You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next, and if you solve enough problems, you get to come home."

Andy Dufresne would surely approve.

'The Martian' is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK, and to rent and buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and more in the US.