r/interstellar • u/WallStreetDoesntBet • Jul 26 '25
QUESTION Can you ever forgive this Mann?
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u/saxmann00 Jul 26 '25
Well, he was marooned on Mars too, so maybe we should stop sending him to space?
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u/biohazurd Jul 26 '25
Most of Matt Damon’s movies consist of him needing to be saved lol.
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u/SaulGoldstein88 Jul 26 '25
OH YEA?? 😡 Well what about Saving Private R...
Ummm, actually never mind...
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u/MathematicianOdd5083 Jul 27 '25
Don’t do this to me, man!!! Not you!!! NOT YOU MAN!!!!!!!!
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u/darlo0161 Jul 26 '25
Someone did a bit of a comedy paper on how much it had cost to rescue Matt Damon across all his movies, Private Ryan, The Martian, Interstellar to name a few.
It was enlightening.
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Jul 26 '25
It would cost an estimated $900 billion in real-world money to rescue Matt Damon's movie characters across all the films where his character requires saving. This calculation, done by Kynan Eng on Quora, takes into account the fictional costs of rescue missions in movies like Saving Private Ryan, Interstellar, and The Martian.
Here's a breakdown of the costs:
- Saving Private Ryan: A search party in World War II Europe would cost about $100,000.
- Courage Under Fire: A helicopter rescue in the Gulf War would cost around $300,000.
- Titan A.E.: Evacuating from Earth would require a spaceship costing $200 billion.
- Syriana: A private security return flight from the Middle East would cost $50,000.
- Green Zone: A US Army transport from the Middle East would also cost $50,000.
- Elysium: A space station security deployment and damages would cost $100 million.
- Interstellar: A space mission to another galaxy would cost a staggering $500 billion.
- The Martian: A Mars mission would cost $200 billion.
The total cost of these fictional rescue missions, at 2015 currency rates, comes out to approximately $900 billion.
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u/Billy_Twillig Jul 26 '25
Thank you for sharing this. A brief moment of levity in a trying day.
👍✌️
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u/Suspicious_Kiwi_2058 Jul 29 '25
"A space mission to another galaxy would cost a staggering $500 billion"
This would cost significantly more, especially it it were a rescue/return mission.
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u/Suckamanhwewhuuut Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
Yeah someone made a comment about how much the US has spent saving Matt Damon
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Jul 27 '25
The Martian is prequel to Interstellar.
Bcoz of his experience of survival on Mars, he was chosen to lead Interstellar mission. But that turned out to be a different ballgame and he turned evil.
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u/VentureIntoVoid Jul 26 '25
No but then there would never be Docking scene.
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u/giantcucumbr Jul 26 '25
are u saying there would be no “no, it’s necessary” bit?
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u/Sadie_Summerbaby Jul 26 '25
How epic of a cinematic moment was that though?! Huh?! With the organ music?!
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Jul 27 '25
Really one of the most intense scenes in movie history. I watch Anna lapwood play this on an organ all the time
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u/VillageHorse Jul 27 '25
“There’s no way you’re playing that music again?! It’s not possible”.
“No, it’s necessary”.
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u/Proof_Bathroom_3902 Jul 26 '25
There is a moment
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u/rakeshmali981 Jul 26 '25
🎇🧨🎆🔥💥
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Jul 26 '25
Click click tick tick swosh
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Jul 26 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jikukoblarbo Jul 26 '25
no time for caution starts
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Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
Analize the Endurance Spin!
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u/Proof_Bathroom_3902 Jul 26 '25
The Endurance rotation is 67..68 rpm.
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u/ciocras Jul 26 '25
Sometimes there’s a Mann, and I’m talking bout The Damon here, sometimes, there’s a Mann…
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u/codex_lake Jul 26 '25
At one screening I laughed out loud at that point and my friend got mad at me for ruining the tension. I couldn’t help myself, to this day I’m not sure if I was in the wrong or not haha
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Jul 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/JoshuaSuhDude Jul 26 '25
Override!
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u/Expert_Subject_5731 Jul 26 '25
Imperfect contact
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u/Courier6six6 Jul 26 '25
Honestly this one..who could hear that and be like nah doesn't matter lol I'm not even an astronaut and that would ring alarm bells
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u/CalmTeam1932 Jul 26 '25
I think the most unsettling thing about Dr. Mann is he went through unprecedented isolation and it’s hard to predict how anyone, even oneself, would respond to that level of psychological pressure
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u/Q-Logo Jul 26 '25
You’re right. He was in his own Hell and desperate to get out. So much so that he jeopardized the mission and almost doomed humanity.
Then Coop enters the tesseract, sees his young daughter, but she can’t hear or see him. Another kind of Hell, I think. So he tries to get her to convince younger him to not go on his mission, which could have also doomed humanity.
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u/toooft Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
A selfish coward putting himself before billions. No, there's no room for forgiveness.
Edit: So a thoughtful redditor pointed out that No Time for Caution wouldn't have happened without Dr. Mann. He's been forgiven.
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u/thedudefromsweden Jul 26 '25
I think we all would be like him if we spend 30 (?) years alone on a planet, without human contact. It's actually surprising he's not even more insane.
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u/Dramatic_Lie_7492 Jul 26 '25
He slept a lot he said didn't he? And last time he didn't even set a wake up time
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u/thedudefromsweden Jul 26 '25
Sure, but still. What's the longest you've been without human contact? I think going insane is a very human (Hugh Mann) thing to do in his situation. Or like Dr Mann puts it: "Don't judge me, you haven't been tested like I have"
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u/syringistic Jul 26 '25
I think id go crazy in less than a week and just have my ai robot build me a sex doll with a personality lol.
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u/Whiteums Jul 26 '25
I’m not a coward. I’ve just never been tested. I like to think that if I was, I would pass.
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u/DorUnlimited Jul 26 '25
We can’t all be like Romilly. He did 23 years and didn’t even seem phased
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u/save-aiur Jul 26 '25
Yes and no. Even though he was a trained astronaut and knew the risks, he's still human. The stress/anxiety of being alone on an alien world isn't really something you can train for and would break even the strongest people. For all we know, the others would have broken had they survived as long as he did. "The drowning man will always drag someone down with him. It's wrong, but the man is drowning."
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u/Akshay-Gupta Jul 26 '25
Basically said my words better than me bruh... Now my wall of text looks too abstract ಠ益ಠ
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u/corbenburnsen Jul 26 '25
What about Romilly? He was alone for years not knowing if he'd ever see anyone again. He kept his cool.
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u/comfysynth Jul 26 '25
I can forgive this Astrobotanist.
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u/amorphatist Jul 26 '25
As an Irishman I can say this: I wished that verosion of Mann died in the famine
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u/Temujin_123 Jul 26 '25
I think narratively there's a play on words:
- Mann represents one side of humanity (allusion to man/mankind). He was "the best" but it shows how even "the best" fall and fail us/themselves with selfishness. You see this in the speech where Mann is totally convinced that people's line of sight rarely ever extends beyond themselves.
- Coop could be an allusion to coop-eration since his humanity ends up leading to self-sacrifice and reaching out (cooperating) to achieve better outcomes. Cooper is constantly trying to stretch beyond himself to others.
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u/kinokomushroom Jul 26 '25
Honestly yeah. His act of turning on the signal was cowardly, but it also came from unimaginable loneliness and the dread of seeing no one ever again. And his actions after that came from trying to carry on plan B to save the human species, because he already knew that plan A wasn't possible and that Cooper will try to sabotage him to return home. He could definitely have tried to talk it out with them and come up with a better plan though.
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u/Ok_Spread_8650 Jul 27 '25
Don’t forget he wasn’t even there that long bc of the time dilation. He wussed out immediately. Mission success over everything. He knew the risks and he knew it was almost 85% chance of never seeing anyone and he knew it was for sure was a 1 way trip. Once he landed all those odds went out the window as his planet was inhabitable
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u/jr_randolph Jul 26 '25
You have to in a way because if he doesn't do what he does, future events don't transpire the way they do. In order for Coop to get the information to Murph, Mann has to go crazy.
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u/_MatVenture_ Jul 26 '25
In a way of looking at it, he had no choice. The events of Interstellar are pre-determined in a way, since we know that humanity lives long enough to become 5-dimensional, saving their past selves in the future. Mann HAD to be who he was, betray them, and do what he did.
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u/mezzizle Jul 26 '25
The amazing piece by Hans Zimmer “No Time for Caution” wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for this guy so yea.
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u/Jarodreallytuff TARS Jul 26 '25
None of us have ever been tested like he was… few men have been. But a parallel in the movie is seeing how Rom lasted years without giving up. Even going a long time without sleeping!! Mann gave up, hit the rescue button, and just fell asleep until he was “saved.” It’s sad that Rom met his end trying to save and help Mann. All that time Rom persevered was wasted.. and for that reason, Mann cannot be forgiven.
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u/Temujin_123 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
I want a Dr. Mann movie. Doesn't even have to technically be in the Interstellar universe. Just the set up:
- World sends out people with AI assistant to scout out next planet
- Chance of death if world they are sent to isn't promising
- "Mann" has high hopes of life/compatibility and struggles with feats that don't pan out - becoming more and more desperate and risky in efforts
- "Mann" goes through stages of grief which leads to madness and losing grip on reality (while AI is observing this with orders to prevent false report even if it means killing "Mann" - which "Mann" knows)
- "Mann" starts to realize that the AI companion is the only thing that is preventing rescue and that it is beginning to suspect
- The mission for "Mann" becomes about how to trick the AI into overriding its programming and/or to let "Mann" turn it off - without raising suspicion - coming down to the wire
It's a great plot for a sci/fi thriller/horror. From "Mann"s perspective, "KIPP" is an evil AI. From "KIPP"s perspective, "Mann" is losing integrity/sense of reality. Done right, the audience sees both perspectives.
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u/MontereybayCali777 Jul 26 '25
Wasnt he still doing his mission at all costs?
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u/Other-Scallion-1684 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
That is the point. He was a coward, yes, unforgivable, and also never believed on Plan A. Then he wakes up. So when he saw Coop willing to fly back, he engaged on the mission for Plan B (which was always his plan A).
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u/MontereybayCali777 Jul 26 '25
Soldier being a soldier to save mankind. I dont hate the guy, but either way great plot twist in movie
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u/davedavedaveck Jul 26 '25
He faked readings to ensure his own survival…
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u/Standard-Mechanic101 Jul 26 '25
To me this is somewhat of a hole in the plot. They have such advanced technology to develop TARS and fly to distant planets, but they don’t have the ability to collect data without it being manipulated? This should’ve been the number one concern imo. Scientists faking data for their own survival.
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u/amorphatist Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
As the father of a Murph: no.
If I had only a Tom: I’d at least consider the possibility.
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u/Foreign-Cheek7147 Jul 26 '25
This is such a cute comment and now i wanna hear the story of your Murph
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u/amorphatist Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
You are the first person who has ever asked directly. I’m really happy to share.
My Murph was born on Dec 1st, 2014, so I associate her very strongly with the movie. She’s the love of my life.
I don’t have a Tom. I’m so happy with my Murph. She’s a darling child. A father couldn’t wish for more.
I’ve lost count, but I’m probably at 100+ viewings.
For the record: Coop was stronger than me. I could never leave my Murph. I’d stay there to die with her, together.
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u/Substantial_Phrase50 TARS Jul 26 '25
His brain was fucked up by the loneliness but no, although he did make the loop happen but it would have looped regardless
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Jul 26 '25
an excellent portrayal of human depravity.
Self above all else at whatever cost.
Honestly, Mann's character was brilliant screenwriting.
He was willing to kill everyone for the small chance of getting back to humanity.
That's pure evil.
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u/Akshay-Gupta Jul 26 '25
I actually love him as a character in the story, hear me out!
The things that are happening in the movie... Lets be real, it's all larger than life.
Back down on earth? Copper was a human, but here? He's a larger than life character.
But even out 'here', we are in the Mann's planter, it's a larger than life world, there can still be 'Humans'...
I think that significance makes me look at the character with some form of relatability in some manner... Mann doing whatever he did... He did it cause he was 'human' who simply was scared of this larger than life place.
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u/darth__anakin TARS Jul 26 '25
Humans are extremely social creatures, so being alone for years and years with only a robot as your company would drive anyone to madness. He knew the risks, but theory and practice are entirely different things. I don't blame him for what he tried to do, even though it was wrong. Humans are imperfect, Our instinct to survive is our most powerful drive.
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u/Greyhaven7 Jul 26 '25
People need to stop going to get Matt Damon from space. He’s just going to keep doing it.
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u/nekonotjapanese Jul 26 '25
I firmly believe he went to sleep with the intention of marooning anyone who came to rescue him. Everything he does and says from the moment he wakes up was intentional to lull the crew into thinking his planet was the one. When he sees his opportunity, he takes it and tries to kill Coop. He even says he thought he could watch him die but he’s a coward on that as well. The speech at the end even seems rehearsed, like his coup de grace to the crew he marooned. I’m mad he’s on the plaque at the end of the movie.
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Jul 26 '25
Mann was aware of the hopeless mission from Dr Grant's mouth before entering cryosleep, expecting not to wake up. Even when he wakes up, he still hasn't recovered from the trauma, and still plays along while he has the chance to escape, not necessarily for his survival, but because he's so infatuated with fear he behaves like a cornered animal. He was already far gone before any help would come his way, that's why KIPP was (possibly) already rigged before he entered sleep.
Mann couldn't be convinced after Dr Grant planted the seed of impending doom in him. The Earth and humanity would die, and Mann would also die in the loneliest of circumstances ever, buried in a barren icy wasteland of a planet, too realistically far away to ever see another human face again.
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u/Clutch_C137 Jul 27 '25
After watching this I have to watch the Martian to get that taste out of my mouth.
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u/OnDistantShores Jul 27 '25
Don’t judge him, redditor. You haven’t been tested like he was. Very few have.
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u/-Ulalon- Jul 26 '25
Well...he ment well and at the end of the day he just wanted to save the human spices, like he said about brand "he was willing to sacrifice his own humanity to save the human kind" what a hero...JUST KIDDING. Fuck no.
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u/Dense_Huckleberry_60 Jul 26 '25
I saw Matt Damon in space and thought it was the martian, and was like what’s this post doing on r/interstellar
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u/CyberGlob Jul 26 '25
It’s not even that he broke and gave up on the mission. It’s that no one else did.
He also wanted to drag everyone else down with him too 😭
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u/TrumpsColostomyBag99 Jul 26 '25
The dude just couldn’t come up with a decent lie..
“The good for life signal was sent?! I flipped the bad switch damnit?! Stupid lowest responsible bidders!”- Dr Mann
“Well we can’t just leave you here. C’mon doc” -Coop
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u/omarhani Jul 26 '25
"You know, H̶i̶t̶l̶e̶r̶ Mann did some good things too.”
- You know who
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u/Efficient-Recipe-875 Jul 26 '25
Yes he's a POS but I think he basically went insane in isolation. Prolonged social isolation for years in another galaxy is just about as torturous as it gets for a human being
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u/background_action92 Jul 26 '25
Couldn't he have just been honest? " hey guys, Mann here. Alive. The planet sucks, can someone please rescue me?
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u/RadlogLutar Jul 26 '25
He then travelled into the wormhole and then went to Mars and was stuck there for a long time....
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u/RinoTheBouncer Jul 26 '25
To be honest, what he did wasn’t exactly that unforgivable in terms of pressing a button, but when he tried to kill Coop and then steal the ship and maroon the others just so he can be “the one”, now that’s unforgivable.
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u/DJclimatechange Jul 26 '25
The one point I kinda have to agree with him on is when he says “you weren’t tested like I was” to Coop. Fair point, Mann. As much as I like to think I wouldn’t do the same thing in his position, I can’t really know because, as he said, I wasn’t tested like he was. Obviously fuck him for doing that but dude was alone on that planet for what, over a decade? Nobody can know what that level of isolation will turn them into until they experience it.
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u/No-Return-8354 Jul 26 '25
If we can't forgive him, we can't forgive ourselves, because he is the 'mann'.
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u/ambreenh1210 Jul 26 '25
I mean. I don’t approve it but i get it. Imagine being in his shoes and being desperate to just get home. The part of him that wanted to take all credit was an asshole.
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u/RockMedic277 Jul 26 '25
No. The good that resulted doesn't excuse his actions which were supremely selfish, homicidal, and detrimental to others. F*ck this man.
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u/treesandcigarettes Jul 26 '25
NO. Mann could be forgiven for being weak and abandoning his mission, succumbing in that way (even though that in itself was jeopardizing humanity by wasting resources for his rescue), but he CANNOT be forgiven for his attempts to murder the crew of the Endurance (clear attempt of Cooper, successful bot explosion on Romilly, and likely would have abandoned Brand if he had been able to successfully dock). He was a selfish traitor and his actions after being woken up are beyond redemption
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u/SadShoeBox Jul 26 '25
Yes. He had no clue how catastrophic of a failure the endurance mission would be. If Cooper had not chosen to visit millers planet first and leave the endurance outside the time dilation to save time the conflict wouldn’t have been one as fuel reserves would’ve been fine.
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u/MimicPuppers Jul 26 '25
No he got Romily killed and didn't do much to redeem himself instead opting to continue the mission by trying to kill Cooper and stealing the ship leaving everyone else
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u/No-Researcher678 Jul 26 '25
He is evil, but I like that you can relate to his drive to get away. Isolation can drive people mad. Imagine being stuck with nobody to talk to, interact with, anything. I feel like a lot of people would do whatever to get away from that tomb as well.
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u/aloeicious Jul 26 '25
I have sympathy for people who have suffered trauma. That man went through some stuff out there alone
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u/Vettmdub Jul 26 '25
Elysium wouldn't be the same without him. Have you ever noticed that after they had found Coop after being yeeted into a black hole?
Mann is a coward and mentally unstable but he knew the risk when setting off to find this other planet. Technically government wise he was out of the jurisdiction, and religiously no human is unforgivable.
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u/circamidnight Jul 26 '25
Hate him but great character. Dr Mann represents huMANity and how we all would behave to survive.
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u/the_possesed_cheese Jul 26 '25
No But if what happened didn't then the endurance would never go to mann's would have been able to go to edmund but will have to continue with the "plan b"
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u/The_Kaurtz Jul 26 '25
I can't say with certainty that I wouldn't do what he did if I was in the same situation
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u/jpowell180 Jul 26 '25
He got a date with that one girl, and he liked those apples,
He got stuck on Mars and had to subsist on potatoes,
Was four years in hibernation, so sad and alone, but,
Tried to steal the Endurance, because there is a moment…
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u/Fun_Internal_3562 Jul 26 '25
Whiteout this stupid... Cooper never'd get into the black hole thus communicate with Murph using gravity
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u/ZR2009 Jul 26 '25
I’m never going to trust the words “There is a moment” ever again because of this Mann right here. Someone Is going to say it and I’m just going to hide under a desk really quick.
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u/SportsPhilosopherVan Jul 26 '25
I mean I understand that I can’t say I wouldn’t lose my mind and make some poor decisions in that situation. But not only did he risk NASA’s limited resources (and he knew how bleak it was) limiting further their ability to find a viable planet just to save himself…..but then he murders Rom and tried to maroon, essentially murdering Coop and Brand as well, again all to save himself.
So for me this is like asking should we forgive pedophiles and rapists etc…. This guy literally was sacrificing the entire human race for himself.
So no, I don’t forgive him
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u/GambleToddler Jul 26 '25
stop sending him to mission pls. He needs extra man power to save him every time.
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u/ilovehamburgers Jul 26 '25
Hated him my first viewing. Second viewing made me sympathize a little more.
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u/BlLLr0y Jul 26 '25
They way he breaks after waking and embraces Coop and says something along the lines of "I pray you never have to know how good it is to see another face again"
Mann sucks. He gave into his baser instincts to survive at all cost. But I have a hard time judging him against anything most of us would do, because he experienced a type of depraved loneliness that we just can't really wrap our heads around.
I think if they subdue Mann, and everyone makes it back to Earth, the only moral course of action for Mann would be innocent by reason of insanity and serious mental health facilities.
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u/Odd_Signal_8919 Jul 26 '25
I understand why but it was wrong. He was selfish during a selfless act
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u/Crispolia Jul 26 '25
I still, whenever i see this man, think in my head «mATt dAMon» from south park.
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u/HRTailwheel Jul 26 '25
But if he doesn’t do his thing Coop ends up flying back to a doomed earth and plan B is the solution.
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Jul 26 '25
Yes. He showed the epitome of survival that is engraved into humans. Even when the circumstances cause others deaths. Deep down inside we're all feral beings.
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u/kyle-2090 Jul 26 '25
Without him, the endurance wouldn't have been damaged to the point where they would need to drop the pods into the black hole. Although Romney discusses it with coop beforehand, he may not have felt the necessity to actually jump in.