--- title: Cost of Rescuing Matt Damon in Movies description: Most of us are too busy cheering on the search party to take the time to consider just how much rescuing a character would actually cost. canonical: https://time.com/4162254/cost-of-rescuing-matt-damon/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-28T19:11:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:48.272Z og:title: Rescuing Matt Damon's Characters Has Cost More Than $900 Billion og:description: That's nearly a trillion dollars og:url: https://time.com/4162254/cost-of-rescuing-matt-damon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte865b758bb6d5a81/698876f53c1639f20045b59c/matt-damon-rescue-cost.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: "The Martian" Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rescuing Matt Damon's Characters Has Cost More Than $900 Billion twitter:description: That's nearly a trillion dollars twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte865b758bb6d5a81/698876f53c1639f20045b59c/matt-damon-rescue-cost.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rescuing Matt Damon's Characters Has Cost More Than $900 Billion > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces [Watch (HLS stream): The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xe99vdU4.m3u8) (4:45)  _Published 2010-01-11. Steven James Snyder, Techland's resident movie geek, outlines the top 5 most under-rated sci-fi movies of all time_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 28, 2015 7:11 PM UTC  Matt Damon at 'The Martian' Press Conference at the Ritz Carlton on September 11, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario. Matt Damon at 'The Martian' Press Conference at the Ritz Carlton on September 11, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario. Vera Anderson/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 28, 2015 7:11 PM UTC When someone in a movie needs saving, most of us are too busy cheering on the search party to take the time to consider just how much rescuing that character would actually cost. But when a member of the [Quora community](https://www.quora.com/How-much-money-has-been-spent-attempting-to-bring-Matt-Damon-back-from-distant-places) recently posed that question about [Matt Damon](http://time.com/4144233/2016-golden-globes-nominees/), an actor who often plays [characters in need of aid](http://time.com/4066689/the-martian-tweets-true-story/), user [Kynan Eng](https://www.quora.com/profile/Kynan-Eng) decided to figure it out. Based on estimated fictional costs, Eng calculated that [over $900 billion has been spent](http://time.com/money/4162246/matt-damon-character-rescue-costs/?xid=homepage) “attempting to bring Matt Damon back from distant places.” Here’s how he broke it down among Damon’s films: _“Courage Under Fire_ (Gulf War 1 helicopter rescue): $300k _Saving Private Ryan_ (WW2 Europe search party): $100k _Titan A.E._ (Earth evacuation spaceship): $200B _Syriana_ (Middle East private security return flight): $50k _Green Zone_ (US Army transport from Middle East): $50k _Elysium_ (Space station security deployment and damages): $100m _Interstellar_ (Interstellar spaceship): $500B _The Martian_ (Mars mission): $200B TOTAL: $900B plus change” That’s nearly a trillion dollars spent on saving one person. Although he did give us _Good Will Hunting_, so we suppose it’s worth it. ## Transcript >> Man, I love the scene-- Tai Chi against the stars. I asked The Fountain, now that, that's a good movie. I'm Steven James Snyder, movie geek with TechLand and anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am obsessed with the 2006, Darren Aronofsky's film: The Fountain. A pretty trippy- tail of the past, the present, the future, a man trying to cheat death and it got mixed reviews when it came out but I'm pretty convinced that I like it more than anyone on the planet, probably including the director. For three months now on TechLand, we've opened up the debate as to the five most underrated sci- fi masterpieces of all time. First up, the 1972 Eco- space opera, Silent Running, which is about a spaceship called Valley Forge that's been dispatched from a dying planet earth, the last bits of human vegetation. It's a little preachy. There's a few jawn via songs about protecting the plant life that's a little over the top but some of the closing shots of this domes filled with the familiar green of earth being sent out into the cold black of space. It's pretty haunting. Number four, Gattaca, the 1997, Ethan Hawke thriller about a future in which humans are all genetically modified. The majority of humans have been genetically perfected and those who are born via natural means operate in a lower rung of society. They have been plenty of other thrillers about cloning, I mean, even when we talk about Replicants and Blade Runner, but something about this movie which didn't get much fanfare when it was put into theaters stuck with us in the notion of a genetically stratified society. >> You keep your workstation so clean Jerome. >> It's next to godliness isn't that what they say? >> And number three: Serenity, the 2005 Josh Whedon space- western. It was a huge hit among TechLand fan. The plot revolves around in alliance and the rebels who are on the run with a telepathic secret weapon and it all builds up to one of these hulky, huge climactic space battles that you never forgive. >> Target the [ unk ]. Target the [ unk ]. Target everyone. Somebody fire. >> Number two: Dark City. It's all about a man who wakes up in a bath tub one morning without a memory to speak of, accused of murder, who must go on the run through this crazy, foreign foreboding futuristic city. The most haunting image, the whole thing must be the strangers or the white- faced supernatural being seemed to control everything about this other worldly China town. And the ending is all about figuring out who the strangers really are and what their abilities really are. It has to be one of the great surprise endings of all time. >> Finds and wondering like lost children. But this one was different. Yes. >> What does the doctor say about this? >> His filthy report in and to Mr. Quick, no more Mr. Quick. Mr. Quick is dead. >> And the number one underrated masterpiece has to be a little 2004 film that was directed by a guy name Shane Carruth who raised $ 7, 000 and used his parents garage to create a film called Primer. Primer drops us into the middle of a conversation in progress as four engineers spent every night in the garage trying to come up with the next big inventions that's gonna make them rich. And what sets Primer apart is the short hand that they use. The way we try to keep up with them and it takes us a few minutes to realize the implications of this box that they've devised that can warp time space. It takes us a few moments, few beats to realize this is a time machine. It's trippy stuff. There's no doubt about it but it works not only on a scientific level but also in terms of philosophy and personal relationships as these two best friends start to travel back and forth three times, never realizing the larger ramification that could accompany Pandora's box. >> I don't even know for sure. >> So what do you think? Have you seen our five picks? Have another idea for an underrated masterpiece? You can join the debate. 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