Seul sur Mars

I heard a lot about this film regarding its scientific validity as a piece of fiction. Perhaps as a result of this I assumed that the film would be a dry affair – an impression sort of confirmed by the longer than normal running time. As it happens, this is not the case at all because The Martian has much more in common with the entertaining blockbuster that the starry cast list and presentation suggest it will be. The story wears its science very much on its sleeve, but yet makes it accessible and fun – with the slick presentation making it so. As a result everything seems to be explained with everyday objects, and even the most complex principles are presented in simple terms (references to Iron Man for instance). As a result the film gets to have its cake and eat it – although the film is helped by the knowledge of a lot of this being possible (eg hitting a point near Pluto recently with very tight tolerances on a journey of years).

The film itself doesn't really play up the drama in a heavy way, but rather does enough to invest the viewer in it without making it too much of a downer or serious. The soundtrack is hugely upbeat, the content is mostly light in tone, and the science is delivered in a very user-friendly fashion – essentially in the service of the tone and the entertainment value, nothing more than this. The starry cast add to this feeling, and use their screen presence well. Damon is consistently likable, which is just as well since he is alone in the vast majority of his scenes. The ensemble cast has a lot of depth to it, all of which are solidly watchable – Chastain, Wiig, Daniels, Eiofor, Peña, Bean, and so on. The Chinese aspects of the plot serves as another reminder that this film is a blockbuster out to make money, but it doesn't seem too out of place. Technically it looks great and it impressive how convincing the surface of Mars looks.

In the end we get to the fist-pumping mission control scenes that we all knew were coming, but along the way the film is slickly packaged and entertaining as a result; even if the oft-mentioned scientific validity of it all is not something it ever seems concerned with itself.

The Ares III manned mission encounters a sand storm on Mars. Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left for dead as the rest of the crew evacuate on their spacecraft. Mission control back on Earth is shocked when they discover that Mark is actually alive and alone on Mars.

Simply put, this is a fun space adventure. There is a good deal of Apollo 13 and Gravity. Damon is humorous and engaging. Meanwhile, the mission control back on earth is doing interesting things. Nobody is the villain. Jeff Daniels is a capable bureaucratic leader. Chiwetel Ejiofor gives the team intensity and has fun scenes with Mackenzie Davis. Almost every side character adds to the group. As for the spacecraft, it's interesting to have Jessica Chastain as the commander. The entire cast is great. The whole story is thrilling. There are unexpected turns. It has the feel of reality. A lot of praise has to be given to director Ridley Scott for a well constructed film. Also it's genius to give it a disco soundtrack.

The film is the finest examples of science fiction and science fiction embodies everything required. Matt Damon has given the right role until the end of the case. Besides the fact that one does not really need. All movies have moved on their own. We have seen examples of this, such as the Buried and 127 Hours of very good quality movies. The master Ridley Scott's science fiction after a long separation has made a great comeback with this film case. After this film, Ridley Scott disappointing those who say the sound was cut. Thank you for this wonderful film Ridley masters. Maybe the best in 2015, as I mentioned in the title.

If you've ever wondered if Tom Hanks went even further adrift in Castaway then this could be the answer you're looking for.

An Earth team are on Mars carrying out tests on the surface of The Red Planet, a message comes through from Earth warning of a huge and fast approaching storm. The team quickly assemble and flee, unfortunately Mark Watney is caught in the storm, loses his communication device and presumed dead. Watney has survived and has a harsh realism that he's abandoned on Mars with precious little supplies, no company and little chance of survival. Being 50 million miles away and 4 years away in terms of rescue life seems bleak. Watney has to defy the odds in order to survive.

Ridley Scott is responsible for so many wonderful films, and for many The Martian will sit among them.

This is a beautifully made film, it looks incredible, I love the realisation of Mars's surface, truly brilliant, wasn't going to be otherwise with the budget they had. The music is interesting, the score itself is quite subtle, but the tunes from Abba, Gloria Estefan etc are so random.

The pacing of the film is very cleverly done, never does it feel rushed, and on very few occasions does it feel slow or padded. If i'm honest at twenty minutes I was questioning how the film was possibly going to last over two hours.

Matt Damon shows his class, he carries the film on his shoulders, he gives a stellar performance as Mark, cannot be faulted. Some of the others in the film were a little hit and miss, I enjoyed Chiwetel Ejiofor very much. Jeff Daniels was fairly good. Kristen Wiig seemed an odd choice, but she was good too.

It was better then I expected, I enjoyed it a lot 8/10

Although The Martian is set in an indeterminate future I have questions about labeling it science fiction. One of the film's best strengths is that it is based on what we know about the landscape and atmosphere of Mars right at this point in time. It's a desert planet with water and no life as we know it. Compared to what Matt Damon has to go through, Robinson Crusoe was on that tropical isle for a picnic.

They never really say just exactly what year The Martian is set in. The film in that sense avoids a trap like so many others fall into. Just this past year we saw 2015 come and go and it wasn't really anything like the 2015 that Marty McFly experienced. That's just one example.

Of course you can also never predict what popular trends will be there. That's purely speculative. So you can't have Matt Damon's character listening to current music. His captain's taste in music was 70s disco and that really became a running joke. It's all he heard for the months he was on Mars. Personally I'd prefer a selection of 30s and 40s music with Bing Crosby at the top of my list. But if that's all I heard for months on end, I'd grow to hate Der Bingle.

And that's part of the story, the everlasting boredom trying to keep your mind fresh and busy with tasks for your survival. Like Mr. Roberts from tedium to apathy and always boredom.

What happens in The Martian is that Damon is part of an astronaut team and gets left behind when a Martian sand storm erupts and the crew flees on the space ship. Captain Jessica Chastain takes when she thinks Damon was killed.

The future also brings us better communication and NASA learns that Matt's still there. To say that there's a public relations problem is putting it mildly. Just leaving him there is actually an option discussed. But that goes against the code of a decent civilization which while we're not at Star Trek level yet, we look to be heading that way.

Although The Martian splits time evenly with Damon's plight and the efforts to rescue him, Matt's time alone on the screen with the full range of emotions displayed is what got him his Best Actor nomination. Besides the realistic depiction of Mars, his performance is the other pillar on which this fine film rests. I would give mention to Jessica Chastain and her fine performance as a tough and yet humane leader of her team.

Besides Matt Damon, The Martian is also up for Best Picture and for a flock of awards in the technical categories. It should take home deserved statues this year.