The Martian

Ridley Scott is a very creative director .He has a boat load of wonderful ,bankable films in his resume which I have enjoyed immensely. The primary and secondary cast members are proven actors ,also with great resumes to flash. The writing staff has created a very exciting,thrilling script. Just like most of the critics have expressed The Martian is 2 plus hours of thrills and great entertainment. It has the whole gambit of human emotions.Lets start with the obvious emotions. Survival instinct, guilt, self sacriface, desire not to give up on life where there is breath, and the need for cooperation among competing groups.There is also and a dab of political intrigue. HOWEVER, I don't see this in the world that I am living in. NOW let me do something I like to do when watching a film. I like to see if there is anything in the film I just watched that I can relate to. In the last week I have watched 2 massive stock markets representing 100's of millions of peoples quality of life drop like stones. Where is the cooperation among these two great countries. Yes The Martian is a movie which isn't reality but If you ask people about what this film projects we are back to the issues of sacriface, survival and Cooperation. This is art not immitating life. As this film is a feel good movie in that the human spirit can endure almost anything and overcome the implausible.It would be wonderful if this is an accurate or even a hopeful representation of how it is. It is true that there are individuals that have overcome extreme adversity in spite of obstacles placed before them. That is similar to this exciting film.In reality for most of us the obstacles that are presented to which we must overcome many times are insurmountable. Not because the desire isn't there but the cooperation among the outside forces just are not there. Apolla 13 with Tom Hanks also showed what can be down when we work together to accomplish what seems to be the impossible. WE NEED FILMS LIKE THESE TO REMIND US OF WHAT CAN BE DONE WHEN WE REACH DOWN AND FIND THAT EXTRA MEASURE THAT WILL GET US THROUGH. IN EACH CASE THERE IS STILL THE NEED FOR THE OUTSIDE INFLUENCES TO GET US THERE BY COOPERATION,COMPASSION, AND THE WILLINGNESS TO EXTEND OURSELVES . KEEPING THE GOAL IN THE FOREFRONT WITHOUT REGARD TO POLITICS OR WHO WILL FINANCIAL BENEFIT AND WHO WILL SUFFER AS A RESULT OF THESE ACTIONS. IN The Martian everyone is focused upon one goal. Save the stranded botanist without regard to the consequences of their actions. If life was only like this film. It is a film of great entertainment and if you care to look deeper a film that can challenge you to see what really controls the survival of other human beings. I allowed Scott and Goddard to let me see beyond the story on the screen and make the transfer to real survival issues. I could have just taken the film for a feel good ride.But there is so much more in our lives that seems to be out of our control. Just because we want to survive does't mean that we will. Our protanganist decides "I will make it no matter what it takes " But we would be very naive to believe that will alone is enough. Even with his skills and determination he is doomed unless outside forces come into play.As stated earlier these forces are from first those nearest him. This spreads to outside agencies and then to other nations.The world awaits his rescue.And we the watcher are cheering and hopeful too. We are not on Mars but we also are stranded with either disease , financial burdens that are not of our making or severe family issues. Can these be worked out with just desire and a willingness to fight on. Of course not. We run into obstacles that cannot be overcome. The sum of our lives has come down to the willingness of medical centers. insurance companies ,legislation or just horrible diseases which we find ourselves no matter how we fight on we cannot overcome without help.So it comes down to THE MARTIAN is a fairy tale with few exceptions. Maybe that is what we need. So I root along and try to stay hopeful for all of us.(I know this was a little heavy review/comment but some films just bring us there as this did for me).

I am not a rocket scientist. Neither am I an astrophysicist. I am, however, a storyteller. I spent nearly a half century as a journalist writing stories from across the United States and around the world. I've spent the past five years writing novels. I note these things about myself because there may be scientists out there who find fault with this movie based upon their knowledge of the arcane. Because I am not one of those people, I can say without reservation that this is an excellent bit of storytelling with appealing characters, a well-constructed plot and a dynamic narrative. The special effects are nicely done without being overdone; there is not a weak link in the cast, and both the cinematography and the direction are flawless - at least to my untrained eye. By now almost everyone knows that the movie - based upon Andy Weir's novel of the same name - revolves around a lone astronaut stranded upon Mars when his crew mates, believing him to be dead and in great peril themselves, leave the Red Planet without him. His effort to survive in that extremely harsh environment is a study in ingenuity and courage. Matt Damon, as the stranded astronaut, is wonderful in the part. He brings the right amount of wry humor, frustration, and hope to the role. In the parlance of an earlier time, he has the "right stuff" to survive. But this is not just Matt Damon's movie. Jeff Daniels, as the head of NASA, is also excellent as the administrator who must balance budgets and public relations with the realities of space travel. Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain and the rest of the cast perform admirably. This movie is full of action but what makes it special, I think, is the story itself. On the surface, it's an adventure but beneath that surface lies a story that speaks of loyalty, friendship, and the fact that there are people willing to make great sacrifices to do the right thing. I especially like the scene in which the crew that abandoned Damon's character on Mars votes to put themselves and their careers at risk in order to retrieve him. As I said, scientists may find fault with this movie. As a storyteller, however, I cannot.

Have watched several times. Very good movie.

This is a great movie. Would highly recommend it.

This is an exciting and enjoyable movie which strongly held my attention from start to finish. I couldn't help but get emotionally involved, especially when things went well despite the dangers involved. It even provided some joyful feelings and great laughs at times. It helped, also, to know ahead of time that Matt Damon's character, Mark Watney, would survive despite almost impossible obstacles. The one distraction and, for me, a chief fault with an otherwise really good movie was the unnecessary prevalence of foul language. Why Hollywood writers, directors and producers still seem to feel that filthy language is desirable and tolerable to a decent public is an indication of their blindness, in my opinion, to what customers really want in the quality of movies. Interesting that the previews and trailers designed to draw interest in such movies seem invariably to leave out the foul language later encountered when the full movie is viewed.

This is a fantastic movie that presents a hopeful world that unites to save an accidentally abandoned astronaut. A long movie, but one of my favorites.

Delivered on a Friday the 13th during a vicious snowstorm by Amazon Prime. Awesome.... The movie was great too.

Being a sci fi geek this was up my street.