Houston has a very big problem in this exciting and tense SF film.

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2015)

This Twentieth Century Fox film opens on the planet Mars. A crew is working there but they have to leave in a hurry and thus accidentally leave behind one of the crew, the eponymous 'Martian' played by Matt Damon.
A major storm forced the rapid departure but Matt Damon's astronaut suffers an accident and his life-support systems show he is dead, thus the reason he is left behind. If he were dead, this would be a very short film. However, the film, 'The Martian', is 141 minutes long, (2hrs and 21mins), and as the trailers show, Astronaut Damon is alive and thus destined to be 'The Martian'. Alive, through a quirk of fate, Astronaut Damon realizes that he will soon die from starvation except if he can utilize fully his botany skills and Earth mounts a rescue mission.
On Earth, Astronaut Damon is declared a hero, and a funeral is held. Things though quickly change when a lowly tech worker, played by Mackenzie Davis, discovers the reality. The scenes with Miss Davis on the floor of Mission Control are well done. The excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor is brought in as the story develops, as are Jeff Daniels, playing NASA head Teddy Sanders, and Sean Bean. Donald Glover too, gives an authentic performance as a bright computer geek and mathematician.
Jeff Daniels has the hard role of playing the boss who has to play politics, play the long game, all the while playing the numbers, and most importantly playing safety first always. He does this well enough to arouse empathy and understanding in his position. Sean Bean's character is perhaps easier to play. He is compassionate, honourable and noble. The two instruct a rescue-mission. Benedict Wong plays well the engineer asked to meet impossible 'Scotty-style' deadlines. There is a little humour here in this, as there is in much of the rest of the film too.
Unaware of any of this, are the crew of the Martian expedition, who are now sailing home back to Earth. Aksel Hennie, Kate Mara and Sebastian Stan are good in their roles as crew members. The pilot who had to blast off from Mars is played with great humanity by Michael Pina. Those who fell in love with his character in 'End of Watch' (2012), will be happy to know that once again he plays a really warm and human character. Jessica Chastain plays the Captain who had to order take-off. Her character is responsible for the Seventies disco-music used throughout the film to such great effect, especially in the scene which uses the song that started an era.
It is good to see both Miss Chastain and Mr Damon in this film. They have both also appeared in 'Interstellar' (2014). The appearance of Mr Damon in that film was actually one of the highlights. 'Interstellar' actually, was a disappointment. An interesting dystopian start, and perhaps too brief sojourn to the planets, was marred, ruined in fact, by a dreadful last third of the film. However, here, in 'The Martian', we have the film that 'Interstellar' could have been, and should have been.
While praise is due to all the cast, in reality they play small roles in this film. Matt Damon has to shoulder a lot of the burden in this film. His performance is in fact a tour-de-force. Facing death, he records his thoughts for posterity, using cameras, thus also supplying us, the audience, with explanation and exposition.
As said, this is not Matt Damon's first trip into space. As well as the aforementioned 'Interstellar' in 2014, in the previous year of 2013, Mr Damon also appeared in another exciting SF story, 'Elysium', which also had some hard social comment in it too. Nothing new for Mr Damon, 'Promised Land' (2012), was a serious film that tackled a serious issue. However, the talented Mr Damon can also deliver a performance that balances romance and comedy, as in his role as a suave but bad-French-speaking character, in the true story 'The Monuments Men', a film that perfectly balanced humour and seriousness.
'The Martian' is directed well by Ridley Scott. The 3D version shows well the Martian scenery, basically massive mountains and wide sandy valleys. The scenes in space are perhaps some of the most breathtaking and gripping. Drew Goddard's screenplay comes from Andy Weir's book.
Those of you who enjoyed seeing Tom Hanks have a problem in 'Apollo 13' (1995), will recognize a similar NASA and similar themes. So too, those Sandra Bullock fans, who were wowed by her performance in 'Gravity', will also find familiarity. If you liked those films, you will enjoy 'The Martian' too. Perhaps not the most action-packed film, it is after all basically about one man alone on a big planet, the film does build up the excitement and the tension as it heads to it's climax. The last couple of scenes could be described as an unnecessary anti-climax, however as they play out, you realize why they are there.
Top marks for a top film! 10/10.