"The Martian" unleashes the forever ferocious spirit of The U.S. Space Program.

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2016)

My dad helped put Americans on the moon. He is a fiercely proud retired NASA engineer. As his son, and if it's even POSSIBLE, I am even MORE proud of the remarkable and historic milestones my father and his fellow NASA teammates achieved both in outer space as well as right here on earth.
"The Martian" is a testament to the inherent talent, commitment, resolve and enduring grit and determination that continues to drive and inspire the United States Space Program toward both unexplored horizons and indelible greatness. Such magnificence does not come without a cost, however. It never has, nor was this ever guaranteed.
As the movie's star, Matt Damon is an astronaut who believes in his mission, THE mission, so completely as to risk his very life in ferocious commitment to honoring it. His raw and riveting performance personifies all of what makes my dad and, by bonded blood, me, SO damn proud to be part of something that has always been, to quote Damon's courageous castaway character Mark Watney, "bigger than me."