Lots of Talent But a Little Bland

Rating: 6/10 (2 October 2015)

I saw "The Martian", starring Matt Damon-Interstellar, True Grit_2010; Jessica Chastain-Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty; Jeff Daniels-the Dumb & Dumber movies, Looper and Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave, Salt.
This is a sci-fi movie based on the book by Andy Weir and directed by Ridley Scott-Prometheus, Blade Runner and Alien. It has a lot of talent lined up to make a good movie but it was a little on the bland side. While conducting experiments on Mars, Matt gets separated from his team and presumed dead. Jessica, the captain of the mission, rounds up everyone else and heads back home to Earth. Turns out that Matt was just knocked unconscious. The next mission to Mars isn't until about 4 years from now so Matt has to figure out how to survive that long. He has 30 days of food and supplies, which he can stretch a little, with all the other crew members now gone, but it won't last him 4 years. Man, it's a good thing that he is a botanist. Maybe he can figure out how to grow something. But then, he still needs water and someway to extend his battery power for things like air and a place to live in. Jeff plays the head of NASA and Chiwetel is trying to work out a plan to get Matt back home alive. While scrounging through his long gone fellow astronauts belongings, Matt does find some music but, unfortunately, it is nothing but disco music! Somebody better rescue him quick! FYI: The movie is being shown in 3D but it is not essential that it be seen in that version. It's rated "PG-13" for language, injury images and some brief nudity and has a running time of 2 hours & 14 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD but it would be alright, as a rental-one viewing was good enough.