Best commercial made for NASA and space travel made in years

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2016)

Let it be said up front, I am a huge fan of science-fiction to the point where I've watched just about every classic and non-classic. Ridley Scott of course is a master of the genre with Blade Runner, Alien and Prometheus. With such an outstanding resume, one expects a lot from a new sci-fi movie from Scott.
About that, The Martian barely seems like sci-fi, the technology shown and the 'modest' scope of the mission, sets this film within the next 20-30 years (my guess). As such it is as film that feels present day and I think that is what Ridley Scott set out to achieve.
It is no secret that space travel and NASA enthusiasm isn't what it used to be. The sci-fi optimism of the 70s and 80s has been almost fully replaced with doom scenarios of zombie apocalypse or broken futures. Ridley Scott has at least done his part with The Martian, to bring back excitement and relevance to the NASA mission. Honestly, no government bureaucrat or PR firm could devise a better advertisement for NASA than this film. The Martian will undoubtedly make clever 12 year olds sit glued to the screen and plant the dream of space travel in their minds. The result we will see in the next decades.
I haven't touched on the actual cinematic experience, which has been reviewed by many others, but it's a great looking film, stunning visuals as always with Scott and it always feels real. Matt Damon brings an A+ performance, most of the time making me forget that this is Jason Bourne or Matt Damon at all and that I suppose is the greatest compliment to an acting performance.
The film is somewhat short on personal drama and development although the cast does an excellent job. There's no romance, no family drama back home, in fact Damon's character doesn't seem to have a family except parents. The actors are well cast in their roles and do not suffer from needless Hollywood 'cool and pretty' standard (like in Promethus) though Kate Mara could never not be stunning, even if she tried.
The film is nerdy in that way. It really is as much about the great and almost supernatural feats of science needed to make something as a Mars mission work. As such it is again a great advocate for STEM fields and undoubtedly will inspire many young boys and girls to go into those.
All in all, this was one of the best and most gripping sci-fi movies made in a long time. Ridley Scott remains the uncontested heavyweight champ of Sci-Fi.