Another RIDLEY SCOTT Classic...DON'T EVER retire SIR RIDLEY

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2016)

LOVED THIS FILM.
RIDLEY SCOTT is back doing the kind of films he should be doing and that he's BEST AT....Wonderful looking Visual, Fantastical movies.
Alien, Blade Runner, Legend, Gladiator & Thelma and Louise CLASSICS & even 'Prometheus' is well directed & enjoyable but it just needed a better more envelope pushing script.
Sir Ridley aged 78 (NEVER EVER QUIT SIR) continues to direct with a GREAT Visual EYE and we haven't got too many directors like him.
Every shot here is damn near perfect.
The Actors? Again, PERFECT, Each & Every one of them.
When I heard about this film I thought it could end up being horribly boring but FAR FROM IT, a guy stranded on Mars? haven't we had something like this already? with "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks yes but here's why this is for me the better film...
It switches between Matt's superb Mark Watney trapped here on Mars & the crew heading back to Earth and then back with those at NASA and THIS makes for a TERRIFIC film along with the setting, the acting, script, effects and direction.
Yes there's a bit of Red Planet here (I get the comparison) Mission to Mars, Castaway & Apollo 13 but thanks to a terrific screenplay from DREW GODDARD it's a lot of fun, truly gripping and emotional.
Jessica Chastain...WOW! she is truly beautiful and is such a proved actress now, who always gives a major plus to the film she's in (a true delight on The Graham Norton TV show in the UK)
Chiwetel Ejiofor...Wonderful actor it's surely only a matter of time before this gentleman wins an Oscar, yup he's that good and I loved his role here.
Jeff Daniels...As Teddy Saunders and totally controlling NASA (perhaps a bit too much)
Sean Bean...Small role but he does have a good scene in which he goes against Teddy and does a neat little thing that will (possibly, maybe? help Watney get home) sadly it costs him dear.
Kate Mara...She smiles (never seen her smile before in a film) and it's such a lovely one, every bit the match for the rest of this wonderful ensemble cast and that's saying something.
Kristen Wiig...A curious casting choice! i like her a lot, I hope the rumours of her acting the BIG CHEESE on the set of new remake? sequel? Ghostbusters are not true (you know papers they love to invent things) she's terrific here with a nice sense of whimsy.
Finally (but not least)
Mackenzie Davis...Her role reminded me a little of Robert Walden's in Capricorn One (a brilliant movie by the way) and she has one delightful scene with Chiwetel that should have most of us smiling :)
Is it better than 'Gravity'? YES
You've got to love those "......." who rate this film a 1.
Reviews on Page 1 range from 1 to 6 with a few 10's (one of these, scoring a 4 actually has some good points about RED PLANET but really this is on a whole different level to that film)
It would seem the majority of these folks that score this film low have issues with the Science (YET AGAIN!) Yes if you look for errors you will find them & some of them are silly it's true, it would seem these clever folk simply cannot over look them (yet most movies have them)
It's been said by one reviewer that... Mark Watney (Matt Damon's character) was missing emotion...what now? and that he NEVER displayed any signs of loneliness, despair or fear? Wow! were we watching the same film? sometimes it's rather subtle and clever, then there's the big moments of emotion...come on where were you! when Watney first contacts mission control, when he hears his crew mates for the first time in months (an actual human voice after ALL that time) and then upon the reality that he might actually just make it (after all he's gone through)
MATT DAMON is quiet simply SUPERB.
It's also been said that his character is flat... NOPE, he's an Astronaut Botanist so what did you expect? and he's stuck on Mars presumed dead with all these problems around him, this particular reviewer even mentions that Mr Damon's role in "Interstellar" was more credible, now don't get me wrong I LOVED Interstellar (these Science geeks won't) but Matt's character in that one is one I could have done without, it did affect the story but in what seemed to be a convoluted way.
Scores of 10 or 9 for "THE MARTIAN" I can understand (it's a 9 for me)so too an 8 or even a 7 but anything less than this I can not understand.
My advice "DON'T GET TOO BOGGED DOWN by THE SCIENCE" just sit back and enjoy the shear spectacle of it all.
Yes the science bit is an interesting part of the film and they do get things wrong (yes we breath out CO2 not Oxygen and yes surely on a mission like this there would have been a 2nd back up to contact NASA) but this is the movies, it's NOT Rocket Science, although some here would have you think it so...deduct a few points maybe for these errors but 6 to 9 points (and scoring this a 1 is just troll reviewing!)
The current AVERAGE SCORE of 8.1 is not too far off.
An expertly CRAFTED & DIRECTED Film with WONDERFUL Acting, it has a FUN and ENGAGING Script and should leave most HAPPY.
The 3D is Breath taking.
For me it would Win The Oscar for BEST FILM, DIRECTOR & ACTOR (2016)