An entertaining thrill ride from start to finish

Rating: 10/10 (10 May 2019)

Ridley Scott is without a doubt one of the finest film directors of the last 45 years and in that time he directed great movies such as "Gladiator" (2000), "Alien" (1979), "American Gangster" (2007), and "Black Hawk Down" (2001), and with "The Martian" he has not only added another great film to that elite resume he has also directed one of the finest science fiction movies of the decade. The movie is based on Andy Weir's novel of the same name (which I did not read prior to seeing this movie) and stars Matt Damon in one of the finest performances of his career as Mark Watney who is on a mission to Mars with Captain Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) who is in charge of the mission, Major Rick Martinez (Michael Peña) the mission's pilot, Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara) the mission's systems operator, and Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) who is a surgeon on the mission. At first everything seems fine on Mars but goes horribly wrong in an instant when a dust storm forces the crew to evacuate and in the process leaves Watney behind after not being able to find him. After Watney finds himself left on Mars he has to resort to his wits in order to survive on Mars for as long as he possibly can until help arrives while also try to figure out a way to tell NASA that he is still alive and well. The movie is not only one of the best sci-fi adventures this decade has to offer but it ranks with "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) and "Apollo 13" (1995) as one of the greatest movies about space exploration ever put on film. The movie features excellent performances throughout especially from an excellent supporting cast which includes Jeff Daniels as the president of NASA, Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays the man in charge of all of the missions to the red planet, and Sean Bean who plays the flight director for NASA. Scott's direction is on point and Drew Goddard's screenplay places tension at all the right moments to the point where you are actually there with them in this uncomfortable situation. This a very entertaining movie that has some very pulse pounding moments that is sure to be remembered for years to come, and put simply is a must see film.