It fulfills the promise: A true inspiring MARTIAN experience! A flood of creative science and relentless human determination

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2015)

This film is all about PURE ACTION and SCIENCE FICTION entertainment! Is not just about the action, but also about the intelligence and super stimulating surprising and creative problem solving skills in our hero protagonist. Tension spills every minute in this movie. Tension to whether Watney can be extracted from Mars. How will he get food? How can he communicate? Will he make it? Can NASA figure it out?
Thought dead, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind on MARS. The rest of the crew, commanded by J. Chastain, continue on with their mission. Meanwhile, Watney must face a planet with no water and no oxygen, where nothing can grow and be creative with his science knowledge and adapt and survive. Watney gets to be the first true MARTIAN. Watney though, never shows psychological distress! If he is to survive and defeat the clock-ticking of running-out-of food, oxygen, etc. he must be efficient in his energy and mental resources. It's inspiring to see that Watney keeps his enthusiasm,despite the clock ticking â€“ running out of food,oxygen,etc. He even enjoys the martian breathtaking desert and alien mountain views.
This movie is sooo thrilling! Explosions, injuries, astronaut waste, potatoes, ketchup, and disco music. And lots of martian dust, lots of martian stormsÂ… and of course realistic NASA technology. The world building is fantastic (Riddley Scott did the same for the Moses movie). I love the realistic lab on Mars, and all the instruments, equipment, transportation, etc. AMAZING!! And the planetary surface, the clay-red landscapes,etc.
Jessica Chastain does a fine job, is so refreshing to see her as commander of the space ship, opposite from her role in Interstellar. One strange character, but key in Watney's rescue, is the eccentric Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) the astrophysics/astrodynamics scientist. He's irreverent. Down-to-earth and messy! Purnell is the one who sends rescue plans to the Mars crew (Jessica Chastain and the rest of the MARS mission group that left Watney behind because they thought him dead). But his character has a very low relevance otherwise.
So overall, please go ahead and get immersed in this spectacular and desperate race for survival of a Martian!