A team of astronauts of a manned space expedition to Mars are going by their routines – surveying and studying geological landscape. Due to an anomalous weather prediction, the team finds themselves in the middle of a storm that was not expected to happen until hours later and end up aborting their mission and decide to embark on a voyage back to earth. Disaster strikes when one among them is hit by debris from the storm and the team presumes him to be dead, when he actually is cast away to be the only human in Mars. The rest of the movie tries to find out whether he has what it takes to brave the insurmountable odds stacked against him.
Language:
English
Running Time:
141 min
Rating:
U/A
Release date:
02 October 2015
Directed by:
Ridley Scott
Produced by:
Simon Kinberg
Ridley Scott
Aditya Sood
Michael Schaefer
Mark Huffam
Written by:
Drew Goddard
Based on:
The Martian by
Andy Weir
Starring:
Matt Damon
Jessica Chastain
Kristen Wiig
Jeff Daniels
Michael Peña
Kate Mara
Sean Bean
Sebastian Stan
Music by:
Harry Gregson-Williams
Shot by:
Dariusz Wolski
Editing by:
Pietro Scalia
Distributed by:
20th Century Fox

What’s Hot

  • Stories of lone survivors are always easy fodder of curiosity. Drew Goddard’s adapted screenplay of Andy Weir’s 2011 novel by the same name, has enough elements to keep the audience hooked to the theater and the edge of their seats. The showcasing of the biological acumen and the smartness when the protagonist finds out a way to communicate to the earth ground stations are enjoyable!
  • Ridley Scott has made a fine display of his directorial skills after a couple of dud movies prior to this. He has made sure that the movie is a pleasant experience to the audience with his panache. Editing and cinematography are also handled exceptionally well by Pietro Scalia and Dariusz Wolski. Together, the trio have managed to create a unique experience with attention to detail as seed of interest in watching the events in the movie, grows as the story unfolds.
  • If we have a star-studded cast, all we can expect is to sit back and let them roll the movie-reel smoothly and that they do! Matt Damon, the lone survivor takes the cake for his laborious performance with commendable mentions going to Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor and the likes who have played their parts as well.
  • The Universe, Cosmos, Outer Space and Alien Planet being major keywords to the movie’s context, VFX will have to lend an able hand or two to fulfill the experience. The VFX team of The Martian deserve plaudits for their work in creating the stunning visual landscape of Mars and the cosmos, which is a definite reason not to miss this movie.

What’s Not

  • Though the survival instincts of Mark Watney are to be admired, the climax sequences which involved launching himself in a rocket without protective window shields and the calculated explosive device fabricated by the mother ship’s astronauts to get hold of him seemed rather outlandish stuff. Here is where the story tries hard to make the audience believe that this is indeed possible, but all it can do is to try.

Badges

VFX
Direction
Acting

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

If Cast Away was a thrilling adventure of a flight-wrecked lone survivor on an island, The Martian has pushed the boundary of film-making by several notches with the spirit, creativity and cleverness of the protagonist in the movie being made in believably “down to mars” manner. A beautiful painting on a red canvas!