A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Although there is room for improvement, this movie hits well on all cylinders. People need to accept their will never be a perfect movie, which is why I gave this one such high marks. Two movies I consider a 10 are Titanic and Avatar. There are more but these are two examples of my version of a 10,The Martian provides an excellent blend of drama, sci-fi, and comedic moments that are not over the top. The casting was great with the exception of a few roles. There were a few space scenes that are a total farce, but overall they did capture the essence of what it will take to go to Mars.My rating is actually a toss up between 8 and 9 stars.

As I recall this is the first time I've ever paused a Ridley Scott movie and gone back to it the next day. But on this occasion I did. It's missing that pin that keeps me stuck to my seat. And then it became obvious..... it's missing that chill factor- not the feel good factor. It's missing, but never seen, the grotesque surrounding our man.

The Martian starts off setting high expectations when group of astronauts from NASA go on a Mars mission and while they're on the surface of the planet the atmosphere goes out of control, strong winds start blowing and a useless piece of debris hits our male lead Damon right in the ribs and he is pushed back by several meters. The rest of the crew assumes him to be dead and return to Earth only to find out after some days that he is still alive. Not only this but he has also managed to grow potatoes on the surface of Mars, (I couldn't imagine doing so if I were a BOTANIST you know) I mean there's an example of going out of your comfort zone (Earth). That aside, the middle scenes are pretty dull and you will find yourself forward-ing very often. There is a parallel mission going on Earth too to keep Damon fed till the next Mars mission is up and running and not to emphasize that a different politics is in progress there also and an astronaut's life on Mars basically depends it. The performances are average, any actor that manages to make any impact would be Jessica Chastain in the role of Martinez. Although the film picks up a little bit towards the end when Damon improvises with his profound knowledge a way to get himself out of a speedy rocket but it isn't too late to realize that you've wasted your precious time watching an economical version of Gravity.

The subject of the movie is very good, a man who tries to survive in Mars in isolation and tries to make a connection with the world, again in order to survive. The unbearable thing about the movie is too much melodrama. There is melodrama in every scene, even at the cheerful ones. Music, shooting and acting are so overwhelmingly dramatic that movie does not even let you experience its drama; it goes through all emotions by itself. In other words, the events and their reflection on us are shadowed by the over dramatization in the movie. Additionally, the structure of the scenerio is also overwhelming, as there are many peaks of it, presented through the very dramatic music. That degree of melodrama is bearable when the world is attacked by aliens or zombies, and there are actions scenes. Stay away from this movie if you do not like melodrama, but you may like it if you LOVE the subject or fan of the book or any actor in the movie.