MARTIAN THE 3D BD [Blu-ray] [2015]

Brilliant, very underrated

Truly excellent film, would suggest it to be the best film releaed in 2015. Hard sci-fi, at most points everything is brilliantly accurate, very faithful to the book as well barring a few scenes in the book missing from the movie. The only inaccuracies in the science in this film are the strength of the dust storm at the very start, and a few tiny visual things. Otherwise perfect, extremely plausible, you don't get the kinds of moments where your head is screaming to you "that just won't work". The plot is brilliant, as are the visuals, the interplanetary vessel (the hermes) is visually beautiful, taking inspiration from the appearance of the ISS and having accurate design features such as the heat radiators near the rear, shaped so as to fit within the shielded cone around the craft's reactor. This is most definitely the best film of 2015 and quite possibly the best for several years, science fiction in film being as hard, and visually impressive, as it should be. !!!WARNING, the below might contain spoilers of a form, but not big ones!!! The only differences from the book are as follows: 1.In the book he has a little acident with a drill which ruins his communication equipment to Earth (improvised from the pathfinder probe), his line about being a space pirate makes little sense without the fact thta his comms equipment is down. Perhaps they originally made a scene for the film where he ruins the pathfinder transmitter/receiver but cut that film, but left his space pirate comments scene in. 2.In the book the trip by rover takes much longer, it also has a few events along the way that the movie omits. The first of these involves a dust storm, a highly realistic one this time, which risks blotting out power to the solar panels he uses to charge the rover's batteries. The second involves the rover being rolled and crashed as he tries to enter the schiaperelli crater. 3.There are some slight changes to the scenes where he attempts orbital rendezvous with the hermes at the end.

This is the best Sci-fi film I have seen in a very long time.....because if it is going to happen, this is the way it will happen! Set aside, for one moment, the fantastic performances from the entire cast. You can see haow this could really pan out in the real world at some point in the future. The concept of one man being left stranded on a planet so distant that the thought of resuce would be no more than a dream and yet still having the determination to try to survive. The cinematography is sublime. You never have any doubt that this was actually filmed on Mars or that you are actually viewing the inside of a martian space station or an earthbound ship. Sean Bean has the best and most emotive lines in the film. How do you tell a crew that they left a colleague alone on a planet millions of miles away? Matt Damon's performance is, of course, brilliant! The need to shine, and be optimistic when there is no body around to help is wonderfully portrayed. There are some excellent moments of humour and comedy, but this should never be regarded as a comedy film (as it was awarded). The science is as true to reality as possible. Anybody remember Pathfinder or know what an ASCII chart is? There is a Brilliant finale......Is it all just a waste of time? Are we going to trade one life for another? If you are a Sci-fi fan you need to see this

Ridley Scott and Science Fiction usually works out pretty well and The Martian is no different, this time sourced from Andy Weirs big selling novel. An interesting and entertaining slice of big budget sci-fi that ticks most of the right boxes for this kind of thing. They don't waste any time getting to the good stuff. On a fact finding mission to Mars, botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is rather unfortunately left for dead while his colleagues are forced to exit the planet in a hurry. He's not dead of course, wouldn't have much of a film left if he was and the ensuing 2+ riveting hours follow his attempts to stay that way. Kinda like Castaway in space I guess (but better). Despite the sci-fi trappings and exotic locations, they've tried to ground the tale with some idea of realism. There's no natives or alien beasties for our boy to deal with but more the practical and scientific business of surviving this epic struggle. Meanwhile we also drop in on the rest of the crew, now on their way back home and the increasingly desperate people back on Earth attempting to launch some form of rescue mission. These roles are padded out with an impressive cast of familiar faces but essentially it's Damons film and he's an engaging, charismatic presence throughout. The Mars setting and the outer space footage all look spectacular but you'd expect nothing less. Despite the limited locations the plot still rattles along at a lively pace through ups and downs, twists and turns before building to the inevitable big finish. A satisfying and rewarding journey overall.

Gread movie and those 3d Mars and space scenes just give that extra last touch!

The Martian is an adaptation of the best selling near future science fiction novel, which sees an astronaut called Mark Watney left for dead on Mars when a mission is aborted. But he's actually survived. He has to face very hard challenges in order to keep alive. The crew of the returning spaceship and many people back on Earth have equally hard challenges to face in order to try and rescue him when they find he's alive. The film throws you a little bit in at the deep end, introducing six characters in quick succession and then setting the main plot up within the first few minutes. But then it really gets going. The narrative shifts between Earth and Mars, and the latter scenes require an actor who can carry them all on their own. Matt Damon delivers just the right kind of performance. Making Watney a likeable character. He uses science and self depreciation a lot. But there are some very well acted moments when he does let the emotion out. On the ship and on Earth we have quite a few characters, all of whom are facing the science challenges and the politics that NASA has to contend with. And some of them have some very hard command decisions to make. If you've not read the book you might find it takes a while to take all the characters in. But they are all well drawn and acted, and all do get their moments. The film does get a fair bit of humour in, but it all arises from the situation, in the believable way that people will use humour in high tension situations such as this to deal with the pressure. It is a story about people making tough decisions to deal with tough problems. And then coming up against more of the latter. So it becomes a pretty gripping narrative, as Watney's survival remains in the balance. It strives hard to make the science real. Although those who like to nit pick that will probably find enough to keep them happy. It has a very good sountrack. And it's a film that, thanks to strong characterisation and acting, does get you drawn into the fate of these people. So you will care about what happens. Ultimately, it entertains. And that's what we want from movies. So it's a good watch. Those who don't like subtitles will find one short scene in a foreign language with those. They can't be turned off. But it's short. Do keep watching as the end credits roll for a few extra scenes. If you've read the book, you'll find it's a pretty decent adaptation. It has to truncate some stuff, just to fit the passage of time passing into the length of the film. Some of the supporting characters do get a little less to do than they do on the printed page. And apart from one brief moment, you don't get any of the tv show watching. But apart from that, and a few minor changes, it works fine. Getting the bulk of the book and the story onto the screen. Think of it as a companion to the book, and you'll be happy. The dvd has the following language and subtitle options: Languages; English, German, Castilian Spanish. Subtitles: English, German, Castilian Spanish, Hindi. I only says English on the box, but I have checked the disc and they are all there. The dvd goes straight into the main menu with no adverts or trailers. Extras are as follows: The original cinema trailer for the film. Gag reel: seven minutes of outtakes. Despite having some of the usual curse of these - unfunny shots of people pulling funny faces - some of these are very funny. So it's worth a watch. Also, instead of featurettes about the movie, several short supplemental features. None of these longer than three minutes. Ares III; Farewell. Mark Watney films life on the ship and talks to the rest of the crew, just before they depart. The Right Stuff. The crew get a psych test after a deprivation test. These two are very funny at points, and a good watch. Ares: our greatest adventure. A short promotional film for the mission. Presented by a familiar face. [In his field]. Leave your Mark. A TV Advert starring Mark Watney. Bring him home. A short film about the international response to his predicament.

I apologize in advance for any spoilers... I personally love this genre of film. The subject material of exploration beyond the comfort & relative safety of Earth is something I find fascinating. I'm a real National Geographic enthusiast with regards to programs about Space, The Solar System, The Universe etc etc. You could draw a few comparisons between The Martian & Interstellar, which I also love, but I found The Martian to be a lot more lighthearted. Considering Interstellar's main plot is the survival of the human race & the necessary sacrifices involved, The Martian's exploration & colonization of The Red Planet is much more casual in context. To quote Damon "I guarantee you that at some point, everything's going to go south on you', & very much like Interstellar the various characters find themselves in desperate situations needing to think fast & on their feet. Damon's character, Mark Watney (the Botanist) is incredibly resourceful, but it's perhaps his mental attributes that are his greatest weapon against the Martian environment that without life support systems would kill him in under a minute. He never gives up, he never knows when he's beaten. Watney finds himself in a losing battle against time. He solves 1 problem just to uncover another, & just when it appears he may have all the angles covered events unfold that make it increasingly obvious that the odds are heavily stacked against him. He ultimately loses the very personal battle he develops with Mars, but he wins the inner mental battle with himself. This makes the film incredibly spirited which in-turn gives it a real personality & creates a depth of feeling. I found myself really rooting for him & fist pumping at certain moments. I also found The Martian to be by most accounts able to hold up in terms of factually. We're led to believe that The Martian is set in the not too distant future, & while Nasa & various Space exploration agencies around the world (in real-life) are planning manned missions to The Red Planet, a lot of the tech in The Martian is future tech. 1 situation in particular made me raise an eyebrow where (without dropping too much of a spoiler) Damon seals up a huge hole in the habitation pod using a tarp & some ratchets. Temperatures on the Martian surface can often drop anywhere as low as -100 c at night, with low pressure, lack of oxygen & solar radiation also noted as being pretty serious issues on Mars. At temperatures below -70 c plastic becomes rigid & brittle causing it's molecules to fail & crack. A thin piece of tarp wouldn't last very long as part of a life support system on Mars. Anyway, most of the science & theories on show here hold up just fine, relatively speaking, & at the end of the day this is a Hollywood film after all, & a very enjoyable 1 at that. At 2 hours & 20 minutes approximately it's fairly lengthy but to me it didn't feel that long & to be honest I would of liked more back story at the end of the film. I would of happily kept watching more. The 3D was fine, not the best I've seen , it isn't popping out of the screen 3D but more like adding depth kind of 3D. I don't see any Oscar winning performances here but just good solid acting, scripting & pacing. Some of the cinematography & locations are breathtaking. The filming is great & visually very detailed. In conclusion I would highly recommend this film to anyone that has any amount of interest in the genre & subject material...

So I finally bought The Martian on blu-ray. It is the extended edition. I like the extended edition of the movie because it is simply more of an already excellent movie. What's not to like? For a review of the film, look it up on IMDB or Mark Kermode or any number of film review service's. I buy a DVD for the extras because I'm a bit of a nerd that way. HOWEVER, for a science nerd like me, the extras on The Martian are super special. The author of the original book, Andy Weir, researched the science behind a potential Mars mission and as a result there is a lot of stuff in the story that makes sense and got a lot of attention from people in the industry, eg. NASA scientists. As a result there was collaboration between NASA and the team behind the film. This is shown in the extras and as a result there is overlap between 'how we shot this movie' and current research and development going into the planning fort Mars missions. Some of the most inspiring stuff I learned about is in the filmed discussion panels (Journey to Mars 101) where the biggest hurdles being tackled are discussed and the potential for applying the scientific discoveries to tackling Earth based problems are also discussed. The panels are made up of NASA and NASA affiliates scientists, astronauts, and The Martian author, scriptwriter and director. Plenty of "I didn't know we could do that" moments.