Life On Mars. // The Martian Is Enthralling, Empathetic and The Year’s Best

I was so happy to leave Mars. There’s technology, as he eventually begins to communicate with Earth. Watch his full review in the video above.

“I’m not gonna die here”, Damon’s character, Mark Watney, declares early on to the camera. For redundancy, they sent 68 souls worth of food. Can we consolidate just a bit here? Once Watney’s crew finds out that their friend was left behind, however, they see little choice but to go back for him. But, as he deadpans, “Mars will come to fear my botany powers”.

“Statistically, this is more risky (than flying) but I didn’t like to fly”, a ponytail-sporting, buff-bodied Damon told M back in May at the Four Seasons Hotel. But get past the hype and its nearest relative isn’t 2013’s George Clooney/Sandra Bullock two-hander but an obscure cheapo called Robinson Crusoe on Mars. We will solve this daunting problem by working together, it coos. Sure, we’re not sending manned missions to Mars, yet, but the logic and details that dictate Mark’s story from start-to-finish feel grounded in reality, and that polished vermeer coupled with an out-of-this-world talented cast and a director who knows how to please and thrill a crowd is a formula for a rousing blockbuster that kicks off the fall movie season in high style. The character has to project self-confidence and a good sense of humor, and Matt Damon does that beautifully.

“I didn’t think of that at all“.

Unlike a few other Scott-directed sci-fi entries like Alien, Blade Runner and Prometheus, there is a much lighter tone to this one despite the dire circumstances Damon’s Watney finds himself in. What about this one, though? This movie stands out from the crowd in so many ways and is an enjoyable ride the whole way through. More a visual stylist than an exponent of any particular worldview, Scott made the feminist road movie Thelma and Louise, the Best Picture-winning swords-and-sandals epic Gladiator, and about 20 other features. Chastain seems both distracted and a distraction, as you realize this isn’t the first time she’s left Damon stranded on a distant planet (“Interstellar”). And it’s wonderful to see it unfold so beautifully.

“To me, the chances of there being life in the subsurfaces of Mars has always been very high”, said Alfred McEwen, HiRISE Principal Investigator. Often the songs add a specific element to a scene and sometimes can lighten a scene that may have had a real tragedy go on just moments ago.

The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. A lot of people walk around in branded clothing. “That’s what’s attractive about humanity and ultimately the movie’s a very uplifting story”. So it’s great for the film. “I was staggered by how lovely it was”, Damon said.

MONTAGNE: OK, well, Kenneth Turan is film critic for MORNING EDITION and the Los Angeles Times.