We've sent satellites, cameras and robotic rovers - now it's Matt Damon's turn. In Ridley Scott's adaptation of Andy Weir's bestselling survival story, Damon plays a plucky astronaut marooned on the red planet. We sat down to watch the movie expecting red dust, lengthy monologues and tense inter-orbital action. We didn't expect the big bucket of shit...
Ten things we learned from ‘The Martian’
A handful of gleanings from Ridley Scott’s more-than-solid stranded spaceman thriller
2. Thank the movie gods – Ridley Scott is back
3. Matt Damon is the Bernard Matthews of potato farming in your own shit
4. There are no F-words in space
5. And very few non-white people
6. Sellotape is the most annoying substance in the known universe
7. Someone here definitely owns a copy of the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' soundtrack...
8. And a DVD of 'Saving Private Ryan'…
9. And a 3D projector with 'Gravity' playing on a loop
10. Oscars are not out of the question
Read our review of ‘The Martian’
Showing a signature flair missing since 'Gladiator' (2000), Ridley Scott returns to mainstream mastery with 'The Martian', a space misadventure turned survivor’s tale. Similarities to 'Apollo 13' and the more recent 'Gravity' will be obvious to anyone who’s ever rocketed into zero-g thrills, but that’s not to say that Scott - who does well by Andy Weir’s science-heavy 2011 novel (smartly streamlined by screenwriter Drew Goddard) - doesn't bring his own spin.
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