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Matt Damon carries this Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) film based on the book by Andy Weir. Half the film is practically a one-man show, with Damon playing a NASA astronaut feared dead and accidentally abandoned on Mars for several years. The other half of the run-time is split between Earth and the returning Mars spacecraft. Once NASA discovers Damon’s character is still alive, mission control and Damon’s shipmates work together to find a way to rescue him.

The Martian is decidedly a story of survival. Damon’s character is faced with one problem after another — how to grow food, how to create water, how to make contact with NASA, how to travel long distances without running out of power. The Martian celebrates science, intelligence, and ingenuity like no other film I can remember. And where many other filmmakers might have been inclined to underline the melodrama intrinsic to the tale, Ridley Scott keeps the proceedings strictly rational and never veers into sentimental territory. In fact, you’ll be surprised how funny The Martian is. It’s not a typical Ridley Scott film, but it’s probably the best Ridley Scott film since Gladiator for many — since Thelma & Louise for me.

More than anything, The Martian made me wish America would re-invest in NASA and stop treating ‘science’ like a four-letter word.

With Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Actor (Damon), Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing