The Martian

Why is this review (beginning quoted below), which only 64 people found helpful, at the top of the reviews above ones found helpful by 676 people and 91 people?"Mr. FloaterReviewed in the United States on December 10, 2020Great story, featuring 14 moral lessons from the far leftVerified purchaseThe other reviews evaluate the main story of this movie. Let's take a look a the movie's subtext. If you look past the main story, you'll find 14 subversive far-leftist moral lessons. We can learn so much by following these moral lessons. Warning: spoilers follow."And 14 numbered gripes follow each of which centers on supposed "anti-Christian" or "anti-American" aspects of the casting, dialog, or settings (like London). Each one cites hour/minute/seconds (e.g., 1:38:14) of the movie so you can check it for yourself.Here are 3 examples:"1:38:14 Watney discusses the UN's 1967 Outer Space Treaty, in which member governments agreed to never claim sovereignty over extraterrestrial lands. Two years later, in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the American flag on the moon, forever claiming it as American soil, because America is God's country, not the UN's. 1 week ago (Dec 2020), China planted their communist flag on our moon. We should have recognized it as a act of war. We should be raining fire on Beijing. Instead we rolled over and did nothing.Moral Lesson 6: The UN is all-powerful, and America's sovereignty is a joke.""Let's learn about religion.1:16:14 The following dialog:Mitch Henderson: "Do you believe in God, Vincent?"Vincent Kapoor: "Yeah. My father was a Hindu, and my mother's a Baptist, so I believe in several."Mitch: "We'll take all the help we can get."Moral Lesson 7: It's okay not to follow Jesus.1:17:55 In unison, Mitch and Vincent take the Lord's name in vain.Moral Lesson 8: You will not really be judged."What gives? Why is this shown above reviews that more people found useful? Oh, right, it is done as part of Amazon's leftist plot to make the far right and Christians look ridiculous. Well, score 1 for Amazon, it succeeds.

The other reviews evaluate the main story of this movie. Let's take a look a the movie's subtext. If you look past the main story, you'll find 14 subversive far-leftist moral lessons. We can learn so much by following these moral lessons. Warning: spoilers follow.Let's learn about our need for diversity.32:44. Scene with the following characters: 1. Teddy Sanders, white man, Director of NASA 2. Vincent Kapoor, black man, Director of Mars Missions 3. Annie Montrose, white woman, Director of Media Relations 4. Mindy Park, white woman, Satelite CommunicationsIn this scene, the black man and white women state that Watney is alive, and the white man is reluctant to accept it. Finally convinced, he says he doesn't want Watney's crew to know he's alive. This white man is the bad guy of the movie. He continually makes decisions to jeopardize Watney's rescue. Moral Lesson 1: Any group of people, even as small as 4 people, must be racially and sexually diverse. In all probability, one or more of these characters were homosexual. Moral Lesson 2: White men are wrong and evil-hearted. Women and black men are intelligent. Moral Lesson 3: Women have no need to be stay-at-home mothers, since they can now have advanced careers at NASA.1:22:22 Rich Purnell, a black man, becomes the hero of the story. Moral Lesson 4: We need more black men, in other words fewer white men, working in technology. The fact that our entire civilization was built by white men is irrelevant, and I should be ashamed of myself for acknowledging that. Black men are more intelligent than white men.Let's learn about the death of American Exceptionalism.3:13 Captain says, "I apologize for my countrymen, Vogel."2:01:23 We see that Vogel has a German flag. Moral Lesson 5: NASA may wonder why it lost the support of the American public, but surely that has nothing to do with the fact that NASA is not fully American anymore. Movies like this will educate us to understand that we must all cooperate with foreigners, who are our equals.1:38:14 Watney discusses the UN's 1967 Outer Space Treaty, in which member governments agreed to never claim sovereignty over extraterrestrial lands. Two years later, in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the American flag on the moon, forever claiming it as American soil, because America is God's country, not the UN's. 1 week ago (Dec 2020), China planted their communist flag on our moon. We should have recognized it as a act of war. We should be raining fire on Beijing. Instead we rolled over and did nothing. Moral Lesson 6: The UN is all-powerful, and America's sovereignty is a joke.Let's learn about religion.1:16:14 The following dialog:Mitch Henderson: "Do you believe in God, Vincent?"Vincent Kapoor: "Yeah. My father was a Hindu, and my mother's a Baptist, so I believe in several."Mitch: "We'll take all the help we can get." Moral Lesson 7: It's okay not to follow Jesus.1:17:55 In unison, Mitch and Vincent take the Lord's name in vain. Moral Lesson 8: You will not really be judged.Let's learn about feminism.2:50 We learn that the captain is a woman.4:28 The woman captain overrides her male underlings.8:32 Male crew-member says he needs permission from the woman captain.29:07 "The men and women of NASA will soldier forth"2:12:53 Watney's classroom is populated by students who are about 90% female. Moral Lesson 9: Traditional values are dead, and NASA is working hard to make sure they stay dead.Let's learn where to get our news.9:42 We see our first glimpse of the CNN logo. CNN is the only named American news network in this movie. The Communist News Network plays a central role, spreading and enforcing these moral lessons. Moral Lesson 10: CNN may seem to have a leftist bias to you, but that's just because you haven't watched it enough. If you treat it as your only news source, pretty soon you'll no longer be able to see its bias.Let's learn to love globalism and communism.1:20:21 The Chinese step in to offer their help. We couldn't have saved Watney without them. Moral Lesson 11: Globalism is good. We should abandon America, and join the global community. Moral Lesson 12: Communism is good. America is handicapped by our love of capitalism and freedom. We should learn to depend on the Chinese, and we should follow their lead to become communists.2:10:37 After Watney's recovery, CNN correspondent reports, "This is a huge moment for this nation, for the world, and indeed, for international space travel." Moral Lesson 13: We must never recognize America as the greatest country in the world. That would be racist. Instead we must always figure out how to give credit to everyone else.The recovery of Watney is celebrated in densely populated urban public squares around the world. People stand in these squares to watch news reports.1:52:36 Times Square2:10:03 More Times Square, everyone cheering1:54:09 CNSA Headquarters (Beijing)2:10:12 More CNSA Headquarters, everyone cheering1:54:20 Trafalgar Square (London)2:10:07 More Trafalgar Square, everyone cheeringWhy would anyone in London or Beijing care about NASA? Because NASA is globalist. Moral Lesson 14: Densely packed cities are good places to be. If you live in one of these places, you can find strong central governments to manage everything in your life. You can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of your fellow globalists. Why would you want to watch news on TV from the comfort of your own home, like a filthy capitalist, when you could stand out in the cold watching TV on a giant public screen?

Had a lot of self reflection watching this movie. Watching how one survives and digs deep into his training and experience staying alive on Mars.

They did a good job and it's hard to go wrong with Matt Damon for this movie roll, loved the book, and can't wait for Ryan Gossling to be in space in Andy Weir's other book!

Absolutely superb film, one of my most favourite films of all time. Matt Damon is superb and the story flows so well. My only criticism is the extended version loses some of the pace, some scenes are drawn out too long and the additional 16 minutes don't add anything to the story, just labour some points a little too long. Fortunately with the UHD edition you get both cinema release and extended version on UHD. I'd highly recommend watching the standard, cinema release over the extended version.The UHD picture and sound quality are mesmerising, a truly superb sample of what UHD can offer. I only wish UHD price point was around the £15 mark and not £20 - £25....

The Martian is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Firstly, it is the only movie ever produced about outer space, that shows an actual and realistic scenario and story line in a near tangible future (without ridiculous aliens, absurd props and lame story line). Second, it is optimistic and for the most part scientifically based, which makes the movie likeable all way through. Third, brilliant casting and acting by Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain - and Kirsten Wiig, whose performances are so good that they let you believe, that this can actually happen. The extended version is not worth watching as others have already written, but the extras do show some nice "behind the scenes" footage (approx 40-50 minutes or so). If you like the latter, then buy the extended version. If indifferent, then the regular DVD will suffice. Nevertheless .. The Martian is a MUST SEE :)

This turned into one of my favourite films. After reading the book, I was concerned the film would be too boring and number driven, and I wondered how they would portray Watney recording his day activities to a diary. But they do it well. I didn't feel at any point that the film was forced, and Watney's day-to-day is covered by montages and him talking to the camera. I'm a huge fan of Matt Damon, and he is great in the Martian, as is the mass of supporting cast in Space and on Earth. The end veers slightly from the book, but for the most part it is very close to the story, and they don't take many liberties. Scott has created a masterpiece.

This is for the 3D Bluray version. Matt Damon is convincing as resourceful Watney, abandoned for dead on Mars by his crew, forced into becoming a futuristic Robinson Crusoe but one with far fewer possibilities for surviving any length of time.The cinematography is superb, and Ridley Scott’s talented touch transforms the film from being just another banal de-construction of a really good  book  into something becoming almost convincing. It is a cut above the rest and definitely well worth watching, especially in 3D with a proper  surround sound system .Of course the science doesn’t work, but then this is fiction, and it is well enough managed in the film that we can easily suspend disbelief and enjoy our immersion in the story. Here and there the filmic treatment is cumbersome and too obvious, especially when one compares this to the book, but then there is a lot more in the book and the film would be far too long if it was truly faithful to the text. booksurround sound system

* SynopsisIn the unspecified future, a team of astronauts explore Mars in the solar system. A storm they believe has killed a crew member and they leave his body behind. After the crew do a emergency blast - off, the astronaut wakes up and realises he's on his own.* CommentaryThe film is a doorway to making the right viewer interested in all sciences. The usual direction is like 2001, making science alluring. This film however uses retro pop music rather than high - brow music to make the connection. This film is very enjoyable in all departments. Most of the film has the astronaut on his own, so hes carrying the weight very well. The technology is explained and its special effects are truly great too. This film if its fair will make younger viewers become scientifically interested or at least aware of science possibilities. The Blu-ray disk is superb image clarity and the soundtrack is fine and clear.