The Martian (2015)

The Martian (2015) review lands on Born to Watch this week as Whitey, Gow and Will blast off to Mars for Ridley Scott's hugely entertaining tale of survival, science, potatoes and one very unlucky astronaut. The Movie Review Podcast, where we do not take the movies or ourselves too seriously, is tackling one of the most rewatchable science-fiction films of the last decade, starring Matt Damon as Mark Watney, a man forced to do what none of us could possibly manage: stay alive on Mars using his brains, determination and an alarming amount of human fertiliser.

Directed by Ridley Scott and adapted from Andy Weir's novel, The Martian starts with a simple but brutal premise. During a mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is struck during a violent storm, presumed dead and left behind as the rest of his crew evacuates the planet. One problem: Watney isn't dead.

Now stranded millions of kilometres from Earth, he has limited food, no immediate way to communicate with NASA and years to wait before another mission could possibly reach him.

Easy.

The boys dive into why The Martian works so well despite essentially being Cast Away on Mars. Matt Damon has to carry huge sections of the film alone, yet Watney never becomes boring. He is smart, vulnerable, funny and constantly solving problems, usually just before another problem arrives and threatens to kill him.

That's one of the things Whitey loves most about the movie. Watney doesn't magically get everything right. Things go wrong. Calculations fail. Equipment breaks. Plans collapse. Every solution seems to create another problem, giving the film an authenticity that keeps the tension alive.

Will has recently read Andy Weir's novel, so we also get into the differences between page and screen. The book dives much deeper into the science behind Watney's survival and adds context for how qualified he is to handle the mechanical and botanical challenges thrown his way.

Then there is that cast.

Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Wong and Donald Glover help turn what could have been a one-man survival story into something much bigger.

The boys have different picks when it comes to the standout performances, with Damon naturally getting plenty of love, while Jeff Daniels and Chiwetel Ejiofor also come in for some serious praise. Donald Glover might arrive late, but he certainly makes an impression.

The episode also asks whether The Mar