Wow, all I can say is, it’s official: the movie industry has spent an unusual amount of money trying to rescue Matt Damon. Saving Private Ryan, Interstellar, now The Martian. But hey, if he keeps bringing us great movies, I say keep it going!

As you can more than likely tell, I went to see “The Martian,” directed by the guy who directed Alien, Ridley Scott. Yes, you can still go to see movies made by the guy who directed Alien. It is a good time to be alive.

Anyway, “The Martian is about astronaut and Botanist, Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) and his struggle to survive on Mars after being abandoned in a frenzy to escape the planet before a dust storm. Watney is struck by a piece of debris and is assumed dead by the crew and is left there. Now, Watney must survive on a strange planet and wait for NASA to come rescue him. The only problem? They don’t know he’s alive!

However, if any survival movie ever has taught us anything, it’s that the human spirit can never die! Of course, Watney manages to survive on Mars by altering his surroundings, growing his own food, and even managing to reassemble a communication device to talk to NASA. The best analogy for this movie is Castaway (2000) meets Apollo 13 (1995).

Now, this movie was obviously made to win awards. The visual effects are absolutely stunning, the acting is amazing, and overall, the film is easily one of my top 10 for the year so far. Everything about it is just utter perfection, or as perfect as a movie about survival on a desert planet that supports no life can be.

Everyone in this movie does a great job. We all know that Matt Damon is a fun and capable actor, but he isn’t even the actor that does the best! All of the star-studded cast was fantastic, but the two who really stole the show for me where Chiwitel Ejiofor (star of 2013’s “Twelve Years a Slave” and Donald Glover (relatively new to the big screen). Both of them stole every scene they were in. Ejiofor played a lead scientist on the team that sends astronauts to Mars, and Glover playing Rich Purnell, a nerdy, erratic scientist who helps to create a plan to bring Watney home.

However, like I said, everyone in the cast did a great job. Some notable actors were Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, and Sean Bean. Each of these actors brought something to the table and you end up loving every one of them.

You’d expect this movie to be dramatic and intense, which it was, but it was also extremely funny. This movie had me laughing more than most of the comedies that came out this year (I’m looking at you Spongebob). Damon, Ejiofor, and Glover brought hilarious jokes to the screen. Whenever something went wrong, Damon made a joke out of it to lighten the mood. However, the comedy was used very well and subtly that it did not take away from the dramatic tone in the film.

And also like I said, this movie had amazing visual effects. Ridley Scott definitely knows how to make space look real (I mean, he’s been doing it since 1979), and this movie is definitely no different.

Like every movie, “The Martian” has its flaws. A forced and sudden romance between two of the astronauts is thrown in the audience’s face with a big label reading “It’s a movie, it needed romance, deal with it” in big sharpie. Also, it is quite a long movie at 2 hours and 21 minutes, and some scenes seem to drag on, but do not fret! The action picks back up very quickly.

I urge you to go see “The Martian” if you’re a fan of space survival movies and you thought Gravity was just a boring special effects presentation. But not only for the five of you who nodded your heads and are now laughing because you know I’m talking about you, “The Martian” is an absolutely stunning film that anyone can enjoy. I know it made my top 10 for the year, and it’s only October!

Once you see it, comment and tell me what you thought about it! I love hearing what other people think about the movies I review. I am Colby Perron, the Movie Buff, and this is it for this review. Bye!