A Few Good Men (Revisited) "You have to ask me nicely!"

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Dunkirk review

Right, well since I had been to the cinema this week, I figured I would put up a review of the film I had seen, which was Christopher Nolan's latest flick, the war drama "Dunkirk" based on the true life events of the Dunkirk evacuation of the Allied forces during World War II. 

And the film already has garnered much critical acclaim on its release, so does it live up to all the hype????  Well, let's take a look and find out....

Oh, and while I might refer to a little of the plot I will do my best not to spoil much (although historically if you know about the events of Dunkirk, this film will be of little surprise).  However to be fair I will issue the warning as usual...

POTENTIAL SPOILERS MAYBE AHEAD!!! (DON'T WORRY, NOT TOO MANY THOUGH!!)

STORY

So, the film basically shows the perspective of the Dunkirk evacuation from three different ways, land, sea and air and each of these perspectives are told over different periods of time with land covering one week, sea, one day and the air, one hour.  And by the end of the story all the perspectives will interweave together.

The land story, primarily follows, Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) a young British private, who comes under fire from German soldiers on the streets of Dunkirk but he manages to make it to the beaches where he finds the British and Allied troops awaiting evacuation.  And the rest of Tommy's story essentially follows him trying to find a way to safely evacuate from Dunkirk but he encounters many dangers in his path....

The sea story follows a small private seaboat crew, lead by Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance) who aid in the Royal Navy's task of sending out boats to help with the evacuation of Dunkirk.  Dawson is helped by his son, Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) while his other, younger son, George (Barry Keoghan) on impulse decides to join them in the hope he can do something good.  On their way to Dunkirk however, they soon encounter a lone shell-shocked survivor (Cillian Murphy) of a U-boat attack and take him aboard.  However survivor soon comes anxious when he realises that Dawson is heading towards Dunkirk and ends up causing problems for the crew.....

And the air story follows three RAF spitfire pilots, Farrier (Tom Hardy), Collins (Jack Lowden) and their squadron leader "Fortis Leader" (voiced by Michael Caine) who all provide air support during the Dunkirk evacuation.  However their fuel supply is running low, so they know they have limited time to provide support to the evacuees and "Fortis" is shot down, leaving Farrier in command and together with Collins, they get involved in an intense dogfight with German soldiers.....

THOUGHTS

While I would have to say that it is a bit overrated in terms of the plaudits it has received, Dunkirk nevertheless is an intense, gripping war film that is relentless in its pace and intensity as it never let's up from the first moment until the end.  And the film tells an important story very well and rather than get too bogged down with characterisations, Nolan instead keeps things very tight here as the film itself is surprisingly short at just 1 hour and 46 minutes, which for a war film nowadays is practically unheard of.  However this is something that is definitely in Dunkirk's favour as its fast pace ensures it will never lag.

PERFORMANCES (No notable scenes this time!)

As for the performances, well they are all very solid from the ensemble cast even though no individual performance really stands out more than others, probably due to the tight screen time and frantic nature of the story.

Fionn Whitehead (I wonder how many times people call him Fiona!) is a young English actor, who has made his debut film role here, does a fine job with his part as Tommy, the young British soldier, who does all he can to try and survive the Dunkirk evacuation. 

Tom Glynn-Carney is also very good in his role as Peter, the elder son of Mr Dawson, who sails in one of the boats to rescue the Dunkirk evacuees.  Barry Keoghan also does fine in his part as George, Peter's younger brother, who impulsively joins him and his father in their journey.   

Jack Lowden does well too in his role as the RAF pilot, Collins, who does his bit from the air to try and give support to the Dunkirk evacuees although he ends up getting involved in a hairy dogfight with German fighters.  

Cillian Murphy provides a solid performance also as the shivering soldier, the shell-shocked lone survivor of a German U-Boat attack.  Murphy plays the shell-shock aspect of the role well yet at the same time he makes his character somewhat a bit creepy and sinister at the same time, despite the fact that is essentially playing a solider, who is scared out of his wits.

Mark Rylance is great in his role as Mr Dawson, a sailor, who's boat is commandeered by the Royal Navy in their efforts to evacuate the Allied troops at Dunkirk.  And Rylance gives his character alot of dignity, courage and honour as he stands up to the task to try and rescue the Dunkirk evacuees.

Kenneth Brannagh is excellent as ever in his role as Commander Bolton, the pier master during the evacuation of Dunkirk and naturally you can always rely on Brannagh in most things, particularly in period drama, so he is in his element here.

And last of all is Tom Hardy, who we barely actually get to see his actual face in the film (until near the end and I won't say anymore than that!) as he plays the part of Farrier, the RAF pilot, who tackles a dogfight with German fighters.  In fact rather amusingly with his pilot mask on, its almost like we are watching Hardy reprise his role as Bane from The Dark Knight Rises!  Hardy basically as a result doesn't have much to do here other than stay in the cockpit of his plane, so his performance is purely a perfunctory one.  So in this instance you could call him Tom Hardly on this occasion! ;-)

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the director, Christopher Nolan does an excellent job here with ratching up the tension throughout the film as it is a pretty intense and relentless experience to sit through.  Nolan also cleverly weaves the three narratives together of land, sea and air and its interesting how the events all intertwine as do the characters.  Nolan also deserves credit for keeping the pacing of the film very taut as you could never accuse him this time of creating a film that is overlong and drawn out, this is as tight a film as he has ever made.

And lastly we get onto the music score, which is by Hans Zimmer and this must rank as one of the most intense scores he has ever done as it features a much relentless use of synthesizers and orchestrations.  In fact there are times where you think you are listening to a frantic human heart beat rather than music and to Zimmer's credit this is a fine score that while not the most suitable it will stay with you.  Its also well worth mentioning that Zimmer's score runs throughout the whole film and as far as I can remember there not a moment in the film without music, which is very rare in itself. 

FLAWS

As for flaws.....well yes Dunkirk has some and I can't quite get into them all though as it may give some plot points away (well possibly!) so I will mention only a few.

For starters I think one of the issues of the film is to do with the lack of characterisation, as while you empathise with the characters, you really don't get much of a chance to know them.  Instead you are thrown right into the film without much room for development, so in a way they have sacrified characterisation to keep the film taut and well paced. 

Another issue is to do with the fact that the film's score and sound is at times pretty bombastic and overwhelming to listen to.  It is of course a war film but there are times where you feel there is little let up in terms of the full on intensity of everything that is going on.  Nolan really wants to pull you into the experience and it does work but it can also threaten to be a bit overbearing aswell at times.

Anyway that will do for now.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Dunkirk is an intense and gripping war film, which tells its story well and it shows Nolan really has put himself forward for a potential Oscar nod for next year as I'm sure this film is one that will rank high on Hollywood's list. 

Is it a masterpiece???  In all honesty and in my opinion, no its not.  I just feel while it is a solid and involving film, it doesn't scale any great heights and any of the overwhelming plaudits it has received so far just seem a bit much.  Don't get me wrong, Dunkirk is a good, solid film but in the end its just not quite a great one.  However this is just my opinion of course and if you think its a great film that's fine with me and it is definitely a film that is worth seeing regardless.

OK, so that's it for now and I will be back again soon with some post or other of some kind.

Till then, its bye for now. 

Top 10 Hardest Crash Bandicoot levels Part 1 - 5 to 1

OK, so its time for part 2 of my look at my pick of the top 10 hardest Crash Bandicoot levels and these posts are based on the levels taken from the N-Sane Trilogy that was recently released for the PS4.

So let's carry on with the list and see what torturous levels made it into the top 5....

5. Ruination (Crash 2)

So, at No.5 is this punishing level from Crash 2, "Ruination", which while its tricky to get through only for the crystal its manageable, but to try and get every box, its a nightmare!

Basically in the level, Crash must navigate his way through an old ruins as he runs and jumps through a series of high rise stone structures some of which collapse as well as some rotating platforms, which Crash needs to watch he doesn't fall off.  Also along the way, Crash must try and avoid monkeys, cyborg clamidosaurus's and gorillas, who throw wooden logs at you.  There are also fire beathing statues that Crash has to carefully time his way past or else he will be burned to a cinder. 

And as I said what makes this level so difficult is trying to break all the boxes in order to gain the two clear gems and this involves having to navigate a very tricky bonus round and worst of all a green gem path.  The bonus round is the easier of the two but only just as Crash needs to break a series of locked crates (or boxes if you like) as well as break a series of trickily placed bounce crates that will see Crash fall to his death if you mistime your jumps there. 

Worst of all however is the green gem path, which sees Crash having to make his way through a dangerous route where he must avoid a series of wooden logs being thrown at him by a big gorilla and its all too easy to mess this one up!  The fact that you have to deal with the log throwing gorilla from the right, left side and front on angles makes this all the more frustrating to try and get through and it makes this level a real test.

So "Ruination" is fairly tricky if you are just going for the crystal but if you want both gems then it soon becomes a very trying experience and easily one of the toughest Crash levels that deserves its place in the top 5.

4. Road to nowhere (Crash 1)

OK, so at No.4 is this infuriating level from the first game but its no comfort in knowing there is a level similar to this that is even worse!  Yes, "Road to nowhere" sees Crash having to make his way across a very dangerous suspension bridge, which is missing quite a few planks. So, this basically means Crash once again needs to be very careful and time his jumps carefully or he will fall into the abyss. 

The level for starters is made difficult simply by the nature of the suspension bridge missing so many planks of wood and this causes Crash to be extra careful that he times his jumps to land on the planks that are left.  There are also icy planks and brown coloured planks that give way once Crash has landed on them as well as incomplete planks, which if Crash hits then he will fall to his death. 

There are also other obstacles too such as the inclusion turtles, which Crash must use to actually bounce on so he can jump large gaps in the bridge and even more annoying are the hogs that appear in the level that run up and down certain parts of the bridge.  However the hogs can be avoided by performing a well timed jump as they run towards Crash, they can end up behind him and they will stay put. 

So, this level is another frustrating pain in the you know what and its one that deserves its place on here at No.4.

3. Fumbling in the dark (Crash 1)

At No.3 is this......lovely level....if you want to call it that, which is actually thankfully not one of the main levels of the game and a bonus one, which is unlocked so far into the game but its basically the same level as "Lights out" which featured earlier on, except its way worse.

Yep, this is a level that took me over 60 lives to get through alone and to say its a tough one is an understatement and a half and its just as well it doesn't involve completing in order to gain a coloured gem without dying as it would be next to impossible to do. 

Basically the title says it all really, as Crash has to wander around the dark hallways of Cortex castle and his only guiding light are Aku Aku masks, which are spread throughout the level but they only have a limited time for which they stay lit then its lights out and Crash will be in darkness.  And if this happens then Crash will surely fall down one of the gaps between platforms to meet his doom once more.  Also add into the mix rats, spiders and deadly swinging blades and it all adds up to a deeply frustrating experience that will test any gamer.  Oh, and there are also some hidden boxes at the start of the level, so if you forget them then you will have the dubious pleasure of having to play the level all over again just to get them!  

So, if you are going to survive "Fumbling in the dark" I strongly suggest you stock up on extra lives as you will sure need to or you will be staring at the annoying "Game Over" screen again and again before you can finally conquer it and move on to recover yourself.

So overall its a nasty beggar of a level and one that more than deserves its place on the list.

2. The High Road (Crash 1)

I think the makers of the first Crash Bandicoot must have been into petty minded sadism in a big way because I can think of no other reason why a level in a game should be SO hard!  And "The High Road" is one of these levels.

Yep, this little nasty fecker of a level is infamous among fans of the Crash series and if often tops the toughest levels of any Crash list and its no surprise that I would add it to mine.  THIS level took me two days and nights to complete and I kept seeing the "GAME OVER" screen come up time and time again so much it made want to throw the PS4 out the window! (well not quite by nearly!).

Yes, "The High Road" sees Crash being forced to brave another suspension bridge with even less planks to walk on than before and this time Crash has to resort to using a series of turtles to bounce on so he can get to the other side without plummeting to his death.  Although one curious thing about this level is if Crash falls to his death by breaking the half planks instead of bouncing on the turtles, the turtles are still suspended in thin air and they don't fall themselves!  Weird! 

However that's not all because if Crash wants to collect the clear gem, he must also go backwards to claim the hidden boxes in the level that are at the start of the level behind where he starts from.   And this is certainly not fun as he will need to tread carefully as the wood planks only appear as he walks over them and there are still gaps to be found, so you need to be extra careful if you are going for all the boxes. 

So, yeah this level has alot to answer for when it has claimed many a gamer's sanity and patience as they try and complete this hellathon.  However it is said that the easiest way through the level is for Crash to simply jump up on the ropes and walk over the bridge that way although that would be cheating (and I myself would struggle to keep Crash in a straight line!).

Anyway so "The High Road" definitely deserves the runner-up spot here and its infuriating difficulty level is enough to drive anyone nuts, who might dare to try it.

And the number one toughest Crash Bandicoot level of them all is..........

1. Slippery climb (Crash 1)

Yes, at No.1 is this horror of a level from the first Crash Bandicoot game (not surprising eh?!) "Slippery climb" which is often seen near the top or at the top of many a Crash Bandicoot list of tough levels and its pretty easy to see why.  This level is a monumental challenge make no mistake about it.

And the level itself sees Crash attempt to make his way into Cortex castle as he traverses outside the castle and must make a series of very tricky jumps onto moving platforms, retractable staircases as well as time careful jumps onto large birds in order to reach another platform.  These jumps require very careful timing and not only that but there are also some cubby hole type passages that Crash will need to jump into to get some of the boxes.  This will then force Crash to make another very careful jump in order to get back onto the moving platforms that will take him further forward. 

Crash will also face some human enemies such as Cortex's lab assistants, who will throw potion beakers at him and prisoners, who try and grab Crash with their hands although they are much easier to deal with and are the easiest thing about this level.    

Now it was a close call between this level and "The High Road" however "Slippery climb" pips it to the post for one main reason and that reason is because if you want the red coloured gem, you will need to go through this whole level WITHOUT DYING!!  And that as far as I am concerned is literally 100% impossible (or just about!) as it is such a tough test to overcome and it remains the biggest obstacle in the entire game, especially if you want to complete the game 100%.

So, for me "Slippery climb" is the toughest level in the first three Crash Bandicoot games, although I can't speak for the others in the series because I haven't played them but on the basis of the N-Sane trilogy, this level is as tough as it gets, so it takes the top spot.

Right, so that's it for now and I'll be back on here with another post soon.

Till then its Ooga Booga from me! 

Top 10 Hardest Crash Bandicoot levels Part 1 - 10 to 6

Right, this is a slightly different post for a change as its another top 10 list and this time the list of choice is my pick of the hardest Crash Bandicoot levels and these levels will be taken from the N-Sane trilogy, which features the first three Crash games.

So without much further ado, let's grab that controller and get to ready throw it at the wall!

10. Orient express/Midnight run (from Crash Bandicoot: Warped) 

OK, so at No.10 are these two levels from the 3rd game in the series, Warped, and the reason I have put them together is because they are essentially the same level as they both take place on the Great wall of China.  And it involves Crash's sister, Coco do a race, riding on her pet tiger, Pura, across the great wall of China during its final years of construction in order to obtain the crystals needed to complete the level.

These levels aren't so hard to get through purely to get the crystals but where they are hard is in trying to break all the boxes and in that respect they are bloody difficult and remain a stern challenge.  And quite often its all too easy for you to miss out the boxes when you speed through the level, plus the obstacles that are in your path such as the flying dragons and the Chinese workers can be tricky to avoid at times.  Its also often the case when you see Coco and Pura have to make some awkward jumps due to the frantic pace of the levels themselves and this can lead to them falling off the wall.

So, these two levels are deceptively hard and may not be on many players lists but they are here on mine and that's it sits here at No.10.

9. Native Fortress (from Crash Bandicoot)

At No.9 is this level from the first game "Native Fortress" and this is the first level in the game where the difficulty level suddenly shoots up as the honeymoon period of the games is well and truly over as Crash is given a number of tough obstacles to overcome.

For starters, Crash has to make a series of difficult climbs that involve spinning rotating wooden platforms that only stay still for so long and he has to spin several of them to jump up to reach some bouncy boxes, which will take him up to a top platform.  Mastering these platforms and the jumps can be very tricky at first and may take some time to get used to in itself.

However, that's not at all, next Crash also has to watch out for some pesky natives who keep pushing you back with big boards and if you get it wrong they could push Crash off the edge or into one of the flaming platforms.  And this brings me onto the platforms that ignite on fire and temporarily go out, as they are also pretty tricky to get past especially when later on you need to jump three of them in a row without frying yourself! There are also man-eating plants that can get a taste for Crash if you get too close to them but they are not so bothersome here though.

So, "Native Fortress" is definitely where the first game starts to get tougher for sure and it is a sign of the hellish levels that lay ahead, so its more than worthy of a place on this list.

8. Snow Go (from Crash 2)

This may only be the second level from Crash 2 and to play through the initial level itself isn't so difficult but what IS difficult about this level is when you access the secret area to get the red gem, THEN this level's difficulty shoots up several notches!  And the process to get the red gem itself here is a bloody nightmare!

However the level itself isn't too tricky overall as Crash to avoid some pretty basic obstacles such as spinning penguins, diving seals, rock crushers and log crushers although you still need to take caution at this stage.

But its when Crash get's access to that secret area of "Snow Go" is when you will throw the controller out the window as Crash has to repeatedly try and slide his way through the first few stages of the level as he has to jump from one icy platform to another without falling to his death, which isn't easy!  Not only that but he has to jump on a series of bouncy boxes in order to reach higher platforms that are again icy and filled with Nitro explosive boxes, so at this stage its imperative that Crash has picked up three Aku Aku masks as he needs to be invincible to get through this part to finally land the red gem.

Without the red gem, this level would be pretty easy and straightforward however because of it, this elevates the level into this list and that's why it takes the 8th place.

7. Un-bearable (from Crash 2)

This level at No.7 is another stern challenge from Crash 2: The Wrath of Cortex that sees Crash having to flee from a giant angry polar bear as he races through the level to collect a crystal and also along the way he has to avoid a number of other obstacles also.

This is definitely the toughest of the dash levels where Crash usually has to avoid large boulders ala Indiana Jones style but here the giant bear makes things that bit worse.  And similar to the other levels, Crash here needs to dodge a number of dangers such as land mines that slow him down or electric gates that will simply electrocute Crash if he comes into contact with them, so he needs to slide underneath them to pass.  Not only this, Crash also has to avoid animals such as salamanders and armadillos and in the secret area of the level, hunter lab assistants, who will fire shots at Crash from their rifles.

The key to this level is all about the timing and fast reflexes to avoid all the dangers not only to try and break all the boxes to obtain the clear gem, which is where the secret area also remains one of the toughest in the game itself.  And all too often its too easy to mistime your jumps and you end up seeing Crash either get fried, killed by the bear or in other cases simply fall down a chasm!

So, Un-bearable does indeed became somewhat unbearable after a while as it really is a trying level to get through and as such definitely deserves it place here on the list.

6. The Lost City (from Crash Bandicoot)

And to finish off the first part of this list is this bugger of a level from the original Crash game, "The Lost City" which is a pretty punshing experience overall, which is again compounded by the fact that you need to do the level WITHOUT dying once in order to get the green gem in it.

But as for the level itself, yep its a tough one for sure as there are a number of dangers for Crash to avoid such as moving walls, which could push Crash into the water or off into a hole or leaping lizards, which Crash must avoid and swarms of bats that pass Crash at regular intervals.  Crash also must navigate as series of revolving platforms that will take him higher up but he must also jump on a series of retractable platforms also, which requires careful timing if Crash is to advance.  Crash also has to take care on a series of revolving platforms as he needs to time his jumps carefully once more as he could end up falling into the water again.  

Another thing that makes this level quite unforgiving is as I already mentioned, to do with trying to get the first coloured gem (the green one) which requires breaking all the boxes without losing a single life.  This is a real bastard(!).....and its not helped either by the fact that the first two boxes in the level are behind a wall of iron crates, which Crash has to jump around to get but its all to easy for Crash to mistime the jump and fall in the water and drown!

Then there is of course the Bonus rounds for the level which are pretty tough also in which Crash has to gain access to two bonus areas, one for his girlfriend Tawna and the other is for the villainous Nitrous Brio (Dr Cortex's assistant).  And its safe to say that Brio's bonus round here is one of the WORST to try and get through as you have to make a series of careful jumps to activate TNT boxes without blowing Crash up (thankfully though if you die in the Bonus rounds, you don't lose an actual life).

And the worst thing about this level is that its not even the easiest one to do in order to obtain the green gem, so this makes it all the more frustrating to get through.  So for this reason and the others, "The Lost City" definitely deserves its place here on the list at No.6.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back again soon with Part 2 of the list.

See you soon!

The Martian (revisited) "I'm the greatest botanist on this planet!"

OK, time for a bit of post revisitation once again as I recently re-watched Ridley Scott's sci-fi film, The Martain on Blu-ray, so I figured I would give me original review another look and a little rewrite.
So, let's take a look at this one again......

And yes here comes the usual warning...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!!

STORY

So, the story begins on the planet Mars (from the title naturally you would expect this!) where a team astronauts are on a mission.  However the planet is suddenly hit by an intense storm which forces the team to evacuate but one of the team, Mart Watney (Matt Damon) is lost and presumed dead by the others who take off and leave him behind at the order of the mission commander, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain).

Watney however survives the storm but his communications equipment has been destroyed and he must find a way to keep himself alive on the planet, which he does by using his skills as a botanist, he grows potatoes within the base the team had built on the planet surface.  Watney calculates that he must try and keep himself alive for three years long enough hopefully to journey to the landing site for the sucessive ship Aries IV.  Watney also keeps a series of video logs to keep himself going and also makes modifications to the base's rover so it can make longer journeys.

On Earth sometime after the initial announcement was made that Watney had died, NASA engineers Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mindy Park (MacKenzie Davis) discover from the Mars satelitte footage that Watney survived and they start to plan out how to contact him.  The NASA director, Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) insists though that they don't tell the rest of Watney's crew who have now been reassigned to another mission onboard the Hermes in case Watney doesn't survive.  Watney however manages to locate a pathfinder probe which had been inactive since 1997 and uses it to contact NASA.

And its from here that Watney must try and find a way to keep himself alive on Mars and for NASA to try and figure out a way they can bring him back home....

THOUGHTS

Well after some recent disappointments, the Martian is easily Ridley Scott's best film in quite some time (although he did follow it up with the underwhelming Alien Covenant) as its an entertaining and at times gripping film which deals with one man's survival on a barren planet.  Personally myself I always enjoy watching films where one man (or woman) has to adapt and survive in a lone habitat such as Tom Hanks in Cast Away and this is another fine example of that.

The tone of the film is also rather surprisingly quite light hearted given its main character is stranded on an alien planet where there is no breathable atmosphere and his chances of survival long term are pretty slim.  And that in itself is also part of why the film works very well as Scott could easily have gone down another route of making it a rather dispairing and heavy going experience but thankfully that is not the case here.

PERFORMANCES 

As for the performances well they are all pretty top notch starting with Matt Damon who is excellent in the lead role of Mark Watney, the astronaut who is left stranded on Mars after being presumed dead by his crew mates.

Damon after being in the not entirely disimilar Interstellar (but a bit more realistic it has to be said) and playing a somewhat crazed astronaut, thankfully plays Watney as a sane man who uses his skills to keep himself alive.

Damon also has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Watney makes a grim assessment of his situation not long after he has been stranded on Mars, he records a video message.  And in the message he says "If the oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst. If the hab breaches, I'll just kind of implode. If none of those things happen, I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So, yeah... Yeah...".

Then there is the scene where Watney tries to make water by burning hydrogen and he very nearly blows himself up in the process.  So, in another video message he says "So, yeah, I blew myself up. Best guess, I forgot to account for the excess oxygen that I've been exhaling when I did my calculations because I'm stupid. I'm gonna get back to work here just as soon as my ears stop ringing!".

Another good scene is when Watney forces himself to listen to his superior, Commander Lewis's disco music, which he hates as he groans in dispair as he listens to "Turn the beat around" by Gloria Estefan.  And Watney says to himself " I am definitely gonna die up here if I have to listen to any more of Commander Lewis' god-awful disco music. My god commander could you have not brought something from this century. No I won't "turn the beat around, I refuse to!" and he switches it off.

Then there is the moment where Watney looks around at the potato crops he has managed to successfully grow inside the base and he records another video message to camera.  And in the message he says to the camera "I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the greatest botanist on this planet!".

The next scene worth mentioning is when Watney has heard from NASA that in order for him to successfully escape Mars orbit in the ascent vehicle, he will need to remove the top of it.  So, Watney in another video message says "And by the way, physicists, when describing things like acceleration do not use the word "fast". So they're only doing that in the hopes that I won't raise any objections to this lunacy, because I like the way "fastest man in the history of space travel" sounds. I do like the way it sounds... I mean, I like it a lot" and he pauses and says "I'm not gonna tell THEM that!".

And lastly there is the scene where Watney (SPOILER!!) having made it into orbit using his ascent vehicle is about to be rescued by Commander Lewis, who has gone out of the Aries ship in her astronaut suit to catch him.  However, the rope of the harness that holds her won't stretch far enough for Lewis to catch Watney.  So, Watney suggests "Well, if I can find something sharp in here...and poke a hole in the glove of my EVA suit...I could use the escaping air as a thruster...and fly towards you".  However, Lewis is less than enthused and tells him "I can't see you having any control if you did that. You'd be eyeballing the intercept using a thrust vector you can barely control".  And Watney tells her "Yes, those are all very good points. But consider this. I'd get to fly around like Iron Man. Commander...let's go Iron Man!".

As for the other performances Chiwetel Ejiofor does very well as the NASA scientist, Vincent Kapoor, who plays his part in helping to try and bring Watney back home.

And Ejiofor has some good moments of his own such as the scene where Kapoor tells Watney via their keyboard VDU messages that the Aries crew aren't aware that he is still alive, so Watney is naturally pretty annoyed and starts typing a sweary response.  Kapoor however is alarmed and types back saying " Mark, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world!".  And Mark looks annoyed at Kapoor's message and starts typing more expletives much to the amusement of the NASA staff leaving Kapoor embarrassed "Oh, my God!".

Then there is the scene where one the director of jet propulsion laboratory (JPL for short) Bruce Ng gives his assessment on how to make the Mars ascent vehicle light enough to get into orbit, which basically means removing the roof of the vehicle itself.  So, Kapoor becomes very anxious as he hears the assessment but one of Ng's associates says "He hasn't even got to the bad parts yet" and Kapoor says "Well, let's get to the bad parts".  So, Ng tells Kapoor "We need to remove the nose LR, the windows, and the whole of panel 19".  And Kapoor, bemused says "You want to take the front of the ship off?!" and Ng says "Sure. The nose alone is 400 kilograms" and Kapoor "You want to send a man into space without the front of ship??".  And Ng says "Well, no. We are going to have him cover it with HAB canvas. The hull is mostly there to keep air in. Mars' atmosphere is so thin, you do not need a lot of streamlining".  And Kapoor becoming angry asks "You want to send him into space under a tarp???" and Ng says "Yes. Can I go on?" and Kapoor shouts "NO!!".

And lastly there is the scene where Kapoor relays Ng's bad news to Watney via keyboard message and Watney replies "Are you f***ing kidding me???".  So, Kapoor asks Mindy, one of the NASA satelitte planners "You think he means it like...  (uses a surprised tone) "Are you kidding me?" You know? Or like, (an angry tone) "Are you kidding me?".  And Mindy suggests "I think it could be the second one" but Kapoor begs to differ and says "It COULD be the first way" and Mindy, not convinced but plays along and says "Yeah, it could be the first way".
  
Jeff Daniels is also excellent as the somewhat pompous NASA director Teddy Sanders, who intends to play things as safe as he can in order to maintain NASA's public image especially after they incorrectly announce that Watney died.

Daniels good scenes include the one where one of the JPL team, Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) forms a plan to save Watney and he pitches it to Teddy and Kapoor.  And as Purnell does he asks Teddy "What's your name again?" and Teddy rather bemused says "My name is Teddy....the DIRECTOR of NASA!" and Purnell simply says "Cool!".  And after his pitch is over, Teddy says to Purnell "Rich..." and Purnell says "Yes, sir" and Teddy bluntly tells him "Get out!".

And lastly there is the scene where Teddy meets with Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean) the NASA director of the Aries III mission and Teddy confronts Mitch on his decision to go over his head and send a private message to the Aries crew about Purnell's rescue plan.  So, Teddy tells Mitch "Annie will go before the media this morning...and inform them of NASA's decision to reroute the Hermes to Mars".  And Mitch says "Sounds like a good plan" but Teddy warns him "You may have killed them, Mitch. We're fighting the same war. Every time something goes wrong, the world forgets why we fly. I'm trying to keep us airborne. It's bigger than one person" but Mitch disagrees "No, its not".  And Teddy gives Mitch an ultimatum "When this is over.  I'll expect your resignation" and Mitch nods and quietly says "I understand" and Teddy says "Bring our astronauts home".

Jessica Chastain also is very good as Commander Lewis who makes the difficult decision to leave Watney behind and even worse she loves disco music!  

And Jessica has some good scenes but for the sake of time I will only mention two, the first being where Lewis has a meeting with her crew over whether they should go ahead and rescue Watney or not, as doing so would mean disobeying direct orders from NASA. 

So, Lewis tells the crew "This is something NASA expressly rejected. We're talking about mutiny here, which is not a word that I take lightly. So we do this together or not at all. And before you answer, consider the consequences. If we mess up the supply rendezvous, we die. If we mess up the Earth gravity assist, we die. If we do everything perfectly... we add 533 days to our mission. 533 more days before we see our families again. 533 days of unplanned space travel...where anything could go wrong. If it's mission critical, we die".  And Lewis then tells them "Well, it has to be unanimous. If we do this, it'll be over 900 days of space. That's more than enough space for one life...".  So after the crew all agree to do the rescue, Lewis says "Well, let's go get him!".

Then there is the scene where during a comedic montage, Lewis chats with her husband over a video call and he says to her "Hey, baby.  I've got something for you".  And he pulls out an original ABBA album "Found it in the flea market. Original pressing!" and Lewis reacts in delight and surprise and she grins saying "I love it!". 

Sean Bean does pretty well in his role as Mitch Henderson, the director of the Aries III NASA mission that saw Watney abandoned on Mars. 

And Bean has some good scenes that include the one where Mitch tells Teddy its time for them to tell the Aries crew about Watney being still alive.  And Mitch says "The truth is that Mark's right. The longer we wait the worse it's going to get. We need to tell the crew".  However, Teddy is reluctant to go ahead with this and says "You're saying this now while Vincent is in Pasadena so he can't argue the other side".  However, Mitch insists "I shouldn't have to answer to Vincent or anyone else. It's time Teddy". 

Then there is the scene where Mitch contacts the Aries team and tells them about Watney being alive "Hi, hello. It's Mitch. Mitch Henderson. I have some news. There's no subtle way to put this. Mark Watney is still alive" and they all react in surprise.  And Mitch continues "I know that's a surprise and I know you will have a lot of questions. But here are the basics. He's alive and he's healthy. We found out two months ago and decided not to tell you".  Mitch then tells them "I was strongly against that decision. We're telling you now because... we finally have communication with him... and a viable rescue plan. But it's not your fault. Mark stresses that every time it comes up".



And lastly there is the scene where Mitch confronts Teddy over his decision to go with their plan of providing enough food supplies for Watney rather than let the Hermes crew (the crew that were on the Aries but are on a new mission at this point) go and save Watney. 




So, in the scene, Bruce Ng asks " So what, we either have a high chance of killing one person, or a low chance of killing six people. How do we make that decision?" and Kapoor says "We don't" and he points to Teddy and says "He does".  However, Mitch says "That's bullshit. It should be commander Lewis's call" and Teddy says "We still have a chance to bring five astronauts home safe and sound. I'm not risking their lives". Mitch then insists "Let THEM make that decision!" but Teddy refuses "Mitch, we're going with option one" and this leaves, Mitch disgusted at Teddy and he says "You goddamn coward!" and storms out.  

Next is Michael Pena, who is always reliable in anything he does and he's really good here once again as Rick Martinez, one of the Aries crew.

And Pena's best scene comes when the Aries crew have been informed that Watney is still alive and they are granted permission to chat to him via keyboard messages.  So in this scene, Martinez types out a message to Watney and he reads it as he does ""Dear Mark... "Apparently NASA's letting us talk to you now. "And I drew the short straw. "Sorry we left you behind on Mars. "But we just don't like you! "Also, it's a lot roomier on the Hermes without you. "We have to take turns doing your tasks. "But, I mean, it's only botany. "It's not real science!".  And at the end of their conversation, Watney says to Martinez "Tell the others I said hi" and Martinez smiles and types saying "Will do, buddy". 

Kate Mara is also pretty good (and pretty!) as Beth Johanssen, one of the Aries crew and she ends up having romantic feelings for one of the crew, Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan). 

And Kate's most notable scene comes when Beth helps Beck, who is in his space suit as he prepares to go outside.  And Beth tells Beck "Make sure you're not in here when this thing goes off. Hey. Be careful out there. In space" and she kisses his surface of his space helmet and she then says "Don't tell anyone I did that!".  

As for the last few roles, MacKenzie Davis also fairs well in her role as Mindy Park, one of NASA's ground staff at mission control although to save on time I won't mention any of her dialogue (sorry!). 

Donald Glover is not too bad as Rich Purnell, the NASA astrodynamicist, who susses out a plan to bring Watney home.  And Glover's best moment comes of course when he tells Teddy and Kapoor his plan to bring Watney home.  So, Purnell gives his pitch as to how to do it and he get's Teddy to stand at the far left of the room and director of media relations at NASA to stand at the right side of the room.  However when he doesn't realise who Teddy is and asks "Okay, let's pretend that this stapler is the Hermes... and you are...I'm sorry, what's your name again?" and Teddy tells him "My name is Teddy, the DIRECTOR of NASA!" and Rich simply says "Cool!".  And after he finishes his pitch he tells them "I've done the math.  It checks out" and Teddy tells Rich "Rich...get out!" and Rich having taken Teddy's pen, puts it back in his jacket pocket. 



And last of all is Benedic Wong, who is pretty good as Bruce Ng, the director of the JPL team, who is given the mission to build the probe to launch supplies for Watney.  So prior to Wong's scene, Teddy tells Mitch "We need 13 days to mount the boosters, perform inspections... which gives Bruce and his team... 47 days to make this probe. I'll let you call Bruce, give him the news".  And we cut to the scene where Bruce has just gotten the call and he tells his team "OK. Well, I'm gonna need a change of clothes....". 


DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the film's director, Ridley Scott does an excellent job here and keeps the film's pacing fairly taut even though the film does feel a little overlong he does more than enough to keep an audience interested in Watney's situation.  Scott's incredible visual sense also is at the foreground here once again and the film looks spectacular (also thanks to the film's cinemaphotographer Dariusz Wolski) especially during its Mars sequences which were shot on location in Wadi Rum, a valley located in Jordan and it was also filmed at Korda studios in Budapest and about 20 sets were constructed for the film.

Music wise the film also features a pretty good score by Harry Gregson-Williams which is quite atmospheric and well suited for the film (which at times seems to echo the score for The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).  This score also marked the third score that Gregson-William had done in collaboration with Ridley Scott (although Ridley didn't the write the music of course!).  The film also uses some disco music tracks as well such as "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and also of course David Bowie's "Starman" (well I guess they had to work that one in somehow!).

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for The Martian's flaws.... well yeah OK there are one two things that come to mind for starters you have to question whether or not if Watney could realistically have survived on Mars for as long as he did.  And the first thing that comes to mind that raises this doubt is that spacesuit is punctured early on in the film and if that was the case that surely he would be dead pretty much straight away! 

Its also funny how Watney doesn't start to lose weight alot sooner than he does as he lives off a diet of potatos and bread and that's it then surely that wouldn't be enough to maintain his weight and its only later in after a few years we finally see that Watney has lost quite a bit of weight due to his need to ration his food.  In fact, the weight loss we see is in fact just CGI as Ridley Scott refused to let Matt Damon physically lose weight as he didn't want to endanger his health.  However this in itself introduces a flaw of its own because even though in those later scenes we see Matt's physical form look skinnier in the scenes where he comes out of the shower when he wears his spacesuit, he looks more muscular again.  So it has to be said the whole visual weight loss thing doesn't add up well and is never that consistent.  

Another scene that doesn't make sense somehow is when Watney access's one of the crew's laptop's (which he takes from a storage crate) which must have been surely days after he had been left stranded yet the laptop somehow manages to boot up with no problem.  But surely if the laptop had been left uncharged it would have no charge left in it!  So the film in these instances makes some assumptions which they are guessing an audience wouldn't really notice.

Another issue I would have to say is that the inclusion of the disco music is a bit annoying and in the end it is used more as a bit of comic relief more than anything else.  And it was revealed that Ridley himself is a bit of an ABBA fan so perhaps that is why they decided to work its use into the film!  But as the film goes on it starts to grate a little bit in its use although perhaps that's the film's way of getting you a bit inside Watney's predicament as he forces himself to listen to it as a distraction to keep himself going.

Then there is the whole infuriating use of having large crowds of people gathering round some of the most notable cities in the world outside watching live TV coverage of Watney's rescue attempt on big screens.  I mean its such a cliche in these sorts of films and I would dare even say that this is something that must have been foisted upon Scott for the film probably by some Hollywood execs.  However I just find this to be an overused cliche in these sorts of films and its pretty cringeworthy and the film really could have done without it!

And last of all is the whole thing about Watney's ascent vehicle being stripped down, so it can successfully make its way into orbit in order for Watney to be rescued by the Hermes crew and they decide the roof of the vehicle should be removed also to make it light enough and instead put a canvas over it to give it a "roof".  Now, surely to God if they did this in reality, the pressure of the flight would be enough to crush Watney and there is no way in hell a stupid piece of canvas is going to be effective enough to cover him and prevent anything from happening!  And this easily remains one of the most ridiculous moments in the film, which lacks any real sense of logic or common sense. 

Anyway that's the flaws looked at.

SUM UP

So, to sum up on rewatching the Martain, I think it is still a very entertaining and gripping sci-fil film which I have to say its well worth checking out as it has some excellent performances, amazing visuals and a pretty decent score also.  The film is maybe just a tad too overlong though but given its length of 2 hours and 21 minutes it doesn't lag that much and yes it does still have some plot flaws and niggles here and there.  However that all aside, its still a film that's well worth watching and it also marked something of a return to form for Ridley Scott after a string of disappointing films.

Right, so that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post soon.

Till then its bye for the now.