Allstar wrote:Sir Ridley showing Nolan the Sci Fi throne is still his.

ErikDavis ‏@ErikDavis 1m1 minute ago
THE MARTIAN (A): Matt Damon is at his best in a wildly entertaining story that's nerdy, riveting, funny & surprisingly emotional #TIFF15

Richard Lawson ‏@rilaws 5m5 minutes ago
THE MARTIAN is fantastic. Nerdy, clever, beautifully built and cast, tense and thrilling. Plus Jessica Chastain does a lot of space #TIFF15

Brian Tallerico ‏@Brian_Tallerico 6m6 minutes ago
THE MARTIAN: A thoroughly entertaining blockbuster that values science over superpowers. I dig it.

Ed Gibbs ‏@EdGibbs 5m5 minutes ago
#TheMartian feelgood scifi romp plays for laughs, tugs at hearts, looks divine, Damon on top form #tiff

Jake Howell ‏@Jake_Howell 6m6 minutes ago
THE MARTIAN is everything I wanted Interstellar to be (really, really, really good). #TIFF15

ChristNolan wrote:Bookmarking this prediction post for the future

Allstar wrote:This was way better than Interstellar

DoubleD wrote:Definitely better than Interstellar

Adam B. Vary ‏@adambvary 2 hrs2 hours ago
THE MARTIAN is the most free-spirited, fleet-footed, enjoyable film I've seen from Ridley Scott in I don't know how long. #TIFF15

JoBlo.com ‏@joblocom 2 hrs2 hours ago
#TheMartian was a ton of fun. Lots of kids are gonna want to become astronauts after seeing this. Very much in line with Apollo13. #TIFF15

While there might be one or two brainstorming sessions too many, by and large the film flies by at supersonic speed. That's something of a coup, considering how much time its characters spend waiting. It's cut together seamlessly, never overly stylized — and one montage uses a David Bowie song in a way that gave me chills.

Is The Martian an Oscar picture? That’s the inevitable question whenever a star-studded event picture like this plays a fall film festival. Right now, the film’s prospects in the annual awards race are stellar, and I can see successful bids for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and a half-dozen technical nods for Sir Ridley Scott’s thriller. The thing about The Martian is that it plays more as an roller-coaster event picture, but appeals to the smarter, more mature and demanding audiences who tend to turn out for end-of-year dramatic fare. It bridges the gap between effects-driven tentpoles and Oscar-seeking human dramas. No matter your taste, you’ll find something to celebrate here. It’s one of the year’s best films.

All that said, “The Martian” is the most purely enjoyable picture Scott has made in years. The streamlined narrative and the film’s consistent pacing, aided by a cast who don’t make a wrongfooted move, makes for easy popcorn entertainment. Cinematographer Darius Wolski, who lensed Scott’s “Prometheus,” makes the most of being able to open the color palette here, creating a rich visual scope for burnt red of Mars, and deep reaches of space. And it probably doesn’t even need to be said that the special effects work is top notch, though if there is one slight below-the-line disappointment, it’s the rather generic score by Harry Gregson-Williams.