Among the many memorable moments in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, one particularly moving episode perfectly illustrates that the director “gets it” and has constructed the film with loads of loving care and meticulous attention to detail. The scene involves a rather innocuous visual montage of survival preparations by stranded martian astronaut, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), as he formulates a plan to survive on the inhospitable alien planet. As always with movie montages, an appropriate song plays over the action emphasizing the emotional impact of the scene.

However in this case, the scene is enhanced by what might be the least expected song and yet results in one of the most greatly appreciated moments of the entire film – as understated as it is. No, it’s not Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Steve Miller’s “Space Cowboy,”  or even David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”. Those would be too obvious. I won’t spoil it for you here, but let’s just say you’d need to go way down on your list of possible candidates. The moment is just one of many in Scott’s outstanding adventure that, not coincidentally, also happens to be based on some very sound science theories.

As the film opens, we join Watney and his five crew mates on the red planet during their 18th Martian day (known as Sols) as a particularly ferocious storm is approaching. All hell breaks loose, and through a series of unfortunate incidents, Watney gets left behind, presumed dead by his commander, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). Lewis and her crew, including mission pilot Rick Martinez (Michael Peña), tech specialist Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), and chemist Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie), are now faced with the guilt of leaving a fallen comrade behind, and are in a very dark place as they face many months of travel to get back home to Earth.

In the meantime, as NASA scientists peruse their satellite images of the martian surface, they notice activity and movement around the abandoned pressurized canvas living structure (known as a Hab). The activity comes from Watney who apparently survived the ordeal and finds himself stranded on the surface of Mars. With only meager supplies meant to last a crew of six for 68 sols, he must draw upon his ingenuity and spirit to find a way to make his rations last for 400 sols and to let Earth know he is alive.

What initially feels like the makings of a story about depravation, starvation, and the creeping ravages of cabin fever that all lead to an eventual death (after all, help is a few years and a few million miles away), ends up instead as the ultimate survival story about how we humans must respond to unimaginable duress and isolation with grace and determination.

Watney’s coping device involves his wit and self-deprecating humor in the face of impossible odds as he records his dealings and state of mind on a video log for posterity. His perfectly balanced humor is also a much-welcomed bit of relief for us from the action’s near-relentless intensity. His witty zingers give us insight into his emotional state and invincible spirit to survive against insurmountable odds. It’s also a pretty cool way of providing an active voice-over to fill us in on the complexities of the science involved with his survival.

The film’s friendly and approachable tone comes from Andy Weir’s novel that originated as an online serial and $1 Amazon buy but was eventually picked up by a major publisher. Screenwriter Drew Goddard strips the nerdy tech-talk (Weir was originally a computer programmer), leaves the meticulously researched science and math, and winds up with a brilliantly sculpted speculative fiction piece that inspires us about human nature while offering a perfect demonstration of the importance of humor in the face of adversity. Hopefully, it may inspire some of the youngsters concerning the importance of science.

Though Damon captivates us with his one-man show in the film’s first third, we get frequent breaks from the Mars chaos as the narrative hops back and forth from the developing Mars situation to the one on the ground at NASA headquarters and California’s Jet Propulsion Lab where a bunch of brainiacs – led by Jeff Daniels as NASA director – are in constant McGyver mode while struggling to formulate plans to bring their boy back home to Earth. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Kristen Wiig round out the cast of earth-bound heroes. There’s even a self-reverential Lord of the Rings joke involving Sean Bean that nearly brings down the house.

The Martian will eventually find itself planted amongst the best in Ridley Scott’s bulging anthology because it’s perfectly paced, visually stunning, and mentally challenging. And despite a two-hour-plus runtime, the movie never feels bloated like many of his other “epics.” It’s one of the few films that demands to be viewed in the 3D format, not for throwing objects at our faces, but for emphasizing the breadth, depth, and isolated beauty of the stunning martian landscape. Even though we know Watney is the only human left on Mars, there’s an unmistakably palpable sense of another imposing presence that comes from the planet itself, thanks to Ridley Scott’s brilliant storytelling and those goofy glasses.

(Released by 20^th Century Fox and rated “PG-13" for some strong language, injury images, and brief nudity.)

Review also posted at www.franksreelreviews.com.