'Blu-ray or Bust' - THE MARTIAN: EXTENDED EDITION

'Blu-ray or Bust'

THE MARTIAN: EXTENDED EDITION (2015, PG-13, 151 minutes, SCOTT FREE PRODUCTIONS/20TH CENTURY FOX)

Occasionally, I find it necessary to purchase a movie twice. Sometimes, it’s because I’m stupid and I lose it. Other times, it’s because I’m stupid and I start drooling over added special features or the promise of additional stupid.

So this week, basically, I was drooling over Matt Damon.

In my original review of this spectacular survival story, I opined about Ridley Scott’s ability to take a good story and make it even better. “He is a visual storyteller with a literary conscience, and it soars to new heights with his adaptation.” (Yes, I just quoted myself…) (…because I can…) (…and because no one else does, even though I do come up with a good line every three months or so.)

 

Andy Weir’s book is chock full of scientific know-how. The story is about a botanist/astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars after a violent storm necessitates the quick evacuation of the science team. Left for dead, Watney (Damon, not acting very Damon-ish AT ALL) must rely on his scientific knowledge to survive. Trust me, it is more entertaining than that little synopsis I just threw out there. But Scott gives us the scientific details the book did with a little less aplomb. Author Weir is a self-proclaimed science geek and former software engineer, so you know the science behind every step of this story will be terribly accurate. Whereas Weir could make you feel a teeny bit mentally inferior at times, Ridley reigns all that science in and gives it to you practically. He keeps too much of the same language, dialogue, and story points that Weir did, but he does it with Damon’s voice, and it changes things dramatically.

But with the new disc, Scott throws in ten minutes more of Damon and Co. which actually makes the film work a bit better. There are more bad words, a sequence involving Watney using some of his spare time to finish up some of the abandoned research, and, praise the Sweet Baby Hey-Zeus, more of the amazing Donald Glover. Glover pays homage to every smart kid on the planet that has a social anxiety disorder with his performance of Rich Purnell, Genius. His added screen time, as little as it may be, is one of the best bonuses of the added footage. And not necessarily because it is funny—it isn’t, but it adds even more depth to a character that would have been a one-trick-pony in any other actor’s hands.

If you do not purchase this film on Blu-ray, there is something inherently wrong with your brain. Your surround sound demands it, and your eyes demand it. Scott is a master visual storyteller, and this is a wonderful story to watch unfold. Besides—if your surround sound isn’t doing double duty when a Martian storm is blowing across the scene, or when Damon is looking right into screen sardonically while disco music blares in the background, you just aren’t doing it right. (Said every girl I’ve ever dated…)

So, yes, you should probably go buy this—again, if need be. There are a few additional special features, not to mention the added commentary by Scott himself, which was glaringly missing from the first release. If you won’t buy it for yourself, then do it for Watney and Rich Purnell. And for Mars; all three of these characters deserve your extra time and attention.

Grade: A

Special Features: A+

Blu-ray Necessary: Hell yes

-- T.S. Kummelman