I'm having trouble settling on a rating for this film. Honestly, I was seriously considering deducting a star, or even two. The reason? It’s riddled with Hollywood clichés, scientific inaccuracies, and feels quite predictable, almost like a rehash of *Apollo 13*. Yet, I didn’t lower the score because it's undeniably entertaining, despite moments that made me cringe. The film begins with a rather unbelievable scenario: an unexpected storm hits the Mars base, forcing the ground crew to rush back to the launch vehicle before it tips over. The launch vehicle then slowly tilts, degree by degree. Did I imagine that? Wouldn’t storms on Mars exert constant pressure, causing a gradual tilt of something like that? No gusts, no pressure changes? And why would it tilt so incrementally? Once the force is enough for one side's landing struts to lift off the ground, it should tip over quickly. Alright, I suppose I’ll give them some leeway for now. Inevitably, a crew member gets lost during the dramatic events—completely predictable. The fact that he survives after the rest of the team launches is equally obvious, though you probably could have guessed that from the movie's title. Much of the remainder of the film follows this man’s struggle for survival on Mars using whatever equipment remains, while the NASA crew back on Earth attempts a rescue. Predictably, they discover he’s still alive. This, naturally, allowed Hollywood to introduce an utterly unlikeable political bureaucrat who seems to exist solely to be unpleasant. I personally found him tiresome. It's funny how Americans seem to enjoy these types of characters, considering the kind of material being promoted in the upcoming presidential elections... from both sides! Despite its flaws, there’s a lot that works well. Even though it's predictable, there are moments of suspense, beautiful scenery, and you find yourself rooting for the hero, even when you know what’s coming. Considering the script they were given, I think the actors did a pretty good job with their roles. If the writers had consulted with some competent scientific advisors, this could have been a truly great movie, but it's constantly undermined by just plain silly errors. Like burying a nuclear reactor a few feet underground—what was the point of that? And the constant reliance on simple plastic and duct tape to seal environments? Come on. Yes, Mars has an atmosphere, so it’s not a vacuum, but in other scenes they seemed to assume almost zero atmosphere and used explosive decompression effects extensively. Okay, I'm probably being overly critical here, but unlike many science fiction films, this one tries to present itself as somewhat realistic, and it’s just too full of standard Hollywood blunders for my taste. As mentioned earlier, I still believe the movie is worth watching. It has suspense, impressive visuals, and decent performances from the cast. I think a rating of 7 out of 10 stars is fair; it certainly shouldn't be higher.

Source on TMDB