The Martian: Extended Edition (Blu-ray Review)
It’s back and better than ever. With a couple Golden Globe wins and seven Oscar nominations, director Ridley Scott has made his best film in a decade, as The Martian delivers on being an exciting visual success, with a tremendous cast making it all the more worthwhile. Matt Damon leads the way in a film about one man surviving 140 million miles away from earth and keeping a positive attitude about everything, while everyone else tries to help. ‘The Martian’ is the kind of film audiences love to see, as it delivers on being well thought out and entertaining. Now it has returned to Blu-ray with an all new extended cut and hours of new special features.
Film: 
This new extended cut of The Martian runs 151 minutes, which is 10 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. The changes are not that startling and Scoot seems to have gotten his director’s cut out the first time, but you do get some new character moments. If you already had an opinion on the film, the extended cut will likely do little to change it, but there is more of Matt Damon on Mars along with some lines and scenes referencing his sense of humor and attitude as seen by others.
Here’s the original review:
Based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, Damon stars as Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars. The film is quick to arrive at Watney’s near-hopeless situation and it never heads down any other path not concerned with how to get him home.
Much of the film focuses on Watney’s enthusiastic attitude and technical know-how when it comes to survival. There is also a parallel narrative concerning the people back at earth attempting to find a solution as well. Both sides put in a great amount of effort and this helps propel the story, along with a sense of hope felt throughout.
The film may be an adaptation, but it is the script by Drew Goddard that pushes this film into the stratosphere. Scott is a great visual director, but having a terrific screenplay is what allows him to make truly great films. Thanks to Goddard’s work on The Martian, Scott has the opportunity to make a really a terrific character piece, which just happens to be a big-budget space adventure.
Read the rest of the original review HERE.
Video:
Nothing new to report on, but you can read the original thoughts HERE.
Audio:
Nothing new to report on, but you can read the original thoughts HERE.
Extras:
Now this is the Ridley Scott Blu-ray I was looking for. Chalk it up to the awards circuit leading Fox to rushing out a standard copy of the Blu-ray. This version of the Blu-ray is packed with extras, including a feature-length making-of, a great commentary track and more.
Features Include:
- Disc One:
- Both the theatrical (HD, 141 minutes) and the extended cut (HD, 151 minutes) are included.
- Theatrical and Extended Cut Audio Commentary by Ridley Scott, Drew Goddard and Andy Weir – Scott is great with commentary tracks and while he was recorded separately from Goddard and Weir, the information from him and the fun from the writers makes this a great listen for fans of the film or the filmmaking process.
- Disc 2:
- NEW – The Long Way Home: Making the Martian (HD, 1:19:21) – Divided into several parts, two of them were available on the original Blu-ray release, but this behind-the-scenes features covers the entire production.
- NEW – Dare Mighty Things: NASA’s Journey to Mars (HD, 14:47) – A look at the plausibility of taking humans to Mars and what has been discovered so far.
- NEW – Journey to Mars 101 Q&A (HD, 2:02:18) – A huge look at what it is to survive on Mars, featuring discussion with Bill Nye, astronauts and more.
- NEW – Ridley Scott Discusses Nasa’s Journey to Mars (HD, 1:31) – A brief piece of narration from Scott involving travel to Mars
- Gag Reel (HD, 7:33)
- Ares III: Refocused (HD, 17:18) – A faux documentary recapping what happened to Mark Watney.
- Ares III: Farewell (HD, 3:35) – Another faux documentary, but this one is just a small clip that introduces the astronaut crew of the Ares III.
- The Right Stuff (HD, 3:20) – A humorous clip of the actors in character talking about their isolation training.
- Ares: Our Greatest Adventure (HD, 3:39) – Neil de Grasse Tyson hosts this faux documentary.
- Leave Your Mark (HD, 1:03) – I guess this was an Under Armour commercial…
- Bring Him Home (HD, 1:34) – A fake commercial focused on the world uniting for rescuing Watney.
- Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:55)
- Production Art Gallery (HD)
- Digital Copy of the Film – iTunes and UltraViolet
Summary:
Everything you wanted the first time around in The Martian Blu-ray can be found here. This is a double-dip well worth it if you are interested in how this film came together. The set includes both versions of the film and all the extras you need, so it is a no-brainer for fans and especially those who are coming to the film for the first time. If you want a great sci-fi survival film featuring some solid technical specs and more, this is the Blu-ray set for you.
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