15. The Martian
It's somewhat crazy that having the guy behind seminal classics Alien and Blade Runner directing a sci-fi movie that hinges on visual splendour and high-reaching questions about humanity could sound risky, but that's just how off-the-boil Ridley Scott has been in recent years. He was always a little hit-and-miss, but when the highlight of his recent filmography is Prometheus it was clear he was a slump. So The Martian isn't just a fun, entertaining, thoughtful ride, but also an incredibly pleasant surprise. It's Scott's best film since Gladiator (and in contrast one that is likely to only get better with time), showing he's still very much the same great director he was in his youth, with the right material. Heck, there's even some strong Oscar buzz. The real ace is its humour, which lends a human side to the very dour prospect of pure loneliness (something we've seen covered to death recently care of Gravity and Interstellar) and also allows for unexpected realism - the only way to mentally survive such overwhelming odds is to keep it light. Like the scientific accuracy of the story, much of this is thanks to self-published author Andy Weir, although that the tense breaking down of botany and the gleeful playing of ABBA's Waterloo doesn't clash with the bigger science picture is all Scott.
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