I'm not going to hide the fact that I am a huge science fiction fan, I took my kids to Gravity and my daughter is now terrified of space, but The Martian was a delicate story that I really loved - and the fact that I basically walked away from the movie and said to my kids "SEE what you can do if you are smart enough!" well, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is sure smart enough - I would go so far to say Brilliant! (and played so delightfully well by Matt Damon). I don't want to give anything away, but if you are looking for a movie for the whole family on a cold Fall night - this is a very, VERY good bet! It's rated PG-13 - I think the only bad thing is when Mark says something to the effect of I am going to ‘science the shit out of this’… but just a terrific movie, terrific message and your kids will walk away looking forward to being the smartest kid in the room!
There is a nice synopsis on the blog: Trouble with Film if you want to read a review on the movie or read the book The Martian by Andy Weir! At the very least you will love the music... if you like Disco that is...