James Gray's Ad Astra (Post-release)

What did you think of Ad Astra?

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Vivek

Master Member
Ad Astra (which means "to the stars” in Latin) is one of my anticipated film of 2019. Directed by James Gray (The Lost City of Z).

Synopsis: Twenty years after his father left on a one-way mission to Neptune in order to find signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence, Roy McBride, an Army Corps engineer travels through the solar system to find him and understand why his mission failed.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Jamie Kennedy.

Screenplay: James Gray and Ethan Gross.

In theaters January 11, 2019. (Maybe 20th Century Fox will end up giving it a limited run in December)


Here is what James Gray told Collider back in April 2017 when asked if Ad Astra will be his next project with Pitt.

(Interview video in the above linked article)

“Yes, yes, and yes. I’m terrified by it. The science-fiction genre is so tricky because there are elements of fantasy usually involved, and there are also fantastical elements. What I’m trying to do is the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie and to basically say, ‘Space is awfully hostile to us.’ It’s kind of a Heart of Darkness story about traveling to the outer edge of our solar system. I have a lot of hopes for it but it is certainly ambitious… It starts shooting July 17th, so not too far away. I’m filled with terror, but that’s fine (laughs).”

Cinematographer Darius Khondji (Se7en) worked with Gray on his last two movies (The Immigrant and The Lost City of Z), so I was thinking Khondji will be attached to this. But looks like cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Her, Interstellar, Spectre, Dunkirk) will be collaborating on this.

Set photos from October 2017

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New photo from the film.

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I'm getting a strong Interstellar vibe from the visuals. I would not be surprised if interdimensional time travel played a role in this film.
 
Really looking forward to this, it will hopefully join the ranks of my "grounded" space films list like Life, Gravity, Sunshine and Moon.
 
Critics Consensus
Ad Astra takes a visually thrilling journey through the vast reaches of space while charting an ambitious course for the heart of the bond between parent and child.

84%
TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 56
 
Ponderous. Drivel. So many silly glaring science errors...yea I know it’s a movie but come on. Hire a science advisor so you at least use the words right. Special effects were glaringly bad especially during the moon chase scenes. It tried to have the slow gravitas pace of 2001. No Kubrick to be found in this shambling mess. The payoff? Daddy issues resolved.
 
It was okay, maybe a 6/10, having watched it once I probably wouldn't watch it again.
Some science goofs that I tried to overlook.

There was one scene that surprised me, something that I hadn't seen in a sci-fi film that I won't spoil until the film has been out for at least a week.
 
I thought the movie was fantastic. The lunar scenes and the rover chase looked incredible. Loved all the hardware and ships, which looked like what NASA would have in the near future. The primate research station scene seemed out of place and unnecessary. I think it was included to add R rated gore. I’m not sure about the antimatter and surge part of the story. It was unclear what the cause of the surge was, or why after 16+ years Clifford McBride couldn’t stop it... or if he really wanted to. Sure some of the science was a stretch but it is a work of fiction after all. It did have some drawn out slow parts but overall the 2 hours kept me engaged the whole time.
 
JiminSTLouis said:
I thought the movie was fantastic. The lunar scenes and the rover chase looked incredible. Loved all the hardware and ships, which looked like what NASA would have in the near future. The primate research station scene seemed out of place and unnecessary. I think it was included to add R rated gore. I’m not sure about the antimatter and surge part of the story. It was unclear what the cause of the surge was, or why after 16+ years Clifford McBride couldn’t stop it... or if he really wanted to. Sure some of the science was a stretch but it is a work of fiction after all. It did have some drawn out slow parts but overall the 2 hours kept me engaged the whole time.
Click to expand...
A fair review.
I agree about the tech, it was a logical extrapolation of the current level of technology.
I loved orbital satellite scene with the fall.

The ape scene was surprising but clearly added to introduce some extra tension and jeopardy.
 
This film was essentially Apocalypse Now but in space with a dash of Interstellar's heart. Since both of those are two of my favorite movies I really liked this movie too. The primate scene is just one example of many in the film where they pretty much copy and pasted from a similar scene from Apocalypse Now. Even Roy's father is silhouetted like Kurtz during his first reveal.
 
Went in knowing nothing but the name of the movie and that Brad Pitt was in it.

2 minutes in I was convinced I was watching a Terrence Mallick flick.

Which is to say I was bored out of my mind... and I couldn’t quite buy the world they were trying to make me believe is real.

It was as ludicrous as Total Recall in parts, without the tongue in cheek.

They had to fly Brad Pitt to mars to record a message to his dad? Really?

We can go to Neptune, but we can’t transmit a message to mars? So they only know what’s happening there when someone travels 79 days to deliver the message in person?

The pilot of the ship to mars talked like a parody of an airline pilot?

The rover chase was just stupid.

I was so bored.

SHOCKED not to see “directed by Terrence Mallick in the end.

Oh man.

Wait... I like to say positive stuff about flicks and not rail on them...

Ummmmm...

I liked the free fall from the antenna... that was kinda cool.

I felt a kinship to Tommy Lee Jones wanting to kill himself near the end of the flick...
 
It would have made so much more sense if the reason he had to go to Neptune was because of the surge knocking out all the long range coms. Boom. Plot stupidly fixed.
 
I loved it. My wife hated it. For two hours, I felt like I had left this world and was experiencing something different...in space. He goes to space for space reasons and some random space stuff happens.

Go see Downton Abbey if you want engaging dialog. See AD Astra if you want to explore the solar system and grab a quesadilla burger on the moon Applebee's.
 
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