Hello from Earth, Moon, Mars, Neptune, Space.
Brad is all over the place.
The film starts with a great sequence for approx. 7 minutes, which is captivating and visually stunning. Unfortunately, then it gets to a slow-burn mode till the story develops a bit more and we get to see another visually impressive sequence past 30 minutes. It does get more interesting later on and together with the visual impact (a kind of dreamy action sequences) and the nicely written score you will want to sit this through the end.
Acting is good and for fans of Brad Pitt, this works perfect as he is in almost every scene.
Science...well i am not an expert here but the things portrayed in the film are not really tied to exact science. It is the future after all and humanity knows more, right? I would not read too much into that; it will help you enjoy the film more.
In contrast with some negative and maybe unrealistic reviews that I read here, if you like a mix of mild father-son drama together with sci-fi, this is a very nice film to watch.
8/10
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ThomDerd12 December 2019
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ilayabr25 September 2019Let me start off by saying that the movie's pacing is unusual (think of the pacing of Interstellar; constant progress), but unlike Interstellar, this movie's climax is not as strong- but that's not a bad thing.
The whole movie is about how Brad Pitt is calm on the outside, but inside he is a storm of feelings. This can be a metaphor for space itself- always quiet, but is very complex inside.
The end of the movie (without spoiling it) also works with that logic- there is no loud Inception horn, in fact, seemingly it's pretty relaxed, but you can still sense the tension and emotions going on.
Now that's what I call "show don't tell" -
costin200419 September 2019I went to see Ad Asta yesterday evening. After the superb images in Gravity or Interstellar, I was curious to see what 2019 brings. I wasn't disappointed, the movie is very well shot, the Space images are well made, deep sky, the Planets, the Moon, really nice.
However, I think the movie was ruined by its screenplay which lacks of coherence. The story is really weak and undeveloped. There are many fractures in the reality of space travelling,
You almost have the feeling that the screenplay was written to have a support for the images, nothing more.
So yeah, I give this movie a 6 and I'm sad to see how a possible epic movie is ruined by a weak screenplay. -
My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library.
Frankly I had no idea what to expect. The story starts with Brad Pitt as Roy McBride, working on an International Space Antenna, so tall the commercial planes fly far below and workers have to wear space suits because of the lack of oxygen. Think 8 to 10 miles high. When an unexplained surge causes serious problems, Roy has to jump off and parachute to safety.
Then the story turns to a suspicion that Roy's astronaut dad, Tommy Lee Jones as Cliff McBride, didn't die all those years ago but in fact is alive near Neptune and somehow is responsible for the dark matter surges that are harming Earth. And to make the mission even more dramatic, they fear if left unchecked it could destroy all life in the Solar system. So Roy's mission, which requires him to take a commercial flight to the Moon, then a secret flight to Mars, before heading to Neptune, would be to track down Cliff and bring him home, and in the process destroying the source of the rogue surges.
That is a pretty important and complex mission and suffice to say not everything goes as planned, Roy has to get very inventive. The space travel is a Macguffin of sorts, it isn't integral to the central idea which is the father-son relationship, but trying to find a long lost dad in the vastness of space is better than looking for him in the Amazon.
I see they used NASA as consultants of sorts, but they had to play fast and loose with the science here. Climbing onto a spacecraft while it is already in the process of a launch? Beyond far-fetched. Avoiding pirates on the moon, what? No personal flying drones yet? No orbiting drones to shoot down crooks? Getting to Neptune in a bit less than 3 months? Neptune is almost 3 billion miles away, it took Voyager 12 years with gravity assists from other planets. And a whole host of other things. But they needed to include some action.
So, if you evaluate a movie like this solely on believability of the science and the action then you will be disappointed. But if you judge it on the quality of the story and characters then it is nicely entertaining and asks serious questions about how we humans relate to each other and to our existence in general. -
Leofwine_draca18 October 2020A different kind of science fiction film, this one, one that moves at a glacial pace while telling the slow-moving story of an astronaut hunting for his estranged father, another astronaut who's missing and possibly become deranged. It's a beautifully shot movie that feels like it offers a more realistic depiction of space travel than most, and I enjoyed it much more than the overrated GRAVITY due to the assured performances. Brad Pitt is an actor who's really grown on me over the years and he's fine here, with solid support from old-timers Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland in small roles. There's little in the way of meat to the story and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY this isn't, but it's worth seeing for the cinematography alone.
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stevelovell19 September 2019Ad Astra had its moments but it was underwhelming and a bit light on hard science. The low/no gravity seemed to be poorly and inconsistently portrayed. It definitely seemed like it was trying to be more meaningful and worthy than I think it was. And it had typical tropes that seemed lazy and unnecessary. I enjoyed it enough and the sets, costumes and props were quite wonderful of course but it was ultimately quite forgettable and nonsensical.I'm sure it was trying to say something about the mental journey of the main character rather than his space-faring one, but I don't know what it was. Could also be called "A series of unfortunate space-related events".
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pejv2230 August 2019I have just seen movie at the Venice film festival. A few quick thoughts -great cinematography(Hoyte has done it again) and acting from Brad and Tommy -there are a couple of interesting scenes that I did not really expect in the middle of the movie -sound editing top notch
It is a movie more for the critics and lovers of cinema art , and less for general public wanting some space sci-fi epic. But everyone will find somethig to enjoy in this film and I reccomend to see it ! -
hugues-talbot20 December 2022In my opinion, the film is better than most reviewers give it credit for. Forget the spectacle and the poor science. The film is rather dystopian but perhaps more hopeful at the end. The entire space program is under the control of the military who rule it with an iron fist. In spite of insurmountable odds, the hero played by Brad Pitt wants to reconnect with his long-thought dead father, who is actually alive and has been marooned in orbit around Neptune for decade, in search of extra-terrestrial life.
The movie is about solitude, not special effect or anything else. It ponders the loneliness of the explorer, of the man with a mission, of the long travels, of the lack of love, of the sacrifices one makes to achieve one's goal, and ultimately the loneliness of the human species.
In spite of the various insults to science (some scenes were definitely not needed) I really enjoyed it. -
'Ad Astra' was a film I knew nothing about going in, and i'm glad I went in blind. It was visually gorgeous with nail biting set pieces, but the story hit me in just the right spot. It takes a good script for you to hear voice over in lieu of dialogue and not feel like you're being cheated, and this script was, in my mind, excellent. It's a vibe-y film that spends a lot of time in silence, and if you're like me you'll really appreciate the time it takes to develop the emotional and visual severity. On its surface it's a space epic, but in its heart it will speak to victims of depression, as well as anyone who's ever spent years feeling like they didn't belong. It takes a journey greater than most are wiling to take to find your deepest demons and confront them. Absolutely loved it.
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Hypnotic Wide-Eyed Appeal with Image Detail that is Trendy and Expected after Recent Big Successes with the Same Template.
It's a Melancholic Display of Space-Age Doldrums with an Underlying Mystery that means to be Edge-of-Your-Seat Suspense.
With the Whole Solar System at Risk of Disintegrating from an Energy Pulse.
Brad Pitt Delivers a Whispery "Mallick Like" Performance and is in Front of Your Eyes and In Your Ear for the Duration.
It's a Beautiful Film to Look At and Occasionally there are Scenes with Thrills and Spills.
But those Seeking an Action Sci-Fi, Need Go Elsewhere.
This is Cerebral Cinema for the Patient Viewer.
The Weakness is the Lackluster Ending and it all seems a Bit Hollow Considering the Plight of the Universe and the Astronauts Agonizing Journey to Hook Up with His Father.
Expect a Contemplative Movie with a Slow Drumbeat of Dread that can be Mesmerizing. -
devilwolfdog21 September 2019I generally like slow burn psychological dramas which this movie is supposed to be. Holy mother of God is this a bad movie. They try to get you emotionally involved in the father-son drama but have one preposterous plot line after another.
In order to get to Mars you have fly to the light side of the moon and then drive a car to the dark side of the moon where you are attacked by moon pirates. Moon pirates?
On the way to Mars, you stop to answer a distress call, kind of like stopping to help someone with a flat tire. Of course you easily enter the distressed ship from the outside. And when you enter you are attacked by a rabid Rafiki from Lion King.
Once on Mars, you are able to sneak into the rocket to Neptune even though you were standing on the ground under the rocket engines when the count down was at 10. And, for some reason, you had to swim underwater in a space suit quite a ways to get to the rocket.
When you get to Neptune, you park your rocket, and I mean park, on the opposite side of the rings so you have to go through the rings on the way down to loony pops and come back through the rings with a makeshift shield that you removed from the outside of the spacecraft with no tools while wearing a spacesuit.
To get back home from Neptune to Earth you are propelled the whole way by the nuclear bomb that you used to destroy loony pops' ship. The ship that was, by the way, somehow destroying the known universe.
The moral of all of this is that we may be alone in the universe so we should all love each other.
The End. -
lucatuostoartprint9 December 2020It's a beautiful movie. Unfortunately most of the audience didn't like it. if you love movies that want to tell something deep don't let it get away.
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armanov-7639014 September 2019I had fun watching it. The cast was amazing. Brad Pitt is obviously the highlight of the movie. Tommy Lee Jones was just classic Tommy Lee Jones.
The story is interesting, but some parts of it is kind of confusing and leave you with questions. And when I say questions, don't think that this is Interstellar or 2001 Space Odyssey level movie. It's not even close to those classics. The plot starts off by showing what the main character's mission is, what he is going to do, but then they end up doing something else instead. So huh? The opening scene was really interesting. I can see this movie having lots of fans. Some people will really love it, and some people ( like me) won't be really that impressed. Overall, I do recommend going and seeing it for yourselves to form your own opinions. -
saadimam-4312820 September 2019Let me begin by saying that I'm being generous with my rating of 2 stars. This movie was a disappointment on so many levels. The science was completely wrong. There were elements of the cinematography and overall visuals that deserve some credit. But apart from that, the movie left much to be desired.
As a fan of space movies and Brad Pitt, I went in expecting an epic, but left disappointed. On one hand there are movies like gravity that keep you on the edge of your seat literally gasping for breath. While this was a 2 hour closeup of Brad's face and had very little, if anything, to do with space.
Here's what was wrong with the movie.- Firstly, the movie fails to show the vastness of space with skewed distances and timelines.
- Secondly, space, a place that requires calculations and accuracy down to the millimeter. But we see Brad eyeballing his jump thru rocks and debris orbiting neptune, while holding a piece of sheet metal as a shield, yet perfectly nailing his jump and landing on his rocket.
- Sneaking into a rocket from a magical airlock near the thrusters after lift-off ? Erm.... NO!
- Discharging a firearm in a pressurised confined space travelling through deep space, hmm... what could go wrong?
- Using a nuclear explosion as propulsion? Science and logic both took a major hit there.
I could rant on......
Somewhere between the unexplained lunar pirates and unnecessary killer baboons, the storyline just fell flat. Even an actor as amazing as Brad Pitt could not save the movie. It is nothing more than a drama about daddy issues, the setting for which just happened to be space. The backdrop could easily have been an old people's home and it wouldn't have mattered.
The people who have rated this film highly are wannabe intellectuals who are pretending to understand a "deeper psychological meaning" that just isn't there. Don't waste your time or money on this one. -
bob the moo16 August 2020Perhaps if it had committed to one of its stools to sit on, Ad Astra would have been a much better film than it was. Of course a big budget sci-fi with great effects, big names, and plenty of talent was unlikely to be a 'bad' film, but in this case it seems not to be totally sure what sort of film it is trying to be, and in trying to do multiple things, it fails to merge them into a working whole.
The story is of a son sent on a mission to intervene with the actions of his father, who was once assumed dead deep in space, but now is believed to just have lost his mind and is now threatening the viability of Earth. Broadly speaking it is very much Hearts of Darkness or Apocalypse Now in its episodic journey up-river to the core. It wears this literary history quite heavily, and it really leans into the meditative elements, with lots of silence, thoughtful stares, etc. While this gives it a very serious tone, it doesn't have the depth or reflection in content to support beyond this point, leaving it feeling a little superficial. This feeling isn't helped by the clash with the OTT sequences of 'action'. Mostly they are not particularly thrilling, even though they are well delivered and look good. Too many are daft though - and it is the serious tone that makes them feel that way, because I was more than happy with the same sort of stuff in The Martian - mainly because that film didn't try to convince me it was the most serious artistic and thoughtful film of the decade.
Pitt is strong in it, and his performance is precisely what the film calls for. Shame that he is part of the problem in terms of the tone, but it is not really his fault because nothing else in the film suggests there were efforts to bridge the gap or make it work better. Likewise the supporting cast, and talents in the crew all do a lot to make the film better, but the fundamental issue can't be addressed because it is the core of the film and nobody is working against it, so to say.
In the end it is a mixed bag. There is plenty to like about it, but it doesn't gel as an effective whole - not serious enough for its sombre tone, or fun enough to sell its moments of action. -
alexpn6625 September 2019This isn't the action-packed space sci-fi flick you may be hoping for. It's much more than that. Ad Astra is about humanity and our relationship with our fellow man. Pitt's performance is striking, the cinematography is breathtaking, the story is beautiful.
It may not be for everyone. It's not the epic that Interstellar is, but it is superb on its own merits. Please see this movie without the lukewarm reviews acting as a heavy predisposition on your mind. -
chera_khalid9 September 2023"Ad Astra" is a visually stunning sci-fi film that explores themes of isolation and the human condition. Its strength lies in Brad Pitt's captivating performance, as he portrays the internal struggles of his character with depth and vulnerability. The cinematography beautifully captures the vastness of space and creates a sense of awe. The music complements the film's introspective tone, adding to the emotional impact. However, one weakness of the movie is its slow pacing, which may test the patience of some viewers. Additionally, the plot can feel convoluted at times, making it challenging to fully connect with the story. Overall, "Ad Astra" offers a visually stunning and introspective experience, but its pacing and narrative complexity may not appeal to everyone.
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From the start, Ad Astra had some post production issues, which resulted in seriously delaying the release of the film. It was delayed many times because James Gray (The Lost City of Z) wanted to perfect the VFX for the movie. Additionally, Disney acquired Fox and the previous release date coincided with Disney's Aladdin, so they had to move it one more time. Here it is, after premiering at Venice Film Festival last month, the general public can finally take a look at what seems to be the biggest space epic since Interstellar. But nothing is what it seems in space..
The film opens with astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) working on a space station, still attached to the earth's surface. When some sort of space flare shuts down electrical equipment, he gets blasted down back to the ground in a very spectacular opening scene, which literally takes your breath away. Soon after, we find out, this event - now named "The Surge" - has caused massive power outages on the entire planet, causing the deaths of thousands. When McBride gets called into a super confidential meeting, his superiors confront him with classified material that belonged to his father (Tommy Lee Jones), who was once sent on a mission into outer space to look for signs of extraterrestrial life. Surprised he's still alive, and most likely knows more about the cause of The Surge, McBride takes on the mission to go look for his missing father on the other side of our solar system.
Visually, Ad Astra is truly spectacular (thanks to Hoyte Van Hoytema's cinematography and the VFX-team). The vibrant colour palette of several celestial bodies and some genuinely inventive tracking shots, made me stare at the screen like I was in some sort of trance. Most of the space scenes are silent - since "no one can hear you scream in space" - accompanied by Max Richter's mellifluous score. The world building is also one of the more interesting aspects, which made me interested in seeing more of the "near future" as presented in Gray's mind. Applebee's on the moon? The story takes us to different places and has the ability to suck us in, but never quite manages to do so.
That's where the story comes into place. Narratively, the synopsis sounds like a wild adventure beyond the Earth's atmosphere, but don't be fooled by all of that, this is a drama. McBride clearly got over the supposed death of his father, by becoming one of the best astronauts, hereby disregarding his wife (Liv Tyler fans - like myself - will be disappointed). Discovering his father wasn't dead after all, daddy issues arise and this is basically what the entire film is all about. We hear Pitt narrating his character's thoughts, sounding philosophical in a sometimes too comically serious way.
The rest of the cast just comes and goes. Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games) and Ruth Negga (Loving) have barely any screen time, and that's a total shame, because their characters are genuinely interesting. Besides them, we get some extras who's sole purpose is to pump up the bodycount. Pitt leading this entire film, does a decent job, but having seen him bring his A-game just recently in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, his McBride is clearly going to pass by this awards season, without a whimper.
Ad Astra could've been another modern space classic, such as Gravity or Interstellar, but clearly has an identity crisis. Visually striking and sonically mesmerising, yet narratively tone deaf. Next time, reach for the stars, but don't crash into the first asteroid passing by, James Gray. -
danielowen1721 January 2021I watched this at the end of a hectic work week, and it was a relaxing thing to watch. I appreciated the slow pace and sunk into it.
Cool cinematics too, great scenery etc
I know people are moaning about science anomalies but I didn't care 1 jot. Not really the point of the film.
I do get peoples point of the Donald sutherland character, not sure what he was about/point of him etc
But overall a lot better than the formulaic screech, bang, shoot, kill type films out there these days...
But I'm glad I gave it a go -
song-arizona4 October 2019This is obviously not a hardcore sci-fi but falls into the genre of space opera, which was first developed in the 40s. Its aim isn't to creat a story based on solid science, plus all the so called illogical plots are explained in the movie already.
Moving on to what this movie really is about, it's not, in my opinion, about "how we take things for granted", or the father son love cliché. It's an attempt to answer how we deal with the feeling of hollowness and emptiness in our daily life, how to find meaning in the often seems to be meaningless universe. Pitt, like his dad, wasn't a man of too many feelings. He wouldn't seek remedy for his failing marriage, couldn't have sympathy for his dead colleagues, didn't even have bad dreams. The reason he could stay so calm under all circumstances to a degree of heartless is that he doesn't have an anchor in his life or couldn't find a thing to live for- due to his father's abandonment. His father's chose to seek solution in outer space in the firm belief that there are intelligent beings out there and he simply couldn't accept the fact that their mission had failed. Roy went on a different path though.
To my disappointment, it seems like the movie is trying to talk about something deeper and more philosophical like existentialism or nihilism but somehow didn't managed to execute well. Apart from it, it's a depressingly beautiful movie with great cinematography, music, special effect and all others. -
robbieholley7 June 2021Don't know why this is getting 1/10 reviews, sure the plot could've been thought out a bit more but it was still a good story with awesome special effects.
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evanston_dad15 October 2019"Ad Astra" starts out well, but it deteriorates as it goes along, and absolutely nothing about the last half hour or so of the movie works at all.
The narrative doesn't work, the acting doesn't work, the science doesn't work. Brad Pitt isn't a terrible actor, but he's limited, and he's certainly not good enough to carry off a movie like this, despite the fact that there is near-constant voice over just telling us what his character is thinking. The film I guess looks nice, but there's nothing in this you haven't already seen in films like "Gravity" or "First Man." There's a droning, monotonous tone to the whole thing that makes it feel very long.
And that ending. Ooof. The whole movie builds up to a confrontation between Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, playing his long-lost dad, but both actors play the scene like next-door neighbors who run into each other in the alley and discuss whether or not they should go get some pizza. There's some psycho-babble about whether or not Pitt should let his dad go, figuratively and literally, before the film's most preposterous plot device that involves a nuclear explosion propelling Pitt's spaceship all the way from Neptune back to Earth. Or at least, I think that's what happened.
I'll give this film some points for trying to be a movie for adults, a rare find these days, but I'd like some movies that are both for adults AND good.
And what the heck was with the killer monkeys? I kept waiting for that scene to plug into the bigger picture of what was going on but it never did.
Grade: C. -
cardsrock25 September 2019I love seeing different ways in which new space films can expand the genre. Ad Astra takes the unique approach of mostly avoiding thrills in favor of a deep dive into the protagonist's psyche. While some may argue about Gray's approach, I believe the film's resolution more than justifies this tactic. Brad Pitt gives a tremendous, understated performance in which you really feel the emotions his character experiences. The cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema is truly stunning and produced several shots which will likely live on in space film history. A beautiful score and story round out this brilliant, introspective space character study.
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tigerfish5020 September 2019The opening passage of 'Ad Astra' depicts explosions and mass casualties on Earth caused by power surges emanating from Neptune. A mission to the distant planet had gone missing a couple of decades earlier - and the authorities suspect its commander, a legendary space veteran called McBride, may be still alive and responsible. Another Neptune mission is hastily organized to prevent further mayhem - and McBride's astronaut son is drafted as a crew member.
Junior is dispatched from Earth to Moon, and onward to a remote launch pad on Mars before setting off for Neptune. On the way he endures various trials and tribulations - some of them rather surreal. The narrative arc has echoes of Bowman's quest in '2001' and Willard's river voyage to confront Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now', but it lacks the conviction of these earlier films. Despite several dramatic episodes, Junior's odyssey feels emotionally flat as he trudges on toward his goal, periodically clarifying his mental state in voice-over monologues about his fatherless youth.
As the story arrives at the final act, the screenwriters appear to have exhausted their creative repertoire, and are clueless how to wrap it up. They fabricate some juvenile space-suited antics, similar to those which sabotaged Sandra Bullock's adventures in 'Gravity'. 'Ad Astra' has been marketed and reviewed as if it were highbrow Sci-Fi with a Freudian subtext, and the proceedings make little sense unless McBride's entire journey is a redemptive fantasy following the film's opening sequence. -
duffers183118 September 2019Movie rant. Sorry!
Ad Astra. Who is saying this film is good? Are you kidding me it rates on my top ten worst films of all time list.
Spoilers ahead, don't read if you're planning to see this god awful film.
Things wrong with this film.
Brad Pitt was pegged as some super dude, doesn't panic, heart rate doesn't go above 80 robot until he thinks about his dad. Then he becomes an emotional wreck.
On the way to Mars they have to stop and nip on board a space craft that's been taken over by angry space monkeys. The only reason this was here was to kill off the captain so that brad Pitt could land the space ship when things got bumpy (because the second in command was to scared to touch the controls?)
Throughout the entire film there was no feeling of the vastness of space. In fact it made it feel like Jupiter and Neptune were just down the road.
Moon pirates, what were they about? What was their goal when attacking them. Some suggestion of hostage taking which is weird cause it seemed like they were trying to kill them all?
You won't get to Neptune without me? Erm I'm pretty sure they would have and accomplished exactly the same goal. Guess you didn't need to kill them all after all brad? But it's ok because when you get back to Earth all will be forgiven, forgotten, well one of them.
The heroic leap from one space ship to another using a panel to deflect all of Neptune's ring rocks. Erm not sure that would work. Hold it gets better. I'm going to use the nuclear explosion to propel me home. Erm....... no.
Tommy Lee Jones after spending god knows how many years on the space ship trying to achieve his goal of finding aliens going so far as to kill his crew so that he could carry on. Just leaves without any fuss. Oh no changed my mind I'd prefer it if I just floated off into space. Ok dad see you later.
The upshot is this feels like one of those films that's a really slow build up with a massive twist at the end. However there's no massive twist. Nothing is really explained and all of it is really unnecessary. It just ends.
I developed no emotional attachment to any of the characters. The story arc is stupid, the acts the lead character accomplish are unbelievable and his part in the story was unimportant. (They would have gone anyway, found the ship, blown it up and the unexplained thing that was going to kill us all would have been stopped)
It is beyond me how it's rated so high and if anyone can explain what I missed or how this is actually a good film I'm willing to hear it.