Ad Astra (2019)

Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

Director:

James Gray

Writers:

James Gray, Ethan Gross

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 62 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Roy McBride
Tommy Lee Jones	...	H. Clifford McBride
Ruth Negga	...	Helen Lantos
Donald Sutherland	...	Thomas Pruitt
Kimberly Elise	...	Lorraine Deavers
Loren Dean	...	Donald Stanford
Donnie Keshawarz	...	Captain Lawrence Tanner
Sean Blakemore	...	Willie Levant
Bobby Nish	...	Franklin Yoshida
LisaGay Hamilton	...	Adjutant General Vogel
John Finn	...	Brigadier General Stroud
John Ortiz	...	Lieutenant General Rivas
Freda Foh Shen	...	Captain Lu
Kayla Adams	...	Female Flight Attendant
Ravi Kapoor	...	Arjun Dhariwal

Storyline

Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

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Plot Keywords:

astronaut | outer space | father son relationship | moon | missing father | 

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Taglines:

The Answers We Seek Are Just Outside Our Reach

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and bloody images, and for brief strong languag

Did You Know?

Trivia

In traveling from Mars to Neptune, the planets Jupiter and Saturn are mentioned, but no one ever mentions Uranus. However, since the planets are rarely lined up with respect to the Sun, they would not necessarily pass it, in particular, if these planets were on opposite sides of the Sun. Moreover, without preparation or a coincidence, it would be fairly unusual to pass Jupiter and Saturn on the way to Neptune.

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Goofs

Neptune's rings are black, not purple.

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Quotes

Roy McBride: [Arriving at the moon base] All the hopes we ever had for space travel... covered up by drink stands and t-shirt vendors. Just a recreation of what we're running from on Earth. We are world-eaters. If my dad could see this now... he'd tear it all down.

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Crazy Credits

There is no fanfare during the 20th Century Fox logo.

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Connections

Features Orchestra Wives (1942)

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Soundtracks

Tuesday
(Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works / The Waves)
Written by Max Richter
Performed by Max Richter, Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, Robert Ziegler, Mari Samuelsen, Hila Karni, Grace Davidson, Gillian Anderson
Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Disappointment in space

Sci-Fi is not my favourite genre in film, or overall in general life actually, by all means, but that is not to say that it does nothing for me. Actually appreciate it a lot, and a few of my favourite films, and milestones in films, are sci-fi. When Brad Pitt is good and has good material he is great and 'Ad Astra' did look really interesting from the trailer which made it look like a visually stunning and thought provoking film.

'Ad Astra' left me very mixed. Do not think it is as bad as has been said here, not to the extent of vehement hatred anyhow and in my mind there are far worse films out there. Also do not think that 'Ad Astra' is as good as the critical acclaim, or at least largely positive critical reception, it hs garnered. Am talking about my experience of how the film was received just in case anybody is wondering, loved/liked by critics thus far but very mixed on both extremes of love and hate when it comes to the audience reaction.

Beginning with the good things with 'Ad Astra', it boasts both dazzling photography and visual effects, as well as striking set design. One of the best-looking films of the year. The music is great music on its own and didn't ever feel any reservations about how it was placed, "Heaven Can Wait" is made quite powerful use of.

Pitt gives a commanding and dignified lead performance, one of his better ones in recent years in a type of role he's perfect for. All the acting is good even, with the other standout being Tommy Lee Jones.

However, the story never completely grabbed me, what aimed to be thrilling or thrill-packed were anything but to me, and never found myself connecting with it emotionally. Most of the time, especially in the final act that too much of it was ridiculous and didn't make sense was a turn off. The script had some intelligent thoughtful moments but also too many perplexing and awkward in flow ones.

The pace was often dull to the point of monotony, apparent from the start and never really gained momentum, but the film suffered too from having too many ideas and doing little with most. Others have mentioned the non-existent science so will leave it to them. The ending was a head-scratcher when it came to sense.

Concluding, watchable and somewhat intriguing but wanted to like it so much more. 5/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

China USA Brazil

Language:

English Norwegian

Release Date:

20 September 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ad Astra

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,001,398, 22 September 2019

Gross USA:

$50,188,370

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$127,461,872

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Regency Productions, Bona Film Group, CAA Media Finance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Atmos DTS (DTS: X) IMAX 6-Track Auro 11.1 Datasat 12-Track Digital Sound (IMAX version) Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1