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 15 wins & 66 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

Brad Pitt in Ad Astra is the 8th cast member from the Ocean's Eleven series to appear in an outer space movie; Don Cheadle in Mission to Mars (2000), George Clooney in Solaris (2002) and with Sandra Bullock in Gravity (2013), Andy Garcia in Passengers (2016), Matt Damon in The Martian (2015) and with Anne Hathaway and Casey Affleck in Interstellar (2014) .

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Goofs

When Roy is watching the Lima Mutiny Classified Briefing the timer on the screen starts counting up from zero, implying that it is timing the recording. After the introduction, the timer again starts at zero as Roy's father gives an apparently uninterrupted and unedited speech. However, subsequent times shown on screen do not match up with the actual time passed, in fact, jump back and forth significantly.

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Quotes

Roy McBride: The zero G and the extended duration of the journey is affecting me both physically and mentally. I am alone. Something I always believed I preferred. I am alone. But I confess it's wearing on me. I am alone. I am alone.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Chance the Rapper (2019)

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Soundtracks

Why Baby Why
Written by George Jones and Darrell Edwards
Performed by Red Sovine, Webb Pierce
Courtesy of MCA Nashville
Under licensing 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