If you'd like to be surprised by the Ad Astra film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:52 (or skip to 1:59), because that part gives away some spoilers.
Ad Astra, movie (2019) - Watch the trailer on YouTube
video © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
The Ad Astra (2019) is a sci-fi adventure film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Original title: Ad Astra
Series: -
Setting: future Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: sci-fi adventure, Style: sci-fi, space travel, action, adventure
Release: Premiere: 2019.08.29 (Venice Film Festival), Release: 2019.09.18
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2019.12), first time
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Ad Astra, a sci-fi adventure movie from 2019. It's about a team of astronauts sent to the outer planets to solve a threat to the Earth. The Ad Astra film has some interesting parts, but I only recommend it to dedicated fans of sci-fi.
Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
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Review (spoiler-free) - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
By the time I've sat down to watch this movie, it was all over the media channels. It sounded interesting, Brad Pitt is a good actor, so I though to give it a try. I can't remember if I've watched the trailer, but I probably did, as it was hard to avoid.
The Ad Astra movie is about a team of astronauts sent to the outer planets to solve a threat to the Earth.
The basic concept was interesting, but the actual execution of the story was weak. The pacing and mood is consistent. You might say there's even a character arc, although I didn't feel it has been missing the foundation for the change. There are plenty of logical problems. Ad Astra felt like the creators wanted to avoid telling the story. They just threw things at the characters to spend screen time with.
I don't mind slow movies, but this was unengaging and boring. We get an unlikeable character, and things happen around him, but they don't make sense, and don't seem to involve him. When he finally does things by himself, he is just doing what he is being told.
The cinematography is good. There are many sets that look interesting visually (even if they don't really make sense in the plot).
The characters outside of the protagonist, are not well developed, and they are not very engaging either. The actors are okay for these roles.
The music (by Max Richter) is okay.
Ad Astra is an watchable sci-fi adventure, that I think only those fans of the genre will enjoy, who can disregard the logical and scientific problems.
My experience
I wasn't satisfied with Ad Astra (2019). I prefer good stories with well-thought, logical plots, and Ad Astra couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). Ad Astra looks good, but it's full of logical problems.
Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Ad Astra is boring and irritating.
Rewatchability: High. I think if you liked it for the first time, you liked it for the looks and action scenes, so you'll enjoy those again in multiple viewings.
Chance of watching it again: Unlikely.
Chance of watching a sequel: Maybe, if it gets enough good recommendations.
Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
Will you enjoy this?
If you like space travel movies (2010, Interstellar), you might like Ad Astra.
If you like films about astronauts (Gravity), you might be interested in this.
If you like sci-fi action movies (Aliens), you might like the film, although there are not many action scenes in the Ad Astra movie.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you prefer visuals over story, you'll get plenty of nice scenes in Ad Astra.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in near future space travel stories, I think it's worth watching the Ad Astra movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals definitely look better if you watch it in cinema.
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Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
Review with spoilers - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Although it looked nice, and it had some interesting scenes, I didn't really like the Ad Astra movie.
The beginning looks like a fan-service to the fans of the Moon-lander missions, but I feel it’s outdated now.
A lot of people (almost everyone?) seems to be religious, and I found that strange, I'm not sure it's intentional.
The director said in an interview with Digital Spy that the movie's message is that there are no aliens out there, humanity is alone. If this was the intention, maybe he should have find a way to tell it to the audience. The only time this is mentioned is when Clifford tells Roy that during his 16 years, he didn't find intelligent life in nearby solar systems. That doesn't mean there is no life anywhere in the universe, it means strictly that Clifford did not find anything in nearby systems. Another scientist might have found it. If he spent another year, he might have found it.
He expands on this topic in this video.
In the interview, the writer calls the aliens 'false Gods', so the previous two paragraphs might be related.
The meaning of this film is intended to be "there are no aliens out there, so the human connections are what is really important", but the "show, don't tell" aspect of this is missing. Also, I don't think that currently it's such a problem that people are alienated from each other because they spend so much time exploring space, looking for aliens.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is good. It has a small spoiler, but it sets the mood for the movie.
Promise of the first scene
We see a man in space. Then the man reports to someone. Intercut to this we see the man with a woman in their home. Then he ends the report, and he is permitted to start working. I assume that the creators want to stuff too much information in their film that they can't even make a proper beginning, and that the movie might be a mess due to this. Also, I have no clue where will this lead. He'll probably be part of a space mission.
Execution: Surprisingly, the rest of the movie is more consistent. And yes, he was part of a space mission. I'm not entirely satisfied with the fulfilment of the promise though.
Plot summary / Synopsis
There's an astronaut (Brad Pitt as Roy McBride), who is sent to repair a malfunction on a space elevator, caused by a radiation surge. Due to an explosion he falls off, but he is able to parachute to the Earth.
In a meeting, we are told that the astronaut is able to remain calm even in a crisis. It is revealed to the astronaut that the surges come from the Neptune. There was one mission to the Neptune 29 years ago, but it was lost 16 years ago. The spaceship (Lima) was lead by the father of the astronaut. They think the surges are caused by the anti-matter engine of the old spaceship. If the surges continue, they might destroy all life on Earth. They also think that his father might still be alive. He is sent to the Moon, then to Mars, so he could send a message to his father.
He goes to the Moon, where they take a car to reach their spaceport. They are attacked by bandits, who kill his companion, who tell him before dying that the astronaut must destroy the old spaceship, if he can't contact his father.
He boards the spaceship (Cepheus). On their way to Mars, they get a distress signal from a space station, and they investigate it to find monkeys attacking them, killing the captain of the spaceship. The astronaut takes the command, because the pilot gets stressed.
On Mars, they record the message, and they get an answer. They intend to send a team to the old spaceship, but they refuse to let the astronaut to accompany them, due to his personal connection. It is revealed that there was a mutiny on the old spaceship, as they wanted to return to Earth, and his father was forced to kill the rest of the crew. The current mission of the team is to blow up the old spaceship. An officer wants to give the astronaut a chance to talk to his father personally, in order to solve things peacefully, so she let's the astronaut reach the spaceship. The crew of the spaceship tries to stop him, leading to their deaths.
The astronaut makes a 79 day journey. He contemplates on his life during this. He reaches the old spaceship, he attaches the bomb to it, then talks to his father (Tommy Lee Jones as H. Clifford McBride). The astronaut takes the research data, although in the past 16 years, he didn't find any signs of intelligent life out there. The astronaut activates the bomb to destroy the malfunctioning anti-matter engine. During their trip to the spaceship of the astronaut, the father jumps into space. The astronaut uses the explosion to propel his spaceship.
When the astronaut gets back to Earth, he tries to reconnect with his loved ones.
The setting
Ad Astra is set in the future of Earth, year
They are able to build spaceships that can bring humans to the outer planets. Neptune is the farthest they have gone.
Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one. The intended message is "humanity is out there alone, there are no aliens", but I didn't get this from watching the Ad Astra film.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Ad Astra film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. There are multiple flashbacks, and there are flashback scenes intercut into other scenes.
The astronaut is the single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I think I haven't seen any other works of the writer (Ethan Gross) or the writer / director (James Gray).
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Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
Analysis of the story - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
The film is promoted as being the "most realistic space travel movie", but that is very far from the truth. The creators don't really understand how space travel and space physics work, nor do they understand the regulations of space travel.
All of those unrealistic details make the movie less relatable, and hurts the brains of those who have some slight knowledge of the above.
Problematic elements
Mission to Mars: The mission is to go to Mars to record a message. It makes it look like the creators of the film really think that you cannot create a record of your voice, then send it to Mars through radio or shipping the physical record by an automated probe. Or, for the matter, create a record from the digital voice prints of Roy, without involving him.
Neptune: The mission of the Lima was to go outside the heliosphere to explore exoplanets. Why did it stop at Neptune? It looks like it was intentional, but I couldn't fathom the reason.
Antimatter: Their main problem in the story is that the Lima shoots antimatter blasts directed at the Earth. This causes electromagnetic pulses (or something like that) that take out electric devices.
How it does such an effect is left unexplained. Antimatter, when reaches Earth could cause blasts of energy, but it wouldn't reach the surface, if it's sent in small amounts, and if it's a large amount, and reaches the surface, it will fry everything, not just electric devices.
If it's a kind of electromagnetic pulse, it wouldn't cause problems on Mars, because it doesn't have an electromagnetic field. Also, I'm almost sure creating EMP shielding on important electronics would be more efficient than organising a flight to Neptune to switch off the source of the EMP.
Either way, the source is the Neptune, antimatter is probably not shot at the Earth at the speed of light, so a telescope might detect it before it reaches Earth, so they could just switch off the unshielded electronic devices. That way the surge wouldn't cause that much harm.
Wasting fuel: Leaving Earth to go to the Moon, and then leave the Moon to go to Mars is just a waste of rocket fuel. They could have just gone to Mars straight from the Earth. Even though the gravitation of Moon is low compared to Mars, I don't think it's worth spending the fuel, just to get some extra miles by the orbit of the Moon. (Although I might be wrong here.)
Careless command: Sending through dangerous territory on the Moon without air cover or armour.
Travel time: They are going from Tycho (a place on the visible side of the Moon) to somewhere on the far side of the Moon, in a ground car. It would take a lot of time to travel that far, possibly days. That's why we use planes on Earth to cover large distances.
Discarding: Using rockets that discard parts is not very efficient. It's okay to detach a booster rocket for a one-way flight, but they use these ships to travel between planets.
Stop and start: Stopping an interplanetary flight after reaching the velocity. Then they just resume the flight, even though they already got rid of the booster rocket.
They might have been waiting for another rocket to refuel them, but then it's not indicated in the story.
Also, later it's revealed that there's a shuttle on the spaceship. They could have used that to send the boarding party.
Derelict: When they find a derelict, Roy, the most important person on a quest takes part of a possibly dangerous rescue mission.
Space monkey: Depressurising causes the space monkey to explode. This is a typical trope of bad sci-fi stories that is repeated here.
The captain: After the captain is exposed to potential biological hazards, he is taken back to the ship, without taking any extra precautions not to infect the other members. Then they just dump the body instead of hauling it back, although it looks like they have plenty of space and fuel for that.
Landing: When they land the rocket, they manage to land it on its bottom. I'm not entirely sure if that can be done, and even if it was possible, the problems with the landing would certainly cause the rocket to deviate from the original landing zone.
Anechoic chamber: In one scene they were in a room with strange walls, that had decoration that took a lot of space. I've found it strange that they would use walls that take up that much space, unless it does something important. I admit though, that it looked cool, so I gave it a pass. Some times later I've found out that the decoration on the wall is a way to create an anechoic chamber - a place that absorbs every sound. I still don't understand its purpose, why was it used in that scene.
Boarding: When he boards the rocket, and they try to stop him, the three astronauts conveniently kill themselves, so he doesn't need to attack them to seize the spacecraft. However, what kills the three astronauts is not clear to me - some kind of poisonous gas cannister that gets shot during the brawl? Either way, it's some quick acting nerve gas that kills everyone in a minute or so. One would question why do they have cannisters of nerve gas hanging on their walls.
Cheap glass: One of the astronauts falls on the glass of the airlock, and it cracks. Now, if it is that weak, I'm not sure it's a great airlock.
Long range mission: Also, when he boards the rocket, he essentially prevents the mission to be successful. When they prepare a long range mission, air, food and fuel is rationed. If the rocket was prepared for three people, it will have just enough for them. If a fourth person gets on board, it means they will run out of air and fuel, even if they start a low-energy diet.
The ring of Neptune: It’s treated as if it is a dense and fast moving meteor shower. If that was true, then the spaceship door he took as a shield couldn't help him anyway.
Return to Earth: The end shows Roy magically able to return to Earth without return fuel. He supposedly uses the nuclear blast, but one tiny blast won't be able to sling him back to Earth, even if the rocket wouldn't fall apart.
Using the radio: When using the radio, the characters end their communication with 'over and out', then they switch off the radio. Over means 'I give the channel over to you, you can speak now'. Switching off the radio might be funny for the first time, but after a while people will start hating Roy for this habit.
Also, as there is a considerable lag in interplanetary radio communication, using 'over' might be unnecessary. Switching off the radio for the duration of the flight is also unnecessary and egoistic.
The narrative: The framing narrative seems to show that in the end Roy turned to the polar opposite of what he was. However, I feel that the background for this change was missing. If anything, he should have become worse for spending several months or even years all alone on the space rocket.
No aliens: The message of the movie is supposed to be that there are no aliens out there. The fact that the Neptune mission didn't find signs of alien life during its 16 year mission only means exactly that - with the equipment they had, from their location, they couldn't find any signs that they would consider signal for intelligent life. It doesn't mean that there are no aliens, it could mean we have limited technology to sense them.
Unanswered questions
- Why did they build the power surge generator on the Lima? Clifford tries to tell it was an accident, but sending anti-matter waves directly to the Earth from Neptune is unlikely to be an accident. On the contrary, it's pretty hard to maintain target through all those planetary movements, unless they are devoted to bombard Earth.
- Why did the father just give up and commit suicide?
- Why didn't Roy just switched off the power surge generator, instead of blowing up the whole ship?
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Possibilities of improvement
- Cut the scenes between Earth and Mars. Start from Earth, use the scenes of the Cepheus's take-off from the Moon, and the next scene should be the arrival on Mars.
- Cut the underground lake swimming, it's just stupid. The commander takes him to the rocket, and he climbs in.
- As the cited message of the film is "there are no aliens, connecting with humans is what's important", there should be scenes that show this message. Show that those people who are out exploring get rid their loved ones, and they could find peace only through re-embracing them. Show us that there are no aliens, don't just tell it. Show us, that connecting gets people somewhere. Because during the film, everyone that Roy gets close to, dies or get in a worse situation than they were before meeting him. This is not a promising way to show us human connections.
- Also, I have no idea how to show the 'there are no aliens' part, unless we are in a very far future, and have probes all around the galaxy, so we can definitely say we are alone. That is why I'd probably left that angle out of the movie.
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Ad Astra, movie (2019)
image © Regency Entertainment / Monarchy Enterprises
Uses for the film - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Plot
- There's a danger outside in space that's threatening the Earth. A team is sent to deal with it.
Scenes
- There are many good scenes that could be used to show near future space flights.
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Raid: There's a convoy going through dangerous terrain. Raiders try to get their vehicles and supplies. The raider player sets up the playing area, with a clear path leading from the entry edge to the opposite edge. The convoy wins if more than half of their units leave the playing area. The raider wins if they get more than half of the units of the convoy.
Derelict: The rescue party receives a distress signal from a base. The defender player sets up the playing area, with multiple closed areas, and at least one entry point. The defender than chooses what kind of obstacles will be used - rogue robots, killer creatures, people infected with rage virus - and put tokens in every area, indicating either empty spaces, obstacles or survivors. The rescue party then deploys their units outside of the entry point. The rescue party has to open and spend a turn in every area in order to inspect it. If they find any survivors, they have to get them to safety through the entry point. The rescue party wins if they inspect every area, and at least half of the survivors are saves, while more than half of their units survive. The defender wins if more than half of the rescue party is killed.
Derelict in space: The Derelict mission, but they are in spaceships. Firearms might damage the outer hull of the area. Area damage might permanently destroy the whole area, as it's blown into space. Also, lack of gravity might make it easier to make long moves.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Astronauts: Human-sized humanoids in space suit.
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Similar stories - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Movies
Gravity (2013): In a near future setting, an astronaut tries to return to the Earth, while constantly running into obstacles. Gravity is similar to Ad Astra, but probably less interesting.
Sunshine (2007): In a near future setting, a team is sent to a dangerous place (to get near the Sun) on a mission (to reignite the Sun) to save the Earth, while constantly running into obstacles. Sunshine is probably better or at least similar to Ad Astra.
The Core (2003): In a near future setting, a team is sent to a dangerous place (into the core of the Earth) on a mission (to restart the core) to save the Earth, while constantly running into obstacles. The Core is probably worse than Ad Astra.
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Frequently asked questions - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Is the Ad Astra film based on a book or comics?
No, Ad Astra is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Ad Astra film a remake or reboot?
No, the Ad Astra film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Ad Astra? Does Ad Astra have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Ad Astra.
Where can I see Ad Astra? Where can I watch Ad Astra online? Is Ad Astra available on Netflix? Is Ad Astra on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.09, Ad Astra is on Apple TV, Google Play, Netflix.
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Resources - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
Official
20th Century Studios: Ad Astra: Official article.
Information
IMDB: Ad Astra (2019): Database article.
WikiPedia: Ad Astra (film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Ad Astra 2019: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Ad Astra 2019: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Digital Spy:
https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a29101344/ad-astra-ending-explained-meaning-james-gray/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdcYW2iHKm0
James Gray (for SxDementia): The Science of Ad Astra - Alone in the Universe for a Loner: Video about the writer of the Ad Astra movie.
Reviews with no spoilers - Ad Astra film (2019)
: Review video about the Ad Astra film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Ad Astra film (2019)
: Review article of the Ad Astra movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Ad Astra movie (2019)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Ad Astra.¤
Science vs Cinema: AD ASTRA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpDoEWEOALQ
https://www.facebook.com/OCinemaD/posts/1670707446393971
Obsessive Cinema Disorder 電影強迫症: Ad Astra Review: Review article with no spoilers.
http://www.asburymovies.it/2019/09/26/ad-astra/
https://crossthenetflixstream.blogspot.com/2019/10/ad-astra-movie-review.html
https://wevegotbackissues.com/2019/09/19/ad-astra/
https://nathanzoebl.com/2019/09/20/ad-astra-2019/
https://psychodrivein.com/ad-astra-2019/
https://www.facebook.com/psychodrivein/posts/1301380306690424
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2w8rdpHlcx/
https://twitter.com/PsychoDriveIn/status/1176210226577436681
https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/film-of-the-week-ad-astra/
https://www.filmtekercs.hu/kritikak/ad-astra-ut-a-csillagokba-kritika
https://filmbuzi.hu/archives/2019/09/22/ad-astra/
https://www.puliwood.hu/kritikak/ad-astra-kritika-268468.html
https://www.bilimkurgukulubu.com/sinema/film-incelemeleri/ad-astra-ve-dusundurdukleri/
https://www.facebook.com/bilimkurgukulubu/posts/3793578524015617
https://twitter.com/bilimkurgukulup/status/1225118886992936961
https://www.bilimkurgukulubu.com/sinema/film-incelemeleri/iki-arada-bir-derede-ad-astra/
https://twitter.com/bugrasnd/status/1178007383320211456
https://twitter.com/bilimkurgukulup/status/1178022204166070272
https://www.facebook.com/bilimkurgukulubu/posts/3369430953097045
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Buying the product - Ad Astra, movie (2019)
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Have you seen the Ad Astra film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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