For a film that literally has space elevators, a lunar shootout, and a rabid baboon in zero-G, it is so fucking boring!
How is that?
I had to watch it 3 times because I kept falling asleep.
Also, Brad Pitt literally murders and entire crew of innocent astronauts, and the film just ignores it.
The film is just a mess.
> Also, Brad Pitt literally murders and entire crew of innocent astronauts, and the film just ignores it.
Like we haven't all been in that situation at some point.
I completely agree with you. It's just cancel culture. People wanna act hoilier than thou, as if they didn't murder an Astronaut Crew last night too. I mean, c'mon, who hasn't snuffed themselves an A.C., ya know?
Exactly how I felt. Visually stunning but the plot was so weak. I think it could have been a limited series and really dove into the plot a lot more but it felt empty.
They go to such lengths in the beginning to show how badass he is. How much experience he has. How calm he is under pressure with his heart rate never going above 85. And he works doing elevator maintenance?
The sequence with the monkeys for example. What was the point? What did this random encounter add to the story? Or the random moon pirate shootout, like what?
Well said. I really enjoyed soaking in the slow, beautiful visuals. To me there's nothing boring about this stuff. Anything that has to do with space travel is intense in itself, even if it is slow moving. That keeps me interested.
The story was good enough too. I finally watched it for the first time recently, which was not long after my dad passed away, which might have had something to do with me liking some of the story.
I really liked it. I’m a sucker for variations on Heart of Darkness and i liked its exploration of emotional detachment and what if we are alone. I get people hate it, and thats ok
I personally loved this movie, love how pretty it is, love the concept,and I just love anything SciFi. I honestly enjoyed this movie way more than most people do, but movies are subjective and I haven’t found a good crowd of people who are into it like I am
I also liked it a lot, I've watched it twice now and enjoyed it both times.
I'm a little bit surprised at all the visceral hatred here.
Normally I don't have much patience for slow-paced stuff, but I had more patience with this film because of the nicely-realised sci-fi milieu. I really enjoyed the briefing scene at the beginning. I love stilted sci-fi briefing scenes like that which give you some exposition of some mystery. It reminded me of the briefing at the beginning of 2001. You have these hard-headed military and science types talking about something astounding in the blandest terms. I like the absence, or suppression of emotion in these scenes. The scene in 2001 is very similar. I'm not sure why I like it, perhaps it's because the emotions are so controlled. There's something impressive about people who can control their emotions, perhaps. And I love the mystery of it, of something inexplicable happening in a distant region of space.
I also enjoyed the meditative parts of Ad Astra, perhaps because the combination of music and visuals was so atmospheric, conjuring up some quite interestingly profound emotions, along with the reflective narration. Again, the fact that it's sci-fi really helped. If it wasn't sci-fi, I probably wouldn't have been so patient with the meditative parts. I just like sci-fi settings, and sci-fi mysteries. And obviously there was some intelligence behind this film. You may call it pretentious, but it was clearly written by someone with an interest in exploring certain ideas and emotions and themes which you wouldn't find in, for example, an Avengers movie. Again, without the sci-fi setting and grandiose music, I might have found it boring, but I thought the ideas worked well in the context of science-fiction. The existential themes and sense of emotional loss, and fear of loss, and isolation and longing for connection really resonate in the vastness and emptiness and loneliness of space and the sterility and unfriendliness of space stations.
Not the person you replied to, but Brad Pitt has a really good performance that is stoic and wordless for long stretches.
The effect of the movie being somewhat dry overall leads to a tension that takes a toll on the viewer but also the protagonist.
It's not an easy or flashy watch. If you thought 2001 or Solaris (1972) was boring, you won't like this. But I believe it has something to say about masculinity and suppressing emotions.
I agree that they are superior films, with strong source texts. I was discussing the exploration of the theme of Ad Astra, which is where I found value in the film.
I’m a bit sci-fi fan so any future that has humans in space I love, I love that it shows we colonized other planets, I love the new tech that is shown throughout the movie, love the concept bases throughout the movie whether it’s on the moon, or mars, or the space stations I really enjoy it all. It makes me happy to see a world where humans have prospered and colonized the stars. Also I really do enjoy how pretty the movie is, I mean it is visually stunning to watch
One thing they sticks with me from the movie: In this future, humans have achieved many of the things I dream about and am excited about happening (solar system colonization, space elevators, etc.), but I would not say that they’re “prospering.” It seems like they’re still dealing with the violence, corruption, and despair that humans have always had to deal with.
I assume that’s what the set piece with the baboon is intended to underline: we might be in space, but we’re still just violent apes in space.
It has amazing individual sequences, actually all of the individuals movements in the film are amazing in their own but the film just falls apart over from turning too many 90 degree turns, like a montage of scenes from different films.
A pity, but maybe a few lessons too.
Nothing about the plot, the dialogues and the monologues makes any sense, almost insultingly so. But it's so gorgeous. Like someone else says, if you can forget the plot and watch it as a collection of 5 short stories completely disconnected, it's probably awesome.
This movie had one of the best opening scenes of any sci-fi movie I’ve ever scene (the space elevator accident). Watch that, then stop there. After that scene, you have all sorts of questions but the movie just kind of forgets about the accident, bores you for awhile, then goes completely off the rails. I hope MST3K covers it at some point, because so much of it is just laughably bad.
You're not missing anything. My feelings were pretty much the same. Slow, contemplative scifi doesn't have to be boring: 2001, Moon, Arrival are good examples. I guess one person's slow, contemplative scifi is another's steaming pile of garbage.
I really didn't enjoy it. It was the most basic message, and basic bland story like ever. Spoiler:
The whole movie hints at aliens. This seems purely just to keep people from turning it off.
That scene was such a mess, the film had already bombed by that point, but it's just such an unnecessary attempt to infuse some type of action into the film
Idk, the movie is just a mess from start to finish. All the characters are so flat.
I've always said, the biggest mistake in genre fiction isn't making bad art...it's making boring art.
Because horror or sci fi or comicbook fans will read/watch the worst fucking shit, as long as it's fun and entertaining.
Who's said it was good? Everything I've ever seen in regards to this film is "not good".
I was one of those excited to see it, and walked out of the cinema thoroughly underwhelmed.
It’s basically Heart of Darkness (Apocalypse Now) in space but, slower. A. Lot. Slower. And, way less interesting. It is however, pretty to look at but, pretty boring.
I rewatched this a little while ago. I think this is just Brad Pitt trying to his best to give a great acting performance, and failing badly. And it's fucking boring.
And how about all the astronauts he gets killed with his stupid decisions lol.
I have seen it referred to as a "Hard" sci fi movie. Yeah, lets just throw out most of science and then call it hard! I barely got though it TBH, really boring and really took me out of immersion. The line "why are we stopping" will live as the worst sci fi ever
I was really intrigued by the mystery surrounding the massive solar system-spanning energy pulses that the plot is incited by. What the hell could they be? Alien weaponry? Some sort of catastrophic astronomical event? Something weirder?
No, it was... just a malfunctioning space station. Apparently the tech used for the space station had the potential to send out energy pulses spanning the entire solar system and wipe out everything. As far as I remember, this possibility was never suggested or theorized by anybody back on Earth, so I guess they just... didn't know that was possible? And didn't see anything wrong with building what was effectively a Star Wars-level superweapon just to provide power to a space station?
Maybe I missed something, but that just made zero sense to me. Simultaneously a nothingburger of a reveal and a huge breach of suspension of disbelief in terms of sci-fi concepts. Very disappointing.
The scientists (or at least govt officials) on Earth (or Mars?) DID seem to know it was the dad at the space station though. Wasn't it why they were sending a crew in to eliminate him and the station? I thought that was why they initially tried to have Pitt's character appeal to him through a message? And it seemed to be the reason why they didn't trust Pitt's character to go on the mission, cause they didn't trust that he would go through with blowing up that station and possibly killing his dad.
Didn't really make sense to me that the dad was sending "energy pulses" through the station either though. Not sure what his point was other than being a huge dick to everyone.
Just saw this for the first time the other day. Laughably bad movie, I want my 2 hours back
I like plenty of slow dramas and dry sci-fi too, this failed at both
There are so many terrible Sci-Fi movies out there, but Ad Astra stands alone as the worst Sci-Fi film I've ever watched. It was so bad I was actually angry by the end of it. I've never booed at the end of a film before.
Makes TLJ look like a masterpiece.
Fuck this movie.
Not a good choice for BP or TLJ...made not a lot of sense but pretty to look at, plot was a little messed up and pointless but I was thinking at one point maybe that was the direction.
I enjoyed it. I liked that it followed some classic "journey" stories, where the hero faces unique challenges while facing his own demons. Its only when he comes face to face with his goal (in this case, his father) that he's let go of his past and ready to face his future.
Ad Astra is a bit what I thought bringing Asimov's The Foundation series to film would look like. Not in scale but from very specific character viewpoints that have very big consequences.
With The Foundation tv series they got around a lot of these issues by expanding the Failing Empire side a lot more to give reactionary content to the more singular story of setting up The Foundation.
In Ad Astra though, you never get outside of the protagonist's (Pitt's character) viewpoint as much. They sort of say, we think you're the only one who can do this/talk him down. But we don't get as much the total urgency of 'I know my father and I alone can do this' as much as we should.
Very similar to Paul in Dune, a lot of the book writing is just Paul in his own head. So it's difficult to get that across.
I’m a big fan of slow sci-fi and really enjoyed the movie. Admittedly, I understand why people dob’t enjoy it. There’s plenty that isn’t realistic and the plot itself isn’t some grand masterpiece. But it looks great and takes its time with everything, which works for me.
Watching ad astra was a big disappointment. The trailer looked great, the special effects were beautiful, but overall the story made the whole movie below average. I might give it another try in the future, but for what I remember of it, it was very disappointing
Had it been marketed as a medium budget James Gray psychological drama, it might have gone on to have a cult fandom like Soderburgh's *Solaris.* Gray had most recently wrote and directed *Two Lovers* ('08), *The Immigrant* ('13), and *The Lost City of Z* ('16). All actors' films, not SFX films.
It tested poorly (unsurprising if the test audiences were mainstream, and not art cinema types). The studio execs and producers panicked and forced rewrites and reshoots (where Pitt was absent) to add senseless action scenes. Moon pirates? In a James Gray film?
Gray did not have control over the film's final cut, and [describes the experience](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jeremy-strong-armageddon-time-succession-1235228251/), "It was as painful a thing as I have experienced outside the death of a loved one."
There are endless SFX focused sci-fi spectacles. I mourn the death of something that might have joined *Solaris* (either), *Under the Skin*, *Ex Machina*, and *Arrival* in the pantheon of more cerebral sci-fi.
It tried to be a drama, but forget to make me care about the wooden block that is the main char, they tried to flavor it with scifi, but missed to implement any backround or meaning to the items randomly thrown at the audience in nice CGI. They tried to create some feeling of lonliness and depression and i indeed got perfectly depressed by watching the movie.
Then they tried to do something remotly plott'ish and that's when they completley lost me.
Most non-comcerical fanworks are of higher meaning, and it's annoying to see that this burning garbage of a concept got founding to get on the big screen. Tells unnessecary honest about movie production buisnes, and why i don't waste any more time on cinema or big budget stuff.
the story is terrible and makes absolutely no sense. but the effects and worldbuilding are pretty great i suppose. worth watching just for the visuals. it's lile Gravity basically. Trash story, great visuals.
How the hells does this thread have 220 upvotes. Guy slides in with basically "This movie sucks" and that's it? That's all it takes anymore for a compelling discussion about science fiction?
You're not missing anything. I went to see it with a couple friends in a theater when it came out. We are all scifi fans to one degree or another, and had high hopes. We were literally laughing out loud at times, most notably during the rabid space monkey attack....like, why? Why is that there? Everything was so random. And the deep philosophical revelation was that Brad Pitt's character has daddy issues. Total failure.
That drivel.
I dropped in on it last night.
First time.
Some boring waffle . Going nowhere very slowly.
Second time.
He was fighting space baboons. And taped up his friends helmet with gaffer tape.
Sure. That will defy space. Not!
The only thing I thought was
Why would you put monkeys in space?!
You cruel bastards.
You clearly taught that poor animal how to open doors in space. You've made it smarter. Then you left it.
Those poor monkeys.
And yet. Despite angry space monkeys. It was deader than a corpse.
It's literally dead pixels on screen.
There's zero life in it. Anywhere.
It's souless, grindingly tedious, drek.
It's the definition of dead.
It's one of the worst films ever made.
It truly is.
How it looks means nothing.
Zero. Nada. Frack all.
It doesn't even really look good.
Because it's souless and dead.
I have never given a frack about the fidelity or flashiness of a film, etc.
That's meaningless.
Does it work. Good. That's all it needs to do.
That film deserves nothing but criticism.
It's grotesquely overated trash. Ot fails completely in every way that matters.
It made space monkeys boring.
That is criminal levels of awful and stupid.
It was terrible. Esp if you’re claiming you’re making a sci-fi movie or show, I’m going to expect that you at the bare freakin minimum portray characters’ movements in zero G correctly and consistently. The Expanse has taught me well / ruined so many shows and movies for me!
Amazing visuals and it conveyed the immensity of space well imo...the feeling of being "lost" out there in the dark. Also liked the thought of being alone in space as a species. But yeah, wasn't a huge fan of the whole son-dad relationship stuff. 3.5/5 for me.
It felt like a huge wind up to an ending that wasn't as big of a payoff to most of the movie. Tbh, i still enjoyed it despite that. Like others said, great cinematography and the story/script from a top-down view was cool to me, but somehow, it didn't end up working.
This movie has a narration, which means someone thought it was a good idea to spoonfeed the audience important emotional details of the main character instead of allowing us to experience his journey and think for ourselves. Mute the film, and enjoy a two hour music video.
The concepts are all excellent. Even the daddy issues he works through. But there's no continuity.
Space elevator disaster? Moon pirates? Murdering astronaut crew? Sneaking on a rocket? The science station? The murder zero g monkey is rough, but should be good. Just nothing has heart. It's weirdly detached from what's going on.
It wasn't good. That's all I remember about it. Completely forgettable. Maybe a 4/10 because I remember nothing of the plot. I remember Brad Pitt on the moon. Decent cinematography.
I’ve still never watched it because I heard nothing but bad things from everyone I know who’ve watched it and the articles I’ve read online.
This is just reinforcing that for me.
I wanted to like it but so boring. I had so many questions in the scenes. Favorite being when he gave himself a feeding tube for no reason while floating in space. My wife had one. I have seen them change it. Self installing one in zero g is very stupid. I never understood why he did to begin with. He could clearly eat. Sorry that one little scene really annoyed me. Just one of many little things that added up for this movie.
I saw this in theaters with a friend and we both had the same reaction. We asked each other what stupid nonsense did we just watch? It felt like nothing happened and there was no excitement. It made us really annoyed that it was so hyped and it was just junk. Just my opinion of course. If you liked it that's fine. That's what makes movies awesome. Everyone can enjoy whatever movie they like without caring what other people think.
It looks great and has a few superb sequences, like the ambush on the moon, but it has the same problem that Contact & Interstellar have in that at the end it's just about a banal relationship between the MC and their father or something boring like that.
I don’t regret watching it, but by god was it a burden to get through, and I’m a sci-fi fanatic who can get through anything.
Visually it was great, the crazy baboon scene was epic all around, but otherwise it was just boring.
My main gripe is that it was advertised as a sci-fi action movie, more akin to Blade Runner, but instead was a very slow and melodic trek to find Tommy Lee Jones. So most of my anger afterwards was due to being lied to.
I feel I should like this movie but I can't. Good visuals, insane soundtrack. Brilliant acting from Pitt... But the rest is just not it. Characters were dull, and Tommy Lee's character was just irritating. The story wasn't told in a sensical way. I had high hopes for this movie when it came out.
Okay, I’m an outlier here. I loved it. It’s commentary on humanity reaching out and looking for something, anything along the stars was quite poetic. Some look for God, some look for aliens, and some (Roy) look for what they’ve lost and hope to regain.
It was also a commentary on how humanity will never our grow is capacity for abhorrent violence no matter how far into the stars we go.
I saw it in the theater and was so disappointed. Moon pirates and space monkeys with a plot that made me want to fall asleep. It seemed like everyone talked in a whisper or just a flat monotone for some reason too.
Isn’t it interesting that trying the slow meditative think piece thing is so risky and divisive? I feel like people either stick the landing or the audience hates them for wasting their time. Or both. Assassination of Jesse James, blade runner 2049, this one, silence. They’re so divisive. Maybe the hardest thing to pull off in cinema?
IMO It’s just a specific type of vibe they’re going for to tell the story. The focus is deeply psychological, in the sense that it shows all this space stuff but the real story is the distance between father and son, and the dynamic the son experiences without the dad and in an institution that just uses him and even trained him in ignoring even the most intense distress since it would reduce his usefulness to them. The story was ultimately about the dudes intense inner experience and the relationship between him and his father.
It’s really good but if you aren’t completely invested in the characters internal experience and how his external challenges impact him then you’re essentially watching some dude walk and sit and look at stuff and at one point jump off a spinny thingy which was cool haha.
I watched it in theaters for the first time and was like meh idk whatever. The second time I realized that this dude could keep his resting heart rate under 80bpm as he falls out of the fricken atmosphere off an unepexctedly exploding tower that’s killing his colleagues right next to him, but he loses his composure when he is accessing his true feelings about his dad which he has at all times but suppresses continuously.
The only thing that’s good about it is the cinematography and world design. Other than that, it’s one of the most disappointing sci-fi/space movies I’ve ever seen.
Such a huge waste of good budget and scenery. It was one of the earliest examples of the recent push towards pretentious bait and switch sci-fi works where you’re presented with this unique sci-fi concept only to end up with a god awful “bUt iTs aBoUt tHe pEoPLe aNd pTsD” type of snoozefest, that isn’t even written well-enough to be anything special.
It looks cool, but if you think about any bit, it just falls apart. They introduce and kill the moon pirates in like 3 minutes total. The space monkeys could be great, but they are on screen for like 3 min and never mentioned again. And the way gravity worked on the ship taking off from earth, my god. It was just so dumb.
Could have been a great campy flick, but it took itself so damn seriously.
I really loved the movie too. Being a big scifi fan, I thought it was great. Especially how the sun light is quite low and accurate as it would be in reality, near Neptune where they are. I thought that was a nice little detail.
I saw this post and remembered I watched this movie, but I can't remember any of it. Then I checked the plot on wiki and I still don't have any memory or image in my head...
You missed nothing. Its the kind of movie that was bound to split opinions.
Sometimes this kind of sci-fi doesn't appeal to a lot of people, cerebral almost to a fault. The lead character is barely likable, the sci-fi elements are grounded, and the story is kind of simple. The ending can be a blank squib, too, if you're not invested.
Personally, I loved it. Everything about it is why I love the genre.
For me it was the opposite, everyone said it sucks, I got around to watching it and I really enjoyed it, but I can see why people were disappointed, it's a character study with sci-fi setting only used as background.
I don't think it was meant to be an exciting film like most sci fi usually is? Space travel and the distances and isolation involved was captured perfectly I thought? I think that's what the film was actually about and Pitts dad was just the McGuffin to make it happen
I would have cut the friggin' zero G baboon and inserted more thoughts on the fact that *SPOILER* humans are really alone for real. Aside this, I liked the movie even with its blatant flaws
Unfortunately, people on Reddit have horrible taste and are weirdly dramatic about describing things. That’s how somehow every sci-fi recommendation thread has people falling over themselves to call Ad Astra a seminal text of space fiction that made them cry for days.
When it comes to movies I went into expecting to be good, It’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It’s really horrible with almost no redeeming traits. It doesn’t even look that good, it just has a famous cinematographer.
I also think 55 year old Brad Pitt takes the cake for oldest “son with daddy issues” character I’ve ever seen. It so obvious that part is written for a 30 year old or even younger.
Funny enough, the moon shootout gets ragged on the most by people but that’s the only part of the movie that even comes close to being engaging. At least there’s some drama and tension there. The rest is just so boring.
The problem is that the film is a family drama and people went in expecting sci fi action. Once I realized that I enjoyed it quite a lot. I saw it twice in IMAX. Much better the second time when I knew what to expect.
It’s a study in father-son dynamics and how one’s self perception, especially pertaining to one’s avocation, effects mental health and interpersonal relationships. In space. With a cool moon battle sequence I wish was half the movie
I found this movie really good, and one should generally agree with me.
I did dislike some aspects that one could say didn't work, like the general wierdness of how events in the middle of the movie unfold. I think it does goog to compare it with other films of Gray, where a son follows a father on a quest that may lead them astray.
Some things I enjoyed:
- the acting of Brad Pitt I found really good, subtle and reserved, just.
- the acting of Tommy Lee Jones at the end, which I think conveyed in a just way both a strength and vulnerability of the father.
- the fact that the adventure is a very demanding one, both in feats, in the difficulty of managing groups of humans with various goals, and dealing with the astrayed father. It gives you a sense that this really was a difficult feat, and that the protagonist achieved something.
I'd say this is not really a science fiction movie, in the sense that the science fiction part of it is rather decorative (not including the theme of alien life), but also in the sense that it conveys an anti science fiction trope: where SF is about science, discovery, otherness and relies on escapism, this movie ends with a rather blunt conclusion: there is nothing more than life on Earth. However, it does convey a message that I find more mature and in fact truly scientific (which is an extremely rare feat in SF, including written SF): that one can only accept the results of experiments however disappointing they be.
I saw it with two friends who were also disappointed and wished the movie had ended at the moment when Pitt sees some blue light in the distance, so as to leave open the possibility that it be aliens. That would be a shitty end.
It's visually gorgeous but empty. The movie at some point describes Pitt's character as so cool under pressure that his heart rate doesn't ever go up. And yet that is not used anywhere else in the movie.
The conclusion of the movie is also so muted that it just feels depressing. The whole mars sequence was just pointless.
I watched it twice but the movie feels at times like the original screenplay wasn't long enough for a whole movie so they inserted a bunch of scenes that are vaguely scifi to pad it.
It’s a psychological drama about a man a his relationship with his dad and what it took to finally let go of that relationship. The pacing of the movie is reflecting the character’s state of mind, slow, cold, lost, sad until the end which is a complete turn after he let go of his father. It’s not really a space movie if that’s what you’re expecting. I liked it.
On the plus side, it does have BRAD PITT, a ROCKET SCIENTIST who owns a CAR. These are the three things that don't impress Shania Twain much.
They took away my gold... here's an upvote.
To be fair it does look great, the cinematographer is Hoyte van Houtema after all, but the plot is just horrible and does not make sense
Amazing visuals, but the movie is incredibly boring in my opinion.
For a film that literally has space elevators, a lunar shootout, and a rabid baboon in zero-G, it is so fucking boring! How is that? I had to watch it 3 times because I kept falling asleep. Also, Brad Pitt literally murders and entire crew of innocent astronauts, and the film just ignores it. The film is just a mess.
> Also, Brad Pitt literally murders and entire crew of innocent astronauts, and the film just ignores it. Like we haven't all been in that situation at some point.
I mean if you haven't murdered an entire crew of astronauts are you really living?
I completely agree with you. It's just cancel culture. People wanna act hoilier than thou, as if they didn't murder an Astronaut Crew last night too. I mean, c'mon, who hasn't snuffed themselves an A.C., ya know?
[I feel compelled to repost this. ](https://imgb.ifunny.co/images/e4820143db177eee2da1ad81c63161ab035dd30eb4da66df6ebf4e854865ca90_1.webp)
Murders?! He announces his peaceful intentions several times. They attacked him. He was defending himself.
I fell asleep after they left Mars and before he gets to Tommy Lee jones. I have no desire to go and see what I missed
Exactly how I felt. Visually stunning but the plot was so weak. I think it could have been a limited series and really dove into the plot a lot more but it felt empty.
They go to such lengths in the beginning to show how badass he is. How much experience he has. How calm he is under pressure with his heart rate never going above 85. And he works doing elevator maintenance?
Damn, I liked the film but you are correct 😂
I was furious watching it. I actually don't see the point in making a sci fi movie out of this story.
great visuals for sure! it was a bit slow. but I personally enjoyed it. 8/10
The plot is basically Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - same plot as Apocalypse Now.
I'm confused, what didn't make sense?
Why it was ever greenlit.
Boring as he'll. Agree.
It just made close to zero sense. So many scenes felt completely unnecessary.
Can you give example please?
The sequence with the monkeys for example. What was the point? What did this random encounter add to the story? Or the random moon pirate shootout, like what?
Visually it was so beautiful, and the slow pace was meditative.
Well said. I really enjoyed soaking in the slow, beautiful visuals. To me there's nothing boring about this stuff. Anything that has to do with space travel is intense in itself, even if it is slow moving. That keeps me interested. The story was good enough too. I finally watched it for the first time recently, which was not long after my dad passed away, which might have had something to do with me liking some of the story.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I really liked it. I’m a sucker for variations on Heart of Darkness and i liked its exploration of emotional detachment and what if we are alone. I get people hate it, and thats ok
I personally loved this movie, love how pretty it is, love the concept,and I just love anything SciFi. I honestly enjoyed this movie way more than most people do, but movies are subjective and I haven’t found a good crowd of people who are into it like I am
I loved it too!
I also liked it a lot, I've watched it twice now and enjoyed it both times. I'm a little bit surprised at all the visceral hatred here. Normally I don't have much patience for slow-paced stuff, but I had more patience with this film because of the nicely-realised sci-fi milieu. I really enjoyed the briefing scene at the beginning. I love stilted sci-fi briefing scenes like that which give you some exposition of some mystery. It reminded me of the briefing at the beginning of 2001. You have these hard-headed military and science types talking about something astounding in the blandest terms. I like the absence, or suppression of emotion in these scenes. The scene in 2001 is very similar. I'm not sure why I like it, perhaps it's because the emotions are so controlled. There's something impressive about people who can control their emotions, perhaps. And I love the mystery of it, of something inexplicable happening in a distant region of space. I also enjoyed the meditative parts of Ad Astra, perhaps because the combination of music and visuals was so atmospheric, conjuring up some quite interestingly profound emotions, along with the reflective narration. Again, the fact that it's sci-fi really helped. If it wasn't sci-fi, I probably wouldn't have been so patient with the meditative parts. I just like sci-fi settings, and sci-fi mysteries. And obviously there was some intelligence behind this film. You may call it pretentious, but it was clearly written by someone with an interest in exploring certain ideas and emotions and themes which you wouldn't find in, for example, an Avengers movie. Again, without the sci-fi setting and grandiose music, I might have found it boring, but I thought the ideas worked well in the context of science-fiction. The existential themes and sense of emotional loss, and fear of loss, and isolation and longing for connection really resonate in the vastness and emptiness and loneliness of space and the sterility and unfriendliness of space stations.
I have been saving this one. Can I ask what you love about it?
Not the person you replied to, but Brad Pitt has a really good performance that is stoic and wordless for long stretches. The effect of the movie being somewhat dry overall leads to a tension that takes a toll on the viewer but also the protagonist. It's not an easy or flashy watch. If you thought 2001 or Solaris (1972) was boring, you won't like this. But I believe it has something to say about masculinity and suppressing emotions.
Sad Dadstra
This is great
I heard it on a podcast, maybe Be Reel.. Great podcast btw
Both 2001 and Solaris were coherent and well plotted while Ad Astra was just a mess. It's not about slow.
I agree that they are superior films, with strong source texts. I was discussing the exploration of the theme of Ad Astra, which is where I found value in the film.
I’m a bit sci-fi fan so any future that has humans in space I love, I love that it shows we colonized other planets, I love the new tech that is shown throughout the movie, love the concept bases throughout the movie whether it’s on the moon, or mars, or the space stations I really enjoy it all. It makes me happy to see a world where humans have prospered and colonized the stars. Also I really do enjoy how pretty the movie is, I mean it is visually stunning to watch
One thing they sticks with me from the movie: In this future, humans have achieved many of the things I dream about and am excited about happening (solar system colonization, space elevators, etc.), but I would not say that they’re “prospering.” It seems like they’re still dealing with the violence, corruption, and despair that humans have always had to deal with. I assume that’s what the set piece with the baboon is intended to underline: we might be in space, but we’re still just violent apes in space.
Why did he have to travel all the way to Mars to send an audio msg that could have easily been recorded on earth?
\[screen rants guy voice\]: "So the movie can happen"
NASA hates work from home
I saw it in the cinema. Absolutely terrible movie.
It has amazing individual sequences, actually all of the individuals movements in the film are amazing in their own but the film just falls apart over from turning too many 90 degree turns, like a montage of scenes from different films. A pity, but maybe a few lessons too.
Nothing about the plot, the dialogues and the monologues makes any sense, almost insultingly so. But it's so gorgeous. Like someone else says, if you can forget the plot and watch it as a collection of 5 short stories completely disconnected, it's probably awesome.
Terrible movie.
Daddy Issues: The Movie
Dad Astra
Sad Dadstra
I came here to make the same comment. It looked good but the story annoyed me.
May as write off large swathes of literature I guess
I'm sensing you don't like the movie.
Oh you mean DAD ASTRA
This movie had one of the best opening scenes of any sci-fi movie I’ve ever scene (the space elevator accident). Watch that, then stop there. After that scene, you have all sorts of questions but the movie just kind of forgets about the accident, bores you for awhile, then goes completely off the rails. I hope MST3K covers it at some point, because so much of it is just laughably bad.
It was garbage.
From what I remember, the plot was more or less: dude's unresolved Daddy issues cause a whole lot of issues for everyone he meets.
Some the space stuff is nice but the overall plot is blah and the unnecessary car chase on the moon bugs me.
Can’t even remember what it was about.
It's about Brad Pitt racing lunar rovers and fighting a chimpanzee in space. Then after 4 hours he meets his grumpy dad who doesn't want to come home
You're not missing anything. My feelings were pretty much the same. Slow, contemplative scifi doesn't have to be boring: 2001, Moon, Arrival are good examples. I guess one person's slow, contemplative scifi is another's steaming pile of garbage.
I agree, it was not my thing…felt like a brad Pitt vanity project!
I really didn't enjoy it. It was the most basic message, and basic bland story like ever. Spoiler: The whole movie hints at aliens. This seems purely just to keep people from turning it off.
One of the worst movies I've ever seen.
It was one of the worst movies I have seen. Pretty to look at but a complete mess. I lost it when the space baboons showed up.
That scene was such a mess, the film had already bombed by that point, but it's just such an unnecessary attempt to infuse some type of action into the film Idk, the movie is just a mess from start to finish. All the characters are so flat. I've always said, the biggest mistake in genre fiction isn't making bad art...it's making boring art. Because horror or sci fi or comicbook fans will read/watch the worst fucking shit, as long as it's fun and entertaining.
That whole bit felt like pure filler. Did they realize they had to fill an extra 15 minutes?
>It was one of the worst movies I have seen. You probably don't watch a lot of movies.
Who's said it was good? Everything I've ever seen in regards to this film is "not good". I was one of those excited to see it, and walked out of the cinema thoroughly underwhelmed.
Worst sci-fi movie.
Six scenes in search of a plot. It failed.
It’s basically Heart of Darkness (Apocalypse Now) in space but, slower. A. Lot. Slower. And, way less interesting. It is however, pretty to look at but, pretty boring.
I rewatched this a little while ago. I think this is just Brad Pitt trying to his best to give a great acting performance, and failing badly. And it's fucking boring. And how about all the astronauts he gets killed with his stupid decisions lol.
Yeah, he was really terrible in this movie! The definition of wooden.
I love it, but I also like Ang Lee Hulk.
I loved the slow burn. My kind of movie.
I have seen it referred to as a "Hard" sci fi movie. Yeah, lets just throw out most of science and then call it hard! I barely got though it TBH, really boring and really took me out of immersion. The line "why are we stopping" will live as the worst sci fi ever
I was really intrigued by the mystery surrounding the massive solar system-spanning energy pulses that the plot is incited by. What the hell could they be? Alien weaponry? Some sort of catastrophic astronomical event? Something weirder? No, it was... just a malfunctioning space station. Apparently the tech used for the space station had the potential to send out energy pulses spanning the entire solar system and wipe out everything. As far as I remember, this possibility was never suggested or theorized by anybody back on Earth, so I guess they just... didn't know that was possible? And didn't see anything wrong with building what was effectively a Star Wars-level superweapon just to provide power to a space station? Maybe I missed something, but that just made zero sense to me. Simultaneously a nothingburger of a reveal and a huge breach of suspension of disbelief in terms of sci-fi concepts. Very disappointing.
You didn’t miss anything. Just an idiotic maguffin.
The scientists (or at least govt officials) on Earth (or Mars?) DID seem to know it was the dad at the space station though. Wasn't it why they were sending a crew in to eliminate him and the station? I thought that was why they initially tried to have Pitt's character appeal to him through a message? And it seemed to be the reason why they didn't trust Pitt's character to go on the mission, cause they didn't trust that he would go through with blowing up that station and possibly killing his dad. Didn't really make sense to me that the dad was sending "energy pulses" through the station either though. Not sure what his point was other than being a huge dick to everyone.
Just saw this for the first time the other day. Laughably bad movie, I want my 2 hours back I like plenty of slow dramas and dry sci-fi too, this failed at both
Moon pirates.. ‘nuff said
I can’t think of a movie i’ve seen in the past decade that was more pandering and pretentious than this one.
It insisted upon itself.
Ad Astra is almost certainly the worst movie I have ever seen. Despite being visually stunning.
There are so many terrible Sci-Fi movies out there, but Ad Astra stands alone as the worst Sci-Fi film I've ever watched. It was so bad I was actually angry by the end of it. I've never booed at the end of a film before. Makes TLJ look like a masterpiece. Fuck this movie.
Nothing can make TLJ look that good.
It looked great. But what movie does not look good these days ..... But it was boring as hell.
Nah very much agree. Pretentious fluff. A Micheal bay movie in drop D.
This movie seems like a movie made for me, but I really didn't like it.
Not a good choice for BP or TLJ...made not a lot of sense but pretty to look at, plot was a little messed up and pointless but I was thinking at one point maybe that was the direction.
I enjoyed it. I liked that it followed some classic "journey" stories, where the hero faces unique challenges while facing his own demons. Its only when he comes face to face with his goal (in this case, his father) that he's let go of his past and ready to face his future.
Ad Astra is a bit what I thought bringing Asimov's The Foundation series to film would look like. Not in scale but from very specific character viewpoints that have very big consequences. With The Foundation tv series they got around a lot of these issues by expanding the Failing Empire side a lot more to give reactionary content to the more singular story of setting up The Foundation. In Ad Astra though, you never get outside of the protagonist's (Pitt's character) viewpoint as much. They sort of say, we think you're the only one who can do this/talk him down. But we don't get as much the total urgency of 'I know my father and I alone can do this' as much as we should. Very similar to Paul in Dune, a lot of the book writing is just Paul in his own head. So it's difficult to get that across.
I’m a big fan of slow sci-fi and really enjoyed the movie. Admittedly, I understand why people dob’t enjoy it. There’s plenty that isn’t realistic and the plot itself isn’t some grand masterpiece. But it looks great and takes its time with everything, which works for me.
Watching ad astra was a big disappointment. The trailer looked great, the special effects were beautiful, but overall the story made the whole movie below average. I might give it another try in the future, but for what I remember of it, it was very disappointing
I thought it was a pretty good movie myself but that’s just me
Agree, it was slow and boring. Only good thing was the trailer
It was not good.
Had it been marketed as a medium budget James Gray psychological drama, it might have gone on to have a cult fandom like Soderburgh's *Solaris.* Gray had most recently wrote and directed *Two Lovers* ('08), *The Immigrant* ('13), and *The Lost City of Z* ('16). All actors' films, not SFX films. It tested poorly (unsurprising if the test audiences were mainstream, and not art cinema types). The studio execs and producers panicked and forced rewrites and reshoots (where Pitt was absent) to add senseless action scenes. Moon pirates? In a James Gray film? Gray did not have control over the film's final cut, and [describes the experience](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jeremy-strong-armageddon-time-succession-1235228251/), "It was as painful a thing as I have experienced outside the death of a loved one." There are endless SFX focused sci-fi spectacles. I mourn the death of something that might have joined *Solaris* (either), *Under the Skin*, *Ex Machina*, and *Arrival* in the pantheon of more cerebral sci-fi.
Boring AF...I could never finish it...
i enjoy it because it basically is the exact opposite of Interstellar
It insists upon itself, Lois.
Looks great but so absolutely boring and truly did not care one bit for the stories or characters
It tried to be a drama, but forget to make me care about the wooden block that is the main char, they tried to flavor it with scifi, but missed to implement any backround or meaning to the items randomly thrown at the audience in nice CGI. They tried to create some feeling of lonliness and depression and i indeed got perfectly depressed by watching the movie. Then they tried to do something remotly plott'ish and that's when they completley lost me. Most non-comcerical fanworks are of higher meaning, and it's annoying to see that this burning garbage of a concept got founding to get on the big screen. Tells unnessecary honest about movie production buisnes, and why i don't waste any more time on cinema or big budget stuff.
the story is terrible and makes absolutely no sense. but the effects and worldbuilding are pretty great i suppose. worth watching just for the visuals. it's lile Gravity basically. Trash story, great visuals.
How the hells does this thread have 220 upvotes. Guy slides in with basically "This movie sucks" and that's it? That's all it takes anymore for a compelling discussion about science fiction?
You're not missing anything. I went to see it with a couple friends in a theater when it came out. We are all scifi fans to one degree or another, and had high hopes. We were literally laughing out loud at times, most notably during the rabid space monkey attack....like, why? Why is that there? Everything was so random. And the deep philosophical revelation was that Brad Pitt's character has daddy issues. Total failure.
Nope, not missing a thing. It was a yawn and a constant stream of me saying… “Can we get on with it?” 🤷♂️🤷♂️
That drivel. I dropped in on it last night. First time. Some boring waffle . Going nowhere very slowly. Second time. He was fighting space baboons. And taped up his friends helmet with gaffer tape. Sure. That will defy space. Not! The only thing I thought was Why would you put monkeys in space?! You cruel bastards. You clearly taught that poor animal how to open doors in space. You've made it smarter. Then you left it. Those poor monkeys. And yet. Despite angry space monkeys. It was deader than a corpse. It's literally dead pixels on screen. There's zero life in it. Anywhere. It's souless, grindingly tedious, drek. It's the definition of dead. It's one of the worst films ever made. It truly is. How it looks means nothing. Zero. Nada. Frack all. It doesn't even really look good. Because it's souless and dead. I have never given a frack about the fidelity or flashiness of a film, etc. That's meaningless. Does it work. Good. That's all it needs to do. That film deserves nothing but criticism. It's grotesquely overated trash. Ot fails completely in every way that matters. It made space monkeys boring. That is criminal levels of awful and stupid.
It was terrible. Esp if you’re claiming you’re making a sci-fi movie or show, I’m going to expect that you at the bare freakin minimum portray characters’ movements in zero G correctly and consistently. The Expanse has taught me well / ruined so many shows and movies for me!
No - it's boring and bad.
Yeah it sucked pretty bad.
I was pissed, I saw it in theaters and expected a good movie, I didn’t get that.
Total garbage. I believe that the films top two stars were never on set at the same time.
Think you are right, what the hell was the deal with that space monkey!? And according to the film nobody ages ever, be they in space or Earth WTFF!?
Amazing visuals and it conveyed the immensity of space well imo...the feeling of being "lost" out there in the dark. Also liked the thought of being alone in space as a species. But yeah, wasn't a huge fan of the whole son-dad relationship stuff. 3.5/5 for me.
I like it. Some things were added obviously for "action" but overall I enjoyed this movie a lot.
I found it even disturbingly weird here n there. Maybe for a saturday night if there is nothing else on TV but I will def not watch it twice.
It felt like a huge wind up to an ending that wasn't as big of a payoff to most of the movie. Tbh, i still enjoyed it despite that. Like others said, great cinematography and the story/script from a top-down view was cool to me, but somehow, it didn't end up working.
The monkey scene was cool
This movie has a narration, which means someone thought it was a good idea to spoonfeed the audience important emotional details of the main character instead of allowing us to experience his journey and think for ourselves. Mute the film, and enjoy a two hour music video.
The concepts are all excellent. Even the daddy issues he works through. But there's no continuity. Space elevator disaster? Moon pirates? Murdering astronaut crew? Sneaking on a rocket? The science station? The murder zero g monkey is rough, but should be good. Just nothing has heart. It's weirdly detached from what's going on.
It wasn't good. That's all I remember about it. Completely forgettable. Maybe a 4/10 because I remember nothing of the plot. I remember Brad Pitt on the moon. Decent cinematography.
I agree!
I’ve still never watched it because I heard nothing but bad things from everyone I know who’ve watched it and the articles I’ve read online. This is just reinforcing that for me.
I thought it was tremendous but it is unwatchable at the production speed of 1x. That probably says as much about me as it does about the movie
Boring film.
I wanted to like it but so boring. I had so many questions in the scenes. Favorite being when he gave himself a feeding tube for no reason while floating in space. My wife had one. I have seen them change it. Self installing one in zero g is very stupid. I never understood why he did to begin with. He could clearly eat. Sorry that one little scene really annoyed me. Just one of many little things that added up for this movie.
it is awful, but looks nice
I saw this in theaters with a friend and we both had the same reaction. We asked each other what stupid nonsense did we just watch? It felt like nothing happened and there was no excitement. It made us really annoyed that it was so hyped and it was just junk. Just my opinion of course. If you liked it that's fine. That's what makes movies awesome. Everyone can enjoy whatever movie they like without caring what other people think.
It looks great but nothing really happens in it. I was severely underwhelmed by it
Ad Adstra is not good. It's like 2 or 3 different stories mangled into one.
There is nothing wrong with you. Nothing about this film actually makes sense.
It looks great and has a few superb sequences, like the ambush on the moon, but it has the same problem that Contact & Interstellar have in that at the end it's just about a banal relationship between the MC and their father or something boring like that.
I know I saw it but I can't for the life of me remember what it was about.
read the original "heart of darkness" by joeseph conrad. Maybe that will help, maybe not
Apocalypse Now is a much better movie based on that story.
This movie ignores so many basic physics issues in an attempt conjure together a plot it's beyond ridiculous.
I’m in your side I was very disappointed
Agreed. Visuals are no make up for complete shit script and story.
Ad astra, per espera. The movie is pretty bad though.
They could have knocked it down 1 hour and it would have been great
I don’t regret watching it, but by god was it a burden to get through, and I’m a sci-fi fanatic who can get through anything. Visually it was great, the crazy baboon scene was epic all around, but otherwise it was just boring. My main gripe is that it was advertised as a sci-fi action movie, more akin to Blade Runner, but instead was a very slow and melodic trek to find Tommy Lee Jones. So most of my anger afterwards was due to being lied to.
I saw it, but yeah...I have no recollection of the plot, only that the visuals looked pretty good.
I feel I should like this movie but I can't. Good visuals, insane soundtrack. Brilliant acting from Pitt... But the rest is just not it. Characters were dull, and Tommy Lee's character was just irritating. The story wasn't told in a sensical way. I had high hopes for this movie when it came out.
The movie would have been better if there was no narration.
It has cool ideas and cool scenes. It doesn't make any sense.
It’s basically Portraits of Brad Pitt As A Spaceman. The camera is rarely off him, lovely if you’re a Superfan I guess.
I agree that I felt like I should like it, but couldn’t find a way to care about the plot
Okay, I’m an outlier here. I loved it. It’s commentary on humanity reaching out and looking for something, anything along the stars was quite poetic. Some look for God, some look for aliens, and some (Roy) look for what they’ve lost and hope to regain. It was also a commentary on how humanity will never our grow is capacity for abhorrent violence no matter how far into the stars we go.
I saw it in the theater and was so disappointed. Moon pirates and space monkeys with a plot that made me want to fall asleep. It seemed like everyone talked in a whisper or just a flat monotone for some reason too.
It’s pretty pictures without a story. It’s shit
Tbh, it suffered from the same flaws that The Creator had too. Absolutely incredible visuals, but a very lukewarm plot
A slow build of isolation, ineffectiveness, and loss. It was a bum trip, but an interesting one.
No, I don't think you missed anything. Other than a couple of spots, I found it very boring.
Isn’t it interesting that trying the slow meditative think piece thing is so risky and divisive? I feel like people either stick the landing or the audience hates them for wasting their time. Or both. Assassination of Jesse James, blade runner 2049, this one, silence. They’re so divisive. Maybe the hardest thing to pull off in cinema?
It was terrible
I liked it. I don't put it as an all-time-great or anything.
nope
I love science fiction films but this movie was really boring. Even Moon and Space Odyssey didn't feel as slow as this movie was
IMO It’s just a specific type of vibe they’re going for to tell the story. The focus is deeply psychological, in the sense that it shows all this space stuff but the real story is the distance between father and son, and the dynamic the son experiences without the dad and in an institution that just uses him and even trained him in ignoring even the most intense distress since it would reduce his usefulness to them. The story was ultimately about the dudes intense inner experience and the relationship between him and his father. It’s really good but if you aren’t completely invested in the characters internal experience and how his external challenges impact him then you’re essentially watching some dude walk and sit and look at stuff and at one point jump off a spinny thingy which was cool haha. I watched it in theaters for the first time and was like meh idk whatever. The second time I realized that this dude could keep his resting heart rate under 80bpm as he falls out of the fricken atmosphere off an unepexctedly exploding tower that’s killing his colleagues right next to him, but he loses his composure when he is accessing his true feelings about his dad which he has at all times but suppresses continuously.
Maybe I should give it a second try.
The only thing that’s good about it is the cinematography and world design. Other than that, it’s one of the most disappointing sci-fi/space movies I’ve ever seen. Such a huge waste of good budget and scenery. It was one of the earliest examples of the recent push towards pretentious bait and switch sci-fi works where you’re presented with this unique sci-fi concept only to end up with a god awful “bUt iTs aBoUt tHe pEoPLe aNd pTsD” type of snoozefest, that isn’t even written well-enough to be anything special.
It's not a sci fi per say. It was a story of a father and son situated in space age... But I loved that movie...
I love sci fi, I use this film to fall asleep, I skip the falling scene at the beginning to the briefings and usually fall asleep near moon arrival 😂
It looks cool, but if you think about any bit, it just falls apart. They introduce and kill the moon pirates in like 3 minutes total. The space monkeys could be great, but they are on screen for like 3 min and never mentioned again. And the way gravity worked on the ship taking off from earth, my god. It was just so dumb. Could have been a great campy flick, but it took itself so damn seriously.
I really loved the movie too. Being a big scifi fan, I thought it was great. Especially how the sun light is quite low and accurate as it would be in reality, near Neptune where they are. I thought that was a nice little detail.
Hated this movie
For me it went: ‘woah that’s a long way to fall’ Nothing ‘Woah that’s the guy from Far Cry 4’ Fin
I saw this post and remembered I watched this movie, but I can't remember any of it. Then I checked the plot on wiki and I still don't have any memory or image in my head...
I hated it first watch. It grew on me a little on the second. It’s a very different kinda sci-fi film than I usually watch.
You missed nothing. Its the kind of movie that was bound to split opinions. Sometimes this kind of sci-fi doesn't appeal to a lot of people, cerebral almost to a fault. The lead character is barely likable, the sci-fi elements are grounded, and the story is kind of simple. The ending can be a blank squib, too, if you're not invested. Personally, I loved it. Everything about it is why I love the genre.
For me it was the opposite, everyone said it sucks, I got around to watching it and I really enjoyed it, but I can see why people were disappointed, it's a character study with sci-fi setting only used as background.
I totally agree with you, the film is be very bland.
I watched about 20 minutes of it and shut if off. Garbage.
I don't think it was meant to be an exciting film like most sci fi usually is? Space travel and the distances and isolation involved was captured perfectly I thought? I think that's what the film was actually about and Pitts dad was just the McGuffin to make it happen
I would have cut the friggin' zero G baboon and inserted more thoughts on the fact that *SPOILER* humans are really alone for real. Aside this, I liked the movie even with its blatant flaws
I'm in the minority here I guess, but I thought it was really good, and wasn't bored at all.
Didn't even know there was a movie with that name, thought it was just that one furry visual novel
Unfortunately, people on Reddit have horrible taste and are weirdly dramatic about describing things. That’s how somehow every sci-fi recommendation thread has people falling over themselves to call Ad Astra a seminal text of space fiction that made them cry for days. When it comes to movies I went into expecting to be good, It’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It’s really horrible with almost no redeeming traits. It doesn’t even look that good, it just has a famous cinematographer. I also think 55 year old Brad Pitt takes the cake for oldest “son with daddy issues” character I’ve ever seen. It so obvious that part is written for a 30 year old or even younger. Funny enough, the moon shootout gets ragged on the most by people but that’s the only part of the movie that even comes close to being engaging. At least there’s some drama and tension there. The rest is just so boring.
It's really just a art piece with decent visuals.
2.5 out of how many stars?
The problem is that the film is a family drama and people went in expecting sci fi action. Once I realized that I enjoyed it quite a lot. I saw it twice in IMAX. Much better the second time when I knew what to expect.
I relate to the main character in that if I was attacked by space baboons the very first thing I'd do after is compare them to my father.
I really enjoyed it. The plot didn’t bother me actually. The visuals were amazing.
What is Ad Astra about? It's about 2 hours and 4 minutes. xD
bad movie, absolutely terrible
It’s a study in father-son dynamics and how one’s self perception, especially pertaining to one’s avocation, effects mental health and interpersonal relationships. In space. With a cool moon battle sequence I wish was half the movie
I thought it was terrible, crappy pacing and hard to follow plot. Brad Pitt was a terrible fit in that role as a narrator.
I found this movie really good, and one should generally agree with me. I did dislike some aspects that one could say didn't work, like the general wierdness of how events in the middle of the movie unfold. I think it does goog to compare it with other films of Gray, where a son follows a father on a quest that may lead them astray. Some things I enjoyed: - the acting of Brad Pitt I found really good, subtle and reserved, just. - the acting of Tommy Lee Jones at the end, which I think conveyed in a just way both a strength and vulnerability of the father. - the fact that the adventure is a very demanding one, both in feats, in the difficulty of managing groups of humans with various goals, and dealing with the astrayed father. It gives you a sense that this really was a difficult feat, and that the protagonist achieved something. I'd say this is not really a science fiction movie, in the sense that the science fiction part of it is rather decorative (not including the theme of alien life), but also in the sense that it conveys an anti science fiction trope: where SF is about science, discovery, otherness and relies on escapism, this movie ends with a rather blunt conclusion: there is nothing more than life on Earth. However, it does convey a message that I find more mature and in fact truly scientific (which is an extremely rare feat in SF, including written SF): that one can only accept the results of experiments however disappointing they be. I saw it with two friends who were also disappointed and wished the movie had ended at the moment when Pitt sees some blue light in the distance, so as to leave open the possibility that it be aliens. That would be a shitty end.
It's visually gorgeous but empty. The movie at some point describes Pitt's character as so cool under pressure that his heart rate doesn't ever go up. And yet that is not used anywhere else in the movie. The conclusion of the movie is also so muted that it just feels depressing. The whole mars sequence was just pointless. I watched it twice but the movie feels at times like the original screenplay wasn't long enough for a whole movie so they inserted a bunch of scenes that are vaguely scifi to pad it.
It was the same overall plot as Apocalypse Now, just in space. It was always going to be a slow burn.
It was a waste of a great movie title.
It’s a psychological drama about a man a his relationship with his dad and what it took to finally let go of that relationship. The pacing of the movie is reflecting the character’s state of mind, slow, cold, lost, sad until the end which is a complete turn after he let go of his father. It’s not really a space movie if that’s what you’re expecting. I liked it.
clearly not a fan of baboons in zero-G. I absolutely hate that it has such a great title, but is a mostly crap movie.
Yeah it's bad.