"Ad Astra": theatrical film with Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones

[QuantumG]

Just from the comments of the director made in video above - he mentions Space Pirates. How do you have space pirates in the next 50-100 years?

Wooo... I writing prompt!

It was an early Thursday morning when the 103rd launch of SpaceX's Starship Mk41 entered terminal countdown. To say that the Boca Chica base security was unprepared for a water assault from across the border would be an understatement. Although no attempt was made to abort the launch, the radio frequency jamming would have prevented it in any case. In under a minute these - and there really is no other appropriate word - pirates transformed what was expected to be another routine Starlink satellite replenishment launch into a bloodbath. Their crude spacesuits alone seemed sufficient to reach orbit, but reports indicate the hijackers utilized an on-site crane to load life support and other equipment that had mysteriously gone missing from a Mars training site six months earlier. Investigators would later discover that three of the members of that training group were complicit in the heist. Where the merry band of marauders went after they passed beyond Lunar orbit is still unknown - as most all of us have heard several hundred times, space monitoring systems are not designed for tracking vehicles that don't want to be tracked. However it seems likely that a rendezvous was made with the near-Earth asteroid (2019 QY3) that passed within 3 lunar distances around the time of the launch. Will we ever hear from this black sheep offshoot of humanity again? Only time will tell.

 

[Eric Hedman]

My two cents.  We can't have a real discussion about the movie without spoilers.  Do you want that here before you see the movie?

I'm fine with it.

Spoiler: Here's how to post spoilers.

Or something.

Does anyone else object to spoilers?

[KelvinZero]

Now I almost want to watch this movie so I can discuss how bad it is with you guys

[Ben the Space Brit]

To me, the movie is about humanity using the backdrop of a pop culture version of realistic space exploration as a backdrop and staging. It's about what we define as 'success' and 'worth' and also more than a little about how we confront difficulties and setbacks.

It isn't anti-space, but the writers clearly wanted to address (but didn't really manage to) the logical outgrowth of the commercialisation of space. If you have resources, crime of one sort or another will follow. Where you have people, all their problems will follow because being on the Moon or Mars does not serve as a magic wand for the human condition.

There is little more I can add without verging into spoilers but I have to add this point: This film isn't anti-space. If it has a political message it is that, if we put too narrow a definition of 'worth' and 'success' on our endeavours, it will poison everything that we do. Rather, if space is to be a part of humanity's future, we must identify and take with us the best parts of humanity rather than try to wall ourselves off from it.

[mme]

I vote spoilers are fine with a warning up front and/or text that requires highlighting. Otherwise this might as well be a poll with no discussion.

[ncb1397]

My two cents.  We can't have a real discussion about the movie without spoilers.  Do you want that here before you see the movie?

I'm fine with it.

Spoiler: Here's how to post spoilers.

Or something.

You want to use the color markup but you want to use "color=#E6E6E6" instead of "color=white". Here is an example....

Brad Pitt blah blah blah Tommy Lee Jones blah blah blah This move sucks blah blah blah

[Eric Hedman]

Spoiler: I have several problems with the story line, the technical details, character development, and acting in the movie.  They are in part as follow:

Brad Pitt travels to the Moon to board a ship going to Mars.  His purpose is to send a message to his father who is in Neptune orbit to get him to respond because it is suspected he is alive.  At Mars they broadcast via laser to Neptune orbit.  Why does he have to go to Mars to do this?  If for some strange reason they couldn't send a message from Earth to Neptune, couldn't they just send the message from Earth to Mars to rebroadcast?

The buggy trip to the far side of the Moon during which they get attacked by pirates is to go to where they launch from the surface direct to Mars.  When they launch to Mars they expend a first stage and are on a 17 day trajectory to Mars.  They must have one hell of a high thrust delta V capability which makes you wonder why they had to expend the first stage as they climbed from the Moon.

On the way to Mars they stop at a Norwegian space station to find out what has gone wrong there.  They find killer primates loose in the station that have killed the crew.  okay!!!!

The surges from Neptune that are disrupting systems on the Earth, the Moon and on Mars make no sense.  There is the vague reference to anti-matter at Neptune causing these surges that are messing up systems around the solar system except for the underground Mars base.  Neptune is 30 AU from the Sun.  The amount of energy released at Neptune to saturate the inner solar system would be massive and yet the small old ship in Neptune orbit right at the source of this energy release is untouched.

For some reason in this story people in space have weird mental problems.  Brad Pitt is frequently having his mental state checked by a computer.  His father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, has flipped out and killed his crew out by Neptune.  When Brad Pitt sneaks aboard the ship to Neptune, the crew is ordered to stop him, they completely incompetently manage to kill themselves so Brad Pitt goes alone to Neptune to confront his father who is alone because his crew is also dead.  Who comes up with drivel like this?
 
When Brad Pitt goes out in a space suit chasing his father in Neptune orbit he has some magical propulsive force to return to the old ship.  Then he grabs on to the spinning radar antenna and rips a panel of to protect himself for being flung through Neptune's ring.  The spinning radar antenna manages to fling him straight to his ship at a significant distance.  He's holding a the panel he ripped free from the radar antenna in front of him as a shield to protect himself from the chunks in the ring.  I bet more people consider walking out during this scene.  The physics is stretching reality significantly.

Tommy Lee Jones was on a mission to determine if there was life anywhere else in the universe why he and his crew who were out of contact with Earth for a decade and a half had to go to Neptune for this mission is never really explained.  Why with ships that could make the journey in 79 days they waited so long to go find out what was going on also makes no sense.

Brooding for 2 hours is not acting.  There is no real character development.  This movie basically sucked.  The whole movie is incoherent.  The story would have been better if the pirates had eye patches, swords and parrots.  They should have had the pirates kidnap Liv Tyler and make the story about rescuing her.  It would at least have been fun.

[sanman]

I never liked  Interstellar much either. So this sounds to be of roughly the same quality.

[Eric Hedman]

I never liked  Interstellar much either. So this sounds to be of roughly the same quality.

I would agree with the comparison.

[john smith 19]

Saw the movie.

Brad Pitt plays a hero astronaut whose heart rate has never gone above 80 BPM no matter what.

Sadly my heart rate didn't either. 

Afterward I was thinking
a) Should have seen the other Pitt movie, the Tarantino one.
b) The Martian felt more scientifically accurate.
c) Gravity was more exciting.

[jcopella]

This movie was gawd-awful. Painfully bad. It's a message movie, the message is "toxic masculinity is bad" (as if we needed to be told), and all of the sci-fi and spaceflight trappings are just excess baggage.

If you really think this movie was about "toxic masculinity", you cannot have paid attention. I'm not defending the movie, but that is so far off-track.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I paid attention. Me and around 716,000 other people, apparently.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ad+astra+toxic+masculinity

Maybe you need to be open to less literal interpretations of the film?

[QuantumG]

Maybe you need to be open to less literal interpretations of the film?

Yes, I just quietly waiting for another "what this film is about" and got another "why don't they do space right?"

Anyone else have opinions about what the message of this film is? What does it say? Does it tell people to think a certain way? Does it challenge any preconceptions?

[jcopella]

Maybe you need to be open to less literal interpretations of the film?

Yes, I just quietly waiting for another "what this film is about" and got another "why don't they do space right?"

Anyone else have opinions about what the message of this film is? What does it say? Does it tell people to think a certain way? Does it challenge any preconceptions?

It says that the complex of behaviors we've come to associate with "toxic masculinity" -- repressed anger and rage, thoughtless striving in pursuit of an abstract goal, cutting oneself off from one's own emotional life and denying oneself meaningful connections and relationships with other people -- leads to destruction, catastrophe, and death. Redemption comes thru letting these behaviors go, reaching out for help, and establishing and nurturing relationships with people.

It's a fairly pedestrian and obvious message. In fact, it's so obvious and pedestrian I'm surprised anyone could watch it and think it was about anything else. The movie fairly well telegraphs the message in its first 60 seconds, and then beats you over the head with it for the remaining (seemingly interminable) two hours and four minutes.

It's certainly not about space. Space just provides the setting for flashy VFX they could put in previews to draw in an unsuspecting audience, and a convenient, if outdated, archetype (the typical NASA astronaut, ca. 1967) to use as a negative example.

I don't think the movie is challenging and I don't think it's going to change anyone's preconceived notions -- unless maybe they had a preconceived notion that this would be a good movie.

[john smith 19]

Yes, I just quietly waiting for another "what this film is about"

It's about half an hour too long. 

Sorry. Couldn't pass that one up. Y'know. Worse angels of my nature and all that.

Anyone else have opinions about what the message of this film is? What does it say? Does it tell people to think a certain way? Does it challenge any preconceptions?

Well things like
1) people may build their whole lives round role models who are fundamentally unworthy. They may do extraordinary things motivated by the deeds of someone who basically turns out to be a bit of Ahole.
2) If all the evidence  tells you you're wrong you're not "dedicated" or "committed,"(except in the mental hosptal sense of the word)  you're a fanboi.
3)  Tactical nuclear weapons do sometimes solve problems.

Other than that the back ground to how humans expand across the solar system is so sketchy as to be meaningless. 

Somewhat like Sunshine.
 Visually impressive.
 Wants to make a make some sort of profound statement about human relationships.
Fails to do so. 

[JohnF]

One word....Boring

[CameronD]

All I'll add about this is that apparently the Director was quoted as saying he wanted to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie".  ..and then we see our hero climbing into a rocket seconds from launch via a hatch in the bottom, setting off a "hull breach" alarm.

And Lockheed-Martin put their name to this drivel?  Right.  Next!!!

[Hog]

All I'll add about this is that apparently the Director was quoted as saying he wanted to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie".  ..and then we see our hero climbing into a rocket seconds from launch via a hatch in the bottom, setting off a "hull breach" alarm.

And Lockheed-Martin put their name to this drivel?  Right.  Next!!!

Emphasis mine:

{These types of things happened all the time during the history of human spaceflight.
You do realize that the T-31 hold for STS-135 really had nothing to do with an "error with the reported position of the crew access arm", right?  NASA simply showed a frozen pic of the Crew Access Arm in its fully retracted position and made up the audio that they broadcasted over NASA-TV.  Meanwhile Pilot Doug Hurley scrambled across the access arm, pulled the side hatch closed behind him, passed through the empty Mid deck up to the Flight Deck and jumped into his front right seat. Chris Ferguson(Commander) sitting in the front right seat just shook his head in disbelief when Hurley looked over and said
"Don't even start with me Fergie, now here, hold my coffee while I strap in and close/lock my visor. 
Commander Ferguson looks over and says "Hey "Chunky" don't forget to initiate O2 flow, we don't want our prime "Jarhead" Pilot going hypoxic before he gets his morning coffee. I told Karen that I'd bring you back in one piece. (astronaut Karen Nyberg and astronaut Doug Hurley are married)
I don't think that Shuttle had a "hull breach" alarm though. Perhaps it had a "Side Hatch Ajar" alarm?}
{j/k}

[Kansan52]

Went to "Downton Abbey" last week. Never seen any of the series before the movie but was engaged with the story and cared about the characters.

Saw "Ad Astra" in Imax Saturday. Never cared for the characters (felt some sympathy for the dead ones). Didn't hear an explanation why they needed to launch on the far side of the moon. Going through the sewer on Mars to get to the rocket, huh? Launch with a hatch open???

And I set my expectations low. The director said they were going for realism by talking to active astronauts but did not include speaking to Anyone Else as the background info sent my expectations plummeting.

[CameronD]

All I'll add about this is that apparently the Director was quoted as saying he wanted to feature "the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie".  ..and then we see our hero climbing into a rocket seconds from launch via a hatch in the bottom, setting off a "hull breach" alarm.

And Lockheed-Martin put their name to this drivel?  Right.  Next!!!

Emphasis mine:

{These types of things happened all the time during the history of human spaceflight.
You do realize that the T-31 hold for STS-135 really had nothing to do with an "error with the reported position of the crew access arm", right?  NASA simply showed a frozen pic of the Crew Access Arm in its fully retracted position and made up the audio that they broadcasted over NASA-TV.  Meanwhile Pilot Doug Hurley scrambled across the access arm, pulled the side hatch closed behind him, passed through the empty Mid deck up to the Flight Deck and jumped into his front right seat. Chris Ferguson(Commander) sitting in the front right seat just shook his head in disbelief when Hurley looked over and said
"Don't even start with me Fergie, now here, hold my coffee while I strap in and close/lock my visor. 
Commander Ferguson looks over and says "Hey "Chunky" don't forget to initiate O2 flow, we don't want our prime "Jarhead" Pilot going hypoxic before he gets his morning coffee. I told Karen that I'd bring you back in one piece. (astronaut Karen Nyberg and astronaut Doug Hurley are married)
I don't think that Shuttle had a "hull breach" alarm though. Perhaps it had a "Side Hatch Ajar" alarm?}
{j/k}

Yeah..  It's just that I never realised before that propellant tanks were optional, thus freeing up a large internal volume for fight scenes.  Maybe rocket engines of the "near future" run on imagination.. 

 

[CameronD]

Went to "Downton Abbey" last week. Never seen any of the series before the movie but was engaged with the story and cared about the characters.

Saw "Ad Astra" in Imax Saturday. Never cared for the characters (felt some sympathy for the dead ones). Didn't hear an explanation why they needed to launch on the far side of the moon. Going through the sewer on Mars to get to the rocket, huh? Launch with a hatch open???

IIRC, they needed to launch on the far side of the moon 'cause it's dark, so no-one could see them.

I hear from my niece and nephew that "Dora The Explorer" is quite good.