Current Events > I thought ad astra was... *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Really good!

As expected I liked the more overt sci fi bent of this compared to the other more human or "science" focused one's. Some real Blade Runner vibes from parts. I also think this film does an extremely good job at emphasising the distances involved and the growing isolation experienced as they go deeper into space. Like I was thinking about this while driving home I liked that aspect so much.

It does a really good job at tense setpieces too. Iirc people don't like the space ape part but I thought it was a good way of building in a more conventional 'horror' setpiece without introducing alien life or w/e.

If I were to point to some things I didn't like as much: (1) the voice overs seemed very forced and like something added post production 90% of the time. There was a late film one about his father being disillusioned about not finding intelligent life which was good but otherwise ehhh and (2) after building up so well, I could see how the ending might seem like an anti climax. Personally I still enjoyed the performances and the ideas touched upon but I get it.

Anyway yeah, that's my write up. @Parappa09 get in here

I thought it was very boring and bland.

The settings and some of the shots of space were awesome. But, outside of Pitt's character there were no other characters that were interesting or even developed at all. Lots of people have flashes for a few minutes but you learned nothing about them and then they were gone and out.

It was a lot of just like a very emotionally bland character in a bland movie.

Worth watching on HBO or netflix or something but I wouldn't recommend anyone pay to watch it by itself.
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Malfunction posted...

As expected I liked the more overt sci fi bent of this compared to the other more human or "science" focused one's. Some real Blade Runner vibes from parts.

first of all i'm super glad you liked it. i felt it was destiny. and to be honest, there was some parts where it did feel like 2001 as well

Malfunction posted...

I also think this film does an extremely good job at emphasising the distances involved and the growing isolation experienced as they go deeper into space.

i agree, i liked how they conveyed all the journeys in the film. i was a bit ehhh about the space buggy fight but i loved all the trips and voyages across space. and i thought brad pitt did a decent job acting too

Malfunction posted...

It does a really good job at tense setpieces too. Iirc people don't like the space ape part but I thought it was a good way of building in a more conventional 'horror' setpiece without introducing alien life or w/e.

i dunno man, that was the one scene that took me out of the film and made me wonder what the hell was going on >.> to me it felt like the director wanted more action and the end result was screaming mutant primates

Malfunction posted...

If I were to point to some things I didn't like as much: (1) the voice overs seemed very forced and like something added post production 90% of the time. There was a late film one about his father being disillusioned about not finding intelligent life which was good but otherwise ehhh and (2) after building up so well, I could see how the ending might seem like an anti climax.

i didn't mind the voice overs too much tbh, i felt it was kinda needed to understand more of his psychology towards SPACECOM and finding his father. there wasn't a continuous love interest or best friend with him all the way, so i guess they had to do a VO.

i dunno how i felt about the romance with liv tyler too. and i did watch ad astra at midnight after watching marriage story. so maybe that's why i was harsh towards the film.

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whitelytning posted...

I thought it was very boring and bland.

The settings and some of the shots of space were awesome. But, outside of Pitt's character there were no other characters that were interesting or even developed at all. Lots of people have flashes for a few minutes but you learned nothing about them and then they were gone and out.

It was a lot of just like a very emotionally bland character in a bland movie.

Worth watching on HBO or netflix or something but I wouldn't recommend anyone pay to watch it by itself.

this pretty much sums up how I felt about it. zero character development = boring ass movie.
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Old NoiseTank posted...

this pretty much sums up how I felt about it. zero character development = boring ass movie.

it was beautiful though, but this definitely ranks lower in sci-fi films this decade

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Parappa09 posted...

Old NoiseTank posted...

this pretty much sums up how I felt about it. zero character development = boring ass movie.

it was beautiful though, but this definitely ranks lower in sci-fi films this decade

agree some great shots in there. too bad everything else about the movie was boring af.
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I typed out a whole damn post and pressed back by accident >:(

Anyway, I think it's a bit unfair to say there's 'zero character development'. There is a very clear arc of sorts that the main character goes through from beginning to end. That said, I almost dislike that vaguely hopeful note it ends on after hammering home this bleak banality for so much of the film.

I've made the point before but for me, in what I broadly call the fan theory era, I have a lot more respect for media that lets things hang in the ether rather than trying desperately to explain them away or create some internal logic for them (within reason). I saw somebody complain that the ape thing wasn't "explained" elsewhere or it wasn't returned to for a neater resolution and I was just likewho cares dude lmao. People get way too caught up in picking apart minutiae details like that imo.

That said, my suspension of disbelief def took a hit when Brad started asteroid surfing and using explosion propulsion lol.

Bump

The best description of it that I've read was 2 hours of Brad Pitt being sad in space.
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one of my colleagues said the colours reminded him of blade runner 2049, and i thought of what you said

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maybe it was me

i wish, working with you would be a blast

esp since i work in TV/film so yeeee

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I thought it was great, but I can definitely understand some of the arguments against it

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I thought it looked great and introduced a lot of really cool concepts, but unfortunately they all lead to nothing. Most of the film was just Brad Pitt doing stuff totally unrelated to the final revelation of the story.
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Parappa09 posted...

i wish, working with you would be a blast

esp since i work in TV/film so yeeee

It would :3

Tbh I gotta say that while certain parts of the films colours did remind me of blade runner, it was really moreso other things that brought about the comparison. Like the overall loneliness of it, or the scale of the travel involved (more of a 2049 thing). I'd actually say the film has a lot more blues and muted colours going on but i guess it gets quite red and growingly industrial by the time Mars rolls around, appropriately.