Taglines: The answers we seek are just outside our reach.
As a series of immense energy surges sweep the entire solar system and the unprotected Earth, the U.S. Space Command suspects that the reasons behind the space anomaly may be the ambitious Lima Project and the renowned long-lost astronaut, Clifford McBride. Now, Clifford’s composed son and impeccable astronaut, Major Roy McBride, has to travel to the edge of the cosmos on a manned mission to the cold blue planet, Neptune, to see firsthand whether his father is still alive, and, hopefully, locate the source of a problem that threatens the stability of our vast galaxy. The answers we seek lie 4.3 billion kilometres away; however, in the unending emptiness of space, is Roy prepared to answer the ultimate question? Is anybody out there?
Ad Astra (Latin for “To the Stars”) is a 2019 American science fiction adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by James Gray. Starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland, it follows an astronaut who goes into space in search of his lost father, whose experiment threatens the Solar System. The project was announced in early 2016, with Gray saying he wanted to feature “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie”. Pitt signed on to star in April 2017 and the rest of the cast joined later that year. Filming began around Los Angeles that August, lasting through October.
Ad Astra premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 20, 2019 by 20th Century Fox. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Pitt’s performance and the strong visuals, and grossed $133 million worldwide against an $80–100 million budget. At the 92nd Academy Awards the film was nominated for Best Sound Mixing.
About the Story
In the near future, the Solar System is struck by mysterious power surges, threatening all human life. After nearly dying from an incident caused by a surge, Major Roy McBride, son of famed astronaut H. Clifford McBride, is informed by U.S. Space Command (SpaceCom) that the surges have been traced to the “Lima Project” – created 29 years earlier to search the limits of the Solar System for intelligent life, under Clifford’s leadership – from which nothing has been heard for 16 years after reaching Neptune.
Told that Clifford may still be alive, Roy accepts a mission to travel to Mars to try to establish communication with him, joined by his father’s old associate, Colonel Pruitt. Roy, famed among his fellow astronauts for keeping calm under pressure (his heart beat never being higher than 80 bpm), shows little emotional reaction to the news that his father may be alive.
After taking a commercial flight to the Moon, Roy and Pruitt are escorted by U.S. military personnel to the SpaceCom base, located in a disputed war zone on the far side of the moon. En route in lunar rovers, they are ambushed by scavenging pirates, who kill their entire escort. Upon arrival at the base, Pruitt, whose heart function worsened after suffering stress, is placed into intensive care, preparing for an urgent heart operation.
Before that, he gave Roy a classified message that if Roy should fail to communicate with his father, Clifford would have to be destroyed. Roy transfers to the ship Cepheus, bound for Mars. The ship receives a distress signal from a Norwegian biomedical research space station. Captain Tanner has the Cepheus stop to investigate despite Roy’s protests, and Roy and Tanner make their way to the station.
It appears abandoned, and the two split up, but Roy soon discovers an escaped baboon test subject feeding on Tanner, who is severely injured. It attacks Roy when it notices his presence, but he manages to kill it along with another escaped baboon that attacks him shortly thereafter. Despite Roy’s attempts to save him, Tanner dies from his injuries, and a brief service is held where Tanner’s body is ejected into space. Again, Roy shows little reaction to Tanner’s death, but in a psychological evaluation, he admits that he experiences rage and recalls his father expressing his own rage.
Another surge hits as the Cepheus lands on Mars, requiring manual piloting to complete the landing. The interim captain freezes in fear, while Roy using his vast experience as a space pilot remains calm and takes command of the ship, landing it safely. Roy is led to the underground SpaceCom base, where he meets facility director Helen Lantos and is tasked with recording voice messages to send to the Lima Project in hopes that Clifford will respond.
They don’t receive a response to their first message, so they decide to send a second message. This time Roy goes off-script with an emotional appeal to his father. This time his father sends a response, and SpaceCom makes plans for a new mission, but they don’t let Roy take part in it, since his personal connection would pose a risk to the mission’s success. Roy’s demand to hear the response is ignored, and he is summarily removed to a “comfort room”.
Ad Astra (2019)
Directed by: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, Kimmy Shields, John Ortiz, Jamie Kennedy, Kimberly Elise, LisaGay Hamilton, Sasha Compère, Alyson Reed, Halszka Kuza
Screenplay by: James Gray, Ethan Gross
Production Design by: Kevin Thompson
Cinematography by: Hoyte Van Hoytema
Film Editing by: John Axelrad, Lee Haugen
Costume Design by: Albert Wolsky
Set Decoration by: Karen O’Hara
Art Direction by: Kevin Constant, Christa Munro, Alison Sadler, David Scott, Gary Warshaw
Music by: Max Richter
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violence and bloody images, and for brief strong language.
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: September 20, 2019
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