[Movie] Ad Astra [SPOILERS]

[Jaymann]

I wanted to like this more than I did. I get that the focus was on Brad Pitt's character development, but there were some things that really bugged me:

Pirates on the moon? Seriously?

Baboons in space? Seriously?

Complete disregard for celestial mechanics. The trajectories to reach mars would have to be planned out to the letter. No possibility of answering a Mayday. And why would the captain leave the ship?

Climbing a rocket as it takes off without burning to a crisp.

Crew on the Neptune flight freaking out and attacking Roy.

Roy hijacked the Neptune mission that was going to destroy his father's project, presumably to save his father. So he lets his father die and destroys the project.

No apparent punishment to Roy for the hijack or killing of the crew.

They didn't even confirm that destroying the Neptune project stopped the surges.

YMMV

[TheMix]

I'd agree with most of those. And the initial sentiment. We saw it last night.

I'm willing to let some things just go unexplained, or partially explained.

There was a throw-away comment that he made about "fighting for resources". So I think that kind of covers the pirates. Barely. If you squint.
It was also mentioned that the mayday was for a place that did animal testing. So I let that one pass. Clearly the baboons were the subjects of the tests. I forget the rest, maybe testing a disease that caused the baboons to go crazy?

It did bother me how much of the actual science of space travel was completely disregarded. Mars to Neptune in 79 days? Seems unlikely using conventional fuel. But then why did they still use rockets? I think what they probably wanted us to accept is that they have an alternative source of power for the ships that allows for in-flight changes (slowing, stopping, maneuvering, accelerating). That would let them answer the mayday. But it would also mean that the energy source was nearly limitless, for all intents and purposes. So why then did he need to use the explosion at the end for acceleration? Unless they want you to think that he needed the rocket initially for the acceleration. But then see the comment about fuel above; and that would make stopping for a mayday impossible. And we'd be back to your comments about celestial mechanics.

I was less bothered by him climbing into the rocket. I just assumed he got in before the flames. HOWEVER, what the hell happened to the force of acceleration??? They were moving around like it was zero g when the rocket was still accelerating.

I agree that the crew attacking him was just stupid. So many more ways that could have been resolved. That felt like a pretense just so they could advance the story to where they wanted it.

The lack of punishment I think was addressed by the earlier comment that Space Command cared more about their image than the truth. They'd already made his father into a hero. My guess is that they did the same thing with him. Though I'm skeptical that they'd ever let him into space again (as the last scene implied).

I agree that in the end he seemed to give up on his father pretty quickly. But I let that go.

And I think we just have to assume that the surge issue was fixed since he was back on the planet and everything seemed to be "back to normal".

Parts of it I liked. I do like those kinds of movies. However, in the end, I agree that I did not like it as much as I wanted to.

[gameoverman]

I haven't seen the movie and don't anticipate seeing it until it's on video, but what's wrong with pirates on the Moon? The idea I mean. If there is money to be made somewhere, and a way for people to get there and make that money, rest assured someone will do it. If there's enough money to support the effort, a gang will form to do it.

So, in theory, if Moon piracy pays then there will be pirates there. The only way to stop it would be to strictly limit the number of people on the Moon and the access people who are allowed to be there have to pirate friendly areas and resources. If the Moon is depicted more like a transportation hub, with lots of people coming and going, and no one really pays attention to who is going where on the Moon, then piracy would be easy.

[TheMix]

It's not really clear what the purpose is. There is a comment about the pirates stealing the vehicles, but it's hard to see what they really get out of that. It's not that they are raiding transport "trains" filled with resources. Honestly it really comes across as an excuse to have an action scene in a movie that doesn't have much action.

[gilraen]

It's not really clear what the purpose is. There is a comment about the pirates stealing the vehicles, but it's hard to see what they really get out of that. It's not that they are raiding transport "trains" filled with resources. Honestly it really comes across as an excuse to have an action scene in a movie that doesn't have much action.

I thought purpose was to injure Col. Pruitt (Donald Sutherland's character), so he would have to stay behind AND reveal additional top secret information to Brad Pitt's character. In a similar vein, the purpose of the failed rescue on the research vessel was to kill off the competent captain and leave behind the incompetent one.

[TheMix]

Good point.

"You'd think that it would be tricky to advance the plot."

"Not at all. Super easy. Barely an inconvenience."

[Holman]

I haven't seen the movie, but are they really "pirates"? Because to be pirates they would have to be totally independent operators who somehow controlled independent infrastructure and life-support and hidden resources... on Earth's moon.

Shadowy disavowable foreign-national spec ops I could possibly believe, but not pirates operating outside the international high-tech order. There's just no way.

[Holman]

Good point.

"You'd think that it would be tricky to advance the plot."

"Not at all. Super easy. Barely an inconvenience."

Has Screen Rant covered this one yet?

[TheMix]

Oooo.... I was just watching a bunch. I'll have to check.

As for the pirates. That's what they called them. The impression I got is that they definitely fall more into the latter category than the former.

[Alefroth]

It's Astra.

[gameoverman]

It's not really clear what the purpose is. There is a comment about the pirates stealing the vehicles, but it's hard to see what they really get out of that. It's not that they are raiding transport "trains" filled with resources. Honestly it really comes across as an excuse to have an action scene in a movie that doesn't have much action.

If it happened on Earth, and the vehicles were ships, would it still be hard to see what they get out of it? I'd assume those vehicles have value to someone.

[pr0ner]

It's not really clear what the purpose is. There is a comment about the pirates stealing the vehicles, but it's hard to see what they really get out of that. It's not that they are raiding transport "trains" filled with resources. Honestly it really comes across as an excuse to have an action scene in a movie that doesn't have much action.

I thought purpose was to injure Col. Pruitt (Donald Sutherland's character), so he would have to stay behind AND reveal additional top secret information to Brad Pitt's character. In a similar vein, the purpose of the failed rescue on the research vessel was to kill off the competent captain and leave behind the incompetent scared one.

FTFY.

[$iljanus]

It's not really clear what the purpose is. There is a comment about the pirates stealing the vehicles, but it's hard to see what they really get out of that. It's not that they are raiding transport "trains" filled with resources. Honestly it really comes across as an excuse to have an action scene in a movie that doesn't have much action.

If it happened on Earth, and the vehicles were ships, would it still be hard to see what they get out of it? I'd assume those vehicles have value to someone.

They were probably after the Blaupunkt rover stereo cassette deck.

[gameoverman]

I finally saw this recently, I liked it a lot. It had me interested in what was going on from beginning to end. It's basically Apocalypse Now in space. Remember when Willard didn't want to stop on the river to inspect that boat? Remember the voice over during which Willard ruminates on Kurtz while traveling to find him? Remember the sketchy military/intelligence guys testing Willard and offering him the mission? This movie has all that, just dressed up differently.

I buy that the Moon is the wild west, lawless. What bothered me was how it played out. They know the ground they are crossing is very dangerous. There is NO reason why anyone else would need to ride along side their convoy. Therefore if you see anyone you immediately destroy them. Yet they chatter amongst themselves as they watch the buggies get closer and closer. Then it turns out they have no defensive plan other than run for it and fire a couple of pistols at the pirates.

The science of it didn't bother me because I think this is one of those stories where you just have to accept the premise or don't watch the movie. Humanity has the means to fly people to Neptune and back like it's no big deal. How they get to Mars and take side trips is not a consideration compared to that.

I liked the resolution. I think he was going to destroy it all, but then it turned out dear old dad was still alive. So the new plan is to bring dad and his data back, while still destroying the station. Then he realized that his dad was not fit to come back, so he went back to his first plan. Letting his dad go is a metaphor for him letting the obsessive space traveler side of himself go, which allows him to return home reborn much like the star child in 2001.

[McNutt]

I saw this last night and was not a fan.

As mentioned:
Pirates on the moon - What in the hell would they hope to get by attacking a few rovers? I don't think that's going to cover their operating costs.
Baboons in space - I don't have a problem with baboons being in space or killing their handlers. What I have a problem with is its inclusion in this movie. It didn't fit. Much like the pirates scene, this was used just to provide weak action.
Rocket travel - So after leaving the moon with what appeared to be a solid fuel rocket, the rocket came to a stop in space without needing to turn around and do another burn. Then it just started up again from a stop to go to Mars.
Boarding the Martian rocket - What in the hell??? I mean everything about that scene was crap.

I think someone liked the self-discovery idea of this screenplay and then had their 12-year-old son jazz it up.

The only thing I'm okay with was Pitt feeling that he was necessary, even though he didn't save his dad and blew up the ship, which was the goal of the others' mission too. I think Pitt's character felt that only he had a chance of getting on board and saving the data, which was critical to him as it didn't waste his dad's work.

[gameoverman]

I have to watch it again. I didn't get the impression that saving the data was something he cared about, or even knew there was data to save, until after he saw his dad. I know I would not be setting up the bomb until after I had done whatever else I was going to do first. He went straight into bomb setup mode, which is why I thought that was his only concern up to that moment.