Ad Astra (2019)

Poster design by BLT Communications, LLC
Source: Impawards

In my view…

The film Ad Astra is a psychological thriller which story takes mostly place in space. Astronaut major Roy McBride is asked to make contact with his long lost father in space, astronaut dr. Clifford McBride. The organisation thinks he is still alive and the key to the success or failure of the Lima project. This leads to difficult decisions based on minimal communication. In the story of the film there are no lengthy conversations so nearly everything is kept as small as possible and as efficient as possible.

Now and then I think that a longer conversation would be a nice addition to the story of the film. A bit more depth giving to the characters and the relationships inbetween them. The Lima project is well explained and the music is carefully chosen.

Filming

In the film I did not discover filming errors, or they are hard to discover if they are there. Because something filmed as being in space is difficult to estimate the measuring of the real distance and if the character keeps the same distance when a new scene follows.

The graphics of the space seen in this film are incredibly beautiful! And the pace of the film is now and then, especially in space of course, quite slow. But it has also it’s quick scenes and events. The combination of the scenes and the music is really good, I think I like it even more than the original older Star Wars films and Star Trek Discovery series. It is one of the best spacial films I have seen so far.

I wonder if we one day could see the real images of the stuff that is imagined in the film. If it really is that similar. Of course there is a difference between what you see with your own eyes and what you are able to capture on camera. Except for microscopic views or telescopic views because of the distance. The ‘Theory of Colors‘ by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe will then probably be expanded when we discover more secrets of the universe.

Characters

Roy McBride is the main character of the film and his dad Clifford McBride is the most comprehensive side character. There are several other side characters in the film but most of them are not elaborated. Some side characters are so shallow but play an important role in the decision making in the story, that I do not know if I like or dislike that character. I can elaborate on the two main characters, but then spoilers would arise. So there is not much more to say about the characters. Fancy outfits and gear they have for astronauts and the teams around them though. Nice costume designs!

Trailer

Ad Astra | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX
Published by: 20th Century Studios
Views: 8M+

Film Facts:

Title: Ad Astra
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Mystery
Director: James Gray
Screenwriter: James Gray / Ethan Gross
Music by: Max Richter
Country: China / United States of America
Filming Locations: Santa Clarita, California, United States of America
Language spoken: English / Norwegian
Release Date: 29 August 2019 (IT) – Venice Film Festival
Time: 123 min
Production Companies: New Regency Pictures, Bona Film Group, Keep Your Head, MadRiver Pictures, Plan B Entertainment, RT Features, Regency Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox
IMDb rating: 6,6 / 10 Stars
Rating: 8

I hope you like the film too. It is worth to watch it! I am not telling about the story too much, you have to watch the film yourself and make your own opinion.