Ad Astra
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Short description
Ad Astra is set in a near future in which humanity has expanded into space, and a mysterious phenomenon is disrupting technology on Earth. Roy McBride, an astronaut and the son of a pioneering space traveler, is sent on a mission across the solar system. His father led an expedition toward Neptune years earlier in search of evidence of intelligent life and never came back, and Roy's journey becomes a search for the truth about what happened to that mission and about the force now threatening the planet.
James Gray directed and co-wrote the film with Ethan Gross, and it sits between The Lost City of Z and Armageddon Time in his filmography. Brad Pitt plays Roy and also produced, with Tommy Lee Jones as Clifford McBride, Liv Tyler as Eve, Ruth Negga as Helen Lantos and Donald Sutherland as Thomas Pruitt among a credited cast of 59. Gray's film combines drama with science fiction and was made for a budget of 88 million dollars, going on to take about 127 million dollars worldwide.
Audience response has been moderate: on IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 279,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from more than 7,400 votes. The film critics' rating stands at 7.5 out of 10 from 398 reviews, noticeably higher than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the filming of the final scene, Brad Pitt suddenly and unexpectedly began to cry, remaining in character, which was not in the script. This scene unfolded in zero gravity, and Pitt told the director that he wanted a tear not to roll down his cheek, but to float in front of his face like a droplet, and asked for this to be done using computer technology. James Gray decided not to change anything, telling Pitt that he had played the scene so well that no changes were needed.
- During the flight from Mars to Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn are mentioned, but Uranus is not mentioned at all. In reality, the planets very rarely align relative to the Sun, so the film's characters may not have even flown past Uranus. Furthermore, it is quite difficult to time a flight to Neptune to pass both Jupiter and Saturn.
- According to James Gray, he and Natasha Lyonne live in the same building. One day, while the film was in pre-production, she asked to have dinner with him. He told her about the film he was working on, she asked for a role, and he found an episodic role for her.
- Tommy Lee Jones' character says he has cataracts and can't see anything. Cataracts develop when a person is exposed to solar radiation during prolonged stays in space.
- Before the scene with the lunar rover ride, Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is informed that a full moon is approaching. However, during the ride, the Earth is visible in the lunar sky, more than half illuminated by the sun, which means that a new moon recently occurred, and therefore the full moon is still some time away.
- To depict spaceships and space itself, director James Gray chose not to use digital technology, as is common in other modern films, but instead employed models and other props. When showing the surfaces of planets, he also used non-digital techniques, relying on still frames. This same technique was used by Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) in his work on the science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968.
- Roy's ship reaches Neptune using an electro-reactive engine. This explains how he reached his destination without refueling, as it was equipped with solar panels.
- There was no voiceover in the original screenplay; it was added only during post-production. A significant portion of the voiceover was written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, who openly mocked the use of voiceover in the screenplay for Spike Jonze’s drama "Adaptation" (2002).
- The film stars Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones, and Lauren Dean. They last appeared together in Clint Eastwood's adventure film "Space Cowboys" (2000).
- According to director James Gray, he had to make concessions to the studio regarding the film's ending in order to get the green light for the project. Even with Brad Pitt starring and also serving as a producer, the studio hesitated to approve the project until the very last moment.
- According to director and screenwriter James Gray, the sound heard repeatedly at the very beginning of the film is a slightly altered and accelerated playback of the words “I love you, son,” spoken by Tommy Lee Jones’ character.
- The photographs of young Tommy Lee Jones in an orange spacesuit are stills from the film "Space Cowboys".
- When Brad Pitt's character views highly classified messages, the abbreviation “6EQUJ5” flashes on the screen. Astronomy enthusiasts immediately recognized this as the signal sequence of the “Wow!” signal, received while monitoring space in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation in 1977. The origin of the signal, which could have been the result of extraterrestrial intelligence, remains unexplained, and the signal has never been repeated.
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