*** AD ASTRA *** (Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones)

27,685 Views | 188 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by oragator
TCTTS
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AG
The much-anticipated first trailer is apparently set to drop at some point after midnight tonight, which hopefully means midnight eastern, but we'll see. Either way, it's debuting with Dark Phoenix, which hits UK theaters tomorrow morning (Wednesday), so it should be online before then.

From director James Gray (The Lost City of Z, The Immigrant, Two Lovers), here's the synopsis...

Quote:

Two decades after his father (played by Tommy Lee Jones) embarked on a one-way mission to Neptune looking for sings of extra-terrestrial life, Army Corps engineer Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) takes it upon himself to travel to the outer edges of the solar system for answers. Along the way, he begins to uncover secrets that could reveal a threat to our planet's survival.

Gray is one of my favorite directors - if anything, this should at least look stunning, based on his previous work - and him doing what basically sounds like Apocalypse Now set in space is easily one of my most anticipated movies for the rest of the year. So incredibly curious to see what this is like.

Ad Astra hits theaters on September 20...

TCTTS
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I'm probably the only one here waiting up for this, but in case not, I just came across this weird/foreign "upcoming premiere" link on YouTube that says "Premieres in 3 hours," so it's looking like midnight pacific as opposed to midnight eastern. But seeing as I'm pacific I'll definitely be up and will post whenever it hits, so most of you guys should have it in the morning...

TCTTS
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TCTTS
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Honestly, I was expecting something a little more... meditative... or "artistic," for lack of a better word; something not quite as plot-heavy and expository. In other words, this very much looks like your "standard" sci-fi blockbuster, but I guess that's not a bad thing, necessarily. Because it still looks damn good. And the last minute or so is certainly more along the lines of the vibe I was envisioning from the likes of James Gray, with a great score and some truly beautiful imagery. I think it's the action elements that really threw me for a loop, but I'm coming around. I need to watch it a couple more times to really get a feel...
TCTTS
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Seems I'm not alone...

TCTTS
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Awesome poster...

C@LAg
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Sine poena nulla lex.
TCTTS
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I've never read Heart of Darkness, but I think I get the gist. Also, it's worth noting - something I just saw someone say on Twitter - that this trailer is definitely edited to be a trailer that plays before an X-Men movie. So I'm sure they're really highlighting all the action here, but you can definitely see something a little more profound/darker below the surface...
C@LAg
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Sine poena nulla lex.
TCTTS
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Gotcha. And yeah, I mentioned Apocalypse Now in the OP, so that makes sense.
C@LAg
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Sine poena nulla lex.
double aught
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Looks pretty interesting. September seems like an odd release date though.

Relatedly, I'm really happy with all the sci-fi movies Hollywood has put our in the last decade. It's one of my favorite genres, and it's been a nice run.
TCTTS
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It was supposed to release Memorial Day Weekend - as in a couple weeks ago - so Fox *did* have big summer plans for it. That said, A) the director admitted a couple months prior that he didn't think they were going to hit that mark because the effects likely weren't going to be ready yet (and it sounded genuine, not like some studio BS trying to cover up a bad movie), and B) Disney bought Fox in the interim, and weren't going to release a movie on the same weekend as one of their own blockbusters (Aladdin). So by that time there really weren't many slots left the rest of the year. October already has Joker and Gemini Man, and November has Terminator and then all the holiday fare kicks off soon after. So it looks like they simply choose the last remaining viable spot - right in between It: Chapter 2 and Joker, with two weeks separating themselves on either side.
double aught
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Thanks for the info. It's still weird to me that Disney owns Fox now. If they put the 20th Century Fox fanfare at the beginning of Rise of Skywalker, I'll do a backflip in the theater.
Claude!
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Based on the trailer, looks like there's a lot of per aspera involved in the ad astra.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Yeah, I'm leaving in this in the "Question mark" category of my BO predictions.

I'll definitely check it out, but it just doesn't feel like it'll have mass appeal like a Gravity or The Martian.

I think Brad Pitt's star power could only do so much. I'm seeing more of a "Passengers" situation, tbh.

We'll see, I guess.
schmendeler
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it looks like something potentially in the same vein as 2001, to me. something to make you rethink what space travel/exploration will really be like.

I'm solidly in.

edit: it also reminds me a bit of the three body problem, which was excellent.
veryfuller
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Staff
AG
Yeah I'm assuming all the action in that trailer equals all the action in the movie. I'm very intrigued. It looks beautiful. Contemplative Sci-Fi (as I like to call it) is my favorite sub-genre, so I am in for this for sure.
malenurse
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Well, at least they're not sending Matt Damon into space again.
The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But, it's still on the list.
bobinator
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schmendeler said:

it looks like something potentially in the same vein as 2001, to me.
I don't get that vibe at all.

It looks to me like Gravity meets the first half of The Cloverfield Paradox.

I'll wait for some more trailers to come out though, I expect this movie will be a lot weirder than this trailer indicates.
OldArmy71
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From the hints in the trailer, it does have a sort of Apocalypse Now (not Heart of Darkness) vibe.

(The major difference between AN and HD is that the "Marlow" character in AN is sent to assassinate the "Kurtz" character. In HD, the Kurtz character is dying of fever when Marlow finds him and eventually dies before Marlow can get him back to civilization.)

Just speculating, but as in AN, Brad Pitt seems to be sent on a mission to "terminate with extreme prejudice" his own father, who has gone off the rails and is in possession of something that is a threat to the entire planet.
israeliag
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double aught said:

Relatedly, I'm really happy with all the sci-fi movies Hollywood has put our in the last decade. It's one of my favorite genres, and it's been a nice run.
It really has been a great time for it. Interstellar alone would have been sufficient, but also The Martian, Arrival, Her, and Ex Machina have been great (plus the small screen's The Expanse and Westworld).

---
Edit: Add Love. Death. Robots to the small screen list.
tk for tu juan
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Moral to the story: If you date/marry Liv Tyler, you will probably end up in space on a life or death mission.
TCTTS
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TCTTS
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(I've seen Armageddon so many times I may or may not still be able to recite this entire scene.)
PatAg
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That scene with the Red and Black lighting is the type of vibe I like from this film
TCTTS
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Exact same thought. I'm really hoping there's a lot more of this kind of vibe later in the film...



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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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TCTTS said:

(I've seen Armageddon so many times I may or may not still be able to recite this entire scene.)
Michael Bay gets a lot of flak for his movies, but Armageddon is one of those that I will watch repeatedly ... so much so that once not too long ago, I stopped on it while going through the channels and the wife said, oh hell no!
Brian Earl Spilner
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You think anybody else in the world is doing this very same thing at this very same moment?
TCTTS
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I hope so. Otherwise, what the hell are we trying to save?
Ag Since 83
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I scrolled to the bottom of this thread intending to post exactly what BES did to see if TC would respond.

Thank you both
TCTTS
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Gigem314
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Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

TCTTS said:

(I've seen Armageddon so many times I may or may not still be able to recite this entire scene.)
Michael Bay gets a lot of flak for his movies, but Armageddon is one of those that I will watch repeatedly ... so much so that once not too long ago, I stopped on it while going through the channels and the wife said, oh hell no!
Love that movie.

TCTTS
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New trailer tomorrow...

 
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