Space, the final frontier. No, this isn’t a Star Trek pod, we’re looking at the new Brad Pitt space saga, Ad Astra. Film editor Marisa Carpico, and senior writer Matt Gilbert look at the James Gray directed saga.
Marisa and Matt talk about Pitt’s performance, the visuals of the film, if the movie has Oscar potential, and more.
The film was released on September 20, 2019 and scored a strong $22.7 million opening — Pitt’s best opening as a solo headliner since 2013’s World War Z. (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had a $40 million + opening).
Ad Astra was written by director James Gray (Lost City of Z, Little Odessa) and Ethan Gross (Fringe). The film stars Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, John Ortiz, Jamie Kennedy, Kimberly Elise, and Natasha Lyonne.
The film plot, according to IMDb, is: “Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.”
In his review, Matt Gilbert said:
“Ad Astra is everything we should ask for from modern science fiction. It sacrifices neither its story nor its spectacle and delivers visuals and ideas never seen quite this way before. It manages to feel incredibly intelligent without being too condescending to its audience. Pitt’s subdued performance is one of his best, and Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography gives the film its sleek and realistic atmosphere. The technical mastery on display from James Gray cements him as one of the most ambitious directors working today and champions the power of original storytelling. Ad Astra deserves as much support as it does analysis. It is films like this that remind me why I love movies.”
Warning: There will be spoilers.
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