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yanbu t1_j5b993x wrote

Reply to comment by ImpactNext1283 in Looking for movies with a dramatically different director’s cut by pornthrowaway1421

I really liked Ad Astra as well, not sure why it gets so much hate? It’s definitely a slow burn, but overall thought it was fascinating. And it’s set in that middle ground in sci fi that’s rarely explored: the between time near future where we barely have the capability of reaching out into the far reaches of the solar system, but before the Star Trek limitless magic tech phase.

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Ozlin t1_j5cjwem wrote

I thought it was OK overall, but I also understand the criticism. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember the whole thing of him sneaking aboard that one ship to have issues. It also does feel a bit meandering and slowly paced. The ending too really relies on the audience being OK with the whole thing being a personal journey, which I'm not sure the film sells very well throughout. It feels a bit like a film that wanted to be one thing, but for whatever reason ended up getting pushed towards being another thing, but it never fully got to commit to either. I personally still enjoyed it overall because the visuals and concepts of the world were enough for me. But I definitely felt it a bit lacking in other ways. I do think people really laid the hate on it too thick.

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ImpactNext1283 t1_j5fu4df wrote

It’s meant to be a riff on Apocalypse Now, Pitt’s journey being a mirror for society’s. It does play fast and loose w a lot of the ‘hard’ sci-fi elements. The space travel, in particular, makes 0 sense.

That said, if you look at the whole thing as a metaphor, it’s quite brilliant imo. Grey is making a movie about fathers and sons, using the cinematic language of his ‘fathers’ - Kubrick and Coppola. Like other Gen X filmmakers, Grey is deeply indebted to these flawed men w insane, grand visions. It’s really sophisticated in that light.

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irlcatspankz t1_j5djpkf wrote

I can guess that Ad Astra, and interestingly another Brad Pitt movie Killing Them Softly, suffered from their marketing. Ad Astra's trailer makes it look more like a suspense thriller (and a car chase on the moon with guns!), and Killing Them Softly's trailer also markets a different movie than what it was. IMO both films are exceptional, but GA went in with misled expectations.

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yanbu t1_j5dkbjn wrote

Yeah, I watched Ad Astra on the plane knowing nothing other than it had Brad Pitt in it and space, so maybe you’re right.

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ImpactNext1283 t1_j5fu8xx wrote

Incidentally, both movies produced by his company. He’s not good at marketing his own movies! Despite Plan B having produced a number of successful projects.

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TheUmgawa t1_j5dpyc6 wrote

I think people don't care for Ad Astra because nobody wanted to see Apocalypse Now in space. Also, they make it a point to mention that Brad Pitt's heart rate never gets above 80 or something, and neither does the audience's while watching the movie.

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ImpactNext1283 t1_j5fud0x wrote

Apocalypse Now in Space is exactly what this is, and exactly what I want to see. I don’t know what the rest of y’all doing p

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TheUmgawa t1_j5g9pxl wrote

Yeah, if I want to watch Apocalypse Now, I’m just going to watch Apocalypse Now.

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ImpactNext1283 t1_j5gafcx wrote

Well yeah, it’s a commentary on Apocalypse Now. You were over simplifying and I was being funny. No reason to watch if you’re not interested, but it’s a really great movie about loving directors like Coppola and Kubrick - personally flawed and abusive geniuses.

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