The 'Ad Astra' Trailer Deception Allegation | Watching a Brad Pitt Drama with a Space Travel Vibe

The astronaut father, who was thought to be dead, was alive on the other side of the solar system!
And he's with an antimatter device that could cause catastrophic damage to Earth.

When you hear that, it sounds really interesting, doesn't it?
I watched 'Ad Astra' (2019), which is overflowing with disappointed reviews.

It does feel a bit like a trailer deception.

The trailer has a lot of action scenes, giving off a sci-fi action vibe.
Plus, it features big names like Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones.

If it were a sci-fi mystery action film about conspiracies at the edge of the universe or the mystery of a missing father, it would have been very exciting.
The visuals are beautiful, too.

If you go to the theater with those expectations, it's actually just a human drama where Brad Pitt introspects calmly.
You end up thinking, 'That's not what I expected!'

Because it differed from the audience's expectations, it received good reviews from critics but poor reception from general audiences, leading to an unbalanced evaluation.

↓ Don't watch the trailer! Don't get your hopes up!

'Ad Astra' doesn't feel like a sci-fi movie

Actually, the story is a space version of 'Apocalypse Now'.
The father, who was supposed to be a heroic astronaut, has become a dangerous figure at the edge of the universe, so the mission is to go find (and kill) him.

During that journey, the protagonist faces loneliness, tries to understand his father, and reflects on his own way of life and his relationship with his ex-wife.
It's a story about confronting his father, being freed from his father's curse, and reclaiming love and life.

There is absolutely none of the thrill of encountering the unknown, which is the real pleasure of space sci-fi.
In fact, you might be put off by the fact that all his scientifically absurd actions actually succeed.

And even though the setting is on a space scale, the theme is family and love, so it might feel small.
If so, try enjoying the contrast between outer space and inner space.

The space visuals are incredibly beautiful.

It's a visual beauty that stands out even among sci-fi films.
It's immersive, quiet, and just too beautiful...

You can tell they put a lot of effort into the screen composition, eliminating anything that feels like daily life and removing all reflections.
In that sense, it's a bit similar to the atmosphere of '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

From the space antenna tower and spacecraft to the rare depictions of Jupiter and Neptune, the space environment is quite vivid and simply beautiful.

If you watch it on a big screen with the goal of feeling deep space, you'll likely be satisfied!

The cast is luxurious.

The lead is Brad Pitt, appearing in space for the first time.
Rarely, Brad Pitt almost never smiles.
I wanted to see that charming smile somewhere.

Tommy Lee Jones plays the father.
His facial features are somewhat similar.
He plays a stubborn old man mixed with madness.

Tommy Lee Jones is familiar in Japan for his BOSS canned coffee commercials, but did you know he has a high IQ and is one of Hollywood's leading intellectuals?

He went to Harvard on a scholarship as a struggling student and was roommates with former Vice President Al Gore.
He's an amazing person who even won the most valuable player award for football during his college days.
He is also a great Japanophile and an avid collector of ukiyo-e.

He's not just a coffee-loving space grandpa!

Donald Sutherland (Sutherland the father), who passed away in 2024, also appears.
Liv Tyler, whom I haven't seen in a while since 'The Lord of the Rings', also appears as his wife.

Prevent disappointment!
What are the 7 tips for enjoying it?

・Don't have any expectations! Don't expect mysteries or philosophy!
・Enjoy the feeling of space travel through overwhelming visual beauty
(To the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune)
・Enjoy comparing and verifying it with "Apocalypse Now"
・Appreciate the internal acting of the cool, calm, and collected 55-year-old Brad Pitt
・Enjoy verifying the facial resemblance between Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones
・That's impossible! You must poke fun at the unscientific actions that succeed one after another.
・Family over space. In the end, feel relieved as Brad Pitt embraces his inner cosmos.

↓ The most beautiful Jupiter I have ever seen.
Experience being swallowed by the deep, deep loneliness of space!

For those who watched it but didn't understand the meaning
Simple explanation of each scene

Resource conflict on the Moon

Expresses how humans fight over resources no matter where they go, even after leaving Earth.

Crew murder by experimental animals on the research ship

Roy says he saw the anger within his father and himself in the baboon that attacked the captain of the Cepheus.
Symbolizes the violence of primates, which remains fundamentally unchanged even after evolution.

Colonel Pruitt

Pruitt was a good friend, but he and Roy's father had a falling out at the end.
He reveals that his secret mission from Space Command was to "destroy the antimatter device, even if it means killing Roy's father."
He suggests that Roy's father's actions were an escape, saying "sometimes space exploration can be an escape," and you can sense his regret for not being able to bring him back.

The relationship between Lantos's parents and Roy's father

Lantos was born on Mars.
It seems her parents clashed with Roy's father and were killed.
They left their child behind and went to distant Neptune with Roy's father, but after realizing there was no intelligent life, they longed to return home; it seems they were rejected by Roy's father, who never wanted to return, and they likely started a mutiny.

They must have really wanted to see their child.

...

Even so, it's hard to believe that people would be having gunfights in such an overwhelmingly dangerous space environment.

Also, I have an image of astronauts as having incredible communication skills and always using humor and wit, but there was almost no one like that here.

Seeing human aggression and the desire for dominance reminds me of the "OCCUPY MARS" T-shirt Elon Musk was wearing.
That was impactful!