of it past Neptune. And you see the fall-off of man's reach along the way, at the way-stations of settlements on the Moon and on Mars.
It takes its basic structure from Apocalypse Now. A brilliant man was sent on a mission years ago, beyond his employers' reach, and may have gone mad, abandoned the mission and taken up a rogue one, and may have murdered others in the process. Another man is sent after that one. The journey is long, occasionally eventful but more often not, and some unpleasant things are encountered along the way. The traveller, a stoic, increasingly gets troubled by his own thoughts. In Ad Astra the last and longest leg of Brad Pitt's journey, Mars to Neptune, he must make alone. On it he recalls his father, who is the man he is now going after.
Like I said, its not going to be to everybody's tastes. Apocalypse Now had unpleasantness, internal monologue, and tedium along the path to find Col. Kurtz in... Cambodia, was it? It in turn was based on Heart Of Darkness, and a journey into the heart of Africa in pursuit of Kurtz. I'm not saying Ad Astra is an Apocalypse Now or a Heart Of Darkness; it isn't. Just sharing information on why you might not, or might, want to see it.
What I draw from it, besides enjoying cgi space travel, is, okay, here's what our species has achieved. Significant accomplishments, but far, far from perfect. What is the other intelligent life in the universe doing? And, where the hell is it all, anyway? One aspect of my appreciation of the movie is these are questions that I too like pondering.
= new reply since forum marked as read