I was planning on quitting this show after this but the way it ends is intriguing maybe I will give season 4 a try but will probably drop it.
I was skeptical of the premise but this first episode quickly swept me into its sense of peril. Certainly worthy of continuing the journey. Please to see some quality casting choices.
Firstly I absolutely LOVED writing this - only because of the person who came on here to complain these little ditties were too long. I am going to use the word count in full every time from now on. It made me laugh so much. I mean who cares what I write?!
First Man, The First (TV), Interstellar, even Moon and dropping back further Solaris, The Right Stuff these and many more are the extended and distant family of Ad Astra. Unfortunately when your family is as interesting and as compelling as these movies then you are already standing in some particularly big and dark shadows and there needs to be a lot in you to get out into the light.
Ad Astra tries hard, it really tries hard. After all it has Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, although he now looks craggy enough to be a bonafide cliff face and throws in Donald Sutherland as the world’s oldest security detail plus a fleeting Liv Tyler because, well because it can I think?
With the unlimited potential of near-future space-travel and indeed colonisation at their feet the director/writers came up with a singularly strange and somehow uninvolving tale. Pitt is just a future Neil Armstrong, so dedicated, so single-minded, he bombs his wife out and then has to go on a frankly unlikely and long-winded trip/adventure to see his long-lost and feared dead father.
I’m not a science expert I was more on the art side of the coin at school so I do not profess to know the ins and outs of space travel and the mathematics and the physics involved but saying this even I could see the silliness inherent in the story.
Visuals of the huge antenna on the edge of space over the Earth was great, the terrible power surge and the ultimate investigation into it was the high point. From then on the trip was downhill. Much like Harrison Ford in the first cinematic outing of Blade Runner I was not a fan of the voiceover and to be honest, either make an audiobook or make a film. For a serious, adult, science-future film the logic-busting moments far outweighed any acting or visual thrills.
Without listing them there are some very silly moments. Do you know what the makers annoyed me with them, so here are a few.
The moment you have to travel to Mars to send a message to Neptune means that technology has gone backward in the future. The sneaking aboard the ship to Neptune in particular seemed to have been written and plotted by an over-excitable twelve-year-old that had a lot of sugary snacks. The hugely implausible incident that was there purely to give Brad Pitt an action hero moment later was frankly pathetic and insulting. The mystery of the power-surge was not explained and Tommy Lee Jones’ motivations seemed extreme to say the least. Without trying to sound superior or clever there was much on the screen that was somewhat childish.
The casting of the movie was strange, honestly tell me why Liv Tyler and Donald Sutherland were in the film and it was criminal to use Ruth Negga so briefly and then somehow make her look as if she had wandered in from another film set, she looked pissed-off through most of her scenes, hopefully it was acting but I would not be surprised if it is how she actually felt. There were some very poor supporting actors during the run time and if anyone can’t spot the worst one let’s just say computers should have replaced receptionists on the moon.
Now some very clever types will tell you this is not actually a science-fiction tale but a story of loss, redemption, regret and complicated dynamic behind driven people, well macho-men actually, and the never-ending conflict and confusion between fathers and their sons. All very good and actually not the first time and filmmaker has used a specific genre as a suit of clothes for the real story they want to take. Sorry but that is no excuse to ignore widely known science and facts and more or less abandon logic to drive home your story. In my view that is very lazy indeed.
All in all Ad Astra was a mess with just a few good moments. Science-fiction may seem to many to not be a serious topic and for nerds and kids but Ad Astra just shows how difficult it is. There was not even any monsters or aliens in this.
Watch the TV show The First at least the music is more atmospheric and exciting than this film.
I was actually looking forward to this film and felt let down by this poor lazy effort.
If this data is true, time to get rid of drop boxes.
Same old bullshit***"".
if you're IQ is less than 80 then you should probably watch this movie.
i should rather watch Christopher Nolan's trilogy to clean my mind
Well I didn’t learn anything from this. I already knew it was a fraudulent election. This is for those that needed more obvious & abundant proof.
The amount of evidence they show must surely be enough for a legal investigation- why hasn’t this happened or will it ever happen… who knows
Well, now I see why this show is being talked about. Amazing start.
Pretty engrossing stuff.
I love the basement guy who plays chess.
There could be a whole tv show about that guy playing chess in the basement!
I don’t ever recall there being too many woman chess grandmasters.
Is this fiction? I don’t know. I don’t think I want to know.
Let’s see where this ends up. Will research on it after watching the whole series.
Atrocious! This movie is an abomination. People were moaning midway, some walked out. I don't know if Ron Howard was high when he made this or just didn't care or both, but I regret that I actually paid for this. And that's coming from someone who paid to see Under Siege with Steven Seagal and the Police Academy movies. Seriously do yourself a favor and skip this one. If you enjoyed Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons you will hate this one. Even more so you will ask yourself if this is even from the same people. All I can say is this. If something works please don't try to make it different just so because it's different. Have an idea! This was a total mess from start to beginning and the first 30 minutes where Langdon has hallucinations are barely watchable. Someone was clearly on acid. There is just no other explanation how an accomplished film maker like Howard made something as terrible as this. If someone has that flash thingy from Men in Black please send me a message. I need to get flashed. Twice. Just to make sure.
This movie was just getting mediocre reviews (it had only been out for a day) when I decided to see it. I think I know why and I’m going to disagree with them. This film is about Norse legend and mythology, no less and no more. It is a bleak tale about a bleak period where honour was defined by vengeance and brutality was its bi-product. Our culture is not use to straight up Homer-esk tales of heroes and gods. Our culture likes its mythical heroes to be served with humour and wisecracks. This treatment is in dark contrast to that. It is, however, beautifully crafted. The locations are stunning in their natural beauty. The cinematography is intentional and captivating. The action sequences and the CGI are painstakingly real and truly brutal. The performances are faithful to the culture they inhabit. As is my custom, I did a quick exit poll of others leaving the theatre with me. The three people I spoke to each gave it a 9 out of 10. Nothing mediocre about those ratings. I agree and give this film a 9 (beautifully crafted) out of 10. [Heroic Mythology]
I do like the show, but it's not Star Trek. If this was just a new sci-fi show that existed in its own universe, it would be incredible. However, the fact that they've tried to pass this off as Star Trek when it's clearly not sullies the experience.
If it wasn't already apparent, Paramount and CBS have no idea what made Star Trek great, and don't care either. The simple explanation is that the world of Star Trek is supposed to be optimistic; this is pessimistic. And I do enjoy pessimistic sci-fi, but there's so much of it, and to see one of the few optimistic sci-fi worlds turned into something pessimistic is a shame.
Fortunately, we now have The Orville, which is doing Star Trek better than anything has since Voyager ended in 2001.
The show is supposed to take place between Enterprise and TOS, but the technology is very different. For example, there are holograms everywhere. Why try to do a prequel again? Why not set this after Voyager? That would make a lot more sense, and they'd be able to add whatever technology they like, and not be constrained by existing continuity. Fortunately, it's not too late for the showrunners to say "hey, we made a mistake, this actually takes place X years after Voyager".
Last, they fucked up the Klingons. For almost 25 years, they had the look of the Klingons figured out perfectly. They're iconic. But this show (and the reboot movies) messed them up and made them look like generic sci-fi bad guys. What happened to their hair and beards? Also, the costumes are ridiculous, and their ship interiors look like they're made of coral. I do like the idea of having an albino Klingon though.
And I applaud their desire to use the Klingon language on the show, but it's pretty annoying having every Klingon scene subtitled. The previous shows used a common sci-fi conceit: the actors speak a language that the audience understands, but it's accepted that they're really speaking a different language. The viewer effectively has a universal translator so they can understand what's being said.
Also, it looks nothing like Star Trek. Once again, The Orville got that right, and this didn't.
All of that said, I do like the show. The characters are interesting (especially Doug Jones), I've enjoyed each episode, and I think the storyline is pretty interesting. But goddamn it, why did they have to try to make this Star Trek when it's not?
Eternals really changed the whole MCU. This is a new take on a whole new mcu film without the same old formula. And I kinda like how divisive and deep, dark they went for this. There's so much complexity in each character that I know people can identify with, it's everything the other mcu films could've been. Fuck rotten tomatoes.
:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:Random Thoughts on A F’n Random Film:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:
It’s a shame this version has none of the charm or wit of the Arnie original.
I blame Khal Momoa - he hasn’t the charisma at this point in his career to be other than a one-dimensional muscle-freak.
And even Arnie managed to raise a laugh - Jason didn’t even punch a camel!
Spudgun from Bottom gets his nose chopped off by a child and then is torn limb from limb by an angry mob!
(So pretty much what he was used to with Ritchie & Eddie then?)
Conan clotheslined a mounted man... with a battleship chain! :open_mouth:
I fully expected the coach to explode during the horsey chasing sequence. Very exciting - but quite ludicrous.
In an age before Oil of Ulay and Botox, the skin of the (many) stunning women looks incredible - must be those ancient heathen gods they worship and no artificial sweeteners.
Nathan Jones was a crap pro wrestler, a crapper MMA fighter, but at least an adequate monster-goon in fight scenes. Ditto Bob Sapp.
Queen Amidala really needs to lay off the hard drugs and emo music. But she is hot, in a worrying, Freddie-Krueger-style way... :rolling_eyes:
As a big horror fan, and also a BIG Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan, i was very very disappointed with this movie! Soooo many plot holes, sooo much exposition... I was pissed :D Some caracters are very smart and put one-and-one together like immediately, and the other ones are just stupid as f***! xD From the first scene to the last one - you know how this movie will end.
Some decent and some lame jump scares... just... I mean you can watch this movie if you want, but i cant recomend it... 4/10
A new opening that turned out to be the closure for X-men from 20th Century Fox. It is a pity because the potential was there.
Makes me embarrassed that I actually followed this comic book series as a child.
A great movie with Matt Damon's acting on point(as an outsider) .Miss these kind of casual-watch movies of 2010's..A Nice introspective movie.
I found this in a video rental store about 13 years ago under the titel Immortel, ad vitam, and have run across it once or twice since, actively looking for it. At the time, it was almost entirely unlike anything I'd ever seen before, whether French or American Sci-Fi cinema, and that stands today.
Here's the plot summary from Wikipedia:
The film takes place in New York City in late 21 century, where genetically altered humans live side by side with unaltered men and women, and where Central Park has been mysteriously encased in an "intrusion zone" where people who attempt to enter are instantly killed. A strange pyramid has appeared over the city; inside, the gods of ancient Egypt have judged Horus, one of their fellow gods, to cease his immortality.
In the city below, Jill, a young woman with blue hair, is arrested. She is not completely human; her tissues appear to be no more than a few months old according to an examining physician, although her physical form is already that of an adult. She also possesses a number of secret powers, including one that enables her to procreate with gods, though she knows nothing of this. Horus is given a limited time to interact with the humans of New York and procreate. During his search for a host body, Horus encounters Nikopol, a rebel condemned to 30 years of hibernation who, due to a mechanical accident, escapes his prison one year early.
Horus has been unsuccessful in attempting to take over the bodies of other humans; due to an incompatibility with the genetic alterations humans have undergone, the host bodies self-destruct while attempting to accommodate a god. Nikopol's body is acceptable as it has been frozen in prison/storage and not undergone the genetic changes causing the rejections. Horus takes partial control of Nikopol's body and starts looking for a woman he can mate with to provide him a son before his death sentence is carried out. When Horus/Nikopol discovers Jill, they become entangled in a web of murder and intrigue.
Watch this if you appreciate truly creative and out-there films. It's experimental, it's visually gorgeous and unique in a way that no mainstream film that leans on computer-generated imagery to this degree ever is; it is the anti-Hollywood "Sci-Fi" film. There are ancient Egyptian alien gods; blue, engineered meta-humans; main characters being possessed by said alien gods; intelligent, transgenic shark assassins, and... I'll be honest, the last time I saw it years ago, I can't be sure how much I was able to follow the story, and it's nearly impossible to find via official channels. If you get the chance, see it. It'll be worth your time whether or not you are able to fully grasp the entire story.
Note: This film is apparently a film adaptation of a French language graphic novel series by Yugoslavian-born Enki Bilal, and to me it does have the same feel of compressed story elements like a 90-minute OVA of a manga series, only with more competent cinematic execution, a larger budget, and more cinematically artistically mature storytelling.
What the fuck is this shit?
If I switched my brain off (as some have suggested) long enough to enjoy this I'd stay that way. Or worse, never regain consciousness ever again.
Allowing Instagram to Decide What I Watch While in Isolation
Day 1:
What an awful start to this experiment.
Shockingly bad performances, terrible editing, some of the worst dialogue ever put to screen and despite all that it still manages to be incredibly boring to watch.
The ending of this episode creates very strong feelings in me. I'm not sure if I'm angry, confused, irritated, offended, pranked or excited.
That kind of cliffhanger should not happen with a series where it's unknown, when (and if at all) it continues.
Additionally, it's too obvious that Mr. World is Loki (too many hints) and that he needs to sacrifice Tech Boy, while it was also too obvious that Shadow is just some kind of resurrection pill for Wednesday. Besides that, still no clue what Bilquis' mission is, where Gungnir has been or why Laura still seems to be somehow important even though it wasn't even planned that she survives Sweeney's murder.
Oh, and I still wish for a return of Mad Sweeney. Sad to say, but IMHO the show lacks his best character since he got pulverized.
I thought this double opening episode was a blast. Clearly taking cues from the Star Wars animated shows but that's not a bad thing to me. This was high energy and exciting with some good mysteries presented.
I like some characters much more than others. Rok is great, Zero is kind of fascinating. Gwyn probably has more depth than the rest of the characters put together. Dal was the problematic one, far too in-your-face, so it's a shame that he's ostensibly the "lead" role.
Visually this was glorious too. I loved a lot of the designs and use of colour.
The big questions for me:
- How did the Protostar get there, and what happened to its crew?
- The bad guy said he had been searching for the ship for a long time, but we've been told by the creators that this show is set only a few years after Voyager, so something doesn't entirely add up at this point.
- Similarly, how come there were so many Alpha Quadrant species here? Mysterious!
STOP. GIVING. FILMS. WITH. MEDIOCRE. SCRIPTS. AND. CHARACTERS. A. GOOD. RATING.
There is no excuse for it in the 21st century. We know how to make coherent stories and good characters, and we should NOT FUCKING ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS.
You folks even admit it's got shallow characters and a nonsense story. That is not a 7-8, ,much less a 9. Five is AVERAGE. You have been normalized to not give anything below a Seven, and that is wrong and makes ratings pointless, and it makes YOU a consumerist goob.
Rant Over.
1/10 rating to compensate for all the noncritical consumerist trained monkeys.
It's hard to be moved by the couple at the center of the story when you really don't care about them.
"I don't ever want to hear about Murder House"
Me neither, kid. I'm glad they burned it down. Time to move on.
Thankfully not another tired Taken clone. This one tries to be a bit more dramatic whilst having a few action sequences to bolster it.
It's a bit of a Rambo V in quality - ie. cheap and sombre. It does benefit from the relationship with the boy though.
It was okay. Predictable yet not boring. There has been worse put out by Neeson these last few years but you wouldn't watch this a second time.
6.25/10
Can’t believe Samuel L. Jackson is 72!
[7.7/10] I liked this. It start out a little bumpy, and frankly, it feels more like a Trekkie version of Star Wars: Rebels than anything we’ve seen from the franchise before. But there’s a lot of potential here. The mix of characters is strong, and while Dal is a little annoying in his quippiness, he has a lot of room to grow and mature. The animation is a bit rough in places, particularly the character designs and movements, but the ship-based set pieces are beautifully and even stirring.
It’s been a long time since Star Trek made something to appeal specifically to kids. This definitely fits modern young audience-focused sensibilities more than the 1973 Animated Series did. That means parts of it feel a little broad relative to what we grown-ups expect from Star Trek. But it feels like the series’ heart is in the right place here. While the Star Trek connection feels more like set dressing for a traditional action adventure series than a core part of the conception, I like the elements that Prodigy puts forward in the early going, and I’m curious to see where it (and Captain Janeway) will take them from here. Godspeed, kids!
this movie makes breach looks like a good film.... at least is not pretentious like this garbage.... WTF is happening?Who are allowing bad stuff like this to happen to begin with?
