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Ad Astra, Part I

Ad Astra is a recent science fiction movie starring Brad Pitt.

Ad Astra - film poster.jpg


I will describe the plot today and, in a later post, I will say what it is about the movie that strikes me as philosophically intriguing.

In "high concept" form, the movie is: Heart of Darkness as a space opera.

 In "the near future," space travel within at least the inner half of the solar system is routine.  A madman (played when he does eventually appear, late in the movie, by Tommy Lee Jones) working from a base on Neptune, is apparently causing mysterious electromagnetic power surges directed toward the inner planets. The madman was once a hero but somehow went rogue in deepest space.  Somebody must be sent to confront him, find out the truth, and stop him. That burden falls on Brad Pitt.

Pitt undertakes the arduous journey from earth to Neptune, talks to the rogue genius, and tries to bring him home and by implication, to his senses But Jones denies that the earth is his home.

I won't spoil the ending.  Those who know either Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now will not be shocked by it.

(I will say, the human species and the solar system survive. Whew.)

I really ought to mention one other fact here. Pitt's character is supposed to be the son of Jones' character. This rather goes against the Conrad paradigm, and I think here it is a matter of gilding the lilly. The movie would have been better off without that element.

Anyway: what is it that strikes me as philosophically interesting? The hypothetical discovery (or non-discovery) made by Jones' character on Neptune that drove him mad.

More soon.
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