Synopsis:

Thirty years previously, Clifford McBride led a voyage into deep space, but the ship and crew were never heard from again. Now his son Roy, an emotionally closed off Astronaut, must travel to the outer edge of the solar system and uncover the truth about his missing father and a mysterious power surge that threatens the stability of the universe. Will Roy find out what it means to be human out there in the Heart of Darkness.

Intentions:

My original intention when i left the IMAX Cinema screen was to remove the banal voice-overs and the jarring Moon pirate attack only, but upon purchasing the Bluray and after a re-watch i began to notice some of the dialogue really is inane and had to be cut, that coupled with the sense that the movie is basically Apocalypse Now in Space which itself is based on Joseph Conrad's novella ' Heart of Darkness' i knew i had a task to make Ad Astra a little more palatable by intensifying the premise behind the story. Is the Heart Of Darkness a tangible place i.e. the Lima Project or is it a place that resides inside both Roy & his father and can they both be freed from their (un)emotional prisons. In this modern time of rising mental health issues & awareness you may just find a message in the dissension that comforts you, but if you don't you can use the 103 minutes to escape & meditate to the enhanced Max Richter score and the beauty of Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography.

Change List:

ADDED: Last Impression Logo CUT: Text opening ADDED: New text ADDED: New title CUT: Roy tumbling through space ADDED: Roy sitting in a coffee shop CUT: Voice-over CUT: Roy floating in space MOVED FORWARD: Roy’s ear piece communication to take a team down and fix the malfunctioning robotic arm, I mean you would think the space antenna boss would brief him the job guide before Roy was hanging above the exosphere and climbing down the antenna's ladder. CUT: Voice-over during the walk of fandom, the cheesy grin(s) and the geezer flipping the bird. Now Roy just half smiles at the capsule door operator and confirms whilst walking that he is "heading that way" which was originally said while climbing down the antenna CUT: Roy saying “ Thanks for that” to the capsule door operator. It was all very well mannered but had a sarcastic tone to it. CUT & RESCORED: Voice-over and as much space noise as possible. Where noise couldn't be removed it has been dulled down and explosions have been slightly muted. When the surge hits - I have built up the tension using radio communication only and bringing in music 'Ursa Minor - Visions' an unused track from the OST. This is played throughout Roy's descent. Wind and parachute noise is reincorporated as Roy enters the Earth's atmosphere. CUT: Voice-over TRIMMED: News flash. The reporter no longer mentions the surge or that it's coming from outer-space. ADDED: Part of a deleted scene of Roy looking out of his bedroom window at the moon. CUT: General Stroud's saying that General Rivas & Vogel flew all the way in from Virginia just to see Roy. I can't get my head around a couple of General's fanboying a Major CUT: General Stroud saying "Fair enough" CUT & ENHANCED SCORE: Removed the photographs of Roy's Dad, Clifford McBride. (In this edit we don't see Clifford until the end of the film - we will learn more about Clifford's motif during Roy's Journey) The score has been enhanced during this scene and the music now comes in later when Roy finds out that his father may still be alive' CUT: Voice-over and photograph of Clifford on the corridor wall. CUT: Clifford's video message to Roy. MOVED BACK: Prelaunch quarantine message in order to cover over Roy's voice-over CUT: Roy holding photo of Clifford. CUT: Roy placing photo of Clifford on the table CUT: Voice-over CUT: Virgin shuttle announcement that the Moon is borderless and in a state of war. Roy no longer buys a $125.00 pillow and blanket and no longer gets that refreshing hot towel. ADDED & RESCORED: Roy and Colonel Pruitt 'Endless Void' Deleted scene CUT: Voice-over ADDED: Ambient airport noise. CUT and REARRANGED dialogue and scenes. No war zone stories, Willie Levant now just says "We will get you to your spaceship" & "Suit up" no need to mention the hazardous journey to the dark side of the moon as Colonel Pruitt mentioned the danger to Roy about a minute before during the train journey. CUT & ENHANCED SCORE: Removed Colonel Pruitt mentioning the big blue marble.Enhanced the score during the lunar surface journey. CUT: The Moon Pirate attack. TRIMMED: Captain Tanner's 'son of a legend' dialogue and Roy mentioning that he would be hitching a ride CUT: Voice-over CUT: The dishing out of mood stabilisers and cringeworthy conversation. CUT: Voice-over along with the jarring profile photo's of Clifford and Roy placing the mood stabiliser in his pocket. CUT: Voice-over. Roy senses FL Stanford's spacewalk fear, their is no mention of smelly locker room spacesuits. CUT: Conversation during the spacewalk to Vesta 9. RESCORED: 'Erbarme Dich' track added from the OST during the Mars landing sequence CUT: Voice-over during Mars customs. CUT: The Photo of Clifford before Roy enters the Mars communication room. CUT: Voice-over in the comfort room TRIMMED and REARRANGED Clifford's message at Helen Lantos' residence in order to delay the reveal of Clifford's identity. CUT & ENHANCED SCORE: Voice-over during Roy's race to catch the rocket. CUT: Roy's fight with Yoshida during the hijack scene. Capt. Stanford no longer shoots a gun inside a spacecraft. The crew now perish because Deavers & Yoshida are propelled through the air during take off and hit a gas(?) tank which is pierced and ultimately leads to the all of the crew suffocating. CUT: Voice-over "What have i done" as Roy contemplates the crew's death. ADDED, CUT, REARRANGED & RESCORED: The journey to Neptune sequence. Removed all visual memories of Clifford. Rearranged some exterior Cepheus shots. .Rescored with the beautiful track 'Preludium' from the OST. Added footage of the Cepheus flying past Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in order for the journey to have sense of being a long haul. REARRANGED & RESCORED: The flight recorder communication is brought forward.Added two unused shots from later in the film as Roy prepares to leave the Cepheus to meet his Dad. Added the 'my solitude ends' speech because its a beautiful scene and al

Additional Notes:

I took a film labelled Apocalypse Now in Space and went one further by basing my edit on the Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness (Cor Tenebrae -Latin) which was the inspiration behind Copolla's masterpiece...this coupled with the frustrating under use of maestro Max Richter and friends score sent me on my own sometimes arduous editing journey...

Other Sources:

Ad Astra Bluray Ad Astra - Motion Picture soundtrack by Max Richter, Lorne Balfe & Nils Frahm. BBC The Planets 2019 Bluray Freesound.org Dafont.com

Special Thanks:

Macmilln for his additional artwork and TM2YC for logo placement.