MovieChat Forums > Ad Astra (2019) Discussion > when is it set?

when is it set?

posted 5 years ago by bozo_500 (12149)
16 replies | jump to latest

Taking into account full on Moon colonization to the point they have a Subways, a working base on Mars, antimatter, and the quick spaceflight between planets id estimate it being about the mid-late 22nd century/150 years from now (2169)..

Star Trek is set mid-late 23rd century (2260s) - so actually it isn't that unrealistic a time period for humanity to be abit like Star Trek with Space Force crews aboard NASA starships exploring our galaxy with a Captain Kirk in command, and a First Officer and Dr McCoy Scotty Sulu types doing their thing (maybe even androids like Data) .. except by then there probably still wont be warp speed/faster than light travel (but maybe close to it) or transporters or complete anti gravity, unless theres some really major inventions/discoveries in the next 200 years (and of course its unlikely there will be humanoid aliens who speak English)

[–] huwdj (4562) 5 years ago

Could be sooner? I agree they got to Neptune awfully quickly but apart from that the technology looked reasonable for the near future and things could accelerate rapidly once there is profit to be made.

[–] bozo_500 (12149) 5 years ago

Maybe 100?

[–] huwdj (4562) 5 years ago

It's all guess work and optimism but I wonder if we're at one of those points in history when everything changes - I could go with 30-50 years. But that's about what they were saying in the '60s so we'll have to wait and see.

[–] bozo_500 (12149) 5 years ago

If its set around 50 years (2069) then it'll be Star Trek time for sure by mid 23rd entury

[–] maximmm (3032) 5 years ago

Ha - I disagree. I mean, hell - we went to the moon and not much has happened since then.
I mean, OK - we got some corporations working on space trip tech - and yes, if you are extremely optimistic about that crap, you could say 50 years.

Anyways, there was this nobel prize winning scientist who said that technology improves exponentially (his example was computers - how they were huge and slow before and are fast and tiny now)- he was saying that according to his model, we are all going to be immortal in a 100 years and colonizing the universe in 200 years. He was full of crap. Just thinking back to my younger days.... yes, we now have computers, and smartphones. But aside from that.... honestly, not much has changed. We had and still have same planes, our seafaring vessels aren't that much more amazing than they were 40 years ago - at least they can't do that much more than they could back then. Our medicine.... hasn't really improved all that much, as far as I can tell - though it may have gotten better for the 1 percent of the super wealthy. Our military tech - we already had nukes, and we are still afraid of nukes for a good reason.

In fact, since my younger days, the world has gotten worse. Air/water pollution is everywhere (I currently reside in Asia), the quality of food is questionable, overpopulation is a huge problem. And climate change, whether man-made or not, is definitely an issue, because summers in Europe are much hotter than they used to be.

[–] bozo_500 (12149) 5 years ago

Maybe we'll go full Blade Runner before any Ad Astra (although in Blade Runner they have space flight/off world colonies)

then maybe it'll be all Prometheus/Alien (set 2093-2122) .. anyway if we do find intelligent life/civilizations chances are it'd be of the sinister engineers/xenomorph variety or giant dinosaurs over anything like us all civilized and 'friendly' (when we're not doing our best to kill ourselves of course.. which happens on a daily basis anyway )

[–] maximmm (3032) 5 years ago

I'm not sure that's true. It's very human to think that all potential alien creatures would have the same mentality as ourselves (keep in mind, we also think we are made in the image of god lol). Just because we fuck over every uncivilized species/people we encounter, doesn't mean that all life in the universe (of which we've encountered none) shares the same mentality.

[–] mikethemartian (6052) 5 years ago

I think there have been dramatic improvements in medicine. The new biological injectable treatments for autoimmune diseases like arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease are just one example. I can personally attest to that. Also I remember in the 80s when having AIDS was a definite death sentence but from what I gather the treatments today allow people with HIV to live where the disease is so well controlled that it can’t even be detected in lab tests. Immunotherapy for cancer, etc.

[–] Magic Slim (66) 5 years ago

I know many economists that use Star Trek as a definitive barometer of the rate of Earth's progress? Aliens may speak Chinese :-)

I think there were a number of areas where you just have to go with it and not analyse too much. We seemed to be using the same propellant as today (size of rocket) but travelled more quickly and the amount of resources required to ship material or mine it on the Moon and Mars would be astronomical even allowing for commercialization. The US appears to continue to dominate space? What food source did Dad have to survive 30 years? I was pleased to see the re-introduction of the personal comfort purses for business class travellers in Virgin Atlantic (Not Virgin Space?) and the hot towel was a nice touch. Why wouldn't drone technology have taken out the pirates on the moon before they did any damage? Brad still used the road system to reach the launch site on Earth but it was unclear whether he was driving the vehicle.

Nonetheless a great movie eh?

[–] jimmyzimms (72) 5 years ago

They did a lingering shot of his hydroponics on the ship so at least they made an attempt to explain that

[–] rudeboymurray (3241) 5 years ago

Ruth Negga’s character says that she was born on Mars so colonisation has existed there for at least a few decades. My guess, like the OP’s, would be somewhere around the mid-late 22nd Century, I doubt it’s any earlier than that.

[–] maximmm (3032) 5 years ago

Based on the stupidity of the moon chase - I want to say 1960's.
The fact that they need to make a recording on mars in order to send it to daddy - suggests that they don't have the ability to send a message/digital recording to mars, so 1980's?

Some other aspects of the film suggest it might be set in the future.

All in all, it's a mixed bag - the tech used in the film is all over the place, to a point where it feels like steampunk space fantasy.

[–] Magic Slim (66) 5 years ago

Brilliant thx! :-)

[–] mobocracy (845) 5 years ago

I thought the purpose of using Mars as the transmission point was to make it more of a secret, since it was the furthest point of continuous habitation.

I think Space Command knew all about the mutiny and deaths on the Lima station but wanted it kept covered up. The energy bursts were a new phenomenon and they didn't want people to know they had basically abandoned a fucked up space station and that their most heroic astronaut was batshit crazy and potentially zapping the entire solar system.

One of the many messed up aspects of this narrative was why they had just abandoned Lima, how much they knew and whether there's some larger conspiracy at work in covering it all up.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

Like what was said earlier in the movie... it's in the near future.

[–] Kingswood (1213) 5 years ago

I agree ...with “near” = 2084