Some have suggested that this is a sci-fi version of Apocalypse Now, but the thing is that this story goes back to the writings of a brilliant author named Joseph Conrad, and his short story The Heart of Darkness. This is a story about a sailor who goes on a trek up the Congo River to try and find one of the company men named Kurtz. If you haven't read this then I highly recommend that you do so since I don't believe any movie can really capture what Conrad was exploring here.
Anyway, in this film we have Roy McBride who is an astronaut that just seems to have this gift of never panicking. Anyway, his father travelled out to the outer regions of the solar system to set up a research base in an attempt to discover whether there was any intelligent life, beyond that on Earth (if we can consider the inhabitants of Earth to be all that intelligent) in the universe. However, all contact was lost with the expedition, and the story was made that his father died a hero.
So, years later the Earth is hit by some anti-matter waves and it becomes obvious that these waves are coming from Nepture, where McBride's father was originally sent. Anyway, Roy is summoned in an effort to attempt to contact his father, and thus starts an adventure across the solar system in an attempt to locate his father, and to deal with these anti-matter waves.
The premise of the movie is basically about how hostile space travel really is. In fact, it doesn't matter where he goes, death always seems to be just around the corner. The moon has been colonised, but the thing is that because there are no actual borders, it means that once you leave the base you are literally in a realm where pirates and vagabonds rule. This is despite the fact that there happen to be a number of military bases here. The other thing is that communication is not certain either, if we take into account that the distress messages were not received immediately.
Let us also consider the research station that was encountered on the way to Mars. It became evident that these experiments on the animals in space literally turned them into monsters. This, in a way, is a foreshadowing of what is coming later. One of the things that the Heart of Darkness explores is that the further one gets from civilisation, the more savage one becomes. This is what happened to Kurtz. We see this in this film, particularly since measuring one's psychological as often as possible. It is clear that there is an acceptance that space travel affect's one's psyche, and this becomes evident as the film progresses.
This film is very psychological, particularly since much of it deals with Roy's thoughts and feelings. This is something that is very hard to capture in film, but I believe that they have done it very, very well. Though it is interesting that there is one thing that causes Roy to spike, and that is the suggestion that his father is alive. While for most of the film he is cool and calculated, it is when it comes down to his father there is something that drives his passion. Yet, he even admits that the further he gets out to the edges of the solar system, the more damage his psych takes. It is interesting that despite the fact that he passes Jupiter and Saturn (which is highly unlikely in my opinion, namely because they would need to be in conjunction for that to happen), he does not seem to admire the beauty of what he is seeing.
Yet, I still feel that there are issues with space travel. Despite the fact that the director was trying to make it as realistic as possible, I still noticed that they certainly weren't maneuvering the ships in the way that they should be manuvered in space. Further, there are scenes where Roy seems to be able to move despite the fact that he is in a vacuum, and there is nothing that he used to push himself. However, the fact that they did take into account the fact that his bones attropied was something to be applauded.
Anyway, in this film we have Roy McBride who is an astronaut that just seems to have this gift of never panicking. Anyway, his father travelled out to the outer regions of the solar system to set up a research base in an attempt to discover whether there was any intelligent life, beyond that on Earth (if we can consider the inhabitants of Earth to be all that intelligent) in the universe. However, all contact was lost with the expedition, and the story was made that his father died a hero.
So, years later the Earth is hit by some anti-matter waves and it becomes obvious that these waves are coming from Nepture, where McBride's father was originally sent. Anyway, Roy is summoned in an effort to attempt to contact his father, and thus starts an adventure across the solar system in an attempt to locate his father, and to deal with these anti-matter waves.
The premise of the movie is basically about how hostile space travel really is. In fact, it doesn't matter where he goes, death always seems to be just around the corner. The moon has been colonised, but the thing is that because there are no actual borders, it means that once you leave the base you are literally in a realm where pirates and vagabonds rule. This is despite the fact that there happen to be a number of military bases here. The other thing is that communication is not certain either, if we take into account that the distress messages were not received immediately.
Let us also consider the research station that was encountered on the way to Mars. It became evident that these experiments on the animals in space literally turned them into monsters. This, in a way, is a foreshadowing of what is coming later. One of the things that the Heart of Darkness explores is that the further one gets from civilisation, the more savage one becomes. This is what happened to Kurtz. We see this in this film, particularly since measuring one's psychological as often as possible. It is clear that there is an acceptance that space travel affect's one's psyche, and this becomes evident as the film progresses.
This film is very psychological, particularly since much of it deals with Roy's thoughts and feelings. This is something that is very hard to capture in film, but I believe that they have done it very, very well. Though it is interesting that there is one thing that causes Roy to spike, and that is the suggestion that his father is alive. While for most of the film he is cool and calculated, it is when it comes down to his father there is something that drives his passion. Yet, he even admits that the further he gets out to the edges of the solar system, the more damage his psych takes. It is interesting that despite the fact that he passes Jupiter and Saturn (which is highly unlikely in my opinion, namely because they would need to be in conjunction for that to happen), he does not seem to admire the beauty of what he is seeing.
Yet, I still feel that there are issues with space travel. Despite the fact that the director was trying to make it as realistic as possible, I still noticed that they certainly weren't maneuvering the ships in the way that they should be manuvered in space. Further, there are scenes where Roy seems to be able to move despite the fact that he is in a vacuum, and there is nothing that he used to push himself. However, the fact that they did take into account the fact that his bones attropied was something to be applauded.