This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
To the Stars
Plot Overview
Plan B. Set in the near future, Earth is being systematically hit with anti-matter power surges originating in the vicinity of the planet Neptune. U.S. Armed Forces Space Command (SpaceCom) suspects as their origin the Lima Project that went dark sixteen years ago in those farthest reaches of the solar system—it used anti-matter propulsion. There haven't been any more manned long range missions since.
Brooding astronaut Major Roy R. McBride (Brad Pitt) son of NASA hero Dr. H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) who headed that mission is to be ferried to Mars by way of the Moon, from where he will try to contact his dad, see if he needs help stopping the surges, or whatever. Secret plans are afoot to blow up the Lima Mission with nuclear munitions if diplomacy fails.
Ideology
This sci-fi movie is of a religious bent. A pilot prays to St. Christopher for traveling mercies before blasting off. Bodies are prayed over before being consigned to the depths of space. Roy contemplating reconnecting with his wife Eve (Liv Tyler) evokes her namesake whom (Gen. 3:20) “Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” The general message here is that God intended mankind to reproduce, to make more of themselves, rather than go traipsing off in search of space brothers among the stars.
SpaceCom speculates that a lot of distant space
travelers are seeking escape, to hide, in the case of Clifford McBride,
to hide from his responsibilities—he'd deserted his wife &
son. In a sense it's hard to blame people for wanting to escape from
this sorry world. God, after all, was so fed up with it that he destroyed
it in Noah's day with a flood. God set up our post-diluvial world
to mitigate against wickedness after he, (2Peter 2:5) “spared not the old
world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
Large American flag shoulder patches are prominently displayed on
the arms of the American soldiers. We got a new and better start after
the flood, and in this movie there is an interlude of an attempted
space rescue on a Norwegian 
space station in the astroid belt. In an
offhand way it reflects what we might call declaration chauvinism.
Trumping Thomas Jefferson's guarantee of the right to life is God's
instigation of capital punishment to restrain wickedness: (Gen. 9:6-7) “Whoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made
he man. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly
in the earth, and multiply therein.” The Norwegian vessel had
been engaged in medical experiments. When the great apes started killing
humans, they themselves were killed. It's an easier universe
to live in where murderers are dispatched. (The movie shows apes executed
instead of men so as not to affect the sensibilities of some.)
The limits of Jefferson's right to liberty is given in a tent incident after Noah's flood, involving his sons, (Gen. 9:18-19) “And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.” There was soon a revealing incident (Gen. 9:20-23) where it is seen that the line of Ham is morally inferior to the lines of Noah's other two sons, and Noah passed a continuing judgment (Gen. 9:24-27) to help keep Ham's evil in check. Two brothers Shem and Japheth are paired up in the story, and the odd brother out is Ham paired up with his then youngest son Canaan.
God blessed Shem, from whom derive the Semites, and he included Japheth in the blessing whose line spread out all over the world, including to Europe. Canaan is a front runner of Ham whose line is to serve the other two. Ham's line includes, (Gen. 10:6) “Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.” Cush is Hebrew for black. His people went down to Africa and were later imported to America as Negro slaves.
In the movie the blacks are sprinkled in among the crew per American sensibilities about equality. However, it would make an easier universe to live in if there's an inferior moral class assigned to do the scut work, as it is contemplated that the Mars crew let some regular mining ship answer the distress call, while they get on with their important mission—but that was against Mayday protocol.
God also limited our pursuit of happiness when he confused our languages at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:5-9) so we'd have a harder time defining our goals to each other. The Major was told he could commandeer the ship if he wanted to ignore the mayday, but he'd have to state his objectives to the crew. Yes, we can pursue what we want for our happiness, but we have to be able to communicate it to get any cooperation, and God confused our languages to limit man's evil outcomes.
Production Values
“” (2019) was co-written by James Gray & James Grayand. It was directed by James Gray. It stars Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Ruth Negga. It featured some top notch talent.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for some violence and bloody images, and for brief strong language. The sets and effects were awesome, but the physics was a joke. It's more psychological than adventure. Futuristic without question. It's slow paced to the point of being dull.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
I really got into it, in the sense that space travel opens one up to consider big questions about being alone in the universe. The plot was consistent if slow to develop. The action scenes, such as there were, came up sparingly. Still, it was a good drama if nothing else.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Absolutely amazing special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
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