Live Die Repeat: Cruise / Blunt / Edge of Tomorrow

THE FILM: This is yet another 2014 film that I'm late to although, considering the lackluster box office take, there's probably a lot of people who weren't aware of this or went and saw something else instead. It's their loss, though, as this is an incredible sci-fi adventure with plenty of action, humor and a dynamite lead performance by Tom Cruise. The gist of the story is that Major Bill Cage (Cruise) is a media specialist/recruiter for the Army who really likes his cushy job, but ends up getting thrown headlong into combat. On the morning of a huge invasion he ends up getting killed, but something happens to him that allows him to reset the day whenever he dies. The rest of the story is him trying to find a way to defeat the alien invaders, called Mimics, by taking advantage of this new ability. The person who really sells this movie is Tom Cruise, who is game for pretty much everything thrown at him. He gives an honest emotional as well as physical performance. Also of note are Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson who also do well in their roles. Emily Blunt does especially well, adding some emotional depth to the story while playing an uncharacteristically tough female role in a male-dominated story. Did I mention that she also kicks a lot of butt? Another element that elevated it above your typical alien invasion sci-fi film was the amount of humor. All of it came naturally out of the story and situations dictated by the plot, and none of it felt forced at all. The visual effects were also top-notch, and I liked the alien creature designs. The only couple of negatives I can draw out are some shaky-cam in the battle scenes, which is still kind of appropriate and recalls the Normandy beach landing in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and that a lot of the supporting characters aren't fleshed out enough outside of the stars in the cast. That being said, everyone gave an excellent performance. Tom Cruise even ends up getting a nice character arc. Overall, despite having the same gimmick as GROUNDHOG DAY, EDGE OF TOMORROW is an exciting, engaging and, in the end, thoughtful sci-fi film that has immense replay value. This is definitely one movie you won't mind watching again.THE EXTRAS: There is a decent amount of special features that delve into different aspects of the production. The main ones are three featurettes that give a behind-the-scenes look at the visual effects and stunt work on the film's sci-fi battle on the beach, the exo-suits worn by the cast and the director Doug Liman's effort to make the film as realistic as possible. Based on these, it was really apparent just how much work and effort went into making this excellent film. There was extreme dedication from everyone involved. It's also amazing that things turned out as well as they did, considering that they started shooting without a finished script. There are also a handful deleted scenes to round things out, although some of them have unfinished effects or are partly pre-visualized sequences.OVERALL: This was a criminally under-seen film this summer that deserves to be seen by all sci-fi fans. The special features aren't too "special," but they were still nice to have anyway. Bottom line, if you haven't seen this yet, go see it!

While not Tom Cruise's best sci fi action film (Oblivion is better), Live Die Repeat is a fun romp. Cruise is very good at cocky, as he has proven repeatedly since Top Gun. Here, as in The Mummy, he is no hero but a self-serving jerk.Condemned to die alongside his fellow soldiers when humanity launches its last offensive on the beaches of France against alien invaders, Cruise discovers that he cannot die.This is where one of my favorite actresses comes in, Emily Blunt, who plays the "Angel of Verdun," Sergeant Rita Vrataski. Turns out she had one Cruise has, and then lost it. That is, she was unable to die too.It's all part of some weird alien physics that puts Cruise into the future's driver seat. He can now determine events, and so the aliens especially want him dead. The problem for Cruise (and humanity) is that if he doesn't die, if he gets a blood transfusion, he loses his powers.This leads to a hilarious training session where Blunt tries to whip Cruise into shape and he keeps getting hurt. I won't give it away but watching the movie is well worth it just to see these scenes.The action sequences are well done. Brendan Gleeson is good as the allied commander-in-chief and Bill Paxton turns in a great performance as a drill-instructor-type NCO. It's a fun movie, full of action and also full of laughs.The ending requires some explanation and unfortunately, no reviewer can provide that. In fact, they're making a sequel that will explain it all. And I'm looking forward to it.I said Oblivion was better but Oblivion is one of those films that demands 5 stars plus. I still have to give Live Die Repeat 5 stars for Cruise and Blunt alone.

Let me be completely candid. I do not like Tom Cruise.That being said, he is an AMAZING action hero -- all 5' 7" of him. He can even pull off Jack Reacher, for pete's sake!"All You Need is Kill" - -the Japanese manga this movie was based on -- is said to be far better than this movie. I don't know what an anime of this movie would look like, but it is very unlikely to be better than "Edge of Tomorrow".This is THE best action sci-fi movie I have EVER seen in my life involving the major theme of this movie."Edge of Tomorrow" does EVERYTHING right, and I've watched it several times and it just never gets old.Perfect movie to slap in the DVD player to entertain every living soul -- women, men, children -- or just to have on at a party."Edge of Tomorrow" is a five-star movie from beginning to end. From the acting, to the sound engineering, to the special effects, to the story, to the amazing music score.From top to bottom, there is no close second to this movie in it's genre. If I could give it more stars I gladly would.

Really cool movie. Interesting concept of Time Travel and Ground Hogs day type scenario with an alien war scenario in our life time.