Blu-ray Review: Edge of Tomorrow

Release Date: October 7, 2014
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 113 minutes

The epic action of “Edge of Tomorrow” unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

Edge of Tomorrow is one of my favorite movies of the year and without a doubt my favorite sci-fi film of the year. The casting is perfect. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are outstanding. As usual. Tom Cruise delivers how he knows best and Emily Blunt is seriously one of the most versatile actresses out there. My gosh, she is magnificent. They both grab ahold of their characters and run as far as they can as fast as they can and hit heir mark in every single word, every single facial expression. These two are seasoned actors obviously but more than that, they really do care about what they are putting out there and it shows and I am so happy that it does because passion makes a project ten times better than without. And the directing? Phenomenal. Simon Crane has now become one of my favorite directors! This work of his is truly outstanding.

Now I went into this film essentially blind so I was thrown for quite a loop with the time loop and absolutely loved, loved, loved it. Time loops are my favorite! So add that plus the cast plus even more sci-fi elements, action and thrilled components and even a bit of comedy and you’ve got a winner in my book but not only that one of my favorites. Yes, this is certainly one of my favorite Tom Cruise films, one of my favorite Emily Blunt films, one of my favorite sci-fi films, one of my favorite films period.

I get so happy when I see movies so I am so, so, so, so glad that this movie is now in my collection because I most definitely will be watching this over and over again. This is one big thrill ride as Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt go on quite the unconventional route to save the world. Time and time again. It’s terrifying and heart stopping to say the least! I don’t want to say too much about the film for those who haven’t seen it. All I will say is, buy it because you will want this in your film collection, too. And I haven’t read All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka which this film is based but you know darn well I will be now! And that score! Ah! Magnificent. Everything about this movie is truly magnificent! Love, love, love this movie.

Bonus Features:

Operation Downfall – Adrenaline Cut (2 minutes) – I loved this cut! This is simply an edit of the battlefield scene rounded up as Cage tried different tactics along the way to win the war. I loved it! It really is a dose of adrenaline.

Operation Downfall – Storming the Beach (9 minutes) – This feature is a great behind the scenes look at what it took to create the battle scenes which they describe as WWII in the future. To see the sets, knowing what was real and what was green screen was so exciting to see. Also exciting, the concept art, original footage, and a brief moment inside a pre-production meeting! Great behind the scenes feature!

Appearing in this Feature:
Director/Producer, Doug Liman
Producers, Jeffrey Silver, Erwin Stoff
Production Designer, Oliver Scholl
Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director, Simon Crane
Visual Effects Supervisor, Nick Davis
Cast Members, Tom Cruise, Bill Paxton, Emily Blunt

Weapons of the Future (8:25 minutes) – What a deeply fascinating look into the creation of the exo-suits that the actors wore and what it was like preparing to film with them on and actually on set filming with them on all day long. Wow. Not to mention, the drop ship. Just wow. Absolutely fascinating. I can’t think of any other word to describe it.

Appearing in this Feature:
Director/Producer, Doug Liman
Production Designer, Oliver Scholl
Exo-Suit Designer, Pierre Bohanna
Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director, Simon Crane
Producer, Jeffrey Silver
Cast Members, Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

Creatures Not of This World (5:40 minutes) – This features focuses on the creation of the aliens including showing us concept art, models, animation tests

Appearing in this Feature:
Director/Producer, Doug Liman
Producers, Erwin Stoff, Jeffrey Silver
Production Designer, Oliver Scholl
Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director, Simon Crane
Cast Member, Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

On the Edge with Doug Liman (42:35 minutes) – In this feature, we follow Director/Producer, Doug Liman as well as the cast and crew in pre-production back in 2012 as they prepare for filming and there’s more exo-suit coverage in this feature so that was very much appreciated! Casting and the script are also hot topics which I loved hearing about. And then, we get a look into production! Seeing the cast and crew make magic on set was so exciting, so invigorating as a creative person. I loved this feature so much! So much.

Also Appearing in this Feature:
Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director, Simon Crane
Production Designer, Oliver Scholl
Costume Designe, Kate Hawley
Producers, Jeffrey Silver, Erwin Stoff, Gregory Jacobs
Exo-Suit Designer, Pierre Bohanna
Assistant to Dough Liman, Dan Lyons
Script Supervisor, Lisa Vick
Cast Member, Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Kick Gurry, Tony Way, Jonas Armstrong, Charlotte Riley, Franz Drameh, Bill Paxton

Deleted Scenes (7:30 minutes) – There are seven deleted scenes on the Blu-ray with no option to play all or individually as it automatically plays all. I can see the humor and emotion and objective for all of these scenes but adore the final cut of the film so, so, so much that I completely understand why these scenes did not make the final cut. What needed to make the final cut of the film made it. Loved seeing these deleted scenes though!

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