In the near future, NATO is fighting against aliens known as Mimics who have overrun Europe in the last five years with the United Kingdom being the last holdout.  NATO has banded together the various military forces into the United Defense Forces (UDF).  US officer Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is called to a meeting with General Brigham (Gleeson), commander of the UDF.  The general wants Major Cage on the front covering Operation Downfall and Cage refuses the order even to the point of trying to blackmail the general.  Major Cage is arrested and wakes up next day at Heathrow Airport where he is found stripped of his rank and forced to fight in the invasion.   He is equipped with an exoskeleton that helps the soldiers fight the Mimics, but the battle goes badly and Cage is covered with the blood of one of the Mimics before he dies.  He wakes up at Heathrow to repeat the day over again and he needs the help of Rita (Emily Blunt) aka the Angel of Verdun (or Full Metal Bitch behind her back).  Cage must die again and again as he trains with Rita to become a soldier and find the location of the brain of the Mimic invasion known as the Omega.

 

EDGE OF TOMORROW is a nice twisty thriller with action and humor and some nice character development for Major Cage as he finds he doesn’t want Rita to die as he lives the day over again.   Cruise manages to turn Cage from a jerk to a disillusioned soldier to a guy who really wants to save the world.   The visuals are great and the trailers did some major misdirection to not clearly show you where some of the clips fit into the movie.   Cruise and Blunt have a nice chemistry as they learn to work together while Major Cage tries to bring more knowledge as he dies over and over again as they get closer to finding the Omega and ending the alien invasion hopefully.

 

It is a Tom Cruise action film in Groundhog Day fashion with action and alien invasion.   Don’t miss it.  It has great replay value for a film many missed in theaters in the United States.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

OPERATION DOWNFALL- ADRENALINE CUT- a supercut of the epic sci-fi beach battle against the aliens

STORMING THE BEACH-a behind-the-scenes look at how they created the D-Day style battle against the aliens on the beach on a back lot with green screen

 

WEAPONS OF THE FUTURE- a look at the exo-suits and the challenges they bring the cast in addition to how they made the suits look good on film

CREATURES NOT OF THIS WORLD- a look at the design and special effects that created the Mimics and how they filmed the scenes with the creatures to be added in post-production

ON THE EDGE WITH DOUG LIMAN (42:37)- an inside look at the pressures Doug Liman and everyone went through in making the movie and how the director and star Tom Cruise set the pace for each other and everyone else.   Also how it is to work with the director as they create the characters and rewrite the movie as they film

 

7 deleted and alternate scenes which were rightfully cut for pacing (where the third scene has moments included in the trailers which aren’t on the disc)

 

A WORLD ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW (26:27)- a look at the world and characters of the film in this Best Buy exclusive featurette with the cast and director Doug Liman.  Also how Tom Cruise’s dedication set the pace and gave the director lots of options in addition to how they reworked the scenes as they filmed mostly in the studio and the back lot in Leavesden with virtual sets.  They include a behind-the-scenes look of Tom Cruise testing out the exo-suit costume as they designed it and know how to move in it

 

Digital HD Ultraviolet copy to stream or download the film for TV, smart phone, tablet, and computer

 

The movie in standard definition on DVD

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: EDGE OF TOMORROW is a great underrated sci-fi action movie which I don’t know why Warner re-titled it as LIVE DIE REPEAT: EDGE OF TOMORROW for DVD and blu-ray.  The making-of extras do offer a good look at the making-of the film and the challenges for cast and crew.

 

This review is ©10-21-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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