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24.4.150.31
...it's been a while since there has been a new movie to draw me to the multiplex - most of the interesting ones of late will do just as well on my HD flat screen at home in a couple of months.So along comes a new Tom Cruise sci-fi film about post-apocalyptic earth and a couple of care-takers who are soon to go off to the new planet. Of course things do not go as planned and much is not as it seems.
The two local papers disagreed - one gave it a D saying it was pretty weak compared say, to Cruise's earlier classic, Minority Report.
The other gave it a B saying that regardless, Cruise's charisma keeps you focused and involved in the film.
I agree with both and give it a C - at the end the plot doesn't make a lot of sense but Cruise does a really good job so it's worth seeing on the big screen.
At least until next month at least when the summer blockbusters begin to come out.
Edits: 04/20/13Follow Ups:
I loved it, although the video and sonics weren't as impressive as when I saw the IMAX version earlier in the week. Frankly, I think the plot is tight and well thought out, although it's hard to take in all the detail you need with only one viewing.But beyond the plot, Oblivion stands out from the majority of Hollywood sci-fi in recent years in the human interest of the characters, dealing with the questions of loyalty, love, memory, and identity. I found it genuinely touching when Jack (the Tom Cruise character) is drawn to Julia (the Olga Kurylenko character) at the expense of Vica with whom he has been such "an effective team" for so long. The scene of Vica on the other side of the glass door and stunned by Jack's "betrayal" (the role superbly acted not only in this scene but throughout the film by Andrea Riseborough) was powerfully affecting IMHO. This is the kind of emotion that some of the old Twilight Zone episodes evoked, and I think one of the reviewers (LA Times?) was also struck by this.
Then there's the look of the movie itself: the design of the dwellings, the combining of the CGI and the actual location shots in Iceland (above the clouds), the bubble ship - all just wonderful!
Sure, there are the de rigeuer video-game sequences and explosions, but Oblivion has so much more to offer too. 5/5 for me.
Edits: 05/05/13
...
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Edits: 02/27/18
But some of those other movies are inferior to Oblivion! ;-)
It reminds me of the story of Handel leading a performance of one of his Concerti Grossi. After the performance, one listener confronted Handel, saying, "You stole that theme from Gemeniani!" Handel replied, "Yes, but it was too good for Gemeniani!"
The woman who played Cruise's partner (not the wife) sure is pretty.
They could cut this down by ten minutes and make it a much better movie.
"Lock up when you're done and don't touch the piano."
-Dr. Greg House
I like the guy, usually. He's always Tom Cruise in everything he does, so it's hard to see his characters. But hanging with his films until at least the halfway point, he eventually draws me in. It's hard to not bash him all the time; it's fashionable; but if I can squelch the impulse long enough, then some of his work comes through OK. What turned it around for me was The Last Samurai. After that, I reexamined some of his other roles. Yup, always Tom Cruise, but also noticed his roles a bit more.
Thanks for the Oblivion comment. I was really hoping this one would be OK.
he means big budget and lots of thrills. I found this visually interesting but totally flat as far as the story went. It was typical Cruise: style over substance by far.
With you on your feelings on the movie and that I also can't be bothered to go to the movie theater too often.
SPOILERS...
Which part didn't make sense to you at the end? I think... it all added up.
I see the movie in short like this; alien force comes to suck the life out of the earth, to do so they destroy the majority of the population by damaging the moon. They create multiples of 2 clones (Cruise and his co-pilot who went to the force on a mission) to help them combat the few remaining humans by fixing any damaged droids. Two "Jacks" end up seeing his wife from before the apocalypse. #49 saves humanity by sacrificing himself, #52 ends up with his wife in Little Eden.
The only part that didn't really work I thought was how the life force/alien wouldn't have some sort of intuition that #49 was going to destroy it. And maybe the droids could have fixed the droids so they wouldn't have this little nagging problem of imperfect humans assisting.
I'd give it a 3 1/2 to 4 actually. It was different than expected; the love story was a large part of the movie, and that's OK.
...so it was aliens in the ship?
It looked like humans in suspened animation in those compartments on the ship so I assumed they were the ones who needed the water to stay alive.
If there were 1000s of clones, why did we only see those 2? I thought only #49 had flashbacks about his wife.
I thought the chemistry between Cruise and his wife was a big part of what kept you interested and involved.
But then I'm a big fan of the Jack Reacher books and I that was one of my favorite movies of last year even though Cruise is about 8" and 50lb short.
All replies IMO only.
"...so it was aliens in the ship? It looked like humans in suspended animation in those compartments on the ship so I assumed they were the ones who needed the water to stay alive."
It was humans; more of Jack and his co-pilot in case some get killed off. The water was a vital source the alien force needed for its survival.
"If there were 1000s of clones, why did we only see those 2? I thought only #49 had flashbacks about his wife."
Each had their respective area on earth to "protect". I would imagine they all had memories of her. But as only #49 and #52 ever saw Julia the others would have carried on thinking she was merely a dream. Now if years go by and another Jack or 5 see Julia... there may be a fight. :)
"I thought the chemistry between Cruise and his wife was a big part of what kept you interested and involved."
Absolutely. And she is pretty! Same girl from the previous Bond movie.
"But then I'm a big fan of the Jack Reacher books and I that was one of my favorite movies of last year even though Cruise is about 8" and 50lb short."
Heard of Jack Reacher, but never saw that one. Maybe soon.
... 1000s of Jack clones in the "Tet" as #49 makes his entrance. Recall when Morgan Freeman recounts the story of the takeover of Earth by the aliens that the army that actually does the work is composed of thousands and thousands of Jack clones. This was found to be very demoralizing to the citizens of earth: the enemy appeared to be an astronaut hero. We see the remnants of the invading army and/or a future clean-up army and/or technician replacements.
FWIW, I found the "Tet" to be a far too blatant ripoff of the STNG Borg thing. A simple tetrahedron vs a cube? Puhleeze.
Demoralizing the remnant.
Unsure of the Borg thing, never watched the Star Wars with borgs....
...STNG Borg was a space vessel/race/culture that traveled throughout the galaxy consuming planets for material and energy and assimilating the best qualities of encountered life forms while discarding the rest. The Borg's vessel was a huge cube capable of warp factors in excess of the Enterprise.
...you'll enjoy the Reacher movie much more if you read a couple of the books first.
The books are my favorites and I read a lot.
The thousands more clones inside were also general replacements. Remember Jack and Vicki talking about having 2 more weeks and their service is done; then they can go to the new place (Tet??, which is of course non-existent)? I assume "Sally" was aware they would all eventually have recollections of their pre-existence and start causing problems, so after a period of time they are killed off and another pair of clones are issued.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...is more entertaining than Tom Cruise.
Otherwise, not much difference between the two.
Seem pretty different to me.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...would care about his religion rather than his ability to entertain.
As far as a sense of humor, it sounds like you missed Cruise's great performance at the end of "Tropic Thunder".
Right.
Anyone who would still rather see Oblivion is saying they don't value their time.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...web reviews over their own.
Wonder what the new Star trek rates from the guys who never leave their couch.
Like you.
It's a review amalgamation site, since you're unfamiliar. The concept is to rely on many reviews; not just one. I've hardly had time to sit on my couch at all. Amazing how you find a way to be wrong about almost everything.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
Edits: 05/01/13
...sour grapes to me.No doubt the fanboys like you don't like Cruise.
Or maybe Rotten Tomatoes...
Edits: 05/01/13
You're not making sense. I have no desire to see Oblivion. If you want to waste a few hours of your life, that's on you.
I call you a fanboy because you're clearly a fan of Cruise. It doesn't make sense for you to then call me a fanboy. It just proves you can't think of words that are apropos and need to simply repeat what people tell to you, like an infant.
Rotten Tomatoes is a reviewer site integrated into a mobile app called Flixster that tells you where and when films are being shown in your area. It quickly gives you an idea of how good a movie is based on pooling every available review from noteworthy sites and attempting to quantify the results. It's not a flawless approach but it is far more reliable than your incoherent rantings.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
especially after the way he treated his ex-wife--after which that heavily disguised role in Tropic of Thunder was practically the only work he could get.
More to the point, RD Jr blew Cruise away in Tropic of Thunder on the humor level.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...or oblivious.
Downey was the star of Tropic Thunder - Cruise had a small part and I thought he was funnier.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
The trailer looks pretty cheesy. I suppose Oblivion might be OK, but Geez, last year's Prometheus said it all so eloquently there's just not that much left to say with respect to galactic calamities and aliens. Besides, once I saw that Morgan freeman was in Oblivion, I'm pretty much out. In fact, I insist Morgan Freeman be added to the Most Irritating Actor thread post haste.
Edits: 04/21/13
...I saw the IMAX version last night and was entertained. There's not a whole lot here that could be considered really original. There were were constant subtle and not-so-subtle references to Wall-e, STNG/Borg, the Jetsons, 2001, Planet of the Apes, Minority Report, Star Wars, and even Independence Day. I think Hollywood is getting low on originality. Pretty cinematography and mostly effective CGI. A lot of the score reminded me of Kraftwerk but I didn't stay for credits so don't know who actually did the music. Probably 20 min too long. Overall I'd give it 3/5.
The previews of upcoming summer blockbusters portend a less than stellar season. Man of Steel, looks weak as does the new Star Trek: lots of action and needless explosions. The next Ironman looks far too serious and totally joyless but may be the best of what's coming.
see link
"If the audio industry built gear that sounded as good as it did 50 years ago, there would NEVER be a need to re-issued anything!"
...saw it in IMAX.
So I sprung for XD.
I stopped keeping track of references about half-way through since there were so many things that reminded me of other films.
Entertaining is good enough these days.
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