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Carter Glace writes that there have been some decent video game movies, like 'Prince of Persia' or one of the 'Resident Evil' films but plenty of bad ones too just remember 'Super Mario Bros'. But Doug Liman's 'Edge of Tomorrow' shows how to take one of video games' most tried and true mechanics and use it to make an excellent and utterly creative film. In the film Tom Cruise plays a PR officer named Cage who, blessed with the power of infinite lives, has to continually progress through the day while figuring out how to win the battle and the war kind of a cross between 'Groundhog Day' and 'Starship Troopers.'
"The use of the words "infinite lives" is no accident," writes Glace. The premise of the film comes from a Japanese graphic novel titled 'All You Need Is Kill', but it is steeped in the classic video game lore: restarting the game over and over until you are prepared for every conceivable threat. This is a fact director Liman openly celebrates and it works here on countless levels. Cruise's efforts to train are all chronicled through an efficient, fun and fluid montage that serves as an excellent progression through the "levels," while cutting out the more mundane, frustrating repetition it "stands as an incredibly creative, intelligent piece of sci-fi filmmaking." "Taking inspiration from an underutilized resource, Cruise has made an incredible return to form," concludes Glace. "Unfortunately, 'Edge of Tomorrow' is already a box-office dud, but I implore you to support this excellent film."
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Sunday June 15 2014, @05:05PM
You lost me at "Tom Cruise."
Although nothing could be quite so absurd as this midget trying to represent Lee Childs' character "Jack Reacher." [wikipedia.org]
No amount of heel lifts can make a 5'4" dwarf look or feel like a six and half foot, 250 pound strong man. Hell, not even CGI could make Cruise believable in that role.
(Score: 4, Funny) by ArhcAngel on Sunday June 15 2014, @06:17PM
How about a 6.5 foot metal exoskeleton?
TBH I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and Cruise didn't detract from the film at least for me. Highly recommend. I mean...come on! You don't want to see Tom Cruise get murdered hundreds of times in one sitting?
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday June 15 2014, @06:46PM
Well, he spared no expense surrounding himself with similarly short people, and had the director always shoot him with the camera so the camera was generally pointing slightly upwards, so he seems taller.
(Score: 2) by Appalbarry on Sunday June 15 2014, @06:59PM
You don't want to see Tom Cruise get murdered hundreds of times in one sitting?
Reminds me of one person's comment about the movie "Cotton Club."
"Great movie except that you spend the whole film wishing that one of the gangsters would just kill off Richard Gere."
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday June 17 2014, @01:00PM
The squeek/scream he makes when he dies had me in stitches after the 'push-ups' death.
And the look on his face when he goes back for revenge at the farm really reminded me of myself after passing a particularly hard level in a computer game. Sometimes when you play a game and there's a boss that's just unfairly hard, you don't feel joyous when you beat it, you just feel glad it's over.
Again, there are times when playing a game that you think "I wonder if I can jump that gap" and you do a quicksave, knowing that if you don't make it you can just respawn. There were many points in the movie that reminded me of that. Knowing you had infinite lives, you could try things you never would in a roguelike. It reminds me of moments in WoW, where you wonder what jumping off that huge ledge would be like, so you just remove any gear that takes durability damage and go fly.
The only thing I don't like about the movie is the ending, there's not a "Time-Paradox" per sé, however there is a continuity error that I can't figure out. It's far too blatant to be an oversight, so I'm guessing we are just expected to let it pass to allow a form of deus ex to do its thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 15 2014, @07:33PM
Yes, they lost me at "Tom Cruise" also because fuck Scientology.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Sunday June 15 2014, @07:58PM
You might be one of those people who would stab Jack Gleeson because King Jofrey was a dick.
I imagine you might not like any music, book, or film if you truly knew the people who made them. Tom Cruise is just famous enough that you know his personal life and beliefs.
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(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 15 2014, @08:29PM
Tom Cruise has two parts he plays. Tom Cruise in mega jerk makes good but is still a jerk... and Tom Cruise playing bad ass covert type.
The first type I find boring. The second one I usually enjoy but tend to forget. This movie seems to be of the second type and when it is quickly shuffled to dvd I will buy it. His acting range is fairly narrow. But he is very good at those two roles.
As for what he believes? I dont care aside from being entertained by people getting twisted up over it on the internet.
(Score: 2) by ArhcAngel on Wednesday June 18 2014, @02:52AM
Which one of the two is Les Grossman? http://youtu.be/sr9_GfeoCjk/ [youtu.be]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday June 15 2014, @10:48PM
You might be one of those people who would stab Jack Gleeson because King Jofrey was a dick.
It doesn't work that way. I don't know anything about Jack Gleeson other than the fact that he played Joffrey, and he did a pretty good job of that. That's his job as an actor: to act like someone else, and to convince me he really is that character while he's on screen. Gleeson did just fine at that. The fact that I don't know anything substantial about his personal life helps with that. If I also knew that he was a murderer or some insane nut who tried to push his wacky beliefs on everyone, then that would ruin the suspension of disbelief for me, and make it so that I could no longer watch his performance as an actor and be entertained.
With Tom, he's made such a name for himself as a promoter of Scientology that I just can't watch a movie with him anymore without thinking of that, and how he runs around telling everyone who'll listen about how psychiatry is a fraud and how psychiatrists were in league with Xenu of the Galactic Confederation on Teegeeack and all that nonsense. With all that nutjobbery tainting him, it's no longer possible to just watch his performance as an actor.
Tom Cruise is just famous enough that you know his personal life and beliefs.
Wrong. I'd bet good money that Gleeson does not spend a lot of time and money pursuing some wacky alien sci-fi religion, or anything so abnormal. Furthermore, and more importantly, he obviously doesn't use his fame as a platform to spread his religious views. Tom does. That's the whole reason Scientology recruits famous actors.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday June 15 2014, @11:36PM
I thought it was because Scientology was supposed to help them find their way out of the fudge packing factory.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by tibman on Monday June 16 2014, @12:58AM
I can sum it up a little bit, Tom Cruise is crazy. If that prevents you from enjoying films that he is in, that's all you. But you are attacking the product and not the person. I have no desire to get sucked into a side conversation about the particulars of Tom Cruises personal life, i simply do not care : )
Also, Jack Gleeson played an awesome "bad guy"! I think he'll be known as King Joffrey for a long time. Sort of like when you saw Elrond in LOTR and thought "It's agent Smith!".
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday June 16 2014, @09:39AM
Think I read somewhere that he's not planning to do any more acting. Wikipedia confirms [wikipedia.org]. Shame, because he was great, but like you say it would be hard to escape a character like Joffrey. Probably a wise move, perhaps he took advice from Wil Wheaton.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday June 17 2014, @12:51PM
There is a youtube interview with him where he confirmed it. The reason he is quitting is because acting became a job, and not a hobby. When it became a job, it no longer was enjoyable. But he's still young so there's no reason why he can't find a way yo return to it on his terms.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by dpp on Sunday June 15 2014, @08:42PM
Dwarf?!
Wikipedia shows Mr. Cruise' height at 1.7m (5.57743ft) or 5 feet 6 59â„64 inches.
So @ ~5' 7", I don't see him qualifying as a "Dwarf".
Human Height (Males) in U.S., while taller averages than in years gone by, shows:
average height of a male over 20+ = 176.3 cm (5 ft 9 1â„2 in)
average height of a female 20 + = 162.2 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height [wikipedia.org]
Fun trivia - not "above average" Hollywood male actors
http://www.nextmovie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/HHC-Hi-res.jpg [nextmovie.com]
So by your standards, would you call some action stars, such as:
Al Pacino, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Stratham
Dwarves?
Perhaps it was a mistake to cast Peter Dinklage as Tyrion in Game of Thrones when Tom Cruise is such a Dwarf and could've handled the action scenes better?
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday June 16 2014, @09:34AM
I thought the whole point of Tyrion's action scenes was that Tyrion is not a warrior, due to his stature and the prejudice he has grown up with. Although he does conduct himself bravely when he is faced with an unavoidable battle, he simply isn't a fighter- he wields power in other ways. The role does not call for an action hero.
Unless of course you were talking about Tyrion's, you know, action scenes, which (if the rumours are true) I think Mr Cruise would have had some difficulty with.
All told, Peter Dinklage is a fantastic Tyrion.* I know I'm not alone in thinking that he is probably the best bit in an awesome TV series. *disclaimer - haven't read the books yet. Not quite up to date on the series either, so please flag any spoilers, especially ones regarding Tyrion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @02:55PM
(Score: 1) by arslan on Monday June 16 2014, @01:51AM
Those stats sounds like a good fit for Chris Hemsworth (aka Thor)...