Wednesday 22 October 2014

Edge of Tomorrow (DVD/streaming) Review

Something that hasn't really been explained in the past few years is the demise of "star value". There was once an era that Tom Cruise's name over a film would automatically get an initial audience in who would either rave about it (Rain Man) or tell people to avoid it (Eyes Wide Shut). Star names have been replaced more with franchises, or even studios. The Pixar and Marvel names will bring in crowds in a way that Tom Cruise or Will Smith don't.

I'm mostly ambivalent about this, but I generally rather like the films that Tom Cruise is in. Of all the movie stars out there, I think he's generally selective more on quality than pay cheques, which means you've got a good chance of getting good value going to see a film with his name on.

It's the only reason I can think of that the Edge of Tomorrow was a bit of a flop at the cinema, although the movie seems to be rebranded as Live. Die. Repeat, so maybe the name was a problem. It's brilliant, and a rare thing, an action sci-fi movie that thrills in the action, and has some sci-fi that's logically consistent and doesn't fall apart before the end. It's also funny at times, with some dark humour in it. Well worth 3 or 4 quid.

4 comments:

Mark Wadsworth said...

"I generally rather like the films that Tom Cruise is in. Of all the movie stars out there, I think he's generally selective more on quality than pay cheques."

I've said that many a time!

TC is an insufferable little twat, but he really is good at picking good scripts etc, and I've seen most of his films and all were pretty good films in an old fashioned sort of way (nice mix of plot, sub-plot, action and/or unusual subject matter, catchphrases, love interest etc).

And he was excellent in Tropic Thunder.

Maybe he should pack in the acting and just get a job deciding which scripts get turned into films.

Tim Almond said...

He's also not afraid to do some quite unusual stuff like Magnolia, where he was brilliant and should have won the Oscar that year.

Martin said...

I liked 'Oblivion' too. He was, apart from the Tripods, the only good thing about 'War of the Worlds'. As Stigler says, 'Magnolia' was brilliant, as were 'Collateral' and 'Minority Report'. So, yes, some excellent performances.

Pablo said...

EWS was worth seeing just for wots-er-name.