OBLIVION

An amazing action film starring Tom Cruise & the amazing Morgan FreemanCruise plays Jack Harper, a drone repairman stationed on Earth that has been ravaged by war with extraterrestrials, questions his identity after rescuing the woman who keeps appearing in his dreams.Edge of your seat drama with an unexpected twist.Well worth a watch

Superb story one of the Sci Fi movies that has a good story line, excellent actors. This is the second time watching after many years and having forgotten the screen play, it was even better second time around. The drones were evil things and in these troubled times and the advancement of AI it leaves you wondering where it will go with these things, maybe an omen. Back to the film, intriguing... with a decent understandable end. Well worth watching.

A big budget science fiction that is a wholly original concept, and not a comic book adaptation, a sequel, or the start of a trilogy. What will they think of next?Although technically it is a comic adaptation since it's based on an unpublished graphic novel. Anyway...Tom Cruise is Jack. Harper, rather than Reacher. A man haunted by dreams of New York. The Empire State. And a woman.Cue the exposition. Earth was attacked by aliens. Who blew up the moon [the first of many stunning images]. We went to war for the planet. We used the nukes to drive them off. The aliens lost. We won. The Earth won't recover. Humanity has moved to Titan. Vast machines draw up sea water from Earth's remaining oceans to convert it to fuel for the colony. Jack is a repairman. Who works on the drones that maintain the machines. He does this from a small base in a glass tower along with his colleague Victoria [Andrea Riseborough] who mans communications and communicates with Titan and a lady there called Sally whilst Jack flies around Earth doing his work. Surviving aliens christened Scavs are another threat to the machines.Their job is almost done, and Titan beckons. But Jack can't quite let go of Earth. He has a secret he keeps from Victoria. He has the aforementioned dreams. Plus two of them had a mandatory memory wipe before their work started.Jack's work and travels lead him to suspect a few hidden truths...This is not an easy movie to review without spoilers, since there's obviously more going here than meets the eye. It does take a long time to establish itself, but Tom Cruise is a capable leading man, and the visual scenery of empty landscapes and shattered buildings are so stunning that time watching this passes very nicely. Also the images of Jack and Victoria in their tower living their lives above the clouds does offer some memorable shots.Plot does gradually develop though. Some very good surprises await. Although I did see one coming seconds before it happened. And it did look for a moment as if this was going to be similar to a certain other science fiction movie of the past four years. But it does go in a somewhat different direction.None of that will prepare you for the next and much more shocking surprise, though.There are long character moments, but as mentioned these all pass very nicely. Some excellent flying action scenes. Other action does come along in due course.This does ask some of the big questions about humanity and identity, and does it in an interesting manner. It also makes you think a few things about the planet on which you live as well.It's possibly a little overlong, but it's a quietly moving bit of science fiction with some excellent acting, which it will stay with you for a while after. Well worth a look.The dvd has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish.Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Portugese, Swedish.It begins with several trailers but you can skip them via the next button on the dvd remote. Added to which, the icon at the bottom of the opening screen prior to the trailers which asks you to select a country should also take you straight to the main menu.There are no extras at all on the dvd. It also has one of those menus that just uses icons with no text.The dvd box contains a flyer with a website address from which you can download a copy of the film onto a digital device, and a code which will allow you to do that when input onto said site.The dvd packaging is of the usual style and will stand up quite nicely and fit onto your shelves with no problems. It does also display the name of the film on the spine. Given all the comments about the blu ray packaging, that seemed to be worth mentioning.

I just love this film! Losing count how many times I have seen it and knowing I will wear it out one day.This is no Oscar winner (although the breath-taking landscapes deserve to be). There are plot holes deeper than the Icelandic Volcanic craters and the acting gets a bit clunky (even Morgan GOD? Freeman manages an off-day.) But who cares? For dark humour, it’s a hoot AND I LURRRRVE IT!!!First Monsieur Cruise - someone far more qualified than me made the assertion that TC works much better leading the cast from the bottom up, than he does as pre-eminent all conquering hero. Here we have him perfectly appointed the role of "generic bloke" best friends with a dummy called "Bob." As such he is outstanding switching from unflinching hard man to childishly flawed irreverence and possessed of the best man-cave you are EVER going to see.At his side is the eloquent Geordie beauty Andrea Riseborough who easily steals the show from under the nose of OLGA KURYLENKO. Full marks to KOSINSKI for selecting deliberately alternative faces to play the female leads and romantic interest. Both definitely do not look like they were made in Hollywood. It works for Riseborough as resolutely corporate VIKA in a way that misses by miles for Kurylenko awkwardly trying to hold up the mystery of JULIA.The basic tenant of Science Fiction is some of the underlying "science" is more fictional than it ought to be. And so we are asked to suspend believe, occasionally beyond the point of credibility but in the good cause of enjoying a no-nonsense tale that is entertaining in way that it plays out rather than any grand notions of pulling the fleece over your eyeballs.MOON is more intriguing, and decidedly darker.INTERSTELLAR is more detailed by an order of magnitude, but both take themselves way too seriously for this. OBLIVION is no comedy, but is intended as a tall tale to be "enjoyed" if you let it go where it asks without question.Acting honours go to Cruise edging Riseborough by a nose and for being so refreshingly human.Special mention goes to Melissa Leo as the wretchedly irritating SALLY. Without the contextual justification of the final act, voice acting of this type could easily earn a Razzie.MORGAN FREEMAN? Sorry, just not your day this time. He looks somewhat out of place in a way last seen in HARD RAIN. This film just doesn’t NEED him in the way others do.The villain’s award must go to the menacing clones. A deviant blend of Steve Jobs styling with "personality" added courtesy of ED 209 (Mk I). Rotten to their APPLE-esque core.OBLIVION from the start strolls along at its own pace, gently developing a simple plot that occasionally threatens to divert you, but ultimately becomes vividly clear once you discern good from bad. Its patient emphasis of the barren scenery is entirely keeping with the plot and focuses the eyes during the frequent occasions when the story meanders more than it should.The tech, is restrained and a measured counterpoint the bleak world we are presented with. The cast pared back to leave no choices but the obvious where this is off to.OBLIVION is not cerebral sci-fi in the way of CONTACT, but lighter in the way that gave us HAN SOLO or ALIENS, albeit without the drama of either.Watch once to "get-it," twice to double-check, but over and over for sheer entertainment as the perfect antidote after the let-down the unrelated PROMETHEUS proved to be. It’s not a guilty pleasure, just a movie that delivers so solidly it is excused its many flaws.