Oblivion (I) (2013)

A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.

Director:

Joseph Kosinski

Writers:

Karl Gajdusek (screenplay), Michael Arndt (screenplay),

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Tom Cruise	...	Jack
Morgan Freeman	...	Beech
Olga Kurylenko	...	Julia
Andrea Riseborough	...	Victoria
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Sykes
Melissa Leo	...	Sally
Zoe Bell	...	Kara
Abigail Lowe	...	Julia's Child
Isabelle Lowe	...	Julia's Child
David Madison	...	Grow Hall Survivor

Storyline

One of the few remaining drone repairmen assigned to Earth, its surface devastated after decades of war with the alien Scavs, discovers a crashed spacecraft with contents that bring into question everything he believed about the war, and may even put the fate of mankind in his hands.

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Plot Keywords:

drone | alien | resistance | dystopia | brooklyn bridge | 

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Taglines:

Earth is a memory worth fighting for.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horizons

Filming Locations:

Hrossaborg, Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$37,054,485 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Gross:

$89,021,735 (USA) (21 June 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Chernin Entertainment, Ironhead Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Initially, Disney had acquired the rights to Joseph Kosinski's script in a heated auction. However, they later realized that making a PG-rated film based on the script would require a lot of story changes. The rights were subsequently acquired by Universal Pictures.

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Goofs

When Jack takes off with Julia to retrieve the flight recorder, the sound of his engine taking off wakes up Victoria. She walks to the control station with just her nightgown. When the camera comes back to her she now has on a robe.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Jack Harper: Is it possible to miss a place you've never been? To mourn a time you never lived?

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Crazy Credits

The Tet can be seen in the opening Universal logo.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Oblivion (2013)

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Soundtracks

"A Whiter Shade of Pale"
Written by Keith Reid, Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher
Performed by Procol Harum
Courtesy of Muscadet Productions, Inc. & Onward Productions Ltd.

User Reviews

A memorable sci-fi fantasy world with a human heart at its core.

If there is a soul, it is made from the love we share.

There are many ways to describe Oblivion, but the softly spoken afterword by Tom Cruise's character really makes you feel the human heartbeat of this sci-fi epic.

As always, the trailer is full of explosions and set pieces. Oblivion the movie is an entirely different beast that values a human story and characters that are driven by common purpose. While the cast is tiny, I found much to enjoy from Cruise, Riseborough, Freeman and that Nordic guy from Headhunters who is showing up more frequently in Hollywood blockbusters. Aside from unusually limited screen-time, Morgan and other supporting cast are effective and memorable.

The threads of the plot are well-woven and I won't give anything away, so what I will tell you is to prepare for a powerful journey into the unknown where nothing is what it seems. Explosive set pieces take a backseat for sci-fi philosophy with twists to spare.

Oblivion ticks all the boxes for correct use of literary devices and establishes enough original cannon to stick in your mind long after the credits start rolling. It is a distinct success among the largely abysmal offerings of 2013 so far, don't miss it.