OVERVIEW: On a desolate, nearly ruined future Earth, Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible Franchise) and Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight Rises, Wanted) star in the ground-breaking cinematic event Oblivion, a visually stunning, post-Apocalyptic thriller. A glimpse of a perilous future from visionary filmmaker Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy) and the producers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Oblivion is “unlike anything you’ve ever seen” (Moviefanatic’s Joel Amos), as one man confronts his mysterious past in a journey of redemption and discovery. 

Based on Kosinski’s acclaimed graphic novel, the film also stars Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Seven Psychopaths), Andrea Riseborough (W.E., Happy-Go-Lucky), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Mama, “Game of Thrones”) and Oscar®-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River). Oblivion will be available on Digital July 23, 2013 as well as Blu-ray™ Combo Pack with DVD, Digital including UltraViolet™, and On Demand on August 6, 2013, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

SYNOPSIS: This groundbreaking cinematic event stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, the lone security repairman stationed on a desolate, nearly-ruined future Earth. When he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft, her arrival triggers a nonstop chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows, and leaves humanity’s fate in his hands. Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman joins Cruise in this “visually stunning” (Pete Hammond, MOVIELINE,) explosive story from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

FILM REVIEW: If you’ve ever watched a sci-fi flick from any decade, you’ve pretty much seen Oblivion, which is penned by Karl Gajdusek (Trespass, 2011), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, 2010) and Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, 2011). Despite not seeming to be an original concept, by the seasoned director, it does bring a cool storyline and intriguing twist the sci-fi genre. Also with being at risk of presenting spoilers here, I’d say that this latest Tom Cruise effort seems to be a jigsaw-puzzle of many of the past decade’s blockbuster movies, such as the Matrix trilogy. Having said this, the success of this flick is in the presentation of these well worn and tested ideas and ultimately the exceptional display of craftsmanship, with all parties involved. 

Another appealing aspect to this flick is the principle lead. I generally go in to a Tom Cruise release with a tad bit of apprehension: be it the role of a rich vampire, rich industrialist or child of rich parents. This is especially true when he’s in roles where wealth, power and extraordinary skill-sets are his predominant character attributes. However, in Oblivion his presence works when stripped of much of the off-screen persona that made him a joke in the past several years. His playing Jack Harper as a reflective, lonely man gives the film a certain dynamic and gritty feel that normally would not be very convincing in many of his previous roles. Therefore, for the first time in his career, I see him as a genuine “Joe Shmoe,” defeated from the beginning and needing to depend on other characters in the flick to bring the story-line to worthiness. In other words, it’s not all about the Tom Cruise persona, playing the super character saving the world, but instead just a regular guy playing a regular character and needing others of equal or greater character strengths. It goes without saying that Cruise was definitely a good choice for the lead role. 

Likewise, it seems like casting execs can never go wrong with the immortal Morgan Freeman. His character’s role brings a certain level of humanity and down-to-earth feel to the film. His presence and demeanor are simply unstoppable and provide that feel of a real sci-fi that is humanly and earthly based. The female leading characters are a soothing sight for sore eyes and are well played by eye-candy model-turned-actress, Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, 2008) and (little known in the US) British–highly-decorated actress Andrea Riseborough. Thankfully the movie is very visually pleasing and doesn’t rely heavily on lots of dialog from the supporting cast.

Overall, the combination of awesome CG visuals, a great selection in cast and loads of action speaks to the overall quality of the film. It is definitely worth the visit to the theaters and deserves four out of five stars for creativity, mystery and intrigue.

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 2.40:1 aspect ration preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 7.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English  and Spanish subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (2.40:1) 16x9

AUDIO:
DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, DVS - 2.0 Dolby Digital DTS (English); Digital Surround 5.1 (Spanish and French)

Subtitles - English Spanish French

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Blu-ray™ disc unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring perfect hi-def picture and hi-def sound. 

DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away. 

Digital Copy provides consumers with a choice of formats from a variety of partners, including options to watch on iPhone®,
iPad®, Android, computers and more.

UltraViolet™ is the revolutionary way for consumers to collect their movies and TV shows in the cloud. UltraViolet™ lets
consumers instantly stream and download to tablets, smartphones, computers and TVs. Now available in both the United States
and Canada.

Feature Commentary with Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski 

Deleted Scenes

Promise of a New World: The Making of Oblivion—A comprehensive and thought-provoking multi-part feature covering the making of Oblivion, including:

Destiny – Looks inside the conceptualization, development and pre-production of Oblivion and the planning that went into the Herculean task of shooting the epic film. 

Voyage – Follows the creation of the amazing Bubble Ship from its early design conception to its journey around the world. (Blu-rayTM exclusive)

Combat – Explores the film’s ground-breaking action and death-defying stunts, all performed by one of the most popular movie stars in the world. (Blu-rayTM exclusive)

Illusion – Focuses on the film’s post-production and dazzling visual effects. 

Harmony – Delves into the innovative musical world of M83.

M83 Isolated Score—Watch the entire film accompanied by the evocative music track.