LIVE: Edge of Tomorrow: Live Die Repeat (2014) | Saturday Night Drive In

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:01][music] [music] [music] >> Time's up.

[00:00:32]Here [music] it comes.

[00:00:35]Chevron one encoded.

[00:00:37]>> [music] >> For my ally is the force.

[00:00:40]And a powerful ally it is.

[00:00:44]Life creates it.

[00:00:46]>> [music] >> Makes it grow.

[00:00:48]You fail your highness.

[00:00:51]I am a Jedi.

[00:00:53]Like my father before me.

[00:00:58]>> [screaming and groaning] >> Great battle, and let's swift the dogs of war.

[00:01:05]Chevron two encoded.

[00:01:07]Conan, what is best in life?

[00:01:10]Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

[00:01:16]It's all in the reflexes. Well, I also see that you're heavy into [music] martial arts, tai chi, and all that uh killer stuff.

[00:01:24]As a bullet, we have to register you as a lethal [music] weapon. Chevron three encoded.

[00:01:29]And somebody ought to belt you in the mouth. But I won't.

[00:01:33]I won't. The hell I won't.

[00:01:36]Chevron four encoded. Do you expect me to talk?

[00:01:40]No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.

[00:01:43]Chevron five encoded.

[00:01:45]You take the blue [music] pill, the story ends.

[00:01:49]You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want.

[00:01:52]You take the red [music] pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Your world is sexy, Cody. Laugh while you can, monkey boy.

[00:02:03]Great Scott.

[00:02:06]Back off, man.

[00:02:07]I'm a scientist.

[00:02:09]You >> [screaming] >> shall not pass.

[00:02:15]I thought I'd die fighting side by [music] side with elves.

[00:02:19]What about side by side with a friend?

[00:02:22]A day may come when the courage of men fail, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.

[00:02:36]Your world seven is flawed.

[00:02:48]Howdy, all. Welcome back to Saturday Night Driving as I scratch an inch when I shouldn't.

[00:02:55]Uh where we sit back, relax, and talk movies. Sometimes we get winners, sometimes we get losers.

[00:03:02]But today I think we got a winner. But first Ed, before that, I can't speak.

[00:03:07]Hi, Jed.

[00:03:08]Hi. Hi. Hi. Yes, I can definitely say that we have a winner tonight. It's such a fun movie and we're going to have a good discussion about it, I think. So I'm happy to be here. And it's always great to take a break like you're talking about. There's so much crazy shenanigan, so much drama in the news all the time, but to sit back with a fun movie that doesn't require you to think about politics, real world. This is pure escapism. Like I don't consider this a deep movie, a thought-provoking movie, Shakespeare, anything like that. This is pure escapism that still works. With good character work. With really good character >> Great character work. I I said it has some of the best escapism because unlike something like Fast and Furious, that is just the new Fast and Furious, they're just pure candy. There's zero substance to that. It's still escapism though, but this there's still substance to it, but it's absolutely escapism. It's not trying to change your mind in any way.

[00:04:00]It's just trying to entertain you, but it still gives you a great plot, great characters.

[00:04:04]>> Good characters and and and a standard Well, not a standard, but a very well-played out hero's journey. The reluctant hero journey is what I this is. It's the reluctant hero journey. So, tonight we are doing >> by the end. Well, training.

[00:04:22]He earns it. Who knows how long he they were doing that. They It's not one of those things where you keep count.

[00:04:30]I'm sure he lost count. He He could have been doing that for years.

[00:04:36]Cuz how would you count that? Yeah. You couldn't keep that in your head unless you have a memory like you do. Even I wouldn't eventually. Even I would lose count. You would have to do something What you'd have [clears throat] to do is maybe somewhere at the beginning of it write it down so you see it.

[00:04:52]And then when you know the loop starts over again, write it down the next day so at least every time you would then have a visual memory of it. At least that's how I would That's my way I would probably try to counter it is try and say, "Okay, that was three." And then say, "All right, four." And then write down four so that the first thing I do every time is just write down the next one. I would That would be my attempt. I don't know if I could keep it up. But that would be my attempt. But anyway, so howdy to the chat. We hope you guys are doing all right on this rather rather okay Saturday afternoon. It's It's It's 71.

[00:05:26]It's okay. It wasn't very It wasn't too nice outside. It was very still, but it was okay. I went out today.

[00:05:32]People are [ __ ] I hate the world.

[00:05:34]Anyway, Uh but howdy to the chat. We hope you guys are doing all right. Hit those like buttons. Subscribe to the channel. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the show. So, we are doing 2014 Edge of Tomorrow also known as Live, Die, Repeat, based loosely on the Japanese manga All You Need Is Kill. Now, full disclosure, never read All You Need Is Kill. I looked into it years ago. That's why when Edge of Tomorrow came out, I was sort of familiar with what it went down, but it is loosely based. It's based on the concept and a little bit on the characters, but other than that, it is not a direct adaptation of All You Need Is Kill. So, let's just get that away.

[00:06:12]But, I think it can still be said it's one of those rare occasions where a live-action adaptation of a manga or anime still manages to pull it off, just like Alita did. It managed to pull off Alita was much closer to the source material than this was. They actually did that story. This is just loosely based on it.

[00:06:31]But, Jed, uh how many times have you seen this movie at this point now, do you think?

[00:06:37]I've lost count. Like, I actually rewatched this movie fairly regularly.

[00:06:41]This is probably like my eighth time, honestly.

[00:06:43]>> I've watched it a couple of times a year myself. I mean, I have it right there.

[00:06:46]It's right there on the shelf. It was It was an easy buy for me because I love a good sci-fi movie, especially one that should I and I think this one should end at its ending, but they are making a sequel. It's been in development hell for years. It's taking a long time, but as of this week, they announced it might start filming as soon as this fall. So, this is a good time to have picked this movie. Yeah, and I didn't That's not my I just picked it cuz I wanted to do something fun after Where Eagles Dare.

[00:07:15]I wanted something that I could enjoy.

[00:07:18]But, we are doing Edge of Tomorrow, uh Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt in some of her hottest moments. I mean, as uh Rita, the full metal [ __ ] Uh although, I do want to discuss that to an extent because it's that's not really who she is.

[00:07:39]She's absolutely a [ __ ] to everyone.

[00:07:42]>> Let Let Let me Let me All right. All right. Let Let me rephrase that. Um Let me Let me nuance it for you. Okay? Let me nuance it for you.

[00:07:49]She didn't start out that way.

[00:07:52]Because just like Cage, after he starts this whole thing where he starts things, she was him first.

[00:08:00]Mhm. And she probably was as unskilled as everybody else is in those exoskeletons as he is when he first starts. But she got stuck in the loop.

[00:08:12]And she had to live through the hell of What was it? What was it? Versailles?

[00:08:17]>> Verdun. Verdun. Verdun. Give her done.

[00:08:19]Thank you. I I couldn't get For some reason Versailles jumped to the front of my brain. I don't know why. Uh Verdun.

[00:08:25]And she probably wasn't always like that.

[00:08:31]No. I would say just like Cage loses a part of himself in doing it over and over again, she was probably just as scared, just as inexperienced, just as inept as everybody else, but who knows how long she spent doing Verdun before she lost it.

[00:08:50]Well, she talked about a man she It's hinted at that she loved, she watched die over and over again, and then didn't save him in the end, so he's permanently dead. Mhm. That's got to be traumatizing. Yeah. Which is why she is a [ __ ] but I say she probably isn't really a [ __ ] cuz it's To me, it's a facade.

[00:09:09]It's she had When you get stuck in that kind of life, in essentially a a nightmare Groundhog Day. It's not like Bill Murray's Groundhog Day where, you know, it may be endless, but there are moments where he does have fun.

[00:09:22]This is not fun. This is a horrible war against an alien species. They call them the mimics. That are relentless in what they're doing. And all we sort of know about them from inferences in the movies that they're here to suck the planet's resources dry and then move on.

[00:09:39]And and somewhere so and it wasn't even that they didn't didn't even target Earth. I mean, this is how I understand it. The asteroid lands and then they just spawn.

[00:09:50]It wasn't it something fi I mean, I guess that's where they can go with the sequel what fired the mimic asteroid out into the galaxy that hit Earth. Go to the source. Mhm. Cuz this this was this was an it wasn't invasion, but it's not like Earth was the target. Earth just happened to get in the way of one of the asteroids.

[00:10:07]>> Which is a massive stretch considering how unlikely asteroids are to impact habitable worlds.

[00:10:15]>> I know that had to bug you. That had to bug you.

[00:10:18]>> not that bad, but the idea that they're just floating around. I I write that off in my personal head canon to make it okay is they're assuming that's the case instead of they uh the asteroid was fired specifically at Earth. Cuz I can believe an advanced alien species can get the orbital mechanics from another star.

[00:10:34]>> Yeah. Correct to target Earth. I'll buy that. So, I just go with that. Humans don't know anything about mimics, so they just assumed it was an accident.

[00:10:43]That's That's how I get >> But I mean, they but that's how they that that's how they approach it and I like it that they keep it at that. They don't try to with the idea of never going to another movie. It it it keeps it encapsulated.

[00:10:55]It It allows you to have it be this is the world we're dealing with, this scenario dealing with. Let's not expand beyond it. This is some sort of parasitic invasion life form that lands on your planet and will strip mine it or prepare the way for something else afterward. Cuz we've seen plenty times cuz well, we just recently did uh Pacific Rim where the Kaiju were the were supposed to prepare the way for their for their for their masters. So, >> Mhm. this could be a a preparation event. But So, essentially what happened at some point uh in the near future is that uh an asteroid lands and the mimics begin and no matter what humanity cannot win. And Every time they think they're going to get it, they think they got them, suddenly it all goes wrong and nobody can understand why.

[00:11:41]And they're planning one major final push uh to it's it's essentially another version of Normandy a kind of like that where it's just one giant land assault in France and they're going to try and push push push push back but of course like every other time they get destroyed while they're while they're in the midair. They don't even get their they don't even get their troops down.

[00:12:03]And during this we see get introduced to uh Tom Cruise's first major page then pri- major Cage then private Cage. And I do want to talk about his circumstances in a moment here cuz it it's That's one of the weakest parts I think I know exactly what you're talking about and I feel the same way.

[00:12:21]>> Yeah. Uh uh and how he gets involved in this invasion and in the middle of it while just randomly trying to do the right thing finally out of instinct and everything he kills what is considered a commander unit of a Mimic.

[00:12:37]Uh uh and when he kills it its blood covers him and melts him.

[00:12:43]But those commander units exist as the eyes and the ears We're going to cheat a little bit. We're going to jump ahead. They exist as the eyes and the ears of I don't want to say queen cuz it's not a queen. It's just >> hot It's a mind so it's a mind.

[00:12:59]>> unit. I think of it as the the the Omega the control unit. I think of it as like it's a control unit when I define it.

[00:13:04]It's a control unit.

[00:13:06]And what happens is we learn the dirty secret of the Mimics.

[00:13:12]They're not some all-powerful unbeatable force. They cheat.

[00:13:17]They manipulate time.

[00:13:20]Now of course the movie does not really get into temporal mechanics which is a good thing. Let's not try and fake science speak it. Why is it working? I I I'm okay with them saying it happens.

[00:13:32]Let's not Let's not scratch that too much, shall we? Let's not. And I I know you probably appreciate that, too. Let's not try and explain it too deeply. Are you okay with that?

[00:13:41]I'm okay with it for most of the movie.

[00:13:44]The only point that I have a problem with the time travel mechanics is the ending scene. Really, the happily ever after. I don't feel like they justify it.

[00:13:54]>> It's a massive jolt.

[00:13:56]It's a massive jolt because well, the Omega's dead and that's the thing that's physically resetting the day and he goes back to suddenly a point farther back than he's ever reset before in instead of a point farther forward. It should have slid with him because it's 24 hours and the Omega suddenly dies in that past date without cause instead of being resurrected with the time travel. It They just wanted a happily ever after, a happy ending where everyone's alive again. And I get that. It is an uplifting moment. I like that moment where Tom Cruise walks up to Emily Blunt.

[00:14:32]>> Smile.

[00:14:33]And like I know you.

[00:14:34]>> It's an uplifting ending. I do like the ending, but they don't justify it worth [ __ ] No, it's not and you kind of just have to accept it. But I think it's such a sudden acceptance you just go, well, it's the end. I'm going to have to accept it. And but because >> be what the the sequel is about is he's in a fever dream and time progressed forward after that event. Like he didn't actually reset to earlier.

[00:15:00]I don't think I don't think they're going to do that.

[00:15:02]>> I I don't think Doug Liman would undo his ending like that cuz he has an ego bigger than anyone besides James Gunn, but he's he's actually famous for being a dick on set. Hey, listen, we've had these types of discussions. The best directors are tyrants. Oh, yeah. The best directors are tyrants because they don't [ __ ] around. I mean, we have no respect for James Cameron as a person, but he is an excellent director when he wants to be.

[00:15:30]Uh Steven Spielberg, not so much a tyrant, but a control freak.

[00:15:34]Uh Lucas, not a great director, so we're going to take him out of that conversation.

[00:15:41]Great writer, not a good director.

[00:15:44]Um uh and I don't know what Nolan's like on the set. I have no idea. I've I've never >> He is a tyrant. They're tyrant. The actors aren't allowed to have chairs.

[00:15:52]They have scheduled bathroom breaks. No camera no phones on set. Oh, that's good. No phones on set.

[00:15:59]>> Yeah. And he he's so worried about leaks that he sends the scripts to the actors in special red paper that is not photocopiable. Mhm.

[00:16:08]Uh but yeah, the big thing is bathroom breaks and no chairs. That's that's [ __ ] up. I mean, hold it. I got to poo. You should have taken that pre-game dump.

[00:16:18]Anyway. Uh >> [laughter] >> Yeah, but uh so but it just to talk about the ending, I guess. The way I he he when he blows it up with the with the grenade pack, I guess we'll call it grenade belt.

[00:16:32]Uh he does get covered in the Omega's goop in there. So, it at least sets up why he flips back, but I they're right. There's zero reason why does it go back to before the 24-hour mark, to when he's on his way first there in the chopper to when >> Yeah, it should have created a new 24-hour mark, which would have been after the point that he was consistently waking up. I think that makes the most sense, rather than going back farther.

[00:17:00]>> Un- unless they're maybe they will explain that in the new movie. Maybe they will.

[00:17:05]>> And if it did reset like that, you could call it like a temporal shockwave or something like that, where he never remembered that he went through all that. So, he resets to the person who >> Oh, see that I think that would be that would be bad for his character because now let's dive into >> cuz he went through a great arc.

[00:17:20]>> Cuz let's let's go into Cage. Cage starts the movie essentially as the was with with with the rest of the world, he was drafted into this or he signed up as a draft signed up somewhat but he was essentially a pitchman. He's a pitchman.

[00:17:34]He's has to sell people on stuff and he was a damn good one. So it was his job to sell the world on the war effort that we need your we need your sign we need you to join the army, we need you learn these max, we need to take the money until here we are with their with their brand new D-Day and then he's run out of room because sorry, we need every soldier out there but I don't want to go.

[00:17:55]Sorry, you have to and I have my problem with that. Why send him to the front like that?

[00:18:01]I think >> crew. He they said they wanted a camera crew because they I think the general is correct is the general doesn't think this is going to work. He is very suspicious about this. The the France front, they show the map of at the beginning of the movie mimic locations where they know that there are mimics and along the French coast, there's no activity. So it was specifically to lure them in and a general like him, he doesn't like us an obvious target like that but he has to use it. But yeah, he he doesn't feel comfortable with it and he knows a lot of people are going to die and if he can't keep the public on his side, there won't be fresh bodies for any follow-up attacks and then they'll lose the war period. So he's hoping that the camera crew get enough patriotism in their capture a good moment like the flag raising in World War II or something like that so that the next round of recruits will be inspired so they can continue fighting.

[00:19:03]>> but I just think the execution of it is what bothers me. Forcing Cage to go like that, turning him into some sort of scapegoat where he's not a soldier and not a real soldier and he's not a brave man, he is a coward and all that kind of thing.

[00:19:16]I don't like the setup premise of that.

[00:19:18]And I get once again, I cannot say if this is how the character who is the protagonist of All You Need Is Kill, I cannot say if he gets roped into this in the same way cuz I never read that manga.

[00:19:29]But I don't like the way this is executed.

[00:19:32]It just because it puts me on it both puts me on Cage's side but also I don't like Cage at the same time >> because I don't think you're supposed to because that sets up his arc. He he becomes a good person, especially after he deserts the mission temporarily and goes to London, sees the devastation that's waiting just a few hours after the beach.

[00:19:53]After that you can see a switch has been flipped. He is dedicated, he's going to do whatever it takes to the point where once he loses his powers, he's still willing to risk his life. Yeah, I know that it won't reset. So I think it's important. It's it's good to show extreme starting point. It it it's an easy writing technique to to show the difference in the character over time by starting him at a very extreme position.

[00:20:17]I mean you you bring up the thing he he of course Tom Cruise has to get on the motorcycle. He has to get on the motorcycle. Um and he goes in town and goes and sits at the bar and he's listening to the old men talk.

[00:20:28]And at that point he hadn't seen the aftermath of the failed invasion. And there would be there is no counter after that because the Mimics they they storm London.

[00:20:43]And he watches them that happen.

[00:20:45]And and all that death and destruction.

[00:20:47]You're right, it then it changes to okay, I'm going to do the work now.

[00:20:50]I'm going to do this. And I you and what I do enjoy is I love a good training montage.

[00:20:56]I listen, I grew up in the 80s where montages were created.

[00:20:59]And we complain a lot these days about all these franchises, these newer versions of franchises, these these of these appropriated stuff where they create these characters that don't earn their strength. Now, we talked about this before. Rita we believe because once again, we we she we don't know the full details. We just know she had her own loop at Verdant until she got it right. Until she survived.

[00:21:24]And then eventually lost it on her own point in some somewhere down the line.

[00:21:31]She did her own training become this badass as she was. Unfortunately, her own dudes die instantly in the back her badass her badass men they just get aced instantly cuz they're not as good as she is. But, she is that good. And I love her introduction where he just takes his [ __ ] as he's [ __ ] It's like, "Yo, you're [ __ ] Your ammo is mine. Bye bye."

[00:21:51]>> my battery back?

[00:21:53]Yeah.

[00:21:53]>> It's cold. And she needs to be that way.

[00:21:56]After everything she went through, she has to be detached. Yes, she that's how she's going to survive because she understands and he certainly lose that problem is that's the difference though.

[00:22:05]He becomes attached and then that's the difference. He realized the attachment is the necessary part to get the job done. It's what gives you the fire. It's what gives you the promise. Anyway, but I love it once he commits to it and training really begins, I love him watching. Wait, wait, wait. Boom. Wait, wait, wait. Bonk. Wait, wait, wait.

[00:22:24]>> [laughter] >> Because and that it's it's such a fascinating way of training where it's so balls to the wall that he will die in his own training, but it doesn't matter because he'll retain the knowledge and the muscle memory so he'll get to come He won't retain the muscle memory. That's why it takes so much longer, too.

[00:22:43]Well, you know what I mean.

[00:22:45]You know what I mean in terms of well, when I say muscle memory, it's a mental muscle memory, but not the muscle memory. So, it's there.

[00:22:52]He just needs to do it because later on as we get to the point where he's done the battle over and over again, you see him in full badass moment running like on the tilt da da da da da da da da saving people here you go for the helmet's worthless [ __ ] the helmet cuz there's a I mean you Rita doesn't wear the helmet and you understand why once you've done that [ __ ] long enough you realize the helmet gets in the way.

[00:23:16]Yeah it's not going to stop a mimic attack. If it hits you in the head you're dead so might as well have the maneuverability.

[00:23:22]>> helmets are to stop normal projectile bullets. In that case they're great like World War II helmets I would wear my helmet. They were effective. Yeah but the helmets are just they're just you know fashion statement.

[00:23:38]And they say you're wearing it what are you wearing it for? So like it's got a HUD a proper HUD that's >> Yeah if it had a HUD that might be a good excuse for it but no. No so not helmet reload this he knows what he's doing and he but you watch Cage grow grow grow and but that's the difference at least that's how I see the difference.

[00:23:55]Rita said I can't feel.

[00:23:58]Mhm. Maybe and it's different in men and women.

[00:24:01]Women are more empathic than men are they're more they're more emotional they get more attached and she had to kill that part of herself and become a little more they she can't it overwhelms her but Cage as a protector and as a male male protector he uses that because you go far along when they start to realize okay we're we we going to the plan we have to find the Omegas and here we go and they don't know the Omegas sending them false intel of that it's at the dam they don't know that yet but it's all we have to get this with this point.

[00:24:34]And they get farther and farther and then there there's that one point where we don't know how many times they've done it we just know only Cage kind of knows.

[00:24:44]And it's that quiet moment where he they're at the campfire they give each other a situation he goes how many times have we done this?

[00:24:54]And he starts and then he's like a lot "And you never make it past this point.

[00:25:00]This is where you die every time, no matter what we do."

[00:25:04]And after that last one, where he they give it the role to get her to survive, he just ditches her and does it on his own.

[00:25:13]He detaches. He detaches.

[00:25:16]He tried it her way. He tried it her way. Literally. And he got there, but then he got the he got he it was a >> trap.

[00:25:25]And that And if she'd been there, that would have been very helpful for him to, you know, reset the day.

[00:25:31]>> Yeah. Yeah. And he almost loses it. But then, of course, they do lose it, because then, of course, now it's, "Wait a minute. We have to change our strategy." And this is why I think the movie I think the pacing is excellent in this movie. You have the the You have the first act, the screw-up, the coward, you don't want to do this, the learning, the reality. Then you have the reality and the adapting.

[00:25:55]And then you have the mission. But then you have to change the mission in the third act. Wait a minute. We have to find the real thing. Oh, there's only one device, and the general has it. The general who will not listen to anything we have to say. And then, how many times they do that point?

[00:26:12]Getting into the general's office.

[00:26:14]Another point, he's not going to listen.

[00:26:15]He's not going to listen. Okay, we'll do it your We'll do it this way again, just to show you he's not going to listen.

[00:26:21]It's >> [laughter] >> And and and right now, this is I want to say outstanding acting and performances by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

[00:26:28]Absolutely. Emily Blunt is literally has to be the same person every loop.

[00:26:35]She doesn't get a character development arc, because in the storyline, she already went through her character development. Well, if she doesn't go through a character arc, but we do come to learn more about her, the onion >> I mean? Yeah. You know what I mean? We We We don't watch the stages of her growth. It's It's tiny little things where she starts to learn that where where she understands that okay, wait a minute. I He is going going through now what I went through. So, there is a connection.

[00:27:05]And >> She's very talented putting inflection in the monotony of her performance.

[00:27:09]Exactly. That's where I'm That's exactly where I was going with this. Emily Blunt found a way to properly emote and properly give the the growth that you needed and the and the nuance of Rita. And to to to after two acts of the of the of the facade to see it crack.

[00:27:27]To see it break.

[00:27:30]And then and also the fact that she understands he is her, which is why she is so readily trusts him every time he says we have to do this. It's okay.

[00:27:43]I understand. I was where you were once upon a time and people had to trust me.

[00:27:48]Some people that who was able to get led in on it, like the science dude who knows about the omega and stuff. People had to trust me. So, I will do this. But then of course, she's still hard as nails cuz she almost kills him and ruins it all when she shoots him with Wait.

[00:28:02]Wait. Wait. Transfusion. I lost it. I lost it.

[00:28:05][ __ ] [snorts] She should have shot him in the car as soon as the vision was over.

[00:28:11]>> Yeah. Yeah. But uh but and then But To to a point that you were alluding at there real quick. A lot of these time loop movies like Groundhog Day, there's a paradise one with Adam I can't remember his name, but there's a lot of these time loop movies out there and TV shows out there. So many of them for lack of a better term turn out feeling very repetitive. It's the same scene just from a slightly different perspective over and over again to the point where you're bored and you're just ready for something to progress. This film strikes such a great balance in its evolving objectives. You've got the beach and they do that for a long enough time and then there's post beach that they do for a while. And the training.

[00:28:55]Yeah, the training montage, the caravan versus the uh the helicopter, the stealth aspect of getting into the generals.

[00:29:03]They're He's the the movie's always evolving with the objective is. So, we're never repeating the same thing for too long and by the end of the film, I think they realized that, okay, the audience gets it. We don't need to show the same thing 10 times to sell the point. So, when they break into Whitehall, they only really show the infiltration once and through Tom Cruise saying, all right, we avoid this, we avoid that.

[00:29:27]And then >> that it's multiple times.

[00:29:29]>> And then well-placed humor. He's not going to buy it. He's not going to buy it.

[00:29:33]>> [laughter] >> Okay.

[00:29:34]We shot We tried to shooting him one time. It didn't work.

[00:29:37]It didn't work. It made it worse.

[00:29:39]>> we only got a second version of it and it went straight to the the car garage, the parking garage. It They didn't need to show that whole scene again just to set up They decided to take the parking garage instead. Yeah, and I appreciate that. And then it really perfectly sets up the fact that, okay, here we're going to the Louvre. One shot.

[00:29:58]We got one This This is And it's And you feel the tension at this point because there's no reset. They're going to get this. And my only problem then is I don't really care about the grunts.

[00:30:11]No. No, I don't. I never do. I find them all obnoxious.

[00:30:15]They're not fun to me.

[00:30:17]Because I guess because they never grow.

[00:30:20]They're just the same.

[00:30:22]And we're supposed to care a little bit. And And yeah, they have their moments in the final mission.

[00:30:29]But I I I I don't enjoy them. And I lose sort of my enjoyment because I'm I I care about Cage. I care about Rita.

[00:30:37]Because we've had so much time with them, so much work with Cage. Rita is such a fascinating character as the as the mask slips a little bit here and there. As we see that she is see that she does care and says, "I wish I could have gotten to know you."

[00:30:49]And he says, "And and and and you know how much that hurts because he does know her, and he might be in love with her.

[00:30:55]He might be.

[00:30:57]They don't push that angle, rightfully so, cuz it'd be weird.

[00:31:01]And it wouldn't be right.

[00:31:03]Because >> They leave the implication for after the story. She doesn't know him, but he knows her up and down. Now, in I can say this cuz I have done my research in the past. I know in All You Need Is Kill, there is a romantic relationship in that one. In the In the manga, there is between the manga's version of Rita and the manga's version of Cage. There is a romance aspect in that.

[00:31:25]>> That goes 50 First Dates territory then.

[00:31:28]Just tell Oh, yeah, by the way, we've been in a relationship for I don't like >> 10 years. I don't like that movie. I like Adam Sandler movies, I don't like that. I can't I don't I hate the whole idea of that she forgets it every day.

[00:31:38]It always bugs the hell out of me. It's just so Really? Yeah, I just don't like that movie. It's not one of my favorites for Adam Sandler stuff. Anyway, different discussion which we should never have.

[00:31:46]>> [laughter] [gasps] >> Uh, but I it's good they don't do it.

[00:31:52]Because you know me, I like a good romance, but it's it's it's fine clearly being one-sided because he's had the time to get to know her, where he learns her real name. He learns all this kind of stuff. Learns all these things, all that all all the important little nuances, where he's observed her for who knows how many. It's probably been years.

[00:32:13]It's probably been years. And that shows his mental fortitude.

[00:32:18]That he holds on for this long. And And I truly go back to what I started saying earlier, it's the it's it's the male thing, the protector. The idea of me being the protector, the one who goes out and face it. I think that allows a man to put a certain mode on, where you can you can both maintain a certain level of calm coldness, but at the same time you need that that emotion because without that emotion that that that's the generation of the earth to protect.

[00:32:50]That's where it comes from. That desire, that caring, that giving a damn.

[00:32:54]And he uses it.

[00:32:58]And that's what makes it that's what makes it engaging to watch Cage's growth.

[00:33:04]And of course then the interactions in the final run where he knows that when he lets her go this time she's going to die. And then and then and you hear her die in that Louvre in the Louvre run. You hear it. It's just aw.

[00:33:21]Aw.

[00:33:22]But he keeps going and everybody's dead at this point. Everybody's dead.

[00:33:27]>> [gasps] >> Uh but he gets it done as we talked about. But it's it's that but the whole point the pacing works. So you feel that and watching that the the aircraft, the transport, where they're just jetting along in that whole sequence. And the CGI is excellent in this movie.

[00:33:44]>> Oh, absolutely. This CGI is this good.

[00:33:47]>> this. This CGI is this good. Yeah. 2014, they still knew how to do it at that point. Cuz they they And And what I think it is I think that's a level of Tom Cruise because he expects excellence when he makes these movies. And I think he has enough star power and input to say I want this to look good. Let's not shortchange it. Let's not cheap. Let's not cheapen it for the audience cuz whatever you say about Tom Cruise, he knows his job, entertain us. He wants the audience to be entertained. And we are entertained. This is a fun movie. It gets it done. And the action is just It's sci-fi action at its best, man.

[00:34:21]Kill [ __ ] Blow [ __ ] up. Uh I don't normally like mech suits. I I I I have this weird aversion to them in all of sci-fi. They just irk me in a way that I can't understand. But they work for me in this film. It's a very much an exception for me and I have zero issue.

[00:34:37]>> Exoskeletons, it's a it's it's an interesting choice to choose exoskeletons rather than full-on mech suits because exoskeletons, whatever they are, they're still they don't provide as much protection as a full-on mech suit does because your body isn't protected.

[00:34:52]You're you're open.

[00:34:53]>> balls out. It essentially, yeah, essentially all it does is you're essentially a walking gun when you're in an exoskeleton. That's what you are.

[00:35:02]But a a mech suit, it's a little more protection and you lose the humanity.

[00:35:09]And I think one of the things that why they chose to go with mech exoskeletons in this movie is you want to keep seeing the humanity of Cage, the humanity of Rita, the humanity in general of people getting massacred by these creatures who, once again, they're not unbeatable, they're not invisible.

[00:35:25]Yeah, they're they're nasty as [ __ ] But when you learn how to use the suit properly, you can keep up.

[00:35:32]You can take them down.

[00:35:33]But they cheat.

[00:35:35]And when you And And when they when you when you take their cheat away in a legitimate fight, humans can win.

[00:35:42]In a legitimate fight cuz that That's what I mean that's why the mimics had to fight the way they do because they're not super all-powerful. They're strong, but humanity as a whole rallied together was winning and then they have to just keep changing the outcome of every battle and setting traps and and >> They don't seem all that intelligent, so >> No, that And that's the adaptability would have beat them in the end. That's where That's where I wanted to go at when I discussed the mimics. The mimics, well, And All right, man, what do you think about the design of the mimics?

[00:36:15]How do you feel about the design?

[00:36:16]I think it's fairly generic. It's nothing stand out. Like it works for the movie. I don't have necessarily an issue with it, but it's not iconic. I feel like I've seen Yeah, it's not memorable. I feel like I've seen these exact things in 10 other sci-fi movies. It is interesting the combination of bio and tech. Like they they seem like an interesting meld of the two, uh, bioelectrical.

[00:36:38]>> You can't quite lock on to it with your eyes. You're you're It's always something making you >> a mess. Yeah. And I they did that on purpose.

[00:36:46]Uh, I wish they'd been maybe a little more distinctive.

[00:36:49]Mhm.

[00:36:49]>> Because, you know, >> More original design. Something that I can look at and hate as a villain. These are just mobs to me.

[00:36:58]Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, And but they are they're they're nasty.

[00:37:02]But it's it's I I I I I think I would have liked maybe something a little more distinctive in their design. Something more memorable.

[00:37:10]But they're still they're serving >> works for the movie. Yeah.

[00:37:13]>> It serves the role as well, I would say.

[00:37:15]Yeah. And it works. Uh, and but thing is you you bring up an excellent point.

[00:37:19]These aren't some sort of cunning, creative, in- super intelligent enemy. No, they're a hive mind that just surges forward and cheats to win.

[00:37:32]And they they have a singular intelligence and it's not a super intelligence. So, it's it's one person, basically, the intelligence of one person versus all the intelligence of mankind combined. And a hive mind is great when they have the numbers cuz the hive mind swarm and just look at anything.

[00:37:49]There's a reason we use the term zerg from Starcraft. It it's nasty when they come at you and and and then it's a war of attrition. But the mimics are not a war of attrition. They have a finite amount. So, does humanity, but it's our world and there's billions of us and we can we can throw ourselves into this and that was the whole point of Cage and the propaganda. Throw humanity at this until we can whittle them down, but we don't know they're cheating.

[00:38:12]And >> And I I wonder how their reproduction works. Are they able to make more mimics along the way? Cuz I'm assuming not that many mimics fit on that small of an asteroid. So, they must be able to reproduce here on Earth or something like that.

[00:38:25]>> absorbing materials and the Omega has a system where it spurts them out, but can't it's probably not I mean I forget how many years it's been going on the war? I think 3 years. Yeah, so unless they have some crazy production cycle.

[00:38:41]They're not producing millions of Mimics. It's probably more like hundreds of thousands.

[00:38:46]And >> Well, they said it's 6 million grunts to every Omega roughly. They did okay. All right. I forget the little things. It's But yeah, one Omega is probably can't pump out that many. If they are the child bearing and not some like secret, you know, fourth class is the child bearing one.

[00:39:05]Yeah, but it's a but there has to be a limit. There has to be a limit and which is why they do what they do, which is why they use time to cheat to change the to change the outcomes so that they're they don't lose forces and we lose and their opponent loses forces and they will keep growing and growing and growing because I have a I have a feeling the Mimics can't keep up production of themselves with what humanity as you said humanity when pushed the edge always ingenuity this and that what humanity can come up with to push back. And they would run out of the limited finite ability to reproduce.

[00:39:40]And I I feel like that that's the whole reason they have the temporal mechanics so that they can always just keep increasing and never lose.

[00:39:47]And always have that advantage of Yes, we have our reproduction cycle, but we're not losing anything. So, our numbers keep growing.

[00:39:57]Anyway, other than that and the cast is good overall. I mean uh Well, Bill Paxton Yeah, I was going to I was going to say. Bill Paxton he's there for comic relief and it's it's essentially comic relief for Bill Paxton. This is This is also one of the last things he did in his career cuz a couple years later he would die of a heart attack um, during after season 1 of Agents of Shield in 2015-2016.

[00:40:23]So, this is one of the last things he did. Uh, he died in 2017. So, yeah, 3 years after this. Yeah, when he just he had a heart attack and it's just a shame cuz Bill Paxton was a great actor to and Bill Paxton, you realize how much stuff he's been in when you go through his entire career. Uh, oh, the only the only and we said this before in a previous show, the only man to kill both be killed by both the Xenomorph and the Yautja.

[00:40:47]>> [laughter] >> It's a very short list. It's yeah, he is the list.

[00:40:52]>> [laughter] >> I think he is the list.

[00:40:55]Cuz he dies in Aliens and he gets killed in Predator 2.

[00:40:58]Um, but um, so it's so Bill Paxton's great. I I forget the actor who plays the name of the general. He is he is storing career.

[00:41:07]I forget. We've he was in Braveheart.

[00:41:09]He's been in tons of renowned British actor.

[00:41:12]>> Ned I'm Moody. Yeah, yeah. He's in everything. It's a great cast and a lot of good supporting actors you recognize from stuff like that, but Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, they have so much screen time. They carry this movie. Uh, great chemistry on there cuz Tom Cruise, the consummate professional actor at this point and Emily Blunt, good at what she does.

[00:41:33]Has the range. Emily Blunt has range.

[00:41:36]She has range. So, I enjoy Emily Blunt in movies and this is kind of when people started saying she needed to be Sue Storm after this. They wanted her to be Sue Storm around this time. That's around that time. But >> I could see it. Yeah. All right, tha- thank you, Hamish.

[00:41:49]Dom- Domhnall Gleeson. Thank you, Hamish. Okay. Yeah, he's legendary as an actor. Great Menelaus in Troy, which is not a good movie, but we're having to praise it recently. Yes, yeah. We'll we'll We talked about it on TryHard last night. We'll talk back to about it again tomorrow on Around Table. Anyway, uh, so I'm I'm kind of out of things to say. Have anything you want to add?

[00:42:09]Uh, there's just one thing. We hinted at it at the beginning of the This film was absolutely phenomenal.

[00:42:14]Love this film, but there is a massive plot hole which is the crux of setting up the film that I have a problem with and no, it's not the coincidence that he he was the one who killed the Omega.

[00:42:25]That's inciting incident. I'm okay with that. It's the fact that this man who is the uh public face of this entire invasion going on news uh broadcasts around the globe is not recognized by a single person on the forward operating base.

[00:42:42]>> That's an excellent point.

[00:42:44]Well, and somebody should have I know that they're in lockdown then, but he's been doing this for years. Since the war broke out, he joined the military cuz he had ROTC experience and lost his advertising firm, but he joined it voluntarily which is an actual trick. If you join voluntarily at a time like this, you have a better chance of picking what you want to do. If you get drafted, you're getting thrown on the front lines. So, he he did volunteer and yeah, he's he's on every TV screen.

[00:43:10]There's got to be at least a few people on that base who were inspired to join because of all his efforts.

[00:43:17]No one recognized him. I feel like Bill Paxton, you know, as >> Should have. a master sergeant. So, then you have to go with okay, did the general that Tom Cruise was uh extorting, did he give special orders to Bill Paxton? Did he have the right to give those? Like was it a conspiracy of that level where the officers or and the the sergeants knew that? But then that doesn't explain >> Jay Squad. It it's just so muddy because of how prominent of a position they put him in. If he was just uh the the media person that was called in to fill that role and then made the threat, you'd be totally fine. But with the opening uh the the prologue He's everywhere. Yeah. He's everywhere and they specifically mention that he's responsible for the size of this army.

[00:44:04]The general himself gives him credit for that. Mhm. So, I I think that is a rather large plot hole I agree.

[00:44:12]>> that the whole I kind of overlook it.

[00:44:14]I kind of overlook it >> well. I can't.

[00:44:16]>> get into it because I I I think I head cannon that they they're keeping him there on purpose. They know that that everybody's in on it. It's a deeper conspiracy. That everybody's in on it. I cuz Bill Paxton pulls out the letter. He has the note card ready. I think he's in on it. I think he's in on it. But it but it's a small thing, but it is enough to say yeah, it's a small problem. They never It doesn't make sense. Cuz then of course well at the end of the movie when everything is all said and done, they're not reacting to him, they're reacting to his rank, major. That's why they let him through to go see Rita at the end.

[00:44:48]Because when he's a private, he's kicked out every time. As a major, okay, you're an officer. We're going to let you through. No problem. It's funny cuz movies always do this and from what I understand this is true in other areas, but in my military experience, major wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't. Like it was an officer sure, so you showed deference.

[00:45:08]>> But it's an officer. You know like how they everyone went to to attention?

[00:45:13]You wouldn't do that for anyone less than a commander of a base like a colonel. A colonel, yeah, or lieutenant colonel or something like that. You got to have >> Maybe if it was an important lieutenant colonel, but never would be a major unless it was ceremonial.

[00:45:27]Good point. You would you would know better than I would. A lot of movies do that, so I I I don't really I think I think it's okay just showing respect for chain of command which I think people need to see all the time. I think that I I don't have a problem with that when when you when we bring it up like this.

[00:45:40]Just showing military discipline. You need to reinforce that. Especially in now in in these in the 2020s where all these shows and these movies don't show proper chain of command respect.

[00:45:52]So, I don't have a problem with that. I While you say it might not be that realistic, I can give it a pass because it's showing that you should give respect to an officer.

[00:46:02]You don't You don't dismiss somebody like that. So, I'm okay with it. I can let it go. Uh before we score, I want to ask you a question. I think I know I I know your answer, but just for the the audience's sake. Okay.

[00:46:14]What's the better title? Edge of Tomorrow or Live Die Repeat?

[00:46:17]>> Edge of Tomorrow.

[00:46:19]Really? Yeah, Edge of Tomorrow.

[00:46:20]>> What's your argument?

[00:46:22]It just rolls better. Live Die Repeat doesn't have meaning. Edge of Tomorrow has a feel It's like you can picture being on the edge of time at the edge at the end of something. Live Die Repeat Edge of Tomorrow invokes an imagery imagery. Live Die Repeat doesn't.

[00:46:38]That's my reasoning.

[00:46:40]For me, I I feel the other way because the film they constantly get to tomorrow. He starts on one day, then the invasion's on the other day. So, and they never talk about we need to get to tomorrow. It's about getting through, you know, the the beach and everything, getting to the Omega. That it And it feels generic. It feels like a B-list sci-fi >> the opposite. I I agree with the chat. I think Live Die Repeat feels generic. I feel like it's a lot more descriptive of the events. Like Live Die Repeat, okay, so I'm guessing someone lives, dies, and it repeats. So, it's a time loop movie.

[00:47:14]Like I I get a sense of what the the movie is with that title. Whereas Edge of Tomorrow, I get nothing from it.

[00:47:19]>> To me, that feels fantastic. I hear Edge of Tomorrow, it feels like a fantastic >> like Edge of Tomorrow could be a rom-com.

[00:47:25]Like I feel like it's a title that could be applied to a lot of different genres.

[00:47:29]Listen.

[00:47:31]Two completely different perspectives right here. I do think Live Die Repeat Repeat is [ __ ] though. The sequel?

[00:47:37]No. I I think it's terrible. Uh so, did you Was that the answer you expected from me? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yes, I did expect that.

[00:47:44]Uh anyway, so hey, listen, different opinions. Great, I love it. Anyway, all right, so my week I'll score first. Uh to me, this is an easy 8.5 out of 10.

[00:47:52]Uh with your plot hole taken into account that I agree with, uh my inability to get attached to some of the secondary characters. Rest of the movie, I'm carried through. I'm enjoying myself every time I watch this. Hell, I own it.

[00:48:05]I own it. It's on my shelf. It's great.

[00:48:07]It's something like we said earlier, I watch this a couple times a year. You can put it in and you just have a good time. And like you said, the happy ending feels a little contrived because it doesn't make sense that he went that far back. The only thing you can possibly because it's because it was the omega. Maybe the omega had temporal tendrils in different points in time.

[00:48:27]You want to head cannon that [ __ ] but it's still I like a nice happy ending.

[00:48:33]And I think the movie should have stopped here. I do not think there should be a sequel.

[00:48:36]But I'm willing to give the sequel a chance.

[00:48:39]I'm not saying, "Oh, it's we never asked for it." Well, we didn't, but I'm I I there's enough goodwill that I'm going to say, "Okay." Now, we must maintain We didn't talk about this. This had one of the worst marketing campaigns ever. The marketing campaign was Oh, >> It It flopped. It lost money. hard. This is This was not This isn't now a movie that is uh beloved in a in in in its aftermath. But it's theatrical release, complete flop, like Jed said, cuz they couldn't settle on a title.

[00:49:08]They kept changing That's why I'm on the spine of my Blu-ray. We checked it last week. It says both titles on my on the spine of my Blu-ray disc. No, Dre, I'm not getting rid of my Blu-ray cases. Um So, they the marketing on this was terrible. Nobody knew what this movie was going to be about. Nobody knew that it was based on a manga.

[00:49:25]There was no pro The marketing campaign was terrible. So, it bombed hard. But it has found a second life as a beloved science fiction movie uh over a decade later.

[00:49:37]>> What? DVD sales are really good for a movie. Yeah. And look, it bombed, but it's getting a sequel because it found traction with an audience later on.

[00:49:47]Because people, when they watch this movie, they like it. They enjoy it. It's a lot of fun.

[00:49:53]And kill aliens, man. Kill aliens. So, that's why I give it an 8.5 out of 10.

[00:49:58]How do you feel today?

[00:50:00]Well, I think this movie is a hell of a lot of fun. Like I said earlier, it is the peak of escapism entertainment. Yes, you don't have to think about it hard, but it still mostly works, has a sound plot with inspiring character arcs. I do feel inspired by Cage's arc. It's a classic one. Like he's like classic hero's journey done so well. And yes, there are the plot holes at the beginning and the end of the film. I also think there's a lot of weirdness around Rita in the helicopter scene. Why she's suddenly not listening to him.

[00:50:31]Like you said, she's always willing I Cage, go left. She's immediately going to go left. So responsive to every order he gives. And in that moment he's like, you die if you turn on this helicopter.

[00:50:41]Let's try to siphon the gas. Let's try to drive on. Let's try something else.

[00:50:45]And she's like, no, I want to die. It it it's just a little awkward. I think they could have developed that better to to make him give up on everything in the next life. I I just think her going to that helicopter is awkward. And there's a few moments like that that I think could have been done better. That's why even though I enjoyed this movie, like you said, I watch it several times a year probably. Absolutely love it. I have to give it a seven out of 10.

[00:51:16]That's fair. That's fair. You bring up an excellent point.

[00:51:19]All right, there we go. It's another one in the books.

[00:51:22]Jed, uh our last one of the month cuz we will not be here for the weekend of Memorial Day weekend for reasons.

[00:51:30]Uh what do you got for us next week?

[00:51:32]>> [sighs] >> Well, I actually got this idea from you last night on Try Hards. As we as you probably know if you've been watching either of our channels, we don't really like what's coming on the horizon from Christopher Nolan's the Odyssey. So, I decided we needed to see some pure, incredible Greek mythology on screen.

[00:51:55]We've already done the classic Clash of the Titans, and I absolutely loved it. I think it's time for some more Ray Harryhausen.

[00:52:03]>> [groaning] >> I think it's time for Jason and the Argonauts.

[00:52:06]>> Oh, man, that's got Yeah, that the skeleton battle. That that is one of the classic cinematic scenes. Okay, classic Ray Harryhausen Jason and the Argonauts.

[00:52:15]I'm down for this. This is That's some good stuff. And once again, Ray Harryhausen, the man was a legend. The man is one of the greatest of all time.

[00:52:22]>> Jason is one of the Greek figures that I know the least about, so I won't be able to criticize it too much.

[00:52:28]>> Oh, thing is thing is Jason, he's a complicated hero. I mean, another son of Zeus. Another son of Zeus.

[00:52:34]But uh If you follow the actual myth, he I mean, he betrays Medea.

[00:52:40]I mean, he He does unheroic things in his quest.

[00:52:45]And by if you read the if you go through the whole classic myth of it. So, good stuff. All right, so next week Jason and the Argonauts. I believe it's a '60s movie from the from the movie >> Yes, I believe so. 1963.

[00:52:57]Uh yes, yeah.

[00:52:58]Uh I I will One thing I will say about the movie, I I do not like the depiction of Hercules in this movie. I do not like how they portray Hercules in it. I I'm not a fan of it.

[00:53:08]>> Did they make him a dick?

[00:53:10]No, it's just not I'm not engaged with it. It's It's been a long time since I've seen it. I just remember not liking how they portrayed Hercules in this. Cuz remember, Hercules was an Argonaut.

[00:53:19]People might forget that. He was an Argonaut.

[00:53:21]>> Briefly, he was. Yep. Yep. But then what then uh We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it later. All right, so thank you, everybody, for joining us today. We hope you had a good time. If you did, hit the like button, subscribe, and we'll see you next time on a live stream and another video. Till then, take it easy, everybody.

[00:53:46]>> Mhm.