Don Shanahan
It took about eight years of indecisive and poorly marketed flip-flopping, but with 2022 Edge of Tomorrow got its real title back. Let’s hope with its debut release on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray that it stays that way. The Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt actioner arrived on store shelves on July 5th.
As of this week, Edge of Tomorrow 4K UHD will be available to own for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on favorite devices from select digital retailers and will be made available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles. 25YL was able to get an advance review copy for our “Off the Shelf” feature series.
THE FILM
The funniest thing about Edge of Tomorrow is that Tom Cruise was essentially playing the opposite of his usual macho self and it still works. We’re used to the take-charge man-of-action characters out of him, not the wimp and coward he plays here. Because of that, there’s a certain unexpected humor coming out of Edge of Tomorrow that boosts its doom-and-gloom alien invasion setup.
Cruise plays Major William Cage, a preening PR officer stripped of his ranks and sent to the grunts of the infantry. Joining the rejects of J-Squad, led by kooky Master Sergeant Farrell (a southern-fried and perfectly ridiculous Bill Paxton), they will take part in a massive beach invasion across the English Channel to take on an alien race dubbed the “Mimics.” Their tactical advancement is utilizing high-tech combat “jacket” battle suits that have been developed to take on the Mimics.
Completely inept and ill-equipped, Cage and everyone else are slaughtered within minutes of hitting the French beaches by the Mimic forces. In death, Cage takes out one of the leading Mimics called an Alpha causing a passing down of a time loop mental power (don’t ask). Immediately after dying, Cage wakes up alive and back at the infantry camp the morning before battle. This is where the “Groundhog Day” repetition takes hold.
Over and over, Cage repeats his combat failure until he encounters the helicopter blade-wielding Rita Vrataski, played by Emily Blunt. She is the most skilled Mimic killer in the force and is the poster hero for this war. She knows what’s happened to Cage because it happened to her in the past. Through more trial and error, Cage and Rita work together to improve the chain of events towards defeating the Mimics. With efficiency comes a shorthand of quicker decisions, smarter actions, tactical adjustments, and a constant awareness of necessary details for the next attempt.
Edge of Tomorrow was directed by action specialist Doug Liman (Jumper, The Bourne Identity) from a screenplay by frequent Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie and the brother team of Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Ford v. Ferrari) and based on the novel entitled “All You Need is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. As absurd as it is, the pace is excellent and the action is compelling in Edge of Tomorrow. The story stays unexpected enough to still surprise with plenty of unpredictability, even with the constant looped reiteration of events.
THE DISC
True to the 4K transfers that happen for modern movies, Edge of Tomorrow looks sharper than sharp on this format. No restoration was needed, just the big boost. Ultra HD showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering disc buyers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before. That is true for the pops of color that perk up this movie. Even when so much of this movie takes place on dreary and overcast battlefields in Europe, the extra resolution gives the shiny tech and the crude mud-and-dirt settings real texture married together.
Sadly, as has been the case with many Warner Bros. 4K releases, little extra attention was given to this next format. As usual, the menus are extremely plain. Once again, we long for the DVD days of imaginative menus.
Another area of disappointment comes from the special features. No new features have been added to Edge of Tomorrow from the previous DVD/Blu-ray edition. The disc has four featurettes and a collection of deleted scenes. Those trimmed pieces amount to eight minutes and are unfinished with effects in some cases.
Of the production featurettes, the thickest cut is the 43-minute “On the Edge with Doug Liman.” It plays like a production diary profiling the director’s work on the movie. With that kind of length, the piece shows plenty of the design process and the casual insights of those working to make the movie. A great quote from it talks about the requested emphasis on “science fact” for the cast and crew to keep the logic and science sound where they could.
The other featurettes highlight the beach invasion, the cool weapons and armor, and the creature designs for Edge of Tomorrow. It’s great to see the creativity from the production departments and the big-time commitment from the stunt team. The effort was there to make a solid flick and a crowd pleaser.
Sure, we want more. Admittedly, though, eight years isn’t a great deal of time for new vision and reflection. Still, WB could have thrown us a little something. The big missing piece is a commentary track. Somebody put Doug Liman or, even better, Tom Cruise on a microphone re-watching this film for all the little stories and details.
