Sci-Fi Oblivion

Tom

An Old Friend
Tron Legacy's Joseph Kosinski Eventually Directing 'Oblivion'

oblivion-Kosinski-coverart-tsrimg.jpg



No, this isn't an adaptation of Bethesda's fantastic video game Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This is an original concept created by filmmaker Joseph Kosinski about a battle-damaged soldier who, assigned to a desolate planet after a court-martial, patrols the bleak landscape in an effort to destroy the last vestiges of a primitive alien race. That piece of art at the top comes from the graphic novel they've also created that will be a tie-in with the movie. We haven't seen much from Kosinski yet, except for this brilliant bit of footage, but I have a feeling he's one of those visionary directors that always pushes the limits of filmmaking on every project.

Kosinski began work on Oblivion when he moved to Los Angeles four years ago, coming up with the concept as something to start a feature directing career. "I was looking to make a science fiction film that I could do on a budget," Kosinski said of the initial concept. "It's grown since then, but it's intended to be a very spare science fiction film, with a small cast but big ideas and big landscapes." I'm digging it, that sounds like a really cool early concept to me. Kosinski has signed to direct and will produce along with Radical Publishing principal Barry Levine, filmmaker David Fincher and Anonymous Content's David Morrison.

THR doesn't mention when we might see Oblivion, but I have a feeling it won't be for a long while. Kosinski is starting work on a year of post-production on Tron Legacy, which is slated for release in late 2010. After that, I hope he'll get to Oblivion, but if Tron is a big hit, he could get other offers that he might end up taking before returning to Oblivion. Either way, I hope he does eventually make this, even if it's in 10 years.
 
The first official trailer for Oblivion (2013). A court martial sends a veteran soldier to a distant planet, where he has to destroy the remains of an alien race. The arrival of an unexpected traveler causes him to question what he knows about the planet, his mission, and himself. Starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Andrea Riseborough.

 
So a repairman from a space station is sent to an assumed empty Earth where he uncovers secrets and falls in love..... wait, Tom Cruise is playing Wall*E?! :confused:
 
Watched this recently. Holy hell, this movie did not work for me. Or for anyone I was with.
I think the main reason for this is we're Australian. The movie is very obviously geared towards American audiences. Americans typically value different aspects in their heroes than other nations. Tom Cruise's character in Oblivion (that's right, I can't remember his name) suffers from the exact same thing that the main character in Avatar does. He's Johnny America. Great athlete, baseball lover, no flaws etc, as resourceful as MacGuyver, has his own helicopter and motorcycle. This is not a character I can identify with. Nor can I sympathise with him, because there's nothing to sympathise with. The other character, his partner/girlfriend is just the 'by the books', 'hot piece of ass' that exists to service Johnny America.

Flat, boring characters are by no means the only problem this movie has, but they're certainly the biggest. My feeling was, if I was able to relate to ANY character in this movie, then I'd probably have enjoyed it. Alas I need more than a visual spectacle.

And it IS a visual spectacle. Every shot in this movie is gorgeous. The CG can't be faulted, the environments are amazing. The female sex objects don't run to my taste, but that's Hollywood these days and I'm sure others will find them suitably attractive.

However, if the characters were more fully formed, and the visuals remained top notch, it still wouldn't be a good movie. To say that this movie telegraphs it's punches is an understatement. I think it's this aspect that is causing people to compare it to every other sci-fi movie in existence. Literally all of the "twists" and "plot points" have been done before, and done much better, but that's pretty much the case with everything. There are things in this movie that are supposed to be twists, but they're clear and obvious from the very beginning of the movie. There is a story, but it's not one that I cared about even a little bit. The whole way through, I knew exactly what was going to happen. (and not in a good way where I felt smart.)

My wife had to leave the theater for 5 minutes about two thirds of the way through the movie. Unfortunately for her, when she got back and said "What did I miss?" I had to respond with "The story." Literally everything is revealed over a 5 minute period. In a single speech. None of it is interesting.

I left the cinema thoroughly disappointed in this movie, and glad that someone else had paid for my ticket.

A final thought. This movie has the potential to be a new Avatar, except it's not vibrant enough. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise will have to find work elsewhere.
 
Guess I am not your typical American since I hate the "Johnny America" type characters and disliked Dances With Smurfs In Space Avatar as well. :cautious:

I think my instincts were right and will just wait for this to show up on Netflix some day.
 
Guess I am not your typical American since I hate the "Johnny America" type characters and disliked Dances With Smurfs In Space Avatar as well. :cautious:

I think my instincts were right and will just wait for this to show up on Netflix some day.

Yeah, if you didn't like Avatar because it wasn't original and you didn't like the character, my bet is Oblivion isn't worth your money.
 
So a repairman from a space station is sent to an assumed empty Earth where he uncovers secrets and falls in love..... wait, Tom Cruise is playing Wall*E?! :confused:

As I critiqued the move on the way home, one comment was that it had too many parallels or reminders of other movies, one of which was... Wall-E. :P
 
Yeah, if you didn't like Avatar because it wasn't original and you didn't like the character, my bet is Oblivion isn't worth your money.

I couldn't stand Avatar either. However, if we ignore the massive story flaws, Oblivion was a more adult movie, closer to the Matrix than Pocahontas.

@Jetshroom:

I'm not huge on the Johnny America guys either. However, I like John Rambos ("First Blood" version, not the sequels) or Charles Bronson ("Death Hunt") - perhaps the same character. ;)

However, I give them a free pass on a bit of flatness (think Josey Wales). That was their environment, isolation and minimalism. He received all of his stimulation from his excursions, her sticking by the book, terrified to jeopardize her ability to get to Titan (where she thinks mission accomplished, life begins).

He also should have been highly prepared and the technologies that he possesses make sense given that we're in the future and he has a job that requires a lot of versatility.

He also should have been extremely skilled, given his role pre-movie story line and its "selection process". His small frame also works well. He was certainly no Riddick.

Despite his technology and confidence, there were lots of situations where his vulnerability was demonstrated. They could have scaled back his success in action scenes (which I'd like) but then people would complain the action wasn't exciting enough. I'd like to see him get as battered as the barely surviving heroes in Terminator! =)

Visuals were great, definitely the highlight.
 
Oblivion-Tom-Cruise.jpg


Tom Cruise has had a rough time at the box office in recent years. Aside from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, the A-lister hasn't registered an opening weekend north of $30 million since 2005's "War of the Worlds."

That all changed with "Oblivion," which opened early overseas to strong ticket sales and debuted this weekend in the U.S. to $38 million. To date, the sci-fi actioner from "Tron: Legacy" director Joseph Kosinksi has banked $150 million.

But what did you think of "Oblivion"? The film, which also stars Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, and Andrea Riseborough, didn't exactly wow the critics, many of whom referenced a lack of originality.

(via MTV)
 
Oblivion has a 'proper' scifi novel feeling. It was as if it was written for reading, not watching. This meant the story was fully fleshed out, although it being a 2hr film there is that. Large periods of slow, desolation, then fast explanations and key storyline parts to shock the brain into going, "wow!" Unfortunately this slowness also meant that once you had a light bulb moment, it was then discarded apparently as the storyline continued. This meant we didn't have a non-stop rollercoaster ride going on, and the pace was necessarily slowed down for 'real world' progression. This could potential throw off many viewers expecting something more suited to a movie, than a book.

Tom Cruise has proven to be a perfectionist over the last fair few years and his acting was strong and eminently suitable here to the perfectionist of the training, lifestyle and psychology of the character he plays.

Fact is, where scifi fans who read a lot of novels are concerned, rather than popcorn enthusiasts, more scifi movies should be made like this.
 
I found it a little too predictable for my liking. The action in the movie was alright and the characters had a certain charm but the plot itself was just far too predictable. If only Hollywood would go back to making movies where you can't guess the ending five minutes in.
 
Nice storyline
Nice outfit
Nice drones
Nice station keeper

But somehow it doesn't bite me enough :(

Are you still an effective team?
This is about my sentiment as well. The overall story line was interesting, had a nice little twist that was not totally unexpected because you just knew something was wrong, and the special effects with the tech' was good but it was all just a little boring, a bit too sanitized.

With a different director & lead actor it may have been a much greater movie.
 
Back
Top