[UK] EDGE OF TOMORROW 3D Blu-ray Review

EOT3Dtitle

HDNmovie4-5

EDGE OF TOMORROW unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

Cruise seems to be favouring the sci-fi genre at the moment. With his appearance in OBLIVION (a superb if slightly predictable film which is recommended), The Cruiser follows up with a live-action adaption of the Japanese Novel ALL YOU NEED IS KILL. A pretty high octane sci-fi actioner, EDGE OF TOMORROW is a refreshing experience that doesn’t involve superheroes, sequels, reboots or franchises. Even Cruise’s character, William Cage, who is portrayed during the entire first act as a total coward and spends quite a bit of screen time trying to worm and bargain his way out of duty, was original and doesn’t go down the gung-ho road as I was originally expecting. Once the time travel element is introduced with Cage reliving the same day over and over again after getting killed in combat, the film manages to use this to deliver some comedy moments, some real shocks and suspense and mystery and it balances it nicely. At this point, the film really takes it up a notch with Cage becoming the underdog in battle as he starts planning and mapping his attacks after intensive training with the help of Blunt (who really does shine in this film), getting further and further towards resolution. I really couldn’t fault this film to be honest. It’s action packed, witty and delivers some great spectacle.

EOT3D3

HDNvideo4-5

EDGE OF TOMORROW 3D is presented over two Blu-rays. The first disc containing the 3D version of the film and the second disc containing the 2D version of the film and the supplemental features.

EDGE OF TOMORROW explodes onto Blu-ray with a 1080/24p MPEG4-AVC / MVC codec that preserves the film’s original 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio. The picture quality presented here is derived from a combination of Digital and Super 35 / Panavision prints and it looks superb! Colours are bold and striking, contrast and brightness levels are spot-on and detail is razor sharp throughout. The only observation I made was one shot which seemed to display just a bit too much digital noise, but apart from that, you have a reference disc right here.

HDN3D3

The 3D version of EDGE OF TOMORROW was post-converted and to be honest, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The 3D version does offer some decent layering of multiple elements with some good examples being the streets of London with various structures and roadside items giving a satisfying level of depth. There are also a handful of pop-out moments involving the aliens themselves and their rather fast and erratic tentacles which shoot out of the screen at high speed. But apart from that, there isn’t very much to talk about regarding the 3D elements of the film as the rest of it is kind of flat and doesn’t take full advantage of the format itself, which is a shame really.

EOT3D2

HDNaudio5

EDGE OF TOMORROW is presented on Blu-ray with an English DTS-MA 7.1 audio mix and it is a beast. Right from the opening logos, there is an aggressive use of LFE usage before the film starts rolling. Once the film starts, the audio mix makes great use of the expanded rear soundstage, creating a 360 degree environment. The forward base at London Heathrow (where I work, funny enough; hence the screencap above that has feature my old office in the background) has some great use of army personnel moving around and drop ships taking off creating some great panning effects from front to rear. Once the action kicks off, it does it spectacularly and with style with aggressive LFE being deployed throughout and again, some superb panning of sound effects using all seven speakers. Dialogue was crisp in the centre speaker and no adjustments had to be made during my viewing.

EOT3D1

HDNsupp3-5

Storming the Beach – A look at the behind the scenes process which also contains a small featurette called “The Adrenaline Cut,” which is a fast paced sequence containing all the best action scenes.

Weapons of the Future – A look at all the tech and armour in the film.

Creatures Not of This World – A look at the designs of the aliens in the film

On the Edge with Doug Liman – A 43-minute documentary that looks at the role of director Doug Liman throughout the production of the film. A nice insight into the world of film making

Deleted Scenes – A handful of unfinished scenes cut for pacing reasons.

EOT3D5

HDNbottom4-5

EDGE OF TOMORROW was a total surprise and quite possibly the most enjoyable (and original) film of the year. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt support the film with two engaging and interesting characters and the time travel and action elements will satisfy any sci-fi / action fan. Blu-ray wise, it is a huge winner in the 2D and audio department. The 3D version was enjoyable, but didn’t take much advantage of the format. The pretty in-depth supplemental features round the disc off nicely as well.

EOT3D4

EOT3D Full

About the author

UK Reviewer - Rob is a nostalgic film fan and always adores sci-fi, horror and action. He loves the technical side of film making and collecting his favourite films across all type of home media formats. He inspires to be saviour of the universe