tom cruise 2013 oblivion

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

If nothing else, "Oblivion" will go down in film history as the movie where Tom Cruise pilots a white, sperm-shaped craft into a giant space uterus. The scene is more interesting to describe than it is to watch. Cruise's sperm-ship enters through an airlock that resembles a geometrized vulva. He arrives inside a massive chamber lined with egg-like glass bubbles. At the center of the chamber is a pulsating, sentient triangle that is also supposed to be some kind of mother figure. Cruise must destroy the mother triangle and her space uterus in order to save the Earth.

Like director Joseph Kosinski's debut, " Tron: Legacy " (2010), "Oblivion" is a special effects extravaganza with a lot of blatant symbolism and very little meaning. It starts slow, turns dull and then becomes tedious — which makes it a marginal improvement over the earlier film. It features shiny surfaces, clicky machinery and no recognizable human behavior. It's equally ambitious and gormless.

"Oblivion" is set in the year 2077, 60 years after an alien invasion rendered the Earth largely uninhabitable. Cruise stars as Jack Harper, one of a handful of people left on the planet. The other survivors have long since relocated to Titan. Harper and colleagues remain as technicians, servicing robot drones that defend resource-gathering stations from alien stragglers.

Harper lives in a penthouse-like tower with his communications officer, Vica ( Andrea Riseborough ). Vica's eyes are permanently dilated. Like Olivia Wilde 's Quorra in " Tron: Legacy ," she often resembles a marionette.

Harper and Vica spend their days fixing drones, eating candelit dinners, and swimming in a glass-bottomed pool. Their boss, the creepily cheerful Sally ( Melissa Leo ), supervises them from an orbiting control center. In order to maintain the integrity of the mission, Harper and Vica's memories have been wiped; nonetheless, Harper is haunted by extremely cheesy black-and-white dreams of a beautiful woman meeting him in pre-invasion New York.

One day, Harper spots an antique spacecraft crashing into the countryside. He manages to rescue one survivor, a Russian astronaut ( Olga Kurylenko ) who looks exactly like the woman in his dreams. Harper brings her back to his tower. This incites jealousy and suspicion from Vica, who is both Harper's partner and his lover.

The astronaut has been in cryogenic sleep for the past six decades but refuses to disclose the nature of her mission to Harper and Vica until they recover her flight recorder. It goes without saying that the flight recorder unearths all kinds of secrets about Harper, Vica, and the alien invasion. It also creates one of the movie's more glaring logical errors, but that's a different story altogether.

The film's opening stretch is its one strong point —  a gradual, immersive build-up of details. It's a smart technique for science-fiction storytelling; it eases the viewer into the world of the film. The problem is that the world "Oblivion" introduces — an abandoned, depopulated Earth — is more interesting than the story it tells. Or, more accurately, the stories it tells, because "Oblivion," derivative to a fault, tries to be several science-fiction movies at once. It tries and it fails.

"Oblivion" is a political allegory about a lowly "technician" sending unmanned drones to hunt and kill a demonized, alien Other — until it forgets that it ever was. It's a wannabe mindbender that raises questions about its lead character's identity — except that the lead character is too sketchy to make these questions compelling. It's a story about humans struggling for survival in an environment controlled by technology — except it appears to be much more interested in the technology than in the humans. It's a rah-rah action flick — except its action scenes aren't very good.

The only thread "Oblivion" follows to the end is its "creation myth." Harper is an idealized man; he's good with a gun, good with his hands, good in bed, loves football and rides a motorcycle. Though most of the movie's characters are women, not one of them is able to do anything without Harper's help — not even the mother triangle that lives in the space uterus. Only his rugged-but-sensitive masculinity holds the key to humanity's survival. The movie reaches for profundity, but all it grasps is misogyny.

Now playing

Mother of the Bride

Marya e. gates.

Clint Worthington

Stress Positions

Peter sobczynski.

Simon Abrams

Christy Lemire

Nowhere Special

Film credits.

Oblivion (2013)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity

126 minutes

Tom Cruise as Jack

Morgan Freeman as Beech

Olga Kurylenko as Julia

Andrea Riseborough as Victoria

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Sykes

Melissa Leo as Sally

• Joseph Kosinski
• Karl Gajdusek
• Michael Arndt

Latest blog posts

The 10 Most Anticipated Films of Cannes 2024

The Importance of Connections in Ryusuke Hamaguchi Films

Saving Film History One Frame at a Time: A Preview of Restored & Rediscovered Series at the Jacob Burns Film Center

The Beatles Were Never More Human Than in ‘Let It Be’

• Rent or buy
• Categories Categories
• Getting Started

Customers also watched

Cast and Crew

Other formats

21081 global ratings

How are ratings calculated? Toggle Expand Toggle Expand

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Oblivion: film review.

Universal's sci-fi thriller, from "Tron: Legacy" director Joseph Kosinski, opens April 19.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

Oblivion Trailer Screengrab - H 2013

A sort of The Eternal Return played out in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic planet Earth, Joseph Kosinski ‘s  Oblivion is an absolutely gorgeous film dramatically caught between its aspirations for poetic romanticism and the demands of heavy sci-fi action. After a captivating beginning brimming with mystery and evident ambition, the air gradually seeps out of the balloon that keeps this thinly populated tale aloft, leaving the ultimate impression of a nice try that falls somewhat short of the mark. There’s enough futuristic eye candy and battle scenes to lure the genre boys, while the presence of three important female characters, as well as Tom Cruise in good form, could attract more women than usual for this sort of fare, resulting in mostly robust, but not great, returns worldwide. The Universal release opens this week in most international territories, while the domestic bow comes April 19.

Related Stories

Why hollywood can't finish a janis joplin biopic, morgan freeman to be honored at monte-carlo television festival.

To those who might wish to avoid a film by the maker of Tron: Legacy , it should be stressed that Oblivion is a more interesting work by a good distance, an imaginative speculative piece set some six decades hence that always engages serious attention, even if it doesn’t convincingly jell. In mood, a certain delicacy and the sense of isolation both on a depopulated Earth and somewhere above it, the recent film that this most strongly recalls is WALL-E , except with violence and without the humor and charm of the Pixar classic.

The Bottom Line A terrific-looking sci-fier that loses steam in the second half.

PHOTOS: The Costumes of ‘Tron’

There have been many films set on an Earth depleted of humans, but few as visually enthralling as this one. Shot by Claudio Miranda of Life of Pi , Oblivion shares that film’s lovely light, nuanced coloration and virtually seamless meshing of live photography and effects. In neither film is it always possible to be entirely sure of what is real and what’s computer generated, but the result is beautiful however it breaks down.

After what appear to be memory flashes of a previous life back in an early 21st century New York City on the part of Cruise’s Jack Harper, he and his partner Vika ( Andrea Riseborough ) wake up in what can only take the prize as the ultimate loft space, circa 2077, a perch that’s the last word in minimalist chic. It also affords unobstructed views of what’s been left behind after the catastrophe that saw the moon blown into pieces, which in turn resulted in earthly ruin and a subsequent evacuation of survivors to Saturn’s planet Titan.

Jack (Cruise’s second use of the name in a row, after Jack Reacher ) takes daily spins down to Earth in a bladeless, mosquito-like helicopter, while the British Vika tracks his movements and coordinates with headquarters, personified on a screen by the friendly, Southern-accented Sally ( Melissa Leo ). The self-described “mop-up crew,” Jack and Sally, who get on well, have only two weeks to go before they finish up and head for Titan.

On the ground, Jack looks for any signs of Scavengers, or Scavs, who, apparently, were defeated in the great war but still provoke worries with their desperate ambushes. He also must avoid the radioactive zones, which remain hot. Everywhere he goes, however, Jack is protected by drones, fast-flying globe-like hi-tech wonders that are armed to the teeth and can reliably detect friend or foe.

Jack seems to relish being haunted by the past. He wears a Yankees cap, nostalgically wallows in lore surrounding the final Super Bowl, played in 2017, while surrounded by the ruins of the stadium where it took place and uses the upper part of the Empire State Building, which sticks out of the ground that has swallowed the rest of the structure, as a sort of home base and control tower.

Jack also is inordinately fond of a collection of highfalutin Victorian-era verse by Thomas Macaulay  titled The Lays of Ancient Rome , especially the line that reads, “And how can man die better than facing fearful odds.” Given that Jack seems to be the last man responsible for tidying up affairs on Earth, he’d better not die prematurely, though there is someone or something down there that seems bent on catching him.

STORY: Tom Cruise Plans Imax Q&A to Promote Universal Pictures’ ‘Oblivion’

The film’s delightful sense of apartness in the early going and the industrious way that Vika, especially, approaches her task of administering to the final business of Earth are things that can’t last, especially not after Jack brings home the one survivor of a mysterious crash of a spaceship carrying several hibernating humans. Once she wakes up and recovers, Julia ( Olga Kurylenko ) throws a monkey wrench into life in the loft, not only because she is so beautiful (Riseborough’s alarmed reactions to her are indelibly registered) but because she is an arrival from the past, when she was Jack’s wife.

Revelations of what follows are best not detailed, except to say that Morgan Freeman and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, respectively, play the intelligent and impulsive members of a rebel band that soon captures Jack and Julia. As much as Jack aspires to recapture the past, however, and regardless of Julia’s evident purity of intent, the renewed relationship doesn’t click as intended, mostly because it’s tough to buy the conceit of the couple reunited after so long.

Further twists and betrayals lie in store, but they feel more like obligatory plot complications than organic to the overall story. As a result, viewer engagement gradually lessens, leading to a climax that makes for thematic sense but dramatic head-scratching.

There’s a bit too much manly stunt stuff, the better likes of which we’ve seen in the Mission: Impossible extravaganzas and elsewhere, but generally Cruise plays it naturalistic and low-key here, likable and to solid effect. Riseborough, who was the one person worth watching in Madonna ‘s wretched W.E. , is an inspired bit of casting as she brings prim, snappy delivery to many routine lines and irrepressible emotion to her later behavior. Kurylenko is more than plausible as a woman who would inspire recurring dreams in Jack, while Leo has so much personality that she can burst right through the limitations of her video screen-only appearances and still register strongly.

Technically, the film is a dream; if Tron: Legacy showed that Kosinski was right at home in an imaginary, effects-created world, then Oblivion reveals him as well along the road toward applying effects to even grander ends, in this case to a story he originally conceived years ago as a graphic novel that was adapted as a script by Karl Gajdusek and Michael DeBruyn .

The unconventional electronic score by M83 is terrifically effective for the first hour and maybe more until it starts becoming a bit repetitive.

Opens: April 10-12 (international), April 19 (U.S.) (Universal)

Production: Chernin Entertainment, Monolith Pictures, Radical Studios

Cast: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Melissa Leo, Zoe Bell

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Screenwriters: Karl Gajdusek, Michael DeBruyn , based on the graphic novel original story by Joseph Kosinski

Producers: Joseph Kosinski, Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Barry Levine, Duncan Henderson

Executive producers: Dave Morrison, Jesse Berger, Justin Springer

Director of photography: Claudio Miranda

Production designer: Darren Gilford

Costume designer: Marlene Stewart

Editor: Richard Francis-Bruce

Visual effects supervisors: Eric Barba, Bjorn Mayer

PG-13 rating, 124 minutes

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘the mummy’ at 25: director on the enduring hit, brendan fraser’s mishap and the tom cruise reboot, ‘star wars’: sigourney weaver in talks to join ‘the mandalorian & grogu’, ’28 years later’ set for 2025 release date from sony, ‘the fall guy’ writer drew pearce talks that a-list cameo and the ‘mission: impossible’ death he considered, ‘godzilla x kong’ follow-up enlists ‘shang chi’ scribe dave callaham to write  (exclusive), jerry seinfeld wanted chris rock to parody will smith oscars slap in ‘unfrosted’.

oblivion (2013)

Tom Cruise stars in Oblivion, an original and groundbreaking cinematic event from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man's confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind. Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack's mission is nearly complete. Living in and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Why Oblivion Is Tom Cruise's Most Underrated Movie

With a decent box office performance and mixed reviews, Oblivion stands at one of Tom Cruise's most underrated movies ever. Here's why.

Tomb Raider Movie Reboot Wants a Female Director?

MGM is circulating Evan Daugherty's script for their Tomb Raider reboot, in hopes of finding a female director to take the helm.

The Crow Remake Wants Andrea Riseborough as the Villain

Andrea Riseborough is reportedly in talks to play main villain Top Dollar in The Crow remake, based on the original James O'Barr graphic novel.

Disney's Bob the Musical Wants a Singing Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise is circling the title role in Disney's Bob the Musical, with The Artist filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius eyed to direct.

Mena Reteams Tom Cruise and Edge of Tomorrow Director

Tom Cruise reunites with Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman for Mena, based on the true story of drug-smuggling pilot.

The Taliban Shuffle Eyes Game of Thrones Star

Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is being eyed for the male lead in The Taliban Shuffle alongside Tina Fey.

Trials of White Boy Rick Lands Oblivion Director

Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski is directing The Trials of White Boy Rick, based on a teenage drug dealer and FBI informant.

Michael Bay Plans Cosmic Motors Movie with Machete Writer

Kyle Ward has signed on to write the adapted screenplay based on Daniel Simon's Cosmic Motors concept art book featuring futuristic vehicles.

Does Tom Cruise Have a Cameo in Star Wars: Episode VII?

Insiders claim that Tom Cruise met with Star Wars 7 director J.J. Abrams in London over the weekend, although the actor's spokesperson denies the report.

Brad Pitt Eyes Reunion with Tom Cruise in Go Like Hell

Tom Cruise is attached to play auto designer Carroll Shelby. If Brad Pitt signs on, it will be their first project together since 1994's Interview With the Vampire.

Tom Cruise Goes to War in Two New Edge of Tomorrow Photos

Will audiences be laughing as Tom Cruise's character dies again and again? The first trailer is set to debut Wednesday, December 11.

10 Movies Advance in Visual Effects Race for 86th Annual Academy Awards

Elysium, Gravity and Iron Man 3 are among the contenders. Find out if your favorite 2013 VFX movie is in the running.

14 Biggest Potential Bombs of 2014

While many great movies await us in the New Year, some are destined to belly flop hard. From Pompeii to Interstellar, we look at Hollywood's biggest risk takers.

Olga Kurylenko Tests for Wonder Woman in Batman Vs. Superman

The Oblivion actress is the latest rumored for this upcoming sequel. Sources confirm Wonder Woman will be joining the action.

J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan Will Write Star Wars: Epsiode VII

Location scouting, production design, casting, and costume design are already underway. No word on what happened to original screenwriter Michael Arndt.

Tom Cruise and Director Joseph Kosinski Reunite for Go Like Hell

Michael Mann was once attached to the project back in 2011. The story centers on the racing rivalry between Ford and Ferrari in 1966.

Director Joseph Kosinski Boards Action-Thriller for Media Rights Capital

Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers wrote the script based on the director's original idea. Dylan Clark is producing for MRC.

Morgan Freeman to Narrate the IMAX Documentary Island of Lemurs: Madagascar

The Oscar-winning actor reunites with Born to Be Wild 3D director Dan Fellman for this documentary that explores the lemur's habitat.

The Twilight Zone Lands Writer Aron Eli Coleite

Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski is directing this adaptation of Rod Serling's seminal sci-fi TV series from the 1960.

Oblivion's Joseph Kosinski Will Direct The Twilight Zone

Matt Reeves was previously attached to helm this adaptation of Rod Serling's hit TV series from the 1960s.

Streaming in:

We checked for updates on 245 streaming services on May 11, 2024 at 5:02:20 AM. Something wrong? Let us know!

Oblivion streaming: where to watch online?

You can buy "Oblivion" on AMC on Demand, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store as download or rent it on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store online.

Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Videos: Trailers, Teasers, Featurettes

Production country

People who liked oblivion also liked.

Popular movies coming soon

Upcoming Action & Adventure movies

Similar Movies you can watch for free

When you purchase through Movies Anywhere , we bring your favorite movies from your connected digital retailers together into one synced collection.   Join Now

Oblivion | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

• See Retailers

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

There’s no denying that Oblivion is derivative.... But director Joseph Kosinski, adapting his own graphic novel, sure knows how to make it look beautiful and evocative.

Oblivion’s characters do little more than service the puzzle-based plot, leaving the sometimes predictable dialogue to the actors to enhance.

The eye-popping visuals help create a futuristic wonder, and the Iceland locations give a perfect sense of desolation.

A grab bag of ancient (in movie terms) sci-fi ideas, Oblivion is a sharp-looking film that will, through its own paucity of invention, be quickly consigned to history.

Filled with amazing post-apocalyptic spectacle, dazzling action sequences, and a heady story of twists and turns, the challenge of "Oblivion" is whether or not you, as the audience, can allow the strong visuals to make up for the weak narrative.

A competently made sci-fi action movie - something that can't be said about the majority of the genre.

Visually arresting and in moments exquisite.

On a pure surface level, the film is well made ... but this seems like it was aimed at an audience that has never seen a science fiction film before.

Because Oblivion borrows heavily from other sci-fi films, it lacks distinction in making the film truly it's own.

Oblivion may be a masterwork on the visual side, but it is a complete void in every other arena.

Additional Info

• Genre : Sci-Fi, Action
• Release Date : April 19, 2013
• Languages : English
• Captions : English
• Audio Format : 5.1

You Might Also Like...

New Releases

The Ending Of Oblivion Explained

Before Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski combined their efforts to soar on screen and at the box office with "Top Gun: Maverick," the two collaborated on "Oblivion." The 2013 sci-fi film tells the story of Earth in the wake of an alien invasion, when the planet stands largely uninhabitable because of the nuclear arms humanity used to defeat the extraterrestrial invaders. Or at least, that's what we're told at the start.

About 60 years later, most of Earth's survivors live on a massive satellite in space called the Tet. The few remaining people on Earth, like Jack (Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), aid the effort to move humanity to a new home on the largest of Saturn's moons, Titan. To do so, they repair the drones that scour the planet's surface and keep an eye out for Scavs — the last remaining aliens on the surface — in order to protect the hydro rigs that are taking Earth's last remaining resources for humanity's journey.

Things, however, are not what they seem. Jack struggles with vivid dreams that feel like memories and a sense of burnout he can't seem to overcome. He frequently steals away to a lakeside cabin in a part of his sector somehow utterly devoid of the war's destruction. When a craft falls from the sky containing several people, including the literal woman of his dreams, it becomes obvious that what Jack "knows" about his life isn't anywhere near the whole truth. Here's everything you need to know about the ending of "Oblivion."

The Scavs' true identity

The Scavs dominate a large amount of Jack and Victoria's attention in "Oblivion." Early on, we learn these black hooded figures are the last remnants of the invading alien force. While humanity has triumphed over them, these wicked interlopers fight on. Every one of their actions seems directed at disrupting the plan to save Earth's resources and depart for Titan. Unfortunately, the viewers — along with Victoria and Jack — have been lied to.

The Scavs are survivors. That much is true. However, they're not alien survivors. They're human beings. Led by Beech ( Morgan Freeman ), this group is indeed attempting to derail the mission that Jack, Victoria, and the drones have been seeking to protect and maintain. Needless to say, though, these "Scavs" aren't doing it to harm humanity. Rather, they're trying to save it.

Despite the official line that Jack and Victoria have been fed since the film's beginning, and evidently for years before, humanity did not triumph over the extraterrestrial invaders. There aren't any alien stragglers on Earth. There are just desperate people struggling to survive. And for years, Jack and Victoria have been contributing to the ever-more-likely extinction of their own species, all while the real enemy was hiding in plain sight.

The Tet isn't what it seems

Once again, what appears to be true at the start of "Oblivion" proves to be an outright lie when it comes to the Tet. At the beginning of the film, the audience is told that the Tet is a giant space station in orbit above the planet. After the ravages of war, it's where humanity gathered to escape the dying Earth and prepare for the trip to Titan. It's why Jack and Victoria have stayed behind — to ensure that Earth is properly mined and that the people on the satellite can continue their lives in relative safety until it's time to leave.

The idea that the Tet is a satellite filled with people is accurate, but it isn't what you'd think. In reality, the Tet itself is the invading force that destroyed the moon and waged war on the Earth. The aliens, as it turns out, are not humanoids. They're not even organisms as we understand them. Rather, the only real alien enemy is a vast alien artificial intelligence housed within the Tet. It intends to use the hydro rigs to strip Earth bare of resources to power itself for years to come, but the AI isn't the only being on the satellite.

There are people in the Tet, but they're not humanity's last members. As already noted, human survivors exist on Earth, struggling to endure the harsh conditions and the targeting by the Tet via Jack and Victoria. The people on the satellite are just more Jacks and Victorias — a host of clones that the extraterrestrial AI has on hand to dispatch to Earth to continue the work of strip-mining the planet.

The Jack and Vika the audience meets are but one pair of many on Earth. The Tet has divided the Earth into sectors, each patrolled by a Jack and Victoria clone pair. The supposedly radioactive parts of the planet are lies as well — a way to keep one Jack from encountering another while on patrol. By labeling areas as dangerous and forbidden, the Tet manages to curtail Jack's activities despite his curiosity. At least, for a while.

The Jacks and Victorias on the satellite are backups. Should a human survivor get lucky and kill a Jack, another will replace it the next day. Likewise, should an accident happen and a collapsing tower kills a Victoria, a new Vika will be installed in a rebuilt tower as soon as possible.

Saving Earth

While the Earth in "Oblivion" was indeed ravaged by war and its environment was permanently altered by the destruction of the Moon, it turns out that what Jack and Victoria initially believed about the planet's devastated state was a lie told to them repeatedly by the extraterrestrial AI.

In reality, the Tet's victory over humanity was so swift and so total that the world's governments were never able to turn their nuclear arsenal on the invaders. As noted before, the supposed irradiated zones were just a means of artificially dividing up the planet between Jack and Vika pairs. Between the environmental devastation caused by the destruction of the moon and an army of drones and Jack and Vika clones, Earth never stood much of a chance.

The future of the human race does not, in fact, lie orbiting Saturn. There is no colony waiting on Titan. While the invasion did alter Earth and rendered the planet considerably less hospitable than before, it remains capable of supporting life. That is, if The Tet is stopped from draining the planet dry of resources.

The NASA Crew

In 2017, a NASA crew departed Earth on an exploratory mission to Saturn's biggest moon, Titan. The ship was the Odyssey, and the team was set to go as far into space as any human-crewed mission ever had. Included on the squad were mission commander Jack, his co-pilot Victoria, and crew member Julia (Olga Kurylenko), who also happened to be Jack's wife. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

Somewhere on the way to Titan, the team of the Odyssey encountered the Tet. Properly reading it as hostile, Jack and Victoria jettisoned the rest of the crew — still in hibernation — in escape pods, sending them back toward Earth. Meanwhile, Jack and Victoria had no choice but to stay at the controls of the command unit as the Tet drew them into itself. It's not known how long the original Jack and Vika lived after capture, but they provided enough genetic material to create a deadly clone army.

Building a lie

While the Odyssey's escape craft made its journey to Earth, the Tet cloned a literal army of Jacks. With help from some super advanced drones, this endless wave of brainwashed soldiers overran the planet in record time. For all of Earth's considerable manpower and technology, it was no match for the Tet, and humanity fell in record time.

After that, the Jacks became repurposed as guards. The AI lied to them about who they were and what happened on Earth. They were told their memories had to be occasionally wiped to explain their lack of history and the strange dreams they often shared. Next, Victoria clones joined the Jacks to create teams. The Jacks and Vikas became co-workers, friends, and lovers all at once — humanity's last hope of protecting their future, or so they're told. Finally, drones were dispatched to help each pair take out "Scavs" so the clones would never discover they were actually hunting humans. All that remained was for the Tet to wait until all of Earth's resources were sucked dry.

The woman of Jack's dreams

Both Jack and Victoria are told that they receive periodic memory wipes for their own good. However, Jack has vivid dreams that don't seem to come from a previous tour of duty. Instead, he sees a pre-invasion Earth, a New York City teeming with life, and a woman he's never met. That is, until she falls out of the sky.

More than 60 years after entering hibernation and being fired back to Earth, the Odyssey's escape pod finally lands. Despite attempts by the Tet to block the homing beacon — Jack is told early in the film that the beacon trying to summon alien reinforcements — the human "Scav" survivors manage to broadcast the signal long enough to bring the escape pod home.

Our protagonist, a Jack clone referred to as Tech 49, sees the craft crash and pursues it. When he arrives, he finds several coffin-like pods filled with people — asleep, but alive. He frees one, a woman who eerily resembles the woman from his dreams. This is Julia, wife to the original Jack and the person who ultimately wakes up Tech 49 to the reality of what's happening.

Unfortunately, before Jack can wake the rest of the survivors, a drone arrives and opens fire. Despite being the keeper of the drones, Jack is unable to stop them. He saves Julia, but the attack claims the lives of the rest of the NASA astronaut crew.

Beech's plan

For a while, Tech 49 Jack's unusual behavior and voyages to his eclectic cabin don't seem to have registered with the Tet, and if Victoria's concerned, she's not telling. At every check-in, she maintains that she and Jack remain an effective team. Someone who does notice, however, is a man named Beech.

The leader of the human survivors (or "Scavs") in Tech 49's sector observes the clone long enough to realize that something about him is off. Essentially, Beech realizes before 49, or anyone else for that matter, that the clone is somehow more connected to his past self than should be possible. Tech 49's trip to the lake cabin may not have revealed that he was experiencing the memories of the original Jack, but it's unusual enough for Beech to notice.

As a result of these strange trips, Beech hypothesizes that Jack can be "woken up." He can learn the truth about what happened to Earth, who he is, and what he's being asked to do. When Tech 49 does finally awaken, it's Beech who fills in the blanks about how the aliens used Jack to nearly drive people to extinction. It's also Beech who pitches the plan of destroying the Tet for good using a bomb that only Jack can complete.

Victoria's role

While Jack handles much of the hands-on work required by the Tet, Victoria is his eye in the sky, helping direct him to disabled drones. Additionally, she communicates with "Sally" (Melissa Leo), their supposed mission control contact on the Tet. Like Jack, Vika is aware of their mindwipes every half-decade and seems to be fine with the arrangement at the start of the film. She also seems to have an awareness, perhaps even sooner than Jack, that things aren't exactly what they seem to be on Earth. However, unlike Jack, she feels highly motivated to maintain the status quo and their arrangement despite this notion. As a result, while the discovery of Julia creates a desire in Jack to learn more, it sees Victoria doubling down on her commitment to the mission.

While the film never offers us the same insight into Victoria's mind as it does Jack's, the implication seems to be that while the cloning issues make Jack overly curious, they've rendered Victoria overly loyal. As a result, she hides her concerns about Jack from Sally and the Tet until she absolutely must reveal them. Doing so costs her her life but ensures that Tech 49 and Julia can escape the drone attack. Even 60 years in the future and countless clones later, Victoria evidently can't stop being Jack's right-hand woman — his co-pilot into danger until the end.

Julia completes the puzzle

The original Jack's wife, Julia was part of the mission that first encountered the Tet in space. She's jettisoned back toward Earth after being placed into the emergency pod with several of her crewmates and dropped into hibernation. The journey takes 60 years, but she does finally land back on the planet. Her arrival and subsequent revelations about her life with Jack finally connect Tech 49 with the original's memories — the Jack collective unconscious, if you will.

When she and Tech 49 encounter another Jack, Tech 52, the fight between the Jacks results in her getting shot. In order to help her, Tech 49 brings her to his secret cabin to tend to her wounds. While there, the two experience a reigniting of old passions. Their bond fully cemented, Tech 49 starts acting much like the original Jack did 60 years prior. While it defies scientific explanation, her bonding with Tech 49 seems to fully turn him into the original Jack in terms of memories, personality, and commitment to humanity.

The truth about Sally

Jack and Victoria's mission contact on the Tet, Sally, is ultimately revealed to be nothing more than a facet of the AI. She's a false human front — another way to keep the Jacks and Vikas from knowing the truth about the past, their present, and the true purpose of their mission.

The decision by the alien AI to use Sally suggests it has some awareness of the metaphysical issues with the human cloning process . While the Tet may not be aware of the regeneration of memories from the pre-clone Jack that Tech 49 somehow develops, the AI seems to understand that previous bonds evidently carry over to the clones. Therefore, the alien presence selects Sally, the mission control operator on Earth for the Odyssey, as a mask.

As for why Sally only appears as a hologram instead of a clone, there are several reasons. First, Jack and Victoria were on the Odyssey when it was taken by the Tet. Sally was on Earth, so there wasn't a body to clone. Secondly, another clone would increase the risk of exposure, especially a clone that needs to broadcast from space. Why bother with that risk? Finally, there's the matter of efficiency. A hologram allows the Tet to broadcast from the sky, provides the familiar face needed to manipulate the pairs, and creates no risk of discovery.

Defeating the aliens for good

With Tech 49 essentially becoming the true Jack again, he and Julia join with Beech and the other Scavs. Unfortunately, before her death, Victoria reveals Julia's return to the Tet, making her a target. However, this also gives the surviving humans their first true means of getting to the Tet in 60 years. Feigning that he remains a loyal soldier, Tech 49 agrees to transport Julia to the Tet. Anxious to eliminate the threat she represents, the AI readily agrees.

When Jack and Julia's hibernation pod is pulled onto the Tet, the AI finds itself facing a very different situation than expected. First, Julia is nowhere to be found. Instead, Jack has brought Beech aboard. Second, they didn't come empty-handed. Instead, they have a bomb. Before the AI can stop them, Tech 49 and Beech detonate the device, sacrificing themselves. The resulting explosion sets off a chain reaction that utterly destroys the Tet and the numerous Jack and Victoria clones onboard. Finally, 60 years after the war on Earth began, humanity has finally, truly, won.

After being made shockingly aware that he wasn't the only Jack on Earth when fellow clone Tech 49 invaded his sector and put him out cold, Tech 52 seemingly experiences a similar revelation. While viewers don't see Tech 52 from the time his clone bests him until the end of the film, the character's final words make it clear that he too has tapped into the original Jack's memories.

Even more interesting is the suggestion that he also has access to the unique memories of Tech 49. These memories help this version of Jack make his way to the lakeside cabin, a place he'd never been before. As he explains, "I know him. I am him."

It still takes Tech 52 three years to make sense of those new shared memories, but in the end, they guide him right to the cabin's front door and Julia. Given that Tech 52 has both the original Jack's memories and Tech 49's memories, the final scenes suggest that he will become Julia's partner now. He is, essentially, the perfect hybrid of both of her lost loves.

Rebuilding for the future

Tech 49's decision to sacrifice himself and save Julia doesn't just save her life, but also that of their unborn child — the first human born on an Earth free of the Tet in 60 years. Three years later, Julia has become the head of the growing community of survivors who begin arriving at the lake, one of the places on Earth unaffected by both the war and the environmental changes enacted by the Moon's destruction. While only a fraction of humanity survived the invasion and the 60 years that followed, many of them arrive at Julia's lake seeking to rebuild their community. Given how the Tet divided the world into sectors, it also seems likely that such evolving communities are forming all over the world.

It may be awkward and halting. It may take generations. But the end of "Oblivion" suggests there is hope for humanity and for the Earth as a whole. By the time the credits roll, the future is finally getting brighter.

Sequel hopes?

"Oblivion" sequel talk has been limited, and there are a few reasons why. First, critics greeted the film with limited enthusiasm , and audiences seemed to feel similarly. Further, while the film wasn't an absolute flop at the box office, it didn't perform quite as well as the studio might have hoped given Cruise's star power.

Second and perhaps more importantly, "Oblivion" pretty definitively wraps up its storylines. The Tet is destroyed and humanity begins to rebuild civilization. Perhaps there are more stories to be told about that or Jack and Julia's relationship and child, but to date, no such script has emerged. According to Hindustan Times , director Joseph Kosinski did express interest in a prequel film back in 2013, but there's been no indication that such a project ever moved past the idea stage.

Of course, one should never say never. Cruise's hit-to-miss ratio has risen in the years since "Oblivion," making him a surer thing. "Oblivion" stands well as an isolated story, but with Hollywood more invested than ever in building franchises, there could always be another movie on the horizon. It remains to be seen if "Oblivion" will remain one of the many Tom Cruise movies to never get a sequel .

• You are here
• Everything Explained.Today
• A-Z Contents
• Oblivion (2013 film)

Oblivion (2013 film) explained

Oblivion is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic action-adventure film produced and directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Karl Gajdusek and Michael deBruyn , starring Tom Cruise in the main role alongside Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko , Andrea Riseborough , Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , and Melissa Leo in supporting roles. Based on Kosinski's unpublished graphic novel of the same name, the film pays homage to 1970s sci-fi, and is a "love story" set in 2077 on an Earth desolated by an alien war; a maintenance technician on the verge of completing his mission finds a woman who survived from a space ship crash, leading him to question his purpose and discover the truth about the war. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Oblivion premiered in Buenos Aires on March 26, 2013 and was released in theaters by Universal Pictures on April 19. [10] The film grossed $286 million worldwide on a production budget of $120 million and received mixed reviews from critics.

In 2077, repair technician Jack and communications officer Victoria appear to be the last people left on Earth. In 2017, scavenger aliens destroyed the Moon and invaded Earth; although humans won the war, the use of nuclear weaponry left the Earth uninhabitable. Jack repairs combat drones that hunt the remaining scavengers and guard the hydrothermal platforms that convert seawater into fusion energy . The work is reported to Sally, the commander aboard the "Tet", a space station orbiting Earth once a day. Within two weeks, the group will be departing for Saturn's moon, Titan , to join colonists there. Though Jack and Victoria's memories have been wiped, Jack dreams of a pre-war life with an unknown woman.

Jack escapes a scavenger trap while searching for a disabled drone inside the New York Public Library's ruins; meanwhile, a platform is destroyed. Jack discovers that the scavengers are radioing coordinates from the Empire State Building's antenna and sending the transmission into space. He visits an area that sustains vegetation and has a lake with fish and potable water. A lakeside cabin he built is filled with mementos of Earth's past.

An object falls from the sky to the coordinates. Jack finds five humans in sleep pods, including the woman from his dreams. A drone destroys four pods, but Jack prevents it from killing the woman and takes her to his and Victoria's aerial base. The woman, Julia, is a NASA astronaut who has been in suspended animation aboard the Odyssey spaceship for the past 60 years.

Jack and Julia retrieve the Odyssey's flight recorder but are captured by scavengers and taken to the Raven Rock Mountain Complex . The leader, Malcolm, reveals that the scavengers are disguised human survivors hiding from the drones. He frees Jack and Julia into the desert area that Jack knows as the deadly Radiation Zone so that they can discover the truth for themselves. Julia helps Jack recall that she is his wife.

Victoria sends a jet to retrieve Jack and Julia. Seeing their closeness, she reports to Sally that she and Jack are no longer "an effective team". Sally dispatches a drone that kills Victoria. Jack and Julia flee in the jet and destroy the drones chasing them, but they crash in the desert, where another clone of Jack arrives to fix disabled drones. Jack incapacitates him, but Julia is shot during their fight. Jack impersonates the clone to return to its base for medical supplies, where he encounters a clone of Victoria. Jack takes Julia to his cabin, where she recovers.

Back at Raven Rock, Malcolm tells them the Tet is an alien artificial intelligence ship that is extracting the planet's resources. The moon's destruction caused catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis on Earth, followed by an invasion from thousands of Jack clones. The escape to Titan and humanity's victory are fictional. The survivors brought down the Odyssey spaceship for its nuclear reactor, with which to craft a bomb. Jack reprograms a captured drone to deliver the bomb to the Tet, but other drones attack the base, destroying the captured drone and gravely injuring Malcolm. Jack and Julia volunteer to deliver the bomb to the Tet manually.

En route to the Tet, Jack learns that he was a clone of the NASA mission commander, Jack Harper, who was on a mission to explore Titan. Victoria was his co-pilot, his wife Julia a crew member, and Sally the Earth mission director. After the mission was interrupted by the Tet's arrival, Jack separated the control capsule to save the crew members in their stasis pods. He and Victoria were captured and cloned.

Jack enters the Tet and offers Julia to the Tet's projection of Sally, but Malcolm emerges from the pod. The two detonate the bomb, destroying the Tet. Julia awakens in her pod by the cabin.

Three years after the explosion seen in the sky, Julia and her and Jack's daughter are living at the cabin. Survivors arrive with the help of the clone that Jack had subdued in the desert. This clone has also recovered the original Jack's memories.

• Tom Cruise as Jack Harper—Tech 49, a technician who works to repair drones on Earth and questions his mission. Originally, he was the American commander of a mission en route to Titan who was captured by the Tet and cloned to fight humanity. Cruise also plays Jack Harper—Tech 52, a clone who initially remains loyal to the Tet.
• Morgan Freeman as Malcolm Beech, an American veteran soldier and leader of a large community of scavengers, the human survivors of the alien Tet's attacks.
• Olga Kurylenko as Julia Rusakova Harper, Jack's wife and a Russian crew member on the Odyssey , who was sent back towards Earth by her husband to protect her from the initial contact with the Tet.
• Andrea Riseborough as Victoria "Vika" Olsen, Jack's communications partner and housemate. Originally, she was the British co-pilot of Jack's mission to Titan who was captured and cloned to assist in the Tet's war on humanity. Riseborough also plays a clone of Vika who Jack misleads to obtain medical supplies.
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Sergeant Sykes, the main military commander of Beech's community of scavengers who is skeptical of Jack at first.
• Melissa Leo as the Tet, an alien artificial intelligence seeking to acquire Earth's natural resources and wipe out humanity. Leo also plays Sally, the mission director of Jack and Julia's mission to Titan; her likeness was copied by the Tet to serve as its visual and auditory representation.
• Zoë Bell as Kara, a soldier and member of the scavengers.

Development

Joseph Kosinski started the movie process by beginning work on a graphic novel called Oblivion featuring his story. While the completion of this would be teased to the public and the concept was used to pitch the movie, it was never finished and Kosinski claims he never intended to, stating it was "just a stage in the project [of film development]". Arvid Nelson was billed as co-writer and Radical Comics was attached as publisher. The novel was never finished; Kosinski explaining: "the partnership with Radical Comics allowed me to continue working on the story by developing a series of images and continuing to refine the story more over a period of years. Then I basically used all that development as a pitch kit to the studio. So even though we really never released it as an illustrated novel the story is being told as a film, which was always the intention." [11] [12] [13]

Walt Disney Pictures , which produced Kosinski's previous film (2010), acquired the Oblivion film adaptation rights from Radical Comics and Kosinski after a heated auction in August 2010. The film was a directing vehicle for Kosinski, with Barry Levine producing, and Jesse Berger executive producing. Other studios that made bids on the film were Paramount Pictures , 20th Century Fox , and Universal Pictures . [14] Disney subsequently released the rights after realizing the PG-rated film they envisioned, in line with their family-oriented reputation, would require too many story changes. Universal, which had also bid for the original rights, then bought them from Kosinski and Radical and authorized a PG-13 film version. [15]

The film's script was originally written by Kosinski and William Monahan and underwent a first rewrite by Karl Gajdusek . [16] When the film passed into Universal's hands, a final rewrite was done by Michael Arndt , under the pen name "Michael deBruyn". [17] Universal was particularly appreciative of the script, saying, "It's one of the most beautiful scripts we've ever come across." [18]

The Bubble Ship operated by Cruise's main character, Jack 49, was inspired by the Bell 47 helicopter (often colloquially referred to as a "bubble cockpit" helicopter), a utilitarian 1947 vehicle with a transparent round canopy that Kosinski saw in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, and which he likened to a dragonfly. Daniel Simon , who previously worked with Kosinski as the lead vehicle designer on Tron: Legacy , was tasked with creating the Bubble Ship from this basis, incorporating elements evocative of an advanced fighter jet with the Bell 47 to create a light, functional vehicle that was both practical and aesthetically pleasing, much as he observed with the ships in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

"When Kubrick made 2001 , rather than going to the hotshot concept designers of the day, he hired NASA engineers", said Simon. "I believe in form follows function . I'm not a fan of excessive decoration, of putting fins on something because it looks cool". Rather than employ digital models, Wild Factory, a Camarillo concept car company, built the Bubble Ship as a 25adj=midNaNadj=mid, 4000-, mostly aluminum prop. Elements of the cockpit, such as the placement of the joystick and pedals, were customized for Cruise, who is a qualified pilot, and who had some input into the design. The craft was also made to be easy to disassemble and assemble, to facilitate transport to Iceland shooting locations, where it would be mounted on a gimbal for shots of it flying. The unmanned aerial drones that were featured prominently in the plot were created to appear to be in the same design family as the Bubble Ship. [19]

Tom Cruise had expressed interest in the film for a long time, and officially committed to it on May 20, 2011.

For casting the lead role of Julia opposite Cruise, the producers considered five actresses: Jessica Chastain , Olivia Wilde , Brit Marling , Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko , and all five auditioned on August 27, 2011. [20] On September 26, 2011, it was announced that Chastain had been cast. [21] Chastain was subsequently offered the lead role in the Kathryn Bigelow film Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and Cruise let her be released from her contract for Oblivion to make the other film, for which Chastain has publicly thanked Cruise. [22] The role was later recast with Kurylenko. [23]

In preparation for the role, Kurylenko watched astronaut training videos as well as classic science fiction and romance films, such as Solaris (1972), Notorious (1946), and Casablanca (1942). [24] "What's funny is I actually watched Solaris ; Joseph never brought it up", said Kurylenko. "I come from Tarkovsky -land, and at that point I hadn't watched it for many years. I watched the new one as well, with George Clooney and Natascha McElhone . The story – both in Solaris and Oblivion – deals with space and memory." [25]

For the other leading role, Victoria, the producers initially considered Hayley Atwell , Diane Kruger and Kate Beckinsale. The three actresses traveled to Pittsburgh to screen-test with Cruise, who was filming Jack Reacher (2012). [26] The role finally went to Andrea Riseborough . Melissa Leo was cast at a later date as Sally. [27]

Production began on March 12, 2012, and concluded on July 14, 2012. Filming locations included Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana . [28] [29] [30] Out of approximately three months of shooting, 69 days were shot in Louisiana, from March through May 2012, 11 days were shot in New York in June 2012, a few in Mammoth in California in June 2012, and 10 days were filmed in Iceland in June 2012, [31] when the daylight lasts for nearly 24 hours a day. As well as showcasing Iceland's volcanic landscapes, the film's director Joseph Kosinski sought to take advantage of the round-the-clock light, in particular the 6pm to 1am waning light known as " magic hour ", to "bring sci-fi out into the daylight", in contrast with films such as Alien , which spent their time in dark hulls or benighted planets. [32]

The single most difficult scene to film was when Harper takes a break to admire the view and waters a flower. It was filmed by having Cruise sit next to an 800feet drop at the top of Iceland's Jarlhettur on the root of Langjökull , which is accessible only by helicopter. [33] The scenes set at Harper's idyllic forest retreat were filmed at Black's Pond in June Lake, California . [34]

Oblivion was filmed with Sony 's CineAlta F65 camera, which was shipped in January 2012. [35] A Red Epic was also used for scenes that required going handheld or when body mount rigging was applied. [36] The film was shot in 4K resolution in Sony's proprietary raw image format , but for cost reasons (and over Kosinski's protests), both the digital intermediate and final version were done at 2K resolution . [37]

For the Sky Tower set (built on a soundstage in Baton Rouge), Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda worked closely with visual special-effects house Pixomondo to establish both environment and lighting by the use of 21 front-screen projectors aimed at a huge wraparound backdrop to form one continuous image, rather than blue screen backdrops. [38] The backdrop consisted of a single seamless piece of painted white muslin , 500by, which was wrapped around the set for 270-degree coverage. This enabled the full environment to be captured in camera, and assisted in lighting up to 90 percent of the set.

Had blue screen been used on the "glass house" Sky Tower, the glass would have disappeared into the blue lighting, and would have had to be reproduced digitally in post-production. The actors enjoyed working in the environment, as they could look outside and actually see the sunrise or sunset imagery. This new technique allowed them to cut down on both the effects shots, which ended up at around 800 in total, and the expenses. Even the "control table" which Victoria operates was filmed then displayed on a large screen. [39]

To obtain the necessary footage to create the illusion that the Sky Tower set was sitting high above the clouds, Pixomondo sent a crew to film the view from the peak of Haleakalā in Hawaii for four days with three Red Epic cameras mounted side by side on a single rig. Pixomondo's Stuttgart office then stitched together the data from the three cameras to form a single gigantic video stream (with each still image consisting of 26 megapixels) and produced a variety of different time-of-day clips to be projected on the set.

See main article: Oblivion (2013 soundtrack) . On June 28, 2012, it was announced that French electronic act M83 , consisting solely of Anthony Gonzalez at the time, would compose the soundtrack for Oblivion . [40] On why he chose M83 to score the film, director Joseph Kosinski said, "I went back and I found my first treatment for Oblivion from 2005 and it had listed in the treatment a soundtrack of M83. Obviously, the Tron: Legacy collaboration with Daft Punk worked out as good as I would have ever hoped, [so] I wanted to do something similar in that I'm pulling an artist from outside the movie business to create an original sound for this film." Kosinski continued, "Daft Punk's music wouldn't make sense for this movie. It had to be an artist whose music fit the themes and story I was trying to tell. And M83's music I felt was fresh and original, and big and epic, but at the same time emotional and this is a very emotional film and it felt like a good fit." [41]

To guide Gonzalez through the scoring process, Kosinski brought in Joseph Trapanese , who co-wrote the score alongside Gonzalez. Kosinski stated, "Together they have created the score that I have dreamed about since I first put this story down on paper eight years ago." [42] Trapanese first came to Kosinski's attention when he collaborated with Daft Punk on Tron: Legacy as arranger and orchestrator. [43]

In an interview with Rolling Stone , Gonzalez said, "I started to write the soundtrack just reading the script, and then when you get the picture in, it's different, and you kind of switch to another vibe and change stuff and start experimenting a lot with the music." Gonzalez added, "I worked with Joseph a lot, and he's very particular about the music in his movies, so we spent a lot of time talking about music and working the arrangements together." [44]

Back Lot Music released the soundtrack on April 16, 2013. [45] A deluxe edition of the soundtrack was released the same day exclusively through iTunes . It features an additional 13 tracks. [46] The soundtrack featured original music by M83, along with music composed by Gonzalez and Trapanese. The lyrics to " Oblivion " were written by Gonzalez and Susanne Sundfør . Metacritic rated the soundtrack 55/100. [47]

Details about Oblivion were kept secret, though the studio was said to have been "very excited" about the film. Promotions began in April 2012, with a part of the footage being screened at the 2012 CinemaCon even though filming had begun just one month before the event. The footage was described as "a combination of early concept art, rough animation, and unfinished dailies ", showcasing a glimpse of the film's landscapes.

Theatrical release

Oblivion was first presented in Buenos Aires on March 26, 2013, Dublin on April 3, and in Hollywood on April 10 at the Dolby Theatre where Cruise himself announced before the screening that the film was actually the first feature to be mixed completely "from start to finish" in the latest state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos surround sound. [48]

The DVD and Blu-ray for Oblivion became available online for pre-order in North America on April 24, 2013, just five days after its initial release in the region. [49] One month later it was announced that the United Kingdom branch of Universal Studios would be releasing the film on home video in its region on August 6, 2013, with the on-demand version on August 18, 2013. The release was scheduled to be in both a standard and a SteelBook Limited Edition form. [50] In June 2013, it was announced that the film would be released on home video in America also on August 6, 2013. The Blu-ray releases will feature commentary with Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski, deleted scenes, M83's isolated score, and a series of making-of featurettes. [51] The Blu-ray debuted at number 1 in sales for its opening week. [52] On August 9, 2016, a 4K Blu-Ray edition was released. [53]

In North America , the film earned US$37.1 million on its opening weekend, including US$5.5 million from IMAX screenings in 323 theaters, making it Cruise's best North American opening after , Mission: Impossible film series and War of the Worlds . [54]

The film closed on June 27, 2013. Oblivion grossed US$89.1 million in the U.S. and US$198.8 million internationally, bringing the worldwide total to US$287.9 million.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 260 reviews and an average score of 5.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Visually striking but thinly scripted, Oblivion benefits greatly from its strong production values and an excellent performance from Tom Cruise." [55] Metacritic gives the film a score of 54 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [56]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stated " Oblivion is an absolutely gorgeous film dramatically caught between its aspirations for poetic romanticism and the demands of heavy sci-fi action". [57] Justin Chang of Variety said "Insofar as Oblivion is first and foremost a visual experience, a movie to be seen rather than a puzzle to be deciphered, its chief pleasures are essentially spoiler-proof." [58] Kevin Harley of Total Film gave the film three stars and said "It isn't a reboot or reimagining, refreshingly, but Oblivion plays like a stylised remix of superior sci-fi ground-breakers". [59] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon praised it as a "sly, surprising and visually magnificent Tom Cruise vehicle that has forced me – and many other people, I suspect – to revise my first opinion of director Joseph Kosinski." [60]

Tasha Robinson from The A.V. Club states that an "unsettling sense of not-quite-right coats all of the film's steely surfaces, and Kosinski and his co-writers give audiences plenty of time to absorb the unease and gear up for the action". [60] Some reviewers noted the filmmakers' ambition. James Berardinelli of ReelViews calls the film "imperfect but some of its imperfections result from being overly ambitious". [60] Bill Goodykoontz from the Arizona Republic states that the film "may not live up fully to its grand ambitions, but it isn't for lack of trying". [60] Jake Coyle of the Associated Press states that "[f]or those who enjoy the simple thrill of handsomely stylized image-making, Oblivion is mostly mesmerizing." [60] Alan Scherstuhl from the Village Voice states that "Kosinski proves himself talented in ways his Tron: Legacy didn't suggest." [60]

Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times called the film "[m]ore adventurous than your typical Hollywood tent pole, Oblivion makes you remember why science fiction movies pulled you in way back when and didn't let you go." [60] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post states that "[i]f you're able to forgive and forget, Oblivion isn't a bad place to start loving Tom Cruise all over again." [60] Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer states that "[Cruise] oversees some pretty impressive stuff here, from the drones that ping-pong around in the air to the bubbleship that Jack uses to go to and fro to that awesome house with its panoramic views." [60] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star states that the film "gives us stars in the cast, stars in our eyes and it even tweaks a brain cell or three". [60]

Colin Covert from the Minneapolis Star Tribune states that the "film is rife with elements from its finest predecessors – Kubrick, Lucas , the Wachowskis, and Pixar could be listed as creative consultants – but it has the spirit of a love letter to classic sci-fi, not an opportunistic mash-up". [60] Cary Darling of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram states that the film is "stitched together from spare bits of other, often better films, stumbl[ing] awkwardly in story and plot, shuffling toward the predictable explosions and fireballs of the third act. Yet... Oblivion is so beautiful to look at." [60]

Richard Corliss of TIME stated that "[i]n space, Jack [Harper] hopes, someone may hear you dream. But in a movie theater, no one will see you yawn." [60] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker states that the film "[f]eels ever more grounded and stuck." [60] Richard Roeper of Richard Roeper.com called it the "sci-fi movie equivalent of a pretty damn good cover band". [60] Tom Charity of CNN.com called it "[g]lossy, derivative, ambitious and fatally underpowered." [60] J. R. Jones of the Chicago Reader states that the "story eventually devolves into a grab bag of sci-fi tropes but, as with so many other Cruise productions, the sheer scale of everything is so mind-numbing that you may not notice". [60] Rick Groen of Canada's The Globe and Mail called it "an okay blockbuster, a multimillion-dollar exercise in competence". [60]

Tom Long of the Detroit News states that "Kosinski offers plenty of action here, and he lets the plot reveals bleed out slowly (explanations keep coming right to the end)." Long states that "a great deal is derivative, but it's fast-moving derivative". [60] Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger states that the movie "combines a lot of different films, yet somehow remains less than the sum of its parts". [60] Claudia Puig of USA Today states that "Kosinski focuses on cool visuals but stints on a compelling plot. It's a dazzler, but the story lacks the impact of the futuristic look." [60] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal states that the "mystery posed by Oblivion as a whole is why its mysteries are posed so clumsily and worked out so murkily". [60]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times states that the "agony of being a longtime Tom Cruise fan has always been a burden, but now it's just, well, dispiriting". [60] Rafer Guzman of Newsday states that "[p]laying spot-the-influence is the most fun you'll have during this expensive-looking, slow-moving plod through familiar territory." [60] Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch states that "[i]nstead of developing characters, Kosinski pours most of his imagination into the annihilated landscapes and futuristic gadgetry." [60] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune states that "[w]hen you go to a futuristic, dystopian, post-apocalyptic barn dance starring Tom Cruise and his space guns, you expect a little zap with your thoughtful pauses." [60] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls it "arid and antiseptic, untouched by human hands". [60]

Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald states that the "filmmakers don't even have the courage to see the story to its proper end, opting for a ridiculous finale that feels vaguely insulting". [60] Soren Anderson from The Seattle Times states that "[y]ou start wondering whether director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriters Karl Gajdusek and Michael DeBruyn have any original ideas of their own. And then you realize they don't." [60] Randy Myers of the San Jose Mercury News states that the "mix of gee-whiz gadgetry and the day-to-day routineness of Jack and Victoria's lives is interesting enough, but the film is too glacially paced for it to work". [60] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly states that "[a]ll the eye candy in the world can't mask the sensation that you've seen this all before...and done better. Too bad the movie's script wasn't given the same attention as its sleek, brave-new-world look." [60]

• List of dystopian films
• List of films featuring drones
• List of films featuring space stations

External links

• Oblivion - Production Information at Celluloid Digital Portraits

Notes and References

• Web site: Oblivion (12A) . . April 3, 2013.
• Web site: Oblivion (2013) . . June 3, 2014 . June 7, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140607010848/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/884012/Oblivion/ . live .
• Web site: Oblivion (2013) . . July 7, 2014 . July 15, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140715001126/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=69350 . live .
• Web site: Oblivion (2013) . . September 5, 2019 . July 12, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190712010011/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Oblivion-(2013)#tab=summary . live .
• Web site: That Oblivion "graphic novel" will probably never be PUBLISHED . MACDONALD . HEIDI . 2013-04-01 . The BEAT . EN-US . 2019-07-31 . May 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513013504/https://www.comicsbeat.com/that-oblivion-graphic-novel-will-probably-never-be-published/ . live .
• Web site: CCI: Kosinski Illuminates "Oblivion" CBR . WWW.CBR.COM . July 22, 2010 . 2019-07-31 . July 31, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190731210403/https://www.cbr.com/cci-kosinski-illuminates-oblivion/ . live .
• Web site: Disney Locks Down OBLIVION for TRON: LEGACY Director Joseph KOSINSKI . GOLDBERG . MATT . 2010-08-04 . COLLIER . EN-US . 2019-07-31 . January 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105142743/https://collider.com/joseph-kosinski-oblivion-disney-tron-legacy-sean-bailey/ . live .
• Web site: /Film Interview: 'Oblivion' Director Joseph KOSINSKI . 2013-04-19 . /FILM . EN-US . 2019-07-31 . July 31, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190731210404/https://www.slashfilm.com/film-interview-oblivion-director-joseph-kosinski/ . live .
• https://podtail.com/podcast/gibop/oblivion-2013/ Director Joseph Kosinski and actor Tom Cruise talk about Oblivion (2013).
• Web site: Joseph Kosinski's Tom Cruise Vehicle 'Oblivion' Moves To April 2013 . 2012-03-15 . /FILM . EN-US . 2019-07-31 . May 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513013518/https://www.slashfilm.com/joseph-kosinskis-tom-cruise-vehicle-oblivion-moves-april-2013/ . live .
• Web site: CCI: KOSINSKI ILLUMINATES "OBLIVION" . . July 22, 2010 . Steve Sunu . November 15, 2012 . March 4, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063245/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=27355 . live .
• Web site: Oblivion, Based On The Non-Existing Graphic Novel . . April 12, 2013 . April 12, 2013 . Rich Johnston . April 14, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130414230501/http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/12/oblivion-based-on-the-non-existing-graphic-novel . live .
• https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/joseph-kosinski-oblivion/
• Web site: Disney Acquires Joseph Kosinski's Graphic Novel 'Oblivion' . Deadline . August 4, 2010 . March 25, 2012 . Fleming, Mike . January 5, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120105211725/http://www.deadline.com/2010/08/toldja-disney-acquires-joe-kosinskis-oblivion/ . live .
• Web site: Tom Cruise Commits To $100 Million Universal Sci-Fi Pic 'Oblivion' For Fall . Deadline . May 20, 2011 . March 21, 2012 . Fleming . Mike . January 6, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120106201256/http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/tom-cruise-commits-to-100-million-universal-sci-fi-pic-oblivion-for-fall/ . live .
• Web site: Karl Gajdusek Tapped to Re-Write Disney's Horizons (Exclusive) . . March 16, 2011 . March 21, 2012 . Kit, Borys . October 26, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121026084531/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/karl-gajdusek-tapped-write-disney-168437 . live .
• Web site: Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough Added To Tom Cruise Sci-Fi Project . Hey U Guys . January 24, 2012 . March 21, 2012 . Roper, Dave . March 21, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120321121719/http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2012/01/24/olga-kurylenko-and-andrea-riseborough-added-to-tom-cruise-sci-fi-project/ . live .
• CinemaCon 2012: Tom Cruise dives from heaven to hell in Oblivion footage . . April 27, 2012 . May 8, 2012 . Breznican . Antony . November 26, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151126234627/http://www.ew.com/article/2012/04/27/cinemacon-2012-tom-cruise-dives-from-heaven-to-hell-in-oblivion-footage . live .
• Keegan, Rebecca. "'Oblivion' Cruise-Mobile". HeroComplex.com . Los Angeles Times . Spring 2013. pp. 8 - 9.
• Web site: Joe Kosinski's Oblivion Renamed Horizons Again, Five Hot Actresses Testing For Roles . Cinema Blend . August 25, 2011 . March 21, 2012 . Rich . Katey . March 14, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120314125423/http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Joe-Kosinski-s-Oblivion-Renamed-Horizons-Again-Five-Hot-Actresses-Testing-For-Roles-26432.html . live .
• Web site: Castings: Jessica Chastain Joins Tom Cruise in Apocalyptic Drama; Eric Bana is 'Brilliant' . September 27, 2011.
• Web site: Jessica Chastain Reveals How Tom Cruise Saved 'Zero Dark Thirty' . The Hollywood Reporter . April 3, 2017.
• Web site: Jessica Chastain Out, Andrea Riseborough And Olga Kurylenko In For Joseph Kosinski's Next Science Fiction Film . Cinema Blend . January 19, 2012 . March 21, 2012 . Eisenberg . Eric . March 12, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120312014341/http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Jessica-Chastain-Out-Andrea-Riseborough-Olga-Kurylenko-Joseph-Kosinski-Next-Science-Fiction-Film-28946.html . live .
• Web site: Vineyard. Jennifer. Olga Kurylenko talks 'Oblivion', 'To The Wonder', and 'Erased' . IFC.com . April 25, 2013. April 22, 2013. September 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042417/http://www.ifc.com/fix/2013/04/olga-kurylenko-oblivion-interview. live.
• Web site: Schmidlin. Charlie. Olga Kurylenko Talks Romance Behind 'Oblivion', Sharing 'Solaris' With Joseph Kosinksi & Making 'Empires Of The Deep' . The Playlist . April 25, 2013. April 19, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130511154257/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/olga-kurylenko-romance-behind-oblivion-recommending-solariso-joseph-kosinksi-making-empires-of-the-deep-20130419. May 11, 2013. dead.
• Web site: Cruise's Oblivion Eyes Leading Lady . Newscorp . . October 26, 2011 . May 8, 2012 . August 20, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120820042823/http://movies.ign.com/articles/121/1210765p1.html . dead .
• Web site: Melissa Leo Joins Tom Cruise Pic 'Oblivion' . Deadline . March 23, 2012 . March 29, 2012 . Fleming . Mike . March 25, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325150044/http://www.deadline.com/2012/03/melissa-leo-joins-tom-cruise-pic-oblivion/ . live .
• Web site: Talent Search for Lead Role in Feature Film Starring Tom Cruise . Lead Casting Call . March 21, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120307114757/http://www.leadcastingcall.com/talent-search-for-lead-role-in-feature-film-starring-tom-cruise/ . March 7, 2012 .
• Web site: Tom Cruise movie headed for Louisiana . Deseret News . February 3, 2012 . March 21, 2012 . Plaisance . Stacey . February 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140219004515/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700221920/Tom-Cruise-movie-headed-for-Louisiana.html . live .
• Web site: Current Productions UPCOMING PROJECTS . Film New Orleans . March 21, 2012 . September 2, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180902231133/http://www.filmneworleans.org/for-the-local-community/filmed-in-new-orleans/current-productions . dead .
• Web site: 2013 Feature Film Production Report . The Hollywood Reporter . 30 August 2017. April 21, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180421215304/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Embeds/2013%20Feature%20Study%20Corrected%20no%20Watermark%5B2%5D.pdf. dead.
• News: 'Oblivion': Cruise, Kosinski set for Hero Complex Imax screening . Los Angeles Times. April 2, 2013. April 14, 2013. April 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130406045357/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/oblivion-cruise-kosinski-set-for-hero-complex-imax-screening/. live.
• Ethan Sacks, "Tom Cruise's most dangerous stunt in 'Oblivion'? Sitting on mountain ledge for 'simple' dialogue scene inches away from 800-foot drop" , New York Daily News , April 17, 2013.
• Helena de Bertodano, "California: moments from Tom Cruise's Oblivion" , The Daily Telegraph , April 28, 2013.
• Web site: NAB 2012: Sony Launches $10,000 Super Slow Motion Camcorder With 4K Sensor . The Hollywood Reporter . April 15, 2012 . October 9, 2012 . Giardina . Carolyn . January 29, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130129100701/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nab-sony-f65-4k-after-earth-m-night-shyamalan-312203 . live .
• Web site: Frazer. Bryant. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda on Oblivion and Life of Pi . Studio Daily. April 25, 2013. April 4, 2013. April 10, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130410103051/http://www.studiodaily.com/2013/04/cinematographer-claudio-miranda-on-oblivion-and-life-of-pi/. live.
• Jon Fauer, http://www.fdtimes.com/2013/03/29/claudio-miranda-asc-on-oblivion/ "Claudio Miranda, ASC on 'Oblivion , Jon Fauer's Film and Digital Times , March 29, 2013.
• Vincent Frei, "OBLIVION: Bjørn Mayer – VFX Supervisor – Pixomondo" , Art of VFX , April 16, 2013.
• Web site: Interview: 'Oblivion' Director Joseph Kosinski on Sci-Fi Filmmaking . FirstShowing. April 29, 2013 . September 9, 2016. June 10, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160610044640/http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/interview-oblivion-director-joseph-kosinski-on-sci-fi-filmmaking/. live.
• Web site: Jagernauth. Kevin. Exclusive: M83 Scoring Joseph Kosinski's Sci-Fi Film 'Oblivion' Starring Tom Cruise . The Playlist . April 24, 2013. June 28, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130426155552/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-m83-scoring-joseph-kosinskis-oblivion-starring-tom-cruise-20120628. April 26, 2013. dead.
• Web site: Weintraub. Steve. Exclusive: Joseph Kosinski Talks OBLIVION, Working with Tom Cruise, Getting M83 to Compose the Score, the Film's Unique Design, the IMAX Release & More . Collider.com. April 24, 2013. December 30, 2012. April 21, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130421132526/http://collider.com/joseph-kosinski-oblivion-m83-interview/. live.
• https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=101262 "Listen to a Track From the Oblivion Score "
• Lee, Chris (December 23, 2010). "Daft Punk: We didn’t sell out for 'Tron: Legacy' soundtrack" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 22, 2013.
• Baltin. Steve. M83 Enter 'Oblivion' With Tom Cruise: At Grammys, French group talk soundtrack debut . Rolling Stone . April 24, 2013. February 13, 2013. March 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130308001343/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/m83-enter-oblivion-with-tom-cruise-20130213. live.
• Web site: Oblivion - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: M83: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads . Amazon.co.uk . April 19, 2013.
• Web site: April 16, 2013 . iTunes – Music – Oblivion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Deluxe Edition] ]. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140606022014/https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/oblivion-original-motion-picture/id617141516 . June 6, 2014 . April 24, 2013 . . iTunes .
• Web site: Oblivion [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] – M83]. Metacritic . CBS Interactive . November 20, 2014. February 1, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150201082117/http://www.metacritic.com/music/oblivion-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/m83. live.
• Web site: . Cruise in Dublin for movie and Irish roots . April 3, 2013 . April 20, 2013 . April 6, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130406025538/http://www.rte.ie/ten/2013/0403/cruiset.html . live .
• Web site: Oblivion with Tom Cruise Blu-ray Pre-Order Live, No Release Date Yet . The HD Room. April 25, 2013. April 24, 2013. April 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130427141439/http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Oblivion-with-Tom-Cruise-Blu-ray-Pre-Order-Live-No-Release-Date-Yet/12341. live.
• Web site: Oblivion Available for Pre-Order . Blu-ray.com. May 23, 2013. May 24, 2013. June 7, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130607222747/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=11256. live.
• Web site: Oblivion Blu-ray . Blu-ray.com. June 4, 2013. June 4, 2013. June 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130608120542/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=11331. live.
• Web site: 'Oblivion' Debuts at No. 1 on Blu-ray, DVD Charts . The Hollywood Reporter. August 14, 2013. September 9, 2016. February 3, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160203083541/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oblivion-debuts-at-no-1-606635. live.
• Web site: Nutt . Shannon T. . Oblivion - Ultra HD Blu-Ray . High-Def Digest . 2016-08-22 . April 25, 2021 . April 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210425222210/https://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/34008/oblivionultrahdbluray.html . live .
• Web site: MCCLINTOCK . PAMELA . Box Office Report: Tom Cruise's 'Oblivion' Rockets to Solid $38.2 Million OPENING . . April 24, 2013 . April 21, 2013 . February 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150207063544/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-report-tom-cruises-443632 . live .
• Web site: Oblivion (2013) . . . October 29, 2020 . November 11, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111204755/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013 . live .
• Web site: Oblivion . . . January 30, 2014 . April 20, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140420012345/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/oblivion . live .
• Web site: McCarthy. Todd. Oblivion review - The Hollywood Reporter . The Hollywood Reporter . April 10, 2013. April 16, 2013. April 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130414102120/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/oblivion/review/435551. live.
• Web site: Chang. Justin. Oblivion review - Variety . Variety . April 10, 2013. April 16, 2013. April 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130415081501/http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-oblivion-1200339595/. live.
• Web site: Harley. Kevin. Oblivion review - Total Film . Total Film . April 10, 2013. April 16, 2013. April 13, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130413115125/http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/oblivion. live.
• Web site: Oblivion . Rotten Tomatoes. September 9, 2016. May 30, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160530051441/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/reviews/?type=top_critics. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article " Oblivion (2013 film) ".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy .

34 Facts About The Movie Oblivion

Written by Stephenie Odonnell

Modified & Updated: 05 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Are you ready to delve into the futuristic and mind-bending world of the movie Oblivion? Strap yourself in and get ready for an exhilarating adventure as we uncover 34 fascinating facts about this captivating film. Released in 2013, Oblivion is a science fiction flick directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, a drone repairman stationed on a post-apocalyptic Earth. With its stunning visuals, intriguing plot, and stellar performances, Oblivion has left audiences spellbound since its release. So, whether you’re a die-hard fan of the movie or simply curious about the secrets behind its creation, join us as we explore these interesting tidbits that will take you even deeper into the world of Oblivion.

Key Takeaways:

• Oblivion, released in 2013, is a visually stunning film that explores themes of memory and identity, featuring Tom Cruise and a captivating soundtrack by M83.
• With a budget of $120 million, the movie earned over $286 million worldwide, despite mixed reviews, and was praised for its production design and intense action sequences.

The movie Oblivion was released in 2013.

Oblivion, directed by Joseph Kosinski, hit theaters in 2013 and quickly gained attention for its stunning visuals and intriguing plot.

Tom Cruise played the lead role in Oblivion.

Tom Cruise, known for his action-packed performances, took on the role of Jack Harper, a drone repairman stationed on a post-apocalyptic Earth.

The movie’s budget was around $120 million.

Oblivion was produced with a budget of approximately $120 million, allowing for impressive special effects and a grand cinematic experience.

The story is based on a graphic novel by Joseph Kosinski.

Oblivion is based on a graphic novel of the same name, which was written by Joseph Kosinski and published in The movie adaptation stayed true to the original source material.

The movie explores themes of memory and identity.

Oblivion delves into deep themes of memory and identity, challenging the audience to question what makes us who we are and the extent to which memories shape our perceptions of reality.

The film’s soundtrack was composed by M83.

The movie’s captivating and atmospheric soundtrack was composed by the electronic music group M83, adding an extra layer of emotion to the scenes.

Oblivion was primarily shot in Iceland.

The movie’s stunning landscapes were largely filmed in Iceland, showcasing the country’s unique and otherworldly beauty.

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Oblivion received a mix of positive and negative reviews from critics. While some praised its visuals and performances, others found the plot to be lacking originality.

The movie earned over $286 million worldwide.

Despite the mixed reviews, Oblivion proved to be a commercial success, earning over $286 million worldwide at the box office.

Oblivion features breathtaking visual effects.

The movie is renowned for its visually stunning scenes, which were brought to life through cutting-edge visual effects that enhance the post-apocalyptic setting.

Morgan Freeman also stars in Oblivion.

Alongside Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman delivers a captivating performance, adding depth and complexity to the character he portrays.

The movie’s tagline is “Earth is a memory worth fighting for.”

Oblivion’s tagline perfectly encapsulates the central theme of the movie, emphasizing the importance of preserving our memories and the planet we call home.

Oblivion was nominated for several awards.

The movie received nominations for various awards, including the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film and the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

The film features breathtaking drone sequences.

Oblivion showcases thrilling sequences involving aerial drones, highlighting the advanced technology present in the post-apocalyptic world.

The movie’s runtime is approximately 126 minutes.

Oblivion offers viewers an immersive experience that spans roughly 126 minutes, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of the film’s intricacies.

Andrea Riseborough plays the female lead in the movie.

Andrea Riseborough delivers a captivating performance as Victoria, Jack Harper’s partner and fellow drone repair technician.

The film was praised for its production design.

The production design of Oblivion was highly praised, with its futuristic aesthetics and attention to detail adding depth and authenticity to the post-apocalyptic world.

Oblivion explores the consequences of human greed.

The movie presents a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked human greed, highlighting the devastating effects it can have on both individuals and the planet.

The movie’s screenplay was written by Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt.

Screenwriters Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt brought the story of Oblivion to life with their compelling and thought-provoking screenplay.

The film features intense action sequences.

Oblivion offers adrenaline-pumping action sequences that keep viewers on the edge of their seats, showcasing Tom Cruise’s talent for performing intense stunts.

The movie received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Oblivion’s groundbreaking visual effects earned it a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards, solidifying its place among the top films in terms of technical achievement.

The movie’s cinematography is visually stunning.

Oblivion was praised for its breathtaking cinematography, with sweeping shots of the post-apocalyptic landscape and meticulous attention to detail.

The film explores the concept of a dystopian future.

Oblivion immerses audiences in a dystopian future where humanity fights to survive, bringing to light the consequences of our actions in the present.

The movie’s plot contains unexpected twists.

Oblivion keeps viewers guessing with unexpected plot twists and revelations, adding an element of suspense and intrigue throughout the film.

The film’s director, Joseph Kosinski, previously directed Tron: Legacy.

Joseph Kosinski, known for his visually striking films, previously directed Tron: Legacy before taking on the ambitious project of Oblivion.

The movie’s opening weekend grossed over $37 million in the United States.

Oblivion had a successful opening weekend in the United States, grossing over $37 million, signaling a promising start for the film.

The story unfolds in a post-apocalyptic Earth.

Oblivion is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth , where the remnants of humanity struggle to survive against mysterious forces.

The film’s marketing campaign created hype and anticipation.

Oblivion’s marketing campaign generated significant buzz and anticipation among moviegoers, building excitement for its release.

The movie’s sound design enhances the cinematic experience.

Oblivion’s meticulous sound design adds depth and immersion to the film, further enhancing the overall cinematic experience for the audience.

The film explores themes of redemption and sacrifice.

Oblivion delves into themes of redemption and sacrifice, showcasing the lengths to which characters are willing to go to protect what they hold dear.

The movie’s pacing keeps viewers engaged.

Oblivion strikes a balance between exposition and action, ensuring that viewers remain engaged throughout the film’s runtime.

The film’s visual effects were created by a talented team of artists.

A team of talented visual effects artists worked on Oblivion to bring the post-apocalyptic world and its futuristic technology to life.

Oblivion explores the concept of memory manipulation.

The movie delves into the intriguing concept of memory manipulation, raising questions about the nature of reality and personal identity.

The movie’s ending leaves room for interpretation.

Oblivion’s ending is open to interpretation, allowing viewers to speculate on the fate of the characters and the future of the world they inhabit.

In conclusion, Oblivion is a visually stunning film that explores intricate themes of memory, identity, and the consequences of human actions. With a talented cast, breathtaking cinematography, and a thought-provoking storyline, it captivates audiences from start to finish. Whether you are a fan of science fiction, action, or simply appreciate a well-crafted film, The 34 Facts about the movie Oblivion is definitely worth watching.

In conclusion, “Oblivion” is a captivating sci-fi film that combines stunning visuals with a thought-provoking storyline. With Tom Cruise delivering a compelling performance, the movie keeps audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish. From its intriguing premise to its breathtaking cinematography, “Oblivion” is a must-watch for any fan of the genre. Whether you’re a sci-fi enthusiast or simply looking for an engaging and thrilling movie experience, “Oblivion” is sure to satisfy your cravings for action, mystery, and suspense.

Q: Who directed the movie “Oblivion”?

A: “Oblivion” was directed by Joseph Kosinski.

Q: When was the movie “Oblivion” released?

A: “Oblivion” was released on April 19, 2013.

Q: Who are the main actors in “Oblivion”?

A: The main actors in “Oblivion” are Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko , and Andrea Riseborough.

Q: Is “Oblivion” based on a book?

A: No, “Oblivion” is not based on a book. However, it was inspired by a graphic novel written by Joseph Kosinski and Arvid Nelson.

Q: What is the premise of “Oblivion”?

A: “Oblivion” is set in a post-apocalyptic future where an ex-soldier is tasked with repairing drones on a desolate Earth. However, his life takes a turn when he encounters a mysterious woman who leads him to question his reality and the true nature of the mission.

Q: How was the visual effects in the film “Oblivion” achieved?

A: The visual effects in “Oblivion” were achieved through a combination of practical sets, intricate CGI, and stunning cinematography.

Q: Did “Oblivion” receive any awards or nominations?

A: Yes, “Oblivion” was nominated for the Best Original Score at the Academy Awards and received several nominations for its technical achievements.

Q: What is the runtime of the movie “Oblivion”?

A: The runtime of “Oblivion” is approximately 2 hours and 4 minutes.

Q: Is “Oblivion” suitable for all audiences?

A: “Oblivion” is rated PG-13 and contains some intense action sequences and sci-fi themes. It is recommended for viewers aged 13 and above.

Q: Can you watch “Oblivion” on streaming platforms?

A: Yes, “Oblivion” is available for streaming on various platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu.

Was this page helpful?

Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.

Share this Fact:

• Movies & TV Shows
• Most Popular
• Leaving Soon
• Documentary
• Browse Channels

Featured Channels

• Always Funny
• History & Science
• Sci-Fi & Action
• Chills & Thrills
• Nature & Travel
• Black Entertainment
• Kids & Family
• International
• Gaming & Anime

• Chicago Sun-Times Ignatiy Vishnevetsky If nothing else, "Oblivion" will go down in film history as the movie where Tom Cruise pilots a white, sperm-shaped craft into a giant space uterus.
• Orange County Register Michael Sragow Although it looks spectacular and boasts some pungent ideas, the surprise-to-running-time ratio is out of whack.
• Richard Roeper.com Richard Roeper This is the sci-fi movie equivalent of a pretty damn good cover band.
• Detroit News Tom Long Kosinski offers plenty of action here, and he lets the plot reveals bleed out slowly (explanations keep coming right to the end). Yes, a great deal is derivative, but it's fast-moving derivative.
• Slant Magazine Calum Marsh Absent of any sense of self-awareness, Oblivion seems only self-serious, a ponderous mess both misguided and unaware.
• ChrisStuckmann.com Chris Stuckmann The story that eventually surfaces is no where near as interesting as the mesmerizing look of the film.
• Reel Talk Online Candice Frederick It's a shame that its poor editing inhibits what could have been a memorable movie.
• CinemaBlend Katey Rich Large-scale, original sci-fi is a hard thing to come by these days, and despite its familiar story Oblivion does dream up some great ideas
• Flavorwire Jason Bailey Here's the trouble with mainstream science fiction filmmaking these days: there's no expectation that an audience is capable of putting things together or waiting for a payoff.
• Grantland Wesley Morris It takes more than an hour for Oblivion to become whatever it is the filmmakers think it's supposed to be.
• TIME Magazine Richard Corliss In space, Jack hopes, someone may hear you dream. But in a movie theater, no one will see you yawn.
• New Yorker Anthony Lane Feels ever more grounded and stuck ...
• Screen Junkies Inkoo Kang Ultimately, Oblivion is aptly named - no other movie so far this year has been so instantly forgettable.
• New York Magazine/Vulture David Edelstein Was Cruise trying to beat out fellow Scientologist John Travolta for the honor of starring in the dumbest sci-fi epic ever?
• CNN.com Tom Charity Glossy, derivative, ambitious and fatally underpowered.
• Chicago Reader J. R. Jones The story eventually devolves into a grab bag of sci-fi tropes but, as with so many other Cruise productions, the sheer scale of everything is so mind-numbing that you may not notice.
• Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir The sly, surprising and visually magnificent Tom Cruise vehicle that has forced me - and many other people, I suspect - to revise my first opinion of director Joseph Kosinski.
• Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan If you're able to forgive and forget, Oblivion isn't a bad place to start loving Tom Cruise all over again.
• Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan More adventurous than your typical Hollywood tent pole, "Oblivion" makes you remember why science fiction movies pulled you in way back when and didn't let you go.
• USA Today Claudia Puig Director Joseph Kosinski focuses on cool visuals but stints on a compelling plot. It's a dazzler, but the story lacks the impact of the futuristic look.

Take Plex everywhere

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Contribute to this page

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More from this title

More to explore, recently viewed.