Long before Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski teamed up to create one of the biggest blockbusters of all time with Top Gun: Maverick, the duo collaborated on an overlooked sci-fi thriller. Released 13 years ago, the movie also stars the great Morgan Freeman, who is known for his work in The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, and for being the first actor to ever play Alex Cross on film.
Hitting theaters on April 19, 2013, Oblivion is an unsung sci-fi action thriller hybrid that takes place in 2077. Decades after Earth was decimated by an alien invasion, the survivors now live in a colony on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Cruise plays Jack Harper, one of the few technicians left behind responsible for maintaining surveillance drones and repairing equipment that protects humanity’s remaining resources.
Of course, things go off the rails when he meets Julia (Olga Kurylenko), a mysterious woman who causes Jack to question everything he thought was true. Freeman plays Malcolm Beech, another mysterious figure connected to a band of resistance fighters. With so many mysterious figures getting inside Jack’s head, he realizes things are way more complicated than he thought, and it isn’t long before he (and the rest of us) figures out the truth about his identity.
‘Oblivion’ Was a Graphic Novel Before It Was a Movie
Earning $287 million at the box office against a budget of $120 million, Oblivion first began life as a graphic novel. The catch is that it was never published. Kosinski first had the idea in 2005, and worked with writer Arvid Nelson and concept artist Andree Wallin to develop an illustrated version of the story. The material they created helped pitch the project to studios, and as such, it was given the green light, causing the original idea to go unrealized.
Holding just a 53% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 61% from viewers, Oblivion might not be Cruise and Freeman’s best work, but it is an underrated gem that definitely has a distinctive style about it. Unlike many alien invasion movies that have that dreary aesthetic to them and take place in the shadows, much of Oblivion happens during the day. With a lot of people complaining that movies are too dark lately, it’s definitely a welcome change of pace, and is just another reason why it’s worth checking out on its new streaming home next month.
‘Oblivion’ Touches Down on Streaming Nov. 1
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Tom Cruise in Oblivion Universal Pictures -
Tom Cruise in Oblivion Universal Pictures
Serving as one of Cruise’s most ambitious sci-fi movies this side of Minority Report, Oblivion is set to touch down on Starz beginning Nov. 1. The timing couldn’t be better, because while it is streaming on Prime Video right now, it’s scheduled to leave the Amazon platform on Oct. 31.
When it comes to Cruise’s latest box office flop, Digger, no exact dates have been given yet for its streaming release, but you can most likely expect it to hit digital rental and purchase platforms at some point in November, followed by its debut on HBO Max the following month.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
