Edge of Tomorrow parents guide

Edge of Tomorrow Parent Guide

For Tom Cruise, who appears intent on prolonging his career as an action hero, this movie is a lucky break.

Overall C+

Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Tom Cruise) finds himself experiencing a frightening kind of Déjà vu. He keeps reliving the same day in a battle against an alien force. Can he learn from past experience so the humans can win the war?

Release date June 6, 2014

Violence D+
Sexual Content A-
Profanity C-
Substance Use A

Why is Edge of Tomorrow rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Edge of Tomorrow PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material.

Run Time: 113 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

In this movie, Tom Cruise plays Major William Cage, a military PR spokesman who has been able to avoid even a hint of action. That all changes when he is shanghaied and sent to the front lines of a battle against an extra-terrestrial enemy. Without so much as a lick of training, he is strapped into a heavy metal contraption and dropped into the middle of a Normandy Beach-like invasion.

Before being killed (for the first time), Cage is splattered with blood from one of the aliens. The event throws him into a time loop where he wakes up at the same precise moment on the same day to live and die over and over and over again. (Think of this as Groundhog Day with big guns.) Luckily each time he learns to stay alive a little longer. Finally he stumbles upon Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), the military’s poster girl heroine who earned a reputation for slaughtering hundreds of the spider-like invaders. She, just as Cage, once had the ability to reboot after being killed. But now she has lost the power.

However she thinks she has figured out a way to defeat the aliens and begins training Cage to hunt down the main source of the enemy’s power. Whenever Cage is injured during their practice sessions she simply shoots him to restart the day. Unfortunately some of these repeated killings are played for laughs. While audiences only see Rita pulling the trigger, there is still something disturbing about her firing a gun at man with the same nonchalant attitude you’d shoot a video game character.

Along with the training sessions, the recurring battle scenes are also violent. These depict soldiers being smashed, shot, blown up and engulfed in flames after being dropped out of transport planes. In one particularly gruesome scene a character’s skin melts away after his face is burned. As Cage begins to recognize the futility of the army’s attempts, he becomes callous about making any effort to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. The film’s comedic moments are meant to lessen the intensity of the brutal situation, but there are times when the humor feels out of place on the battlefield.

With the onslaught of war violence, the screenplay had to limit other content in Edge of Tomorrow in order to keep it within a PG-13 rating. Consequentially sexual content isn’t excessive. Cage and Rita do have an open discussion about sexual activity and there are brief sexual references. And audiences also see the buttocks of a soldier who prefers to fight without the restriction of clothing.

The concept is clever—at least for a while. Yet although not every detail of the day is shown every time, it won’t be long until you are familiar enough with the script to repeat the lines along with Cage. As the novelty of his new power wears off, even he becomes increasingly weary of reliving the early parts of each day. Thankfully for viewer, the filmmakers pick up the pace and skip significant chunks of time as the story progresses.

For Tom Cruise, who appears intent on prolonging his career as an action hero, this movie is a lucky break. It allowed the aging actor to cut down on the physical work by reusing many of the scenes over and over and over again.

Directed by Doug Liman. Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Lara Pulver. Running time: 113 minutes. Theatrical release June 6, 2014. Updated

Edge of Tomorrow
Rating & Content Info

Why is Edge of Tomorrow rated PG-13? Edge of Tomorrow is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material.

Violence: A character is tasered before being shanghaied into military service. Characters are forced to eat playing cards after breaking rules about gambling. A plane is hit by a bomb. Characters are crushed, shot, engulfed in flames and attacked by aliens. Explosions kill numerous individuals. Characters are hurt or killed during training exercises. Characters are intentionally shot. A man is splattered with blood. Some other bloody injuries are briefly seen. People are involved in a car chase and accident.

Sexual Content: Male buttock nudity is briefly seen in a non-sexual context. A couple kisses and embraces. A man asks a woman about having sex. Other mild sexual comments and references are made.

Language: The script contains a strong sexual expletive, some scatological slang, vulgar expressions and terms of Deity.

Alcohol / Drug Use:A man is hooked up to an IV in a medical setting.

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Edge of Tomorrow Parents' Guide

What situation would you like to have a chance to do over? How does Cage’s repeated experience help him develop his fighting skills? What role does repetition and practice play in improving a person’s ability to do something?

Several real life newscasters and politicians show up on the screen. Is this supposed to make the movie feel more like the real world?

Perhaps it is only a coincidence, but this movie depicting a battle as bloody as the Normandy Beach Invasion (June 6, 1944) releases on the 70th anniversary of the historic WWII battle.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Edge of Tomorrow movie is October 7, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Edge of Tomorrow
Release Date: 7 October 2014
Edge of Tomorrow releases to home video (Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy or Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy) with the following bonus features:
- Operation Downfall
- Adrenaline Cut
- Storming The Beach
- Weapons Of The Future
- Creatures Not Of This World
- On The Edge With Doug Liman
- Deleted Scenes

Related home video titles:

Another man finds himself in a time loop in the comedic movie Groundhog Day. Tom Cruise plays a character that fights rouge humans caught up in an Alien war in the movie Oblivion.

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