Rewatchables Reference

• Chris: The first storming of the beach – the air drop / first battle sequence.
• Cage reading everyone's poker hands in J-Squad.
• The training montage with Rita shooting Cage in the head every time he gets injured.
• The drive to Lyon / the farmhouse scene.
• The very final sequence – Cruise opening his hand showing grenade rings, waking up two days earlier, 'Is there something on my face?'

• Emily Blunt as action star – great two-year run with this and 'Sicario'. Evolution from Devil Wears Prada to legitimate action star.
• Smarmy Cruise – a guy who's full of himself but not on top of the world. Compared to 'Jerry Maguire'-era Cruise.
• The combination of green screen with practical effects and real sets.
• The sci-fi World War Two mashup aesthetic – recreating WW2 England in 2020 with sci-fi.

• The ending / final ~30-35 minutes – the Louvre sequence is too dark, internal logic breaks down, and the third act was not written when they went into production.
• The romantic subplot / kiss between Cruise and Blunt – described as 'the 8th or 9th most important part of the movie's story.'
• The score – described as 'kind of blah.'

• Brad Pitt was originally considered for Bill Cage. Cruise is clearly the better fit.
• Ryan Gosling was also considered (Cage is younger in the novel).
• Jeremy Piven was added to the cast after principal photography, filmed extra scenes, but was ultimately cut entirely.

• Tony Way – the Joey Pants winner.
• Other contenders: Terrance Maynard ('On your feet, maggot' sergeant), Charlotte Riley (Nance, also in Peaky Blinders).

Charlotte Riley (Nance) – Chris's pick. 'She is going to the max in this movie.'

• Sean: Brendan Gleeson – 'one name and one name only.'
• Chris counters with Bill Paxton.

• Doug Liman: Apex is 'The Bourne Identity', not this film.
• Emily Blunt: 'Sicario' is her apex, not this film, though this staked out the territory.

• Rita couldn't know she lost her reset ability – if she died and the day didn't reset, she'd be dead, so she could never confirm losing the power.
• The mimic trap doesn't make sense – death by blood loss would still trigger a reset.
• The farmhouse repeat visits – they could have siphoned gas from abandoned vehicles.
• Rita's body count in training – she shoots Cage in the head every time he gets injured. No court martial?

No for the main story. Chris says he'd watch 'the General Brigham show' – Brendan Gleeson as the General Patton of an alien invasion.

• How many times did Major Cage die? Chris estimates 'something close to a year of deaths' using Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours logic.
• Is this movie responsible for the 2016 election? The opening montage shows Hillary Clinton as president in 2020.

Tom Cruise – Chris's pick, though he could be 'easily talked into Blunt.' For Blunt and Liman, this will likely be one of their most-liked movies.

• Author Sakurazaka got the idea from video gaming – resetting a game over and over. The hosts call this 'the best video game movie.'
• Doug Liman anecdotes: On Mr. & Mrs. Smith, he allegedly paid people overtime to light a forest in Prague so he could play paintball at night.
• Cruise started pre-production less than a week after wrapping Oblivion.
• The film got a second life when rebranded on DVD with the 'Live Die Repeat' tagline.