Doug Liman
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Groundhog Day (1993)
Directed by Harold Ramis
influenced Edge of Tomorrow (2014), American Made (2017)
Plot Themes
Edge of Tomorrow draws masterfully from exactly the right influences: there’s the obvious parallel to draw to Groundhog Day, but the most striking aesthetic reference point is James Cameron’s Aliens, from the exoskeletons down to the casting of Bill Paxton (Two Guns), who restrains himself from declaring “Game over!” even once.
There’s a pretty good chance that every review about “Edge of Tomorrow” will reference the 1993 comedy “Groundhog Day” at least once, and that’s because both films feature a very similar plot device, not unlike the one that was also employed in Duncan Jones’ underseen sci-fi thriller, “Source Code.”
Time travel’s a problematic device as it can be the enemy of internal logic, but here, despite a modicum of head scratching when the exposition finally comes and an ending that gives you pause, it’s straightforward enough, liberating the film, in its own World War II parlance, to explore the themes it’s borrowed from Groundhog Day ; a flawed character who matures while stuck in his time loop, his changing feelings for a woman he gets to know over many iterations of the same day, the empowering notion that we’re each ultimately the masters of our own fate, regardless of how pernicious a lie that is.
Based on the manga All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and adapted for the screen by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (upcoming James Brown bio-pic Get On Up), Edge of Tomorrow recalls other notable time loop sagas, including Groundhog Day and Source Code in the witty and engaging way it moves its story forward piece by piece.
From the trailer alone it was clear this new film by director Doug Liman ( The Bourne Identity ) had borrowed heavily from 1993's outstanding live-die-repeat karmic comedy Groundhog Day .
Edge of Tomorrow borrows liberally from films such as Groundhog Day , Starship Troopers , and Independence Day , but that doesn’t stop it from emerging as a terrific entertainment all its own.
GoodFellas (1990)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
influenced American Made (2017), Swingers (1996)
Plot Themes Dialogue
Spinelli clearly is crazy about Scorsese’s “GoodFellas,” and he has structured “American Made” in roughly the same picaresque fashion.
On those superficial levels, it probably does deserve some comparison to such classics as “Goodfellas,” “Casino” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
It seems to want to be Goodfellas and it’s not that monumental, but citizens should know about the shady schemes in which its government agencies were involved.
Delivering the kind of arsenic wit we haven’t seen since “Goodfellas,” it explores a world where good and evil exist not only side by side, but usually hand in hand.
It shows its references, a combination of “Goodfellas,” “Blow” and “Scarface,” but never achieves the internal consistency of those films.
The slick surface of American Made largely plays like another variation on the rags-to-riches-to-crash-and-burn trajectory of movies like Scarface and Goodfellas, with a healthy helping of flexible history, a la American Hustle.
You could say it’s like “Blow,” on well, blow.
Taking structural cues from stuff like Goodfellas and Blow, Liman has fun within the sub-sub-genre of crazy Americans doing crazy American things for a lot of money.
His tale is a reminiscent of George Jung, the drug dealing kingpin whose misadventures were chronicled in Ted Demme’s Blow (released back in 2001).
(It’s funny to remember that Cruise almost starred as Henry Hill in the 1990 classic.) We’ve seen this sort of sarcastic structure applied to less successful criminal history lessons like “Blow,” “Lord of War” and last year’s abysmal “War Dogs,” but none of those films had this one’s bratty, propulsive energy.
Its colorful style recalls the flamboyant amorality of GoodFellas and Blow, and it’s often funnier and more succinct than either.
As a high-wire criminal balancing act in the vein of Goodfellas or Blow , American Made is adequate (nowhere near the former; more enjoyable than the latter).
In its evocation of the breathlessness of battle, the attack at Normandy can rightfully be mentioned alongside its clear inspiration: Steven Spielberg’s famed Omaha Beach sequence from Saving Private Ryan.
It’s hardly an accident that the setting immediately evokes Normandy, and while what follows isn’t exactly the opening sequence from “Saving Private Ryan,” it’s a brutal massacre all the same: The humans are gravely outnumbered, and even UDF’s star soldier, the tough-as-hell Rita (Emily Blunt), is killed in the onslaught.
Having human soldiers don exo-skeleton fighting suits provides a strong visual (think a mix of Saving Private Ryan and the metallic crunch of Iron Man ), that will please both war movie and superhero movie fans.
This is surely not a coincidence: Liman and his screenwriters have built in enough nods to other movies—Groundhog Day, Alien, Saving Private Ryan, and so on—to make clear that the meta-ness is the point.
Director Doug Liman channels Saving Private Ryan in his depiction of the chaotic action, as human troops outfitted in giant metal exoskeletons attempt to destroy the alien hordes.
Although Liman employs some handheld-camera techniques to create you-are-there immediacy, a hectic beach invasion – preceded by a breathless dropping of troops via cables from an exploding, crashing ship - feels more like Spielberg’s harrowing Normandy sequence in “Saving Private Ryan” than the hectic visual noise of “Transformers”-style hackwork.
With a prelude this reminiscent of Edge of Tomorrow and a catalyst that recalls Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises , The Tomorrow War makes itself clear early.
It’s nowhere near as memorable a dynamic as the one Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt built in Edge of Tomorrow , an excellent science fiction war movie from which The Tomorrow War borrows a great deal.
The Tomorrow War manages to combine the best bits of Edge Of Tomorrow , Arrival , Armageddon , Alien , Independence Day , and God knows what else in the kind of movie that Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich would’ve directed in their primes if they’d had more talent.
The Tomorrow War hopes audiences will thus also be reminded of Edge of Tomorrow , Alien , Back to the Future, and, for less logical reasons, Pratt’s own Jurassic World franchise (the aliens have adorable little T-Rex arms and shriek like velociraptors).
There are elements of the film that are akin to "The Terminator" or more poignantly and philosophically (if you will, even for a numb-your-mind, adrenaline-pumping blockbuster) like "Edge of Tomorrow".
Specifically, the entire narrative trajectory comes across less as an homage and more as a derivation of The Terminator , Starship Troopers , and Edge of Tomorrow .
Since that’s his mission, “Edge of Tomorrow” might come to mind as a point of comparison: though beloved of Tom Cruise fans, including this one, most wouldn’t say that’s one of his greatest star roles — the concept comes first.
While it doesn’t exactly re-invent the concept seen in similar films like Edge of Tomorrow , Looper , and Source Code , Boss Level brings something fresh to the table by virtue of instilling the film with video game sensibilities that will undoubtedly delight hardcore gamers.
What a shame, since badass extraordinaire Frank Grillo is a good sport about enduring physical brutalization on repeat à la Edge Of Tomorrow .
Directed by Joe Carnahan, Boss Level proves once again that you can borrow the Groundhog Day idea and, like Edge of Tomorrow , Happy Death Day, and Palm Springs , still add something new to it.
The sci-fi Groundhog Day concept is all too familiar ( Edge of Tomorrow , Source Code ), and Carnahan employs a ham-fisted narration device that borders on incessant.
And, even for viewers unacquainted with Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, the Happy Death Day franchise and Palm Springs, the film always feels as if it's following in better footsteps, including via sci-fi decor that could've stepped right out of Stargate and fight scenes that've taken inspiration from the John Wick series.
It’s also a single-person, single-location gimmick movie along the lines of Colin Farrell’s “Phone Booth,” Ryan Reynolds’ “Buried” and Blake Lively’s “The Shallows.”
With its single-location, practically real-time idea of a one-on-one confrontation between two snipers, “The Wall” belongs to a select pool of tête-à-tête thrillers — “Phone Booth,” “Buried,” “Sleuth” — in which our hero discovers he’s the mouse being hunted by a sly cat and must use his wits if he hopes to survive.
It’s been the better part of a decade since “Buried,” “Devil,” and “Frozen” (the one about flesh-eating wolves, not the one about princesses) all hit theaters in the same year, and, for a moment there, it almost seemed as though the sub-genre those films share had started to lose its appeal.
Not only is it about brotherhood and friendship among snipers, but it presents itself as an isolated single-location horror in the vein of Buried.
Hiding places are scarce, mouths are dry and muzzle flashes represent the only radar advantage – not exactly Black Hawk Down, but more an open-world Buried.
Ryan Reynolds in "Buried"…
That premise has generally been compared to a certain Bill Murray comedy, yet it’s perhaps even more reminiscent of the 2011 thriller Source Code, in which a man is sent back in time over and over again to gather the information necessary to prevent a terrorist attack.
There’s a pretty good chance that every review about “Edge of Tomorrow” will reference the 1993 comedy “Groundhog Day” at least once, and that’s because both films feature a very similar plot device, not unlike the one that was also employed in Duncan Jones’ underseen sci-fi thriller, “Source Code.”
Based on the manga All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and adapted for the screen by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (upcoming James Brown bio-pic Get On Up), Edge of Tomorrow recalls other notable time loop sagas, including Groundhog Day and Source Code in the witty and engaging way it moves its story forward piece by piece.
It isn’t original in the least – at times, it recalls “Starship Troopers,” “Aliens” (Bill Paxton even turns up as a barking drill sergeant), “Independence Day,” “Source Code” and “The Matrix,” with maybe a smidgen of “RoboCop” thrown in.
Based on the novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, the film has the misfortune of arriving three years after the conceptually similar " Source Code ," wherein a man finds himself living out the same moment in time over and over as he attempts to prevent a calamitous tragedy from occurring.
“Edge of Tomorrow” will inevitably be compared to “Source Code” and “Groundhog Day,” but it has more in common with a particularly shrewd episode of TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” called “Cause and Effect.”
Starship Troopers (1997)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
influenced Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Plot Visuals Themes
It isn’t original in the least – at times, it recalls “Starship Troopers,” “Aliens” (Bill Paxton even turns up as a barking drill sergeant), “Independence Day,” “Source Code” and “The Matrix,” with maybe a smidgen of “RoboCop” thrown in.
Edge of Tomorrow borrows liberally from films such as Groundhog Day , Starship Troopers , and Independence Day , but that doesn’t stop it from emerging as a terrific entertainment all its own.
…scenes will remind you of James Cameron's " Aliens " and its literary predecessor " Starship Troopers ."
If there is any satirical edge to the film, a la Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, perhaps it’s here.
Instead, with a script that embraces its own lunacy, clever direction from Doug Liman, and a charmingly self-aware performance from Tom Cruise, it's the unexpectedly endearing love child of "Groundhog Day" and "Starship Troopers."
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced Go (1999), Swingers (1996), Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Themes Visuals Plot
Go is a rave-generation joyride, a kind of junior Pulp Fiction that courses along on waves of freedom and excitement.
Go is the latest piece of high-octane eye candy aimed squarely at members of the infamous Generation X. Fast-paced and often witty, but ultimately vapid, Go borrows heavily both in rhythm and approach from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.
The outrageous antics of the just-say-"Go" generation are the engine driving the latest furiously paced, perversely entertaining "Pulp Fiction" for puppies.
The non-linear structure, adding a poetic edge to something so disposable, led directly to films like Boogie Nights, Go and Snatch in the following years.
What's lost a lot in the conversation is that Go is no mere rip-off of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction from five years previous, something that's clearer now that we're a decade-and-a-half--holy Christ!--removed from Pulp Fiction, so that it's that much easier to distinguish the cheap knock-offs that erupted in its wake from movies like Go that are far more unique.
From acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" to hip filmmaker Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" and including other films such as "Courage Under Fire" and the recent "Hilary and Jackie," audiences nearly always get a kick out of films that slam on their cinematic brakes, back up, and then tell the same story again but from another perspective.
The War of the Roses (1989)
Directed by Danny DeVito
influenced Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Themes Visuals Plot
And at this point, it'd be easy to call this a cop-out in terms of theme -- if this is a satirical black comedy about marital frustrations, it sure seems optmistic (unlike, say, The War of the Roses or even American Beauty, which lead themselves to destructive but effective conclusions).
Director Doug Liman, who showed a flair for combining action, drama, and metaphor in The Bourne Identity, cant find the note of irony that worked for Prizzis Honor and The War of the Roses, so he settles for the high-tech gimmickry of True Lies.
And then, in a quite violent about-face, we’re meant to find it humorous when they turn homicidal on each other (it’s not unheard of – Danny DeVito’s The War of the Roses managed the trick quite nicely).
The ensuing battle of the A-list celebrities has some of the harshness of The War of the Roses in which Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner stuck it to one another with true venom.
From there, the film turns into a more action-filled, nastier but ultimately sexier spin on both "The War of the Roses" and "Prizzi's Honor."
That's where Mr. and Mrs. Smith finds its footing as an explosive, guns-blazing variation of The War of the Roses.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Directed by Sydney Pollack
influenced The Bourne Identity (2002)
Plot Themes
The story has echoes of "Total Recall," "Three Days of the Condor" and "Enemy of the State," among others.
…such films as The Amateur, or Three Days of the Condor.
In that regard, this film's minimalist script is a strength and a throwback to classic thrillers such as "Three Days of the Condor" or "The French Connection."
Black Bag (2025)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
influenced by Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), The Bourne Identity (2002)
Themes Plot Characters
He compares it to classics like Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Out of Sight…
Unlike Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), George and Kathryn know they are in the same line of work, and it is their ability to compartmentalize–or not–that drives much of the tension in their relationship.
We've had a reaction to the suave in grittier fare, and that's Bourne fruit.
If you’re expecting “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” with British accents, look elsewhere.
…or asexual killing machines (Jason Bourne)…
Joel Schumacher's "Phone Booth" is a distant precedent for it but the two most direct and terrific descendants are Rodrigo Cortes' amazing "Buried" starring Ryan Reynolds and Steven Knight's "Locke" starring Tom Hardy.
Liman's film is minimalist, claustrophobic and highly visceral, in the same tradition as one-location thrillers like "127 Hours," "Buried," "Phone Booth," "Locke," "Cube," "Tape," "All Is Lost," "Cube," and "Saw."
Essentially a two-hander between Taylor-Johnson and the disembodied voice of his adversary (played by Laith Nakli), what follows is a solid example of the sort of single-location thriller – Locke, Buried, Phone Booth – that often ends up being more intriguing as a concept than a movie.
Filmed in a single location and unfolding in real time, not unlike “Buried” or “Locke,” “The Wall” follows Allan Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Shane Matthews (John Cena), a spotter and his staff sergeant, scanning the hot desert terrain, searching for their purpose after President George W. Bush prematurely hung the “Mission Accomplished” banner for all the world to see.
This compact little action picture has a few things in common with American Sniper and Lone Survivor, but more so with Phone Booth and Locke – a grim story squeezed into a tight space, featuring a cast of mostly one.
It feels, for better or worse, like a film he could have made at almost any point in the last 30 years: As Cruise’s character here puts his prodigious aviation skills to wildly irresponsible use, it’s tempting to imagine Liman’s film as an oblique spiritual follow-up to the adventures of flashy Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, beating tardy forthcoming sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” to the punch.
Three decades after playing swaggering Navy ace “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun, the actor once chosen as People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive (1995) is back, climbing into the danger zone in this comedy-drama based on the real life of a former TWA pilot who became involved with a South American drug cartel in the 1980s.
Playing a pilot recruited by the CIA to fly covert missions under specious motives, his Barry Seal is as far from Ethan Hunt or Jerry Maguire or Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as any role can get.
The easiest film to compare this to is James Cameron’s True Lies, which mostly got it right.
Director Doug Liman, who showed a flair for combining action, drama, and metaphor in The Bourne Identity, cant find the note of irony that worked for Prizzis Honor and The War of the Roses, so he settles for the high-tech gimmickry of True Lies.
It may be that neither star wanted to stray too far from their image, but "Smith" never quite reaches the heights of great comedy or great action the way James Cameron's "True Lies" did.
The premise is simple enough: think War of the Roses meets True Lies.
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" tries for the feel of "True Lies" (a far superior film).
It isn’t original in the least – at times, it recalls “Starship Troopers,” “Aliens” (Bill Paxton even turns up as a barking drill sergeant), “Independence Day,” “Source Code” and “The Matrix,” with maybe a smidgen of “RoboCop” thrown in.
Edge of Tomorrow borrows liberally from films such as Groundhog Day , Starship Troopers , and Independence Day , but that doesn’t stop it from emerging as a terrific entertainment all its own.
Lots of people I like and respect are already jumping out of their seats for “Edge of Tomorrow,” a high-octane Tom Cruise action thriller that – as approximately everybody has observed – combines “Groundhog Day” with “Independence Day.”
What emerges is an inventive mash-up with elements of that film, plus Inception, War of the Worlds and Independence Day.
It would be easy to call this Groundhog Day meets Independence Day, and that’s a very apt description.
Just think of this Doug Liman-directed feature as a cinematic mash of “Groundhog Day,” “Starship Troopers” and “Independence Day.”
Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
Directed by Frederick de Cordova
influenced American Made (2017)
Characters
Seal is depicted as a doofus, the government crackdown on drugs is intercut with scenes of Ronald Reagan in Bedtime for Bonzo.
To go by the film’s account, Seal simply winked and smiled his way into becoming a critical player in the Iran-Contra affair of the mid-1980s, and his blithe detachment from the political specifics of the scandal (he admits to an affection for Ronald Reagan, but principally on the basis of “Bedtime for Bonzo”) brings to mind a smoother-operating Forrest Gump.
The same essential concept fuels His Girl Friday (Grant and Rosalind Russell), The Philadelphia Story (Grant and Katharine Hepburn), and, in fact, the Alfred Hitchcock oddity Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard).
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
influenced The Bourne Identity (2002)
Themes
The Bourne Identity recalls the chill, low-key efficiency of The Day of the Jackal (1973) and Three Days of the Condor (1975); it could have been called Four Days of the Cipher.