Oblivion (2013 film)

And how can a man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?

Oblivion is a post‐apocalyptic Science Fiction film starring Tom Cruise.

After an alien race called the Scavs destroyed the Moon, mankind fought back and won, but Earth was laid waste in the process. The human race fled to the Tet, a space station orbiting the earth, in preparation for an eventual colonization of Titan. Only two people remain—Jack and Victoria, two technicians (and lovers) who have been left behind to maintain the Tet’s earth‐based fusion generators until they’ve generated enough to make the journey possible. Despite having had his memory wiped for security purposes, Jack is haunted by fragments of impossible dreams. When a pre‐war spacecraft containing cryogenically frozen humans crash lands nearby, everything starts to fall apart.

Beware! Spoilers abound below.

Tropes used in Oblivion (2013 film) include:

Aerial Canyon Chase: Complete with Dodge by Braking, taken Up to Eleven by the ship’s cockpit’s ability to rotate on its chassis.
After the End: Of the Alien Invasion variety.
Arc Words:
- “Are you an effective team?” Director commentary explains that the Tet is so eager to have Julia because the Jack/Vika combination tends to eventually fail, and they want to see if Jack/Julia works better.
- The quote at the top of the page, a passage from Lays of Ancient Rome, comes up several times in the movie.
- “Jack Harper, Tech 49.” “Jack Harper… Tech 52.”
- “Another day in paradise.”
Cat Scare: In one scene, we see scavs lurking and watching Jack. A frightened Vika warns Jack of impending enemy contact—but what she sees turns out to just be a stray dog.
Chekhov's Skill: The film’s first flight, when Jack pilots through a lightning storm that kills his engines. He later flies into a storm intentionally to throw off his pursuers.
Companion Cube: Bob the bobblehead.

Jack: Buck up, Bob. Don’t go all shaky on me.

Detonation Moon: Destroyed by the Scavs sixty years before the events of the movie, in order to lay waste to Earth through earthquakes and tidal waves. Actually done by the Tet, for the same reasons, a fact that’s hidden from Jack and Vika.
Diegetic Switch: Happens twice, both times with the record player in Jack’s cabin in the woods.
Dress Hits Floor: Done without a cut, but from behind and silhouetted.
Establishing Character Moment:
- For Jack, when he fixes a drone with bubble gum while talking about the Super Bowl and wearing a Yankees cap. Depicts in one scene both his ingenuity and his curiosity and nostalgia for Earth‐related memorabilia.
- For Vika, the moment when Jack offers her a patch of grass from the surface, and she wordlessly turns around, throws it off the balcony, and chides Jack for breaking the rules and putting them danger.
Gilligan Cut:

Sally: Are you an effective team?
Vika: We are an effective team.
(cut to Jack, who has lost control of his aircraft without Vika noticing)

Human All Along: The Scavs were never aliens, and they didn’t blow up the moon.
Humans Are Special: Why does the Tet need humans? The answer is shown early on—the director commentary states that the scene where Jack jerry‐rigs a drone repair with bubble gum exemplifies human ingenuity, and why Sally is so obsessed with the effectiveness of her techs.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Jack spends several minutes in a dogfight taking down two of three drones that are pursuing him. When his ship is damaged and starts to go down, he manages to take the last one out with a single shot from his sidearm.
Innocent Cohabitation: It’s made clear from the very beginning of the movie that Jack and Vika’s relationship is not this—in case there’s any doubt after they wake up in the same bed, they’re immediately shown showering together and taking bites of each other’s breakfast.
Machine Monotone: Sally from Mission Control speaks in a delightful Southern twang, until she’s revealed to be Not Even Human—the next time she talks to Jack, her audio starts glitching out and you can hear a synthesized voice underneath.
Meaningful Name: Although it’s never mentioned in the movie, the Tet is so named because it is shaped like a tetrahedron.
Oh Crap: Jack has this moment when he realizes what he thought was a downed drone in need of repair was a trap set up by the Scavs to capture him.
Precision F-Strike: At a pivotal moment in the ending.
Rule of Pool: Vika pulls Jack into their pool for an impromptu Two-Person Pool Party.
Scenery Porn: This movie and Tron: Legacy, both directed by Joseph Kosinski, exemplify his beautiful visual style.
Sexy Discretion Shot: Jack and Julia in the house by the lake—they kiss, the scene fades to an outside view of the cabin at night, and then fades again to the same view the next morning.
Shout-Out: Clearly takes inspiration from lots of other sci‐fi—Moon, 2001, Planet of the Apes, The Matrix, WALL-E… Visually it also bears strong similarity to Tron: Legacy (by the same director) and Prometheus.
Sinister Geometry: The Tet, though it’s not sinister. Except to the Genre Savvy.
Someone to Remember Him By: In the closing scene, Julia is shown to have borne Jack’s child.
Special Effect Failure: The scene with Jack and Julia riding the bike under a bridge—a sweeping 12‐second shot—is, jarringly, obviously entirely CGI.
Sunglasses at Night: Beech, whose look is clearly inspired by Morpheus. Wears his shades even underground and in fights. He’s never shown without them until after he’s been critically injured in the final firefight.
The Cake Is a Lie: “There is no Titan. They lied to us!”
The Only One: Beech implies that the other Jack clones he’s encountered weren’t curious, which is why he is so interested in Jack 49’s aberrant behavior.
The Tower: Tower 49, where Jack and Vika live. Jack encounters his clone from Tower 52, implying there are at least 50 other towers we haven’t seen.
Two-Person Pool Party: In an absurdly spacious pool incredibly high above the ground.
Wham! Line: That object was the Tet, Jack. The Tet was our mission!
- Followed by an even bigger one: I’m your wife.
Wistful Amnesia: A memory wipe has been performed on the two earth techs for security purposes, but Jack still retains brief glimpses of a past life. It’s implied that Vika does too, but she’s more willing to follow the rules and put those memories out of her mind.