The Tomorrow War

"The fight for tomorrow begins today."

2021 2h 18m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 4,496

ActionScience FictionAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future, mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester. Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist and his estranged father in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

“The fight for tomorrow begins today.”

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Cast

Chris Pratt
Dan Forester
Yvonne Strahovski
Colonel Muri Forester
J.K. Simmons
James Forester
Betty Gilpin
Emmy Forester
Sam Richardson
Charlie
Edwin Hodge
Dorian
Jasmine Mathews
Lt. Hart
Ryan Kiera Armstrong
Young Muri Forester

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chris McKay
Writers: Zach Dean, Heiko von Drengenberg
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Budget of $200M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 7% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

219+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chris McKay, shot by Larry Fong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lorne Balfe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Roger Barton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chris Pratt and Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chris McKay directs. Larry Fong behind the camera. Lorne Balfe scores. Roger Barton cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Budget of $200M — blockbuster tier. Only ~1% of films ever made reach this.
2Earned back only 7% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 5 years ago.
4219+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Chris McKay, shot by Larry Fong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Lorne Balfe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Roger Barton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Chris Pratt and Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The fight for tomorrow begins today.".
10IMDB entry: tt9777666 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 14 themes, including "time travel", "global warming", "glacier", "alien".
12Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Larry Fong
Original score: Lorne Balfe
Editing: Roger Barton
Production design: Peter Wenham
Costume design: Betsy Heimann
Makeup / hair: Jennifer Santiago
VFX supervisor: Alexandre Cancado
Sound: Beau Borders
Stunt coordinator: Thomas Robinson Harper
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $200,000,000
Box office: $14,400,000
Return: 7% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Tomorrow War (2021)

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Chris McKay

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Community reviews

What people are saying

garethmb2021-07-01
Amazon Prime’s purchase of The Tomorrow War from Paramount was a bold move as the FX-laden film starring Chris Pratt reportedly cost around $200 million to purchase and follows prior purchases of Paramount films by the streamer. Pratt stars as an ex-soldier named Dan Forester who has just been turned down for a research job he has been seeking and must remain teaching science to less than enthusiastic students. While watching a Soccer match with his wife, daughter, and friends, the world is stunned when a group of armed individuals appear in a flash of light and tell the televised audience that they have come from thirty years in the future and are seeking help to save humanity. It is soon learned that an Alien threat they call the White Spikes suddenly appeared and has humanity on the verge of extinction. The nations of the world send forces into the future to help fight the war but with a very high casualty rate; a worldwide draft is soon instituted to replenish the numbers. Dan is eventually drafted and told he has 24 hours to get things in order before he is deployed for seven days at which time he will be returned. Dan contemplates running and seeks out his estranged father (J.K. Simmons); who has a deep disdain for governments and conducts himself in a shady fashion to the point where Dan will not let him anywhere near his daughter. Dan eventually deploys and finds a nightmare version of the future where cities are in ruin and the deadly and very tough enemy is everywhere. As the tension mounts; Dan must team up with the leader of the resistance to develop a way to fight the aliens and save humanity before it is too late. The film features some good FX and action and while there were many times I questioned why a different course of action was not attempted; the film eventually attempts to address many questions later in the film. While the final act may seem overblown and too convenient; the film works as an enjoyable and action-filled escape as long as you are willing to just go along with the ride and not ask too many questions along the way. While there are elements of prior Science Fiction and Horror films evident; the cast and premise work well and the movie is a step above most offerings that are sold to streaming services and is well worth a watch. 3.5 stars out of 5
Manuel São Bento2021-07-06
★ 7/10
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/the-tomorrow-war-spoiler-free-review "The Tomorrow War is one of the biggest surprises of the year, boasting an impressively creative creature design, entertaining action sequences, and a contender for the most beautiful shot of 2021. Chris McKay demonstrates all of his undeniable talent behind the camera, delivering brilliantly directed action scenes featuring excellent camera work, a chill-inducing score, and exceptional VFX - the Whitespikes look stunningly scary. Zach Dean doesn't avoid the formulas and cliches of the genre, offering a generic story with no real surprises but still possessing remarkable character work. Chris Pratt is great as the protagonist, but Yvonne Strahovski is on a whole other level, delivering one of her best performances ever in a feature film. With an overextended runtime, the last act is mostly unnecessary and less exciting, ultimately making the ending a tad underwhelming compared to the epic conclusion of the second act. I wouldn't be surprised if it gains a cult following, though. Tremendous replay value. Highly recommend it." Rating: B
Kamurai2021-07-11
★ 8/10
Great watch, will likely watch again, and do recommend. It's usually a good sign when the worst part of a time travel movie is the time travel. I could probably make an hour long video on the time travel in this movie, especially compared to "Looper", but I'll forego that enough to say that it's well leveraged for the purposes of the movie. The "White Spikes" are amazingly well put together, though I think projectile spikes are an odd biological evolution. The story is far from perfect, but the cast, the acting, the situation, and especially the action are all executed wonderfully with a high production value to back it up.