Edge of Tomorrow
POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Saturday, October 18, 2025 16:24
VIEWED: 42006
PAGE 16 of 22
I've come to another conclusion regarding Sgt. Farrell:
He is the narrator of the film, but brilliantly so. The script gives us his take on what is about to happen, and guides both Cage and J-Squad. He makes J-Squad responsible for Cage (a tactic used in the military to forge a union among the soldiers and create a fighting team). It is also a way to forge unselfishness, contrary to what both Cage and the general had in mind. There is no I in team, etc.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
I gotta comment:
First, Cage was not sent to lead anyone, he was sent by the general to "sell" the attack scheduled for the next day.
As far as Sgt. Farrell was concerned, Cage was just another grunt. Yes, he was lied to by the general, who had his own motives, but Farrell was regular army, a stickler for rigid conformity to rules and regs. (As both his speech and subsequent behavior shows). Farrell assumed, from the lie, that Cage went through basic training and was commenting on his character based on that lie.
Truth be told, Farrell's instincts were right on the money, the lie notwithstanding, Cage was a coward, afraid to see his own blood. He was, as he put it, "parasitic scum" and was about to be "baptized." Farrell couldn't care less who Cage was. To him, he was just another grunt, a deserter. Rita, as she discovered who he was, seized the opportunity to use Cage as a weapon to "Win the War." It was Rita who helped to "baptize" Cage and forged his destiny as a warrior, a death machine. It was Rita who inspired Cage. Each time he was reset, he learned more about himself, about J Squad, but ultimately about Rita which gave him purpose.
Farrell's statement was point blank on the money, regardless of what lies he was told about Cage. That's what he believed in, that was a part of him, as much as his mustache and sergeant stripes.
SGGQuote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
Tell you what else JSF: instead of getting into some silly "I'm right, no I'm right" here, let's wait until the DVD with all the extras comes out. Let's watch the commentary and such, and then let's see what the writers, directors, and actors have to say about the arc of TC's character.
What do you say?
In case you are interested, I'll try to explain some things.
Also, if using films and screenwriters as accurate comprehenders of military such as the ludicrous Few Good Men as our standard, then don't read further and stay in the fantasy world.
Do you think that a doctor, an MD, should be placed in command of a combat battalion? Even if he is a Colonel? Even if he has never attended War College or Potential Command Course? If he were, his battalion would be massacred at the first exchange of fire. He is not trained for the combat, he has been trained for the medical application of his talents and knowledge. Do you think military personnel respect him less because he is not "earned" rank, as you imply? The combat injured would much rather have a War College graduate without a smidgen of medical training cut him open and repair his insides? A person would have to be insane to suggest either.
MDs are not placed in command of combat units, infantry units, tanks, air or sea squadrons unless they are separately trained for those tasks and commands. That would be disasterous for all concerned, and the military would fail along with the government behind it.
JDs are not placed in command of combat units for the same reason, yet doctors and JAG officers raise in rank. Those are earned rank, regardless of what you wish to claim.
Magor Cage was not trained in combat tactics, techniques, strategy, just like JAGs and Medical Officers are not, unless they specifically pursue those courses. He has no business being in command of any size or level of combat unit, as the criminally despicable General assigned him to be, atNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Exactly the point I'm making, so you do get it. He cannot save her, so he goes it alone to complete his mission, precisely because his love for her keeps him from completing the mission and defeating the Omega.
Cage doesn't want to see her die, as has happened hundreds of times, he knows she would want to go for broke if she comes along, but she dies anyway.
Geez, do I have to spell everything out. It is obvious what I meant because you asked the very questions, and made the statements that proves my take within the film's context.
SGGQuote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Okay:
1:11:11 - Cage decides to go after the Omega alone when he goes to see Rita. He knows that if she goes along w=she will not stop.
SGG
I don't get this. Did you complete your thought? What do you mean? She will stop when she gets killed. She will get killed in every scenario. When he goes alone, this means she will die on the beach, long before he gets to the helicopter.
What are you talking about here?
OK, looks like I understood what you said, but found it illogical. He knows she will die either way, but finds it better to risk failing to save the world (without her help, teamwork) than having to see her die. I don't see this in the scriptwork, but it sounds like you think so.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
If you feel different, please provide cinematic proof (within the context of the film, please) as to why you feel this is not so. What part of what he tells the general strikes you as heroic? How exactly did he earn his rank as Major?
SGG
Did you read my post on rank of non-combat personnel?
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Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
I've come to another conclusion regarding Sgt. Farrell:
He is the narrator of the film, but brilliantly so. The script gives us his take on what is about to happen, and guides both Cage and J-Squad. He makes J-Squad responsible for Cage (a tactic used in the military to forge a union among the soldiers
Incorrect. Lying to J-squad and falsely accusing Cage of fictional crimes does not endear soldiers to forge a union. His abdication of his own responsibility was the reason for deflecting his responsibility to J-squad,
Quote:
and create a fighting team).
Incorrect. Providing a few training tasks such as how to use an exoskeleton or unsafe the weapon could have gone much farther towards a fighting team - and this lack of any concern towards unit cohesion shows just how lazy, moronic, stupid, retarded Farrell was and how little he cared about whether the men under him in J-squad could be combat effective.
Quote:
It is also a way to forge unselfishness, contrary to what both Cage and the general had in mind. There is no I in team, etc.
SGG
The results showed on the beach the next day, when J-squad was wiped out just as they deserved - or, more accurately, Farrell deserved.
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Quote:Master Sergeant Farell didn't last a minute in combat. The Mimics weren't impressed by his swagger. Apparently he wasn't as important as he thought he was in the bigger scheme of things.
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
It is also a way to forge unselfishness, contrary to what both Cage and the general had in mind. There is no I in team, etc.
SGG
The results showed on the beach the next day, when J-squad was wiped out just as they deserved - or, more accurately, Farrell deserved.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Well, that is so until the end of the movie when Cage loses his ability to reset the day and he goes to J-Squad to recruit them for the mission. They must act as a unit, along with Rita because now it's for keeps.
I took a calculated guess that Cage didn't want Rita along because each time she dies at the helicopter, but he doesn't, it is only when he goes that he figures out that it's another trap by the Omega. The new battle plan is to go before the invasion in the morning, of course, after he sees the real hideout of the Omega.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Exactly the point I'm making, so you do get it. He cannot save her, so he goes it alone to complete his mission, precisely because his love for her keeps him from completing the mission and defeating the Omega.
Cage doesn't want to see her die, as has happened hundreds of times, he knows she would want to go for broke if she comes along, but she dies anyway.
Geez, do I have to spell everything out. It is obvious what I meant because you asked the very questions, and made the statements that proves my take within the film's context.
SGGQuote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Okay:
1:11:11 - Cage decides to go after the Omega alone when he goes to see Rita. He knows that if she goes along w=she will not stop.
SGG
I don't get this. Did you complete your thought? What do you mean? She will stop when she gets killed. She will get killed in every scenario. When he goes alone, this means she will die on the beach, long before he gets to the helicopter.
What are you talking about here?
OK, looks like I understood what you said, but found it illogical. He knows she will die either way, but finds it better to risk failing to save the world (without her help, teamwork) than having to see her die. I don't see this in the scriptwork, but it sounds like you think so.
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Sgt. Farrell is not a narrator in the normal sense where there is a voice-over, he foretells the story of Cage, from "parasitic scum" to soldier forged in glorious combat.
This technique is subtle but useful, especially within sci-fi movies. The Matrix - when the young underground kids come to his door to pay for some files he hacked for them, they say "You're my personal savior" and he sees the White Rabbit on the girl's shoulder. Neo also says that he doesn't exist, a play on words when he warns them if they're caught with the info. In Terminator 2, the T1000 says "come with me, if you want to live."
At first, I thought Farrell was just spewing old school gung-ho army bullshit, but as I watched a 2nd and 3rd time, I began to understand that he was foretelling Cage's destiny - in other words the main theme of the story. A romanticized vision of the soldier/hero who sacrifices all to win the battle and the war. The fiery crucible is combat where Cage learns to become a soldier all to save Rita, but also to save J-Squad along the way.
At the film's beginning he is parasitic scum trying to blackmail the general, but he is baptized in battle and by the Alpha and therein begins his journey. Even on D-Day when he tries to run away, Farrell tells him "you're gonna miss your moment" and soon after he kills the Alpha. It is a battle for survival for Cage, but when he meets Rita, everything changes. From there on, he is being remade into the soldier he was destined to be. After killing the Alpha, he changes the dynamic of the Mimicks slaughter, and so begins his journey to ultimate victory. It is Rita, Cage and J-Squad who affect the landscape. But only after Cage experiences and cares for someone other than himself.
By the way, Farrell couldn't give less of a shit about Cage, who, as far as he's concerned, is a deserter and a coward. Not so much because he's ignorant, but because he's regular Army and set in his ways. Old school Army follows orders, he believes in discipline, and, although he knows Cage is an officer (after the way he sizes up his uniform). He even calls him "sir." Farrell is going to put him through his paces regardless if he's a soldier or an officer.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
I've come to another conclusion regarding Sgt. Farrell:
He is the narrator of the film, but brilliantly so. The script gives us his take on what is about to happen, and guides both Cage and J-Squad. He makes J-Squad responsible for Cage (a tactic used in the military to forge a union among the soldiers
Incorrect. Lying to J-squad and falsely accusing Cage of fictional crimes does not endear soldiers to forge a union. His abdication of his own responsibility was the reason for deflecting his responsibility to J-squad,Quote:
and create a fighting team).
Incorrect. Providing a few training take such as how to use an exoskeleton or unsafe the weapon could have gone much farther towards a fighting team - and this lack of any concern towards unit cohesion shows just how lazy, moronic, stupid, retarded Farrell was and how little he cared about whether the men under him in J-squad could be combat effective.Quote:
It is also a way to forge unselfishness, contrary to what both Cage and the general had in mind. There is no I in team, etc.
SGG
The results showed on the beach the next day, when J-squad was wiped out just as they deserved - or, more accurately, Farrell deserved.
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What I'm talking about is within the film. What in the film proves your theory that Cage wasn't a coward, at the very beginning of the film, when he first enters the general's office.
I quoted the script and his initial reaction to the general's request. I'm not talking about outside of the film.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
If you feel different, please provide cinematic proof (within the context of the film, please) as to why you feel this is not so. What part of what he tells the general strikes you as heroic? How exactly did he earn his rank as Major?
SGG
Did you read my post on rank of non-combat personnel?
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Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Well, that is so until the end of the movie when Cage loses his ability to reset the day and he goes to J-Squad to recruit them for the mission. They must act as a unit, along with Rita because now it's for keeps.
They could be a unit because they cut the retard Farrell out of the loop. If Farrell was allowed to be informed, he would have lost the human race for us. Cage cemented the unit, not Farrell.
Quote:
I took a calculated guess that Cage didn't want Rita along because each time she dies at the helicopter, but he doesn't, it is only when he goes that he figures out that it's another trap by the Omega. The new battle plan is to go before the invasion in the morning, of course, after he sees the real hideout of the Omega.
SGG
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Master Sergeant Farell didn't last a minute in combat. The Mimics weren't impressed by his swagger. Apparently he wasn't as important as he thought he was in the bigger scheme of things.
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
It is also a way to forge unselfishness, contrary to what both Cage and the general had in mind. There is no I in team, etc.
SGG
The results showed on the beach the next day, when J-squad was wiped out just as they deserved - or, more accurately, Farrell deserved.
Your recent posts in this thread I find refreshingly on target. I must review the thread to see if I agree with everything you said. Have you found any of my points objectionable?
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