Tom Cruise’s later years seem to be lending themselves more and more to science fiction, with the springtime film Oblivion and now Edge of Tomorrow – an epic mech journey laced with rebirth and uber-modern technology.

Tom Cruise Edge of TomorrowTom Cruise is a startled soldier in Edge of Tomorrow

The film follows rookie fighter William Cage (Cruise) who is launched into a monumental alien assault. The weakness of his allies is soon realised as his squad is almost immediately wiped out, but before long, he finds himself in a time loop that forces him to relive the painstakingly brutal combat and inevitable death over and over again.

Watch the trailer for Edge of Tomorrow here

The live, die, repeat loop – a slogan used more than once in the trailer – is only broken, in part, by Emily Blunt’s character Rita Vrataski: self-confessed weapon with plan to end the war. She wises Cruise up to his own potential to bring about ceasefire, and subsequently trains him to do so.

"I've discarded the bonnet and corset for an exosuit and a huge sword, it seems," says Blunt in an interview about the film, quoted by Scified.com but for USA Today. "I was looking for something very different from anything I have done before. This was definitely that. I even learned Krav Maga, a lethal martial arts using pretty much everything including your teeth to destroy. That was pretty fun."

Emily Blunt poster in Edge of TomorrowEmily Blunt whips Cruise into shape

Cruise, who is now 51, isn’t shying away from all-action acting roles, but working alongside someone as physically fit as Blunt certainly didn’t hinder his progress. "She showed up and that girl was ready to roll, she was so fit," says Cruise. "She is a badass and she totally crushes it here.

“One of the suits with the angel wings had a sniper rifle and missile launcher on my back and weighed about 130 pounds. I'm having to sprint in it," says Cruise who actually helped to develop the suits. "It's physically gruelling."

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in Edge of TomorrowTom Cruise and Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow

Somehow, Cruise actually seems like a breath of fresh air in Edge of Tomorrow; his naivety to the situation around him, coupled with his novice-status as a soldier in the seemingly impossible war paints an air of sobriety on a canvas of increasingly bleary performances from the Hollywood stalwart.

Recently, it was reported that Cruise would be returning to the Jack Reacher franchise for a Sequel, based on Lee Child’s Never Go Back: a story that sees the Army Cop return to his old military base to find himself trapped in a web of intrigue, and of course, false accusations and arrests.

Edge of Tomorrow is released on 6 June 2014.

Tom CruiseTom Cruise busting out of this mech get-up

Edge of Tomorrow poster
The Edge of Tomorrow poster - good old science fiction, we hope