| In the Book |
In the Movie |
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Keiji is a young Japanese man and new volunteer soldier. |
Cage is Caucasian, a demoted officer in his 40's/50's, a coward, sent unprepared into battle. |
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Rita (assumed name) is 19 years old, in military for 3 years, currently in special forces. Known as the Full Metal Bitch or Mad Wargarita. She is short and skinny with a flat chest and rust colored hair; she is described as looking like a puppy. |
Rita is in her late 20's/ early 30's, known as the Full Metal Bitch or the Angel of Verdun. She is tall, slender and full figured with brown hair.
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The armored Jackets protect the soldier's entire body including face, eyes and lungs. Armed with 20mm rifle, 20 round pile driver and rocket launcher. |
Jacket is an exoskeleton which leaves face and body exposed. Armed with small caliber weapons and rockets. |
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The battle takes place on Kotoiushi Island, Japan. The Mimics attack from the ocean |
The battle takes place in Europe, the UDF attacks from England. The Mimics attack on land or sea.
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Mimics are ecoforming bots from a star system 40 light years away designed to re-form the Earth for alien use. The bots mimic starfish from the ocean and look like a bloated frog with four limbs and a tail. They launch weapons (javelins) from their body. They excrete a dangerous sand like substance when injured or the exoskeleton is opened. |
The Mimics are multi-limbed with a head/mouth and will bleed when cut open.
Nothing is revealed about their home world. |
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The first time Rita and Kiriya meet he is wounded/dying. Rita asks him if the tea served after a meal in Japan is free (this is a code phrase). When he asks if he is dying, she says yes but will stay with him until he dies; he is grateful. She will take his battery upon his death. She defends him from the Mimics so he can die unmolested. With the last of his strength, he kills a server Mimic with his pile driver.
Mimics are able to loop back in time to give them an advantage in the battle they repeat. A human who is in contact with a mimic when they initiate a loop, loops with them. |
Cage is wounded and on the ground. Rita steals his battery and leaves without a word. Cage uses a claymore mine to kill a server Mimic that bleeds on him causing the loops to start.
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Kiriya avoids battle after being immediately killed in loop #2; including going AWOL and suicide. He then writes the number 5 on the back of his left hand and vows to be a better soldier. |
Cage is forced into the barracks as a prisoner his first several loops and is sent into combat without any training; a peril to his fellow soldiers. He gradually learns to fight better. |
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Rita's Jacket armor is painted all crimson so that she will stand out on the battle field. She uses a rifle and 200 kilogram battle axe made from armor plate. |
Rita's armor has a small red design on the breast plate. She uses a small axe which appears to be a helicopter blade.
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While killing Mimics with his battle axe, Kiriya hears Rita on the radio asking him how many loops this is for him. At the beginning of his next loop while exercising, he sees Rita and tells her the after meal tea in Japan is free; she knows he is caught in a loop. |
Cage finds Rita on the battlefield and tells her he is looping. Right before they are killed she tells him to find her after he starts his next loop. |
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Rita knows how loops start and how to stop them. The military is working to understand the loops and better defeat the Mimics. |
The military is not helping to find the cause of the loops and resists Rita and Cage's efforts to stop them.
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Kiriya was trained each day by SGT Farrell and observes Rita fighting. |
Cage is trained by Rita at the beginning of each loop. |
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Sgt Ferrell Bartolomé is Brazilian/Japanese and teaches Kiriya about Japanese culture and history. He is very devoted to he welfare of his troops. He trains Kiriya several hours each loop and allows him to fight along side Rita. |
Master Sgt Farrell is Causasian. He has no effect on Cage's development as a soldier.
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Rita and Kiriya stay in her quarters the night before the last battle. |
Cage suggests sex is a way out of the loop, but Rita turns him down. He gets a single kiss shortly before their last confrontation with the Mimics. |
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Kiriya talks Shasta into trading Rita's spare battle axe for memory unit used to repair Rita's Jacket. |
Cage does not use an axe in the movie.
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Rita's main weapon is her 200 kilogram battle axe; uses it to cut through the Mimic's exoskeleton. She cordinates her ground attacks with air strikes; attacks by running amongst the surviving the Mimics and cutting them apart. |
Rita is rarely shown using the axe, she is seen for the most part on the battle field being led around by Cage trying to find a way to escape. |
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Prior to the battle Kiriya's UDF unit is punished (for a liquor raid) with physical training consisting of isometric pushups. Rita and the US Special Forces use a exercise called Ma Bu. |
There is no liquor raid in the movie, the UDF soldiers do not use isometric pushups and Rita is not shown using Ma Bu.
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The UDF is segregated with male and females in separate units. |
Male and female UDF soldiers serve in the same units. |
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Rita acts with autonomy on and off the battle field. She is revered by the troops and inspires them wherever she goes, especially in battle. She hates the color red, but uses her all red armor to stand out on the battlefield. |
Rita is respected as a soldier but is mocked with her full-metal-bitch nickname. She is treated by some as a hero but shows no heroics on the battlefield (it all goes to Cruise's charactor).
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The soldiers speak Burst (Burst English); a pared down vocabulary with fewer grammar irregularities. It was created to deal with communication problems in an army comprised of soldiers from dozens of countries. |
The soldiers speak standard English. |
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Rita learns to fight Mimics and stop the loops during her 211 loop battle in Florida prior to fighting in Japan. She goes on to fight on other battlefields. She frequently loops after killing/dying while fighting a server Mimic, then ends the loop by eliminating the server and backup Mimics in the "next" battle. She is not aware of anyone else looping until Kiriya tells her about his loops. |
Rita looped for 211 days in the Battle of Verdun. The loops stopped when she received a blood transfusion after being wounded, not killed.
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Rita's call sign on the battlefield is Calamity Dog. |
Rita does not have a call sign. |
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The Mimics are machines trying to terraform the Earth for the aliens who sent them. They will reset the day under certain conditions to give them better odds to win a battle. They never let the humans win or show any quarter. |
The Mimics reason for attacking Earth is not revealed. Rita says the Mimics let the humans win at Verdun to lure them into a trap during the next big battle.
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Rachel Kisaragi befriends Keiji after he is beaten by a US soldier and offers to be his girlfriend. He rejects her. |
This does not happen; Rachel is does not appear in the movie. |
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On his 159th loop Kiriya stares at Rita when she arrives to watch his platoon punished with isometric pushups. Rita joins the Japanese soldiers and asks Kiriya why he is staring at her. When the exercise ends, he tells her the after-meal tea in Japan is free; she knows he is looping and sobs. She finds him on the battlefield and obtains permission from his SGT to borrow him. They kill many Mimics together as well as the server and backups, but the loop continues. |
Cage finds Rita in her training area at the beginning of each loop and convinces her that he is looping. They fight together or evade combat during each loop trying to find a solution to the problem.
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Kiriya goes on to fight after killing Rita, the battle is won and the island is secure for the time being. He is put on trial for Rita's death; then acquitted.
Kiriya is told by his SGT that he has been transferred to the US Special
Forces as Rita's replacement. He meets Shasta at the armory and finds that his Jacket has been engraved with the words Killer Cage by the other soldiers as this is how they pronounce his name in English. Kiriya decides to paint his armor blue. The war to defeat the Mimics goes on with hope of victory. Tragic ending. |
Cage loops back to the day prior to his demotion. The Mimics are losing heir ability to fight due to the loss of their Omega. He finds Rita in the armory and stares at her while smiling; she asks him what he wants as he is a stranger to her once again.
Typical Hollywood happy ending with zero body count. |
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During the 160th (last) loop, Kiriya and Rita stay in her quarters near the coast in a sky tower the night (sleeping apart) prior to the battle. The Mimics attack early; and attack the sky tower shortly after they get up to make coffee. They get into their jackets fighting Mimics together and destroy the server and backups until suddenly Rita attacks Kiriya. She tells him that she has become an antenna which is why the loops have not stopped after they killed the server and antenna Mimics during the last battle. Kiriya is able to defeat Rita due to his experience watching her fight; stopping his loops. |
Cage loses the ability to loop after being captured by the military and given a blood transfusion. Cage escapes with Rita and is able to find the Omega Mimic and kill it.
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