Still is the story told, / How well Horatius kept the bridge / In the brave days of old.

Macaulay may be no Kipling, but Horatius at the Bridge is still amazing.

Oblivion makes great use of a stanza from Horatius (not, obviously, the lines quoted in this post’s title). Much like The Dude’s rug, it really ties the film together.

Yes, it does star Tom Cruise. Yes, it is in a bleak, blue-filtered post-apocalyptic future.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not a great story.

Tags: Horatius at the Bridge, Oblivion, review, SF, The Big Lebowski, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Tom Cruise