Mission: Impossible (1996)

An Extraordinary Tom Cruise Vehicle From Start To Finish

"This mission will self destruct in five seconds". That is a classic line in movie history that everyone should know. Mission Impossible is based on the popular TV series that spawned 7 seasons. This motion picture adaptation is a wonderful treat indeed, it includes espionage, action, suspense you name it this movie hits the nail on the spot. The only thing about the movie that..well isn't bad but troublesome is the plot which is quite confusing but then again that is what makes the film shine; so yeah if I where you I would give the movie a couple of multiple viewings in order to comprehend the film's plot.


The movie's plot surrounds Tom Cruise' character of Ethan Hunt, IMF agent (Impossible Mission Force) Who looses his team of spies in a mission gone bad. It seems that there is a list known as the NOC list, which contains the names of all the agents working for the agency, if stolen or obtained by the wrong source it could jeopardize every agent in the force. So without ruining the movie it's all about Treason and it requires a lot of thinking and observation... In a way the viewer must behave as a spy in order to understand it and notice the tiniest important detail. So as I said it may require second viewing, in my case I had to watch it 4 times in order to understand it completely.

The only thing that I found a bit silly is the last action sequence in the train; it feels out of place as if the movie out of nowhere changed genre from espionage to action. Also the film is kind of dated but it won't ruin the movie's plot which is phenomenal. Last thing make sure that when you buy it that it is the special collectors edition. I say this because of experience; the standard version is presented in a letterboxed format. Which means that if played on a plasma HD screen it will look horendous, due to the fact that it is not enhaced for 16:9 screens. If you have a regular 4:3 screens then I guess it's okay to buy the cheaper standard one, the special edition doesn't include many special features anyway. So yeah great movie, a bit confusing but phenomenal. Definitely a must have.


MY PERSONAL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5
April 11, 2008

almost cartoony but watchable

I have the standard DVD which was good but the HD DVD is super;highly recommended.
As for the movie,it is good but the main point is that it is one of those few movies which allows repeated watching without becoming boring.
One of the reasons why it is so, is that it will make you go back to 'CIA break in' and wonder how they did it;being a SINGAPOREAN, I think they made it look too easy to infiltrate the CIA.
Thanks April 3, 2008

Your special edition, should you choose to accept it...

Shot in Prague before it became synonymous with cheap labor and tax breaks for runaway productions, the initial signs were less than promising for Mission: Impossible - rumors of clashes between Cruise and Brian De Palma, the latter pointedly keeping a very low public profile when the film opened, last-minute heavy re-editing and the dropping of Alan Silvestri's original score (not, it has to be said, anywhere near as effective as Danny Elfman's replacement) - yet the result is a lot more fun than it has any real right to be. There's little relation to the original series aside from the title, Lalo Schifrin's theme music and an ill-done by Jim Phelps, here played by Jon Voight rather than Peter Graves - indeed, the original cast turned down offers of cameos in a film which kills off almost the entire Impossible Mission Force in the first twenty minutes so the star can hog the spotlight. But then, in those days Tom Cruise still sold more tickets than anyone else and the film raked it in - as they say in gangster movies, it's nothing personal, just business.

Although it was apparently Emmanuelle Beart's role that bore the brunt of the pre-release cuts, Cruise is in more danger of being overshadowed by co-stars Ving Rhames and Jean Reno, neither of whom get as many close-ups but make up for it with much more unforced charisma and screen presence. The plot doesn't always make sense - there's really no reason to break into the CIA's headquarters in Langley to steal a real list of undercover agents' names to use as bait other than allowing the director to stage a Topkapi-inspired high-wire heist - but it just about serves to fill in the gaps between setpieces, including a neat sequence that's pure De Palma where one character's explanation of events is accompanied by visuals gradually piecing together what really happened and a doozey of an action sequence involving a helicopter in the Channel Tunnel that caused the Bond producers to drop their original storyboarded-but-unshot Channel Tunnel pre-title sequence from the script of GoldenEye as well as boasting a neat line in spectacularly breaking windows.

No classic but an above-average Summer movie that holds up surprisingly well. Although an improvement over the bare-bones original DVD release, there's a distinct feeling that the reverential special features on the new special edition are there merely to reassure Cruise and his fans that he is indeed the most special and wonderful person in the world. February 15, 2008

Thrilling, but somewhat confusing at first watch

This film is a mixture of suspence/action and mystery. It can get a bit complicated so I really recommend a 2nd viewing to catch everything. Though this came out a while ago, the movie doesn't feel dated. And the action scenes are just as great as they were when this film first came out. Especially the wire act. Really tense stuff. Tom Cruise really carries this film, he's very spot on and engaging in this. Its a great role for him. All in all, a real solid film. February 11, 2008

An impressive HD-DVD outing from Paramount for a decent movie

The Mission: Impossible television series was very much over my head when I was a kid. I wasn't even born yet when the first run (1966-73) ended, and I was 13 when the revival (1988-1990) began. Nevertheless, I knew the format and liked the teamwork concept enough that I was somewhat disappointed in the focus on just one agent, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, in the film series, especially when thinking about how much cooler things would have been if the whole of the movies expanded on the teamwork shown in the opening scene of the first movie.

Having said that, the first movie is still a blast to watch if you can get past the somewhat convoluted storyline and the whole "Tom Cruise and his merry men" feel. With all the high-tech gadgetry and the explosive action sequences, it feels a lot more "James Bond" than "Jim Phelps" which in the end probably was the reason why the film and its sequels were such a hit with action-addicted moviegoers of modern times.

In any case, this is a review of the HD-DVD edition of the movie, so I should probably say something about the quality of said edition. The movie looks pretty good considering the print is from the mid-90s. There's a good amount of detail to be seen in most scenes of the movie but the color tone looks a bit warm (i.e. flesh looks like there's a bit too much red hue). It's not a reference disc by any means but the picture is quite good in general.

I'm not a big audio person so I can't really say much about that aspect of the movie.

Overall, the movie is not a bad one to have in your high-definition library, especially if you enjoyed the film or are just a fan of Tom Cruise in general. It fits the "popcorn summer blockbuster" bill perfectly and is enjoyable for anyone but the most picky viewer. December 26, 2007

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