MISSION: Success

Brian De Palma's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is nearly summarized by a line from Emmanuelle Beart's character. "Ethan," she says, "you're not making much sense." How right she is. The plot of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is a jumbled mess, thanks in part to director De Palma's bizarre yet artistic style.

What's clear is this: Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a member of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force). The IMF is a top-secret division of the CIA which handles difficult undercover missions. Hunt and his teammates, led by Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), are on a routine assignment when things go horribly wrong. Phelps' team is ambushed and the team members are murdered, with the exception of Hunt. But wait, it gets worse: Hunt is framed for the murders and is now being pursued by the IMF's other operatives. It's up to Hunt to prove his innocence and find the real murderer(s), while evading his former agency.

The cast and crew is full of talent. We have director De Palma, who's famous for his thrilling, artistic films, which include CARRIE, DRESSED TO KILL, BLOW OUT, SCARFACE, and THE UNTOUCHABLES. De Palma is really the driving force behind the movie. He gives it a dark, shady atmosphere, taking the film to bizarre new levels with his intriguing camera work, which include tilted close-ups and the occasional point-of-view shot. Tom Cruise is great as Ethan Hunt, making us sympathize with this resourceful, clever young man. Henry Czerny gives a good performance as the head of the IMF. Jean Reno is typically good, but he's not given much to work with. Ving Rhames is very likable as computer expert Luther Stickell.

Danny Elfman, always one to write memorable, original scores, delivers another fine soundtrack. He puts Lalo Schifrin's unforgettable theme song to very good use. At times, Elfman's score resembles the music of classic 60's spy shows - one of which was, of course, the original MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. The screenplay, by David Koepp and Robert Towne, bears little (if any) resemblance to the series on which its based. Perhaps because of this, over the years the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE film series has come to stand on its own from the TV series. The Koepp/Towne script is very good considering that, at its heart, this film IS an action movie. Their script is based on a story by Koepp and Steven Zaillian (who also wrote such films as SCHINDLER'S LIST, GANGS OF NEW YORK, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER).

As I've said, the film is a bit muddled. I wasn't quite clear on what was happening until about halfway through the film. This didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the film, however; De Palma's directing and Cruise's acting pulled me through. The film is especially fun during the thrilling ending, which includes some great special effects by ILM (STAR WARS creator George Lucas' company).

Though it has little in common with the show on which its based, Brian De Palma's adaptation of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is a fun, well-made thriller that is guaranteed to please action movie fans. I can't, however, make the same guarantee for the casual moviegoer.

An entertaining "look at me I'm Tom Cruise" film

Mission Impossible is the type of movie that can entertain you even if it doesn't make much sense. It bugs me that they made it a total "look at me I'm Tom Cruise" movie though. I mean the tv series was about agents working together and the movies turnt Jim who was the main guy in the series into a bad guy. With the whole team getting wiped out like not even 20 minutes into the movie. Hell I'm not even sure if there was an Ethan Hunt in the original series.

In the beginning it's nice seeing Emilio Estevez getting a part as one of the team members. He's entertaining and then he gets crushed on top of an elivator. Even the talented Kristin Scott Thomas is killed off in the beginning. With Ethan's team dieing he becomes the prime suspect and has to clear his name. I think that works and this isn't a bad movie even if it doesn't make sense. Still though Tom Cruise is such a pure ego actor. He produces the movie so of course the whole movie has to be his.

He has them hack up the original show story and center everything around just one character....that he just happens to play. I always liked the 2nd film too but that's even more of a "look at me I'm Tom Cruise film". Look at Tom on a motorcycle with cool sunglases on, look at Tom do spin kicks, look at Tom think he's James Bond as he chases a hot girl in her car, look at Tom climb a mountain", well you get the point lol. I'm looking forward to the 3rd film but I still wonder what the movies would be like if they were more about teams working together and not just one super agent that likes to show off his teeth every 30 seconds with big stupid grins.

What I do like about this original film is Danny Elfman's excellent score which is faithful to the series. Brian De Palma's direction since he trys to be faithful to the series by making us think instead of just throwing mindless action at us like John Woo does in the sequel. I also absolutely love the train scene at the end, probably mostly due to Danny Elfman's score. It's also a fun action scene. De Palma gives us a confusing story that leads to one fun and wild action scene. John Woo's sequel is just a goofy and sorta fun mindless stunt show of a film and that's why I like that one. This film is the complete oppostite, it has a brain and it's brain is way too big for human life to understand. It was probably written by an advanced life form.

One of Brian De Palma's better director-for-hire jobs

Brian De Palma is always an interesting director to follow, alternating between his personal pet projects ("Dressed To Kill, "Blow Out", "Femme Fatale", etc.) and gun-for-hire jobs ("The Untouchables", "Mission Impossible", the upcoming "The Black Dahlia", etc.). What's great about him is that he displays equal enthusiasm for both types of movies, always making sure he delivers a polished job with a handful of sit-up-and-take-notice sequences no matter the film in question. Remember the scene on the steps inside the train station in "The Untouchables"?

With "Mission Impossible", we get a complex but well told story with at least three bravura sequences: the ultimately disastrous embassy infiltration at the beginning, the infiltration of CIA headquarters, and the intrigue and impressive action sequence on the train at the end. In addition, between those bits we get some great tension-laced character scenes involving confrontations and our heroes trying to figure things out. As pointed out by one of the Amazon in-house reviews, there's indeed some sophisticated story telling going on here: I, too, loved how Ethan Hunt was saying one thing aloud to a dubious associate as Ethan pieces together what went wrong at the embassy, but in the flashback scenes seen over his voice we see what he really believes happened. Great stuff.

"Mission Impossible", originally released in 1996, is also interesting in that you can see old ways giving way to new, both in the story and in the making of the movie. Story-wise, a few cell phones are seen, but there's still the need for characters to seek out a good old-fashioned pay phone here and there. In the making of the movie, CGI was clearly used in places (and capably), but model work, matte paintings, and other traditional effects techniques were still very much carrying the day. These story and film-making elements therefore give "Mission Impossible" a simultaneous modern and retro feel that's unique and kind of fun.

I've read some criticism that this new 10th anniversary re-release of the film doesn't feature a new remastered DVD print but the same mastering job Paramount has used on all previous DVDs of this movie. That may be the case, but I have to say that my newly-purchased DVD features a clean, sharp print with vibrant colors. Maybe the movie doesn't need to be remastered yet.

Alas, there's no director's commentary here, but otherwise the DVD's special features section is loaded with interesting stuff.

I purchased "Mission Impossible" mainly to refresh my memory on the "MI" series in preparation for the third movie, which is about to come out as I write this. What my purchase reminded me of, however, was how much I liked this particular movie. That was a nice surprise.