MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: 25th Anniversary Blu-ray remaster (Paramount, 1996) Paramount Home Video
The cinematic cannibalization of classic TV shows for
the big screen reached its zenith with Brian De Palma’s Mission: Impossible
(1996); a relatively faithful adaptation of the long-running serialized
exploits of a group of highly trained espionage experts. The original show was
a springboard for stellar ensemble acting, headlined by Peter Graves as Jim
Phelps. The movie adaptation would turn that beloved character on its ear – Jon
Voight, as Phelps, recast as the villain, and the star turn now going to Tom
Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Despite these changes, Mission: Impossible is,
arguably, Cruise’s last memorable movie to date (save the others in its
ever-evolving franchise and setting aside the misfire that was Mission: Impossible
2). David Koeppe/Robert Towne's screenplay here shifts its focus from
Phelps (reincarnated as a rogue agent) to his crackerjack point man, Hunt. This
would not be so disquieting, if only Voight's performance had risen above a
sort of doughy patchiness now and then. Regrettably, it never does. Regardless, audiences flocked to see this big
budget reboot, ringing registers world-wide to the tune of $456,494,833. And,
in retrospect, Mission: Impossible is likely one of the most successful
re-envisions of a beloved TV series yet to make the transition to the big
screen. The TV show was all about the inner workings of covert espionage. The
Koeppe/Towne screenplay never forgets this, but predictably layers the core
with a heavy slate of stunt work. This Mission: Impossible is an
actioner with some moodily lit and utterly gorgeous international locations the
original series could only guess at.
We give it to DePalma and Cruise, also Koeppe and
Towne for at least paying homage to some very fine talents along the way; Ving
Rhames, as Luther Strickell (a reoccurring figure in what is now a six-picture
franchise), and Vanessa Redgrave’s ‘Max’ – a devilish puppet master whom Hunt
successfully frames for stealing the FBI’s NOC list. Yet, it is almost
disheartening to watch as the picture’s Bond-esque prologue in Prague
(magnificently photographed by Stephen H. Burum) quickly dispatches with Hunt’s
formidable spy team, Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas), Jack Harmon (Emilio
Estevez) and Hannah (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), leaving Hunt to go man-a-mano with
the only survivor (or so it would first appear) from this deception, Emmanuelle
Béart as Phelp’s thoroughly corrupt wife, Claire. For over-the-top, beady-eyed
bureaucratic efficiency, we also get Henry Czerny (whose performance as the
crooked Robert Kitter in Clear and Present Danger two years earlier,
likely led to his casting herein as the morally defunct pit-bull, Eugene
Kittridge). The other noteworthy in the cast is Jean Reno, utterly wasted as
mercenary, Franz Krieger.
Revisiting Mission: Impossible after an absence
of 20+ years, one is immediately struck by two things. First, how well its
craftsmanship has held up despite changing times, tastes and technologies
(proof positive a good story will always be a good story and CGI be damned!)
and second, Tom Cruise must long ago have been beamed up by aliens and
force-fed an anti-aging serum. At age 56, and apart from a few minor wrinkles
around the eyes, he still looks like a kid of twenty-one! De Palma’s
utilization of the split screen in this franchise kick-starter is a device
(nee, gimmick) the director is justly famous for exploiting almost to the point
of cliché. DePalma has made the split screen his celluloid signature. But
herein it crops up sparingly, if predictably, to illustrate simultaneous action
taking place in various locations. What sets Mission: Impossible apart
from its contemporaries in 1996, and definitely maintains its level of
distinction today, is DePalma’s self-possessed editing style, a deliberate nod
to the classic 70’s Desliu/CBS series from whence its purest inspiration has
been struck. But DePalma’s picture is not stuck in a time warp. Instead, he
gradually antes up to satisfy our more contemporary addiction for cheap thrills
and one hell of a good roller coaster ride. These action sequences climax with
a heart-palpitating finale aboard a bullet train inside the Chunnel.
The first film’s entire plot is effortlessly
summarized in a few introductory scenes. The pre-credit sequence has fellow IMF
team member, Claire Phelps nearly poisoned to death in Hunt’s ambush of a
Russian Mafia point man. We cut to a frenetic montage of snippets from the rest
of the movie, laid over Lalo Schifrin’s classic 'Mission: Impossible'
theme, ever so slightly re-orchestrated by film composer, Danny Elfman. The action shifts to an embassy in Prague,
where Ethan, a master of disguises, impersonates an American senator in order
to gain access to some stolen top-secret computer files containing the covert names
of undercover agents. The IMF team, helmed by Jim Phelps, begin their
infiltration of the embassy with considerable stealth. Unfortunately, their
cover does not last for very long. As Ethan helplessly observes from his wrist
monitor, operative Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas) is stabbed to death by
an unseen assailant near the Embassy’s wrought-iron entrance while pursuing a
suspicious Ukrainian couple. Techno-genius, Jack Harmon (Emilio Estevez) is
gruesomely impaled inside the Embassy’s elevator shaft. Claire and Hannah
presumably, are blown to bits with a car bomb and husband, Jim is briefly
glimpsed by Ethan, toppling over the side of a nearby bridge, the victim of
another apparent stabbing.
Aborting the mission, Ethan frantically calls in his
casualties to the home office. He is met at a posh after-hours club by CIA
director, Eugene Kittridge who reveals to Ethan the ambush was not only
anticipated, but actually approved as part of a contingency plan to expose a
mole named Job. As Ethan is the only survivor, he must also be the mole. Escaping incarceration by using a tiny
explosive to detonate the exotic fish tanks inside the restaurant, Ethan sets
about exploiting his ‘disavowed’ status as bait to contact Job’s paymaster,
illegal arms dealer, 'Max' (Vanessa Redgrave). Ethan reveals the NOC list
currently in her possession is incomplete and therefore worthless. To prove his
loyalties, he also offers to steal the other half of the list as a rogue agent
working against the United States. Max is intrigued by his defection and agrees
to keep a watchful eye on Ethan's progress. One problem: the NOC is housed in a
safe room inside the CIA’s top-secret headquarters at Langley, Virginia.
Through an unanticipated twist of fate, Ethan is
reunited with Claire at their Prague safe house. Although Ethan believed Claire
to be murdered along with the rest, she explains how she managed an escape the
car bomb at the last possible moment. Since then, she has been in hiding.
Taking Claire at face value, Ethan brings her along as he assembles his team
from other disavowed intelligence agents. These include computer genius, Luther
Stickell and hotshot pilot, Franz Kreiger. Posing as firemen, Ethan and his
elites break into CIA headquarters. We move into the ‘now’ iconic scene where
Ethan precariously dangles from wires inside the ultra-sterile safe room,
surrounded by a grid of electronic eyes threatening to set off the alarm at any
moment. Mercifully, Ethan possesses the reflexes of a panther. The break-in is
a success and the NOC list is stolen. Retreating to London with his ill-gotten
gains, Ethan learns his uncle and mother have been arrested as supposed drug
dealers in Kittridge’s feeble attempt to smoke him out of hiding. Contacting
Kittridge, Hunt deliberately allows his tapped phone to be traced. After all,
it is high time Washington was brought up to speed. Unexpectedly, Ethan is
reunited with Jim, the real mole. Ethan contacts Max to arrange a swap and sale
of the NOC aboard the bullet train on route from London to Paris. Sent a video
watch by Ethan, Kittridge boards the Chunnel express, able to view everything
Ethan sees through his camera-ready glasses. The events that unfold in real
time are illuminating to Kittridge to say the least. Upon receiving the NOC,
Max attempts to download its files onto her laptop. She quickly discovers the
signal is being jammed, though she remains unaware of Luther – seated just
across from her and amused by her mounting frustrations. The problem is, of
course, Jim is not the only mole in the organization.
Claire recognizes Kittridge and becomes highly
suspicious, moving to the baggage car where Jim awaits her return. Ethan
follows and confronts Jim with the truth. He is Job, the mole and the man
responsible for his team’s demise. Jim proudly confesses to as much before
Ethan reveals their entire conversation is being seen in real time and
Kittridge is waiting in the next car to arrest him. Panicked, Jim shoots Claire and pummels Ethan
before escaping with the NOC onto the train's windy roof. Ethan makes chase. The
two adversaries are now locked in a perilous battle. Kreiger, also a double
agent, tries to rescue Jim by lowering a winch attached to his helicopter
flying overhead. Instead, Ethan seizes and attaches the cable onto the train’s
roof, thereby dragging the copter into the Chunnel after them. In the ensuing
struggle for possession of the NOC, Kreiger’s chopper is pulverized against the
Chunnel walls and Jim is thrown under its speeding wheels. Max is arrested by
Kittridge. Ethan and Luther are reinstated as active IMF agents. The film ends
with Ethan on a plane – presumably bound for the U.S. only to have a faux
flight attendant inform him his next mission in the tropics is about to begin.
Mission: Impossible is a heartily
realized and heart-palpitating entertainment. The Koeppe/Towne screenplay is
intricately balanced with just the right amounts of action, suspense and drama
to legitimize what could so easily have become just another popcorn actioner
for the mindless and easily satisfied. Instead, we are treated to a stylish thriller
of considerable substance. That said, the film does have its flaws. Tom
Cruise's Ethan Hunt is an unabashedly high-strung and cocky upstart, driven
almost mad by a series of unfortunate circumstances. Although Cruise excels at
glib repartee, his more dramatic efforts fall flat, especially in Ethan’s
confrontations with Kittridge. Cruise and Henry Czerny are like a pair of
insolent frat boys comparing Johnsons in the locker room. As the jowly villain
of the piece, Jon Voight is weak-kneed at best and more nuisance than menace.
Still, Mission: Impossible is an exercise in good solid storytelling
trumping a mediocre cast. A great summer flick, it rang registers around the
world. Given the picture’s popularity, Paramount took its time - nearly 4 years
- to launch a sequel, the ill-advised Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). They
might just as easily have left well enough alone.
Mission Impossible on home video
has always been a source of consternation for fans. The picture was the
unwitting martyr of Paramount’s early hesitations to enter the DVD market,
forging instead ahead with DIVX and releasing bare-bones product on a format doomed
to extinction. So, for decades, the original movie in the franchise has only
been available in a thoroughly lackluster scan, marred by wan color
reproduction and a distinct loss of fine details. Even when Paramount elected
to release the entire franchise in 4K in 2019, it completely missed the mark to
offer remastered Blu-rays derived from these same scans. So, the Blu to
accompany the 4K release was still the ugly mess from its bad ole DIVX days. Finally,
Paramount has elected to release the original movie on standard def Blu-ray in
a new transfer derived from the elements used to produce the 4K master. Why
anyone should care is another question entirely. Fair enough, not everyone has made
the techno-leap into true native 4K. But debuting Mission Impossible in
a newly remastered Blu-ray now, for its 25th anniversary, just seems
like a quantum step backwards. The results are curiously not all they ought to
be either. For starters, the standard Blu reissue has a warmer than anticipated
palette. Gone are the digital anomalies and artificial sharpening that once plagued
the Blu-ray releases of yore. But the colors here skew to exceptionally warm
reds, particularly flesh tones. The native 4K had a distinctly richer, but more
naturally appearing spectrum of colors. This Blu just looks a bit too
pronounced by direct comparison. Fine detail has been expertly realized and, at
times, almost lends to the illusion of viewing the native 4K disc – especially in
close-ups. The CGI Chunnel sequence adopts a rather queer purplish tint – not entirely
certain why this is, but it just looks very artificial, drawing attention to
itself. On native 4K, colors skewed towards a cooler palette that helped to
conceal these special effects. The 5.1 DTS audio has been ported over from the
4K remaster and sounds magnificent in every way. A boatload of vintage extras
has been ported over to this release without future video upgrades, but are
well worth the price of admission. We also get Mission Remarkable: 40 Years
of Creating the Impossible – a retrospective on the film and TV franchise,
and, wait for it, a pretty silly ‘collectable’ decal which is cheaply printed
and looks like it cost Paramount a penny to reproduce. Bottom line: 25 years
later, Mission Impossible is still a fun summer actioner to enjoy with
the entire family. This Blu-ray is good, but the true 4K release still trumps
it by a long shot. Judge and buy accordingly.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the
best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
5+
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