MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - 4K Blu-ray (Paramount 1996-2015) 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's as Jim Phelps. The film, however, is little more than a star vehicle for Tom Cruise; arguably his last memorable movie to date (save the other Mission: Impossible movies that have since followed it). David Koeppe/Robert Towne's screenplay shifts its focus from Phelps (reincarnated as the rogue agent by Jon Voight) to his crackerjack point man, Ethan Hunt (Cruise). This rewrite would not be so disquieting, even with Phelps made over as the villain of the piece. If only Voight's performance had risen above mediocrity 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-envisioning’s of a beloved TV series. 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 and some moodily lit and utterly gorgeous international locations that the original franchise 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 five – soon to be 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 rogue 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 – set to appear in the franchise’s latest installment – Mission: Impossible - Fallout – sometime in July, 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 is blown up 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 in 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 of experts 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 - the now utterly iconic moment 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 and expose his infiltration. Mercifully, Ethan possesses the reflexes of a panther. The break-in is a success. 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 call 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 en 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 on the train; 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 has been filmed and that 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 locked in a perilous battle of wills. 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 to a hook on the train’s roof, thereby dragging the copter into the Chunnel after the train. 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 men comparing johnsons in the locker room. As the jowly villain of the piece, Jon Voight is weak-kneed at best; 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 held off a little longer.

For although Mission: Impossible 2 out-grossed its predecessor as the #1 box office winner of its year, with an impressive $215,409,889 in North America alone (with an additional $330,978,216 elsewhere), John Woo's follow-up leaves much to be desired. Critical response to MI2 has always baffled me.  On the one hand, critics like the late Roger Ebert were falling over themselves with admiration, heralding Woo’s direction as ‘more evolved’ and ‘confident’.  To be sure, there were a few notes of dissention feathered in. Personally, I side with The Village Voice’s opinion, as a ‘vaguely absurd thriller with elaborately superfluous setups and shamelessly stale James Bond riffs’. Lest we forget, Mission: Impossible 2, rather appropriately, was the recipient of as many Golden Razzies: one as worst remake/sequel, the other, slamming Thandie Newton’s atrocity…um…performance.

Robert Towne’s screenplay begins in earnest as Ethan is alerted by his handlers that someone has stolen his identity to smuggle bio-chemist, Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Radé Sherbedgia) into the United States. The good doctor has been working on a doomsday biological weapon, Chimera, and its antidote, Bellerophon. A close personal friend of Ethan’s, Nekhorvich is murdered in a plane crash shortly thereafter, the IMF suspecting its own agent, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) of the crime. As the bio-weapon has since gone missing, the IMF orders Ethan to get it back. To help him, he enlists Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), a professional thief operating in Seville who also happens to be Ambrose’s ex.

Once again on board; computer expert, Luther Stickell, this time accompanied by pilot, Billy Baird (John Polson). The boys, along with Ethan and Nyah, make their pilgrimage to a bio-lab in Sydney where Ethan stakes out the corporation while Nyah gets reacquainted with Ambrose to syphon information from him. Ambrose is introduced to Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy (Brenden Gleeson) who shows him a video of Chimera’s devastating potency, leveraging it as blackmail to get McCloy to cooperate with him. Meanwhile, Ethan and his team learn Chimera has a 20-hour latent period before its devastation is felt by its victims.  The antidote, Bellerophon can only save if administered during this interim. Ethan and his team kidnap McCloy, hoping to force him into giving up Bellerophon. Alas, only samples of the antidote were taken by Nekhorvich. They are now in Ambrose’s possession. So, Ethan breaks into the biolab to destroy Chimera. Regrettably, Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing his plan. He then takes her hostage as part of his counter retrieval plan. 

Having destroyed all but one sample of Chimera’s deadly strain, a firefight breaks out between Ethan and Ambrose. To prevent Ambrose from gaining access to the virus, Nyah injects herself with it, thereby also staving off Ambrose’s ambition to see her dead. Ambrose continues to hold Nyah even as Ethan escapes from the lab. Cruelly, Ambrose lets Nyah wander the streets of Sydney, intending for her to start a pandemic. Enterprisingly, he also barters with McCloy for Bellerophon and stock options. After all, the price of Bellerophon is very likely to skyrocket after the pending Chimera outbreak. Now, Ethan steals the remaining samples of Bellerophon, while Luther and Billy prevent Nyah from altruistically committing suicide in order to stop the outbreak.  Ethan and Ambrose spar mano-a-mano in a fight to the death. With barely moments to spare, Luther reaches Ethan with the antidote, just in time to save Nyah’s life.  

Mission: Impossible 2 would not have been such a colossal waste of time, if only Woo’s penchant for shooting virtually every bit of action from multiple angles ad nauseam did not result in interminably long and thought-numbing sequences. These do precisely the opposite of what they were intended: bore the audience to tears with a never ending, and thoroughly anesthetizing display of pyrotechnics frequently shot in slo-mo. Visually, some of Woo’s master strokes in staging and editing rank among the best action work yet attained in a summer blockbuster. Alas, too much of a good thing is still too much, and, coupled with Towne’s threadbare premise in lieu of an ever-evolving plot, Mission: Impossible 2 gets very old, very fast. Regardless of its box office take and critical reception at the time, there are not too many critics today who regard this sequel as anything but tepid and unmemorable at best; too far a departure from the Cruise/Hunt persona and antics in the first flick to be truly considered a quantifiable part of the MI canon.

Almost six years would pass before Paramount gambled on another installment. Mission Impossible III marks the directorial debut of J.J. Abrams; also, Tom Cruise as the picture’s de facto producer. Actually, the project was begun in 2002 with a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Abrams, with David Fincher slated to direct. However, only several months into pre-production Fincher bowed out, replaced by Joe Carnahan, who spent fifteen months reshaping the narrative to his own likes before exiting the project after his plans to introduce Kenneth Branagh as a Timothy McVeigh knock-off miserably failed to catch on. Mercifully, Thandie Newton did not accept the offer to reprise her character. After Carnahan quit, Tom Cruise selected Abrams as his successor on the strength of his contributions to TV’s popular series, Alias (2001-06). Owing to all these delays, Cruise took a major pay cut to prevent any further hemorrhaging of funds; what with extensive location work yet to be done in Rome, China, Germany and Los Angeles.

Plot wise: Ethan Hunt is brought out of retirement and his pending marriage to fiancée, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan) who is obtuse to his former life. Agent John Musgrave (Billy Crudup) implores Hunt to reconsider the quiet life, especially since one of his former protégés, Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) has been taken hostage by arms dealer, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Putting together a team that includes Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and returning alumni, Luther Stickell, Ethan infiltrates Davian’s lair and manages to momentarily rescue Lindsey. Too bad he has miscalculated his opponent; Davian, having implanted an explosive pellet in Lindsey’s forehead. It goes off, killing her instantly. Returning home in disgrace, Ethan is admonished by IMF Director Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) for his rash handling of the incident. Discovering a postcard sent by Lindsey before her capture, Ethan finds a magnetic microdot under its stamp. Now, Benji recovers a cryptic message. Davian will be in Vatican City to obtain the ‘Rabbit's Foot’. Flying under the radar, Ethan weds Julia before departing for Italy.  Next, he and his team successfully capture Davian.

However, holding onto their prime suspect will prove an entirely different matter. While transporting Davian to the U.S. Ethan’s convoy is sabotaged at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Intuitively knowing where Davian will strike next, Ethan hurries to Julia’s workplace, only to discover he is too late. An ultimatum arrives: Ethan has exactly 2 days to recover the Rabbit's Foot in exchange for Julia's life. Almost immediately, he is taken by the IMF and interrogated by Musgrave. Discreetly however, Musgrave informs Ethan the Rabbit’s Foot is in Shanghai and promptly affords him a means to escape. The mission to recover the mysterious object is successful. But upon his return home Ethan is tranquilized, awakening hours later with a micro-explosive implanted in his head. Davian executes a woman who suspiciously resembles Julia, despite Ethan’s protestations he brought the Rabbit’s Foot home with him. But as Musgrave later explains, the assassination victim was not Julia but Davian’s own head of security, disguised as Julia; a ruthless test to confirm Ethan’s authenticity for the Rabbit's Foot.

Musgrave now reveals to Ethan he is the mole. He arranged for Davian to acquire the Rabbit's Foot; reason enough for the IMF to launch its own preemptive strike. Ethan quickly dispatches with Musgrave, using his phone to track Julia’s last known location. The trace is perfect, except Davian has already anticipated Ethan’s next move, triggering the countdown for the implant in his head. Rigging a defibrillator to electrocute himself in order to deactivate the device, Ethan quickly teaches Julia how to use his Beretta 92 in self-defense. Now unconscious, Julia defends herself against Musgrave’s men, killing every last one. When Ethan awakens, he finds Julia hovering, and quietly explains to her about his real career. Returning to the U.S., Ethan is congratulated by Brassel. All ends well, as Ethan and Julia depart on their honeymoon.

Mission: Impossible III is hardly the biggest or brightest entre in the franchise. It has its moments but lacks the narrative impetus to truly rise about its cloak and dagger trimmings as anything better than a modest cliché of story lines gleaned from other – ostensibly better - spy/thrillers. Purely in terms of box office, III is the weakest performer. Props to Paramount then, for having the wherewithal and confidence to pursue yet another movie in the franchise.  Having seen the strength in hiring ‘fresh talent’ to keep the series bustling with vitality – if hardly originality – 2011’s Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol marked the debut of director, Brad Bird, cribbing from a screenplay by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, with an uncredited assist from Christopher McQuarrie. The results are superior to even the original reboot; Tom Cruise, again reprising Ethan Hunt, alongside newcomers, Jeremy Renner (as William Brandt) Paula Patton (Jane Carter), Michael Nyqvist (Kurt Hendricks), Anil Kapoor (Brij Nath), and Léa Seydoux (Sabine Moreau). Ghost Protocol also marks the return of Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, and, in a greatly reduced cameo, Ving Rhames, again as Luther Stickell. Signing on to produce with Cruise is J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, with the first film’s original SFX editor, John Knoll making a much-welcomed comeback. Ghost Protocol was shot partly in IMAX to take advantage of that format’s superior image clarity. At $694 million, this fourth installment also eclipsed the box office tallies of virtually all its predecessors. 

With its impressive slate of locations, from Mumbai to Prague, Moscow, Vancouver, Bangalore, and Dubai, Ghost Protocol does not appear to skimp on anything – especially, it’s mind-boggling stunts. Tom Cruise performs one of the most daring and exotic sequences yet conceived for the screen; scaling the world’s tallest building - the Burj Khalifa Tower – seemingly with only a pair of suction cups to sustain him. In actuality, Cruise was tethered to the superstructure via a series of strong cables, later, and rather meticulously, removed by a little digital trickery from Industrial Light & Magic. Taking Cruise’s cue, Patton and Seydoux also forwent the use of stunt doubles for their climactic fight sequences. To keep production costs manageable, most interiors - with the exception of Moscow prison break (actually photographed in Prague) - were shot in Vancouver’s Canadian Motion Picture Park Studios. This includes the climactic showdown between Hunt and Hendricks inside an automated multi-level parking garage, meticulously built over a six-month period and fully operational.

Ghost Protocol begins with the ruthless assassination of IMF agent, Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway) in Budapest; double agent, Sabine Moreau skulking off with a file nicknamed ‘Colbalt’, containing Russian nuclear launch codes.  Meanwhile, Ethan has purposely become incarcerated in a Moscow prison to breakout Bogdan (Miraj Grbić), a wellspring of information. The daring escape is practically perfect. But only a short while later, Ethan’s infiltration of the Kremlin goes horrible awry when a rogue element intercepts their transmissions and detonates a hidden bomb that decimates the Russian landmark. Although Carter and Dunn make their getaway, Ethan is taken prisoner by SVR agent, Anatoly Sidorov (Vladimir Mashkov) and charged with the international terrorism. Creating a clever diversion and making yet another daring escape, Ethan regroups with the IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) who publicly disavows their involvement, but covertly sanctions Ethan to continue his pursuit of Cobalt. Unexpectedly, Sidorov intercepts the pair and the Secretary is killed. Ethan, however, eludes capture yet again, along with intelligence analyst, William Brandt; the duo regrouping with Carter and Dunn. At a stalemate, Brandt identifies Cobalt as Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born nuclear strategist, aspiring to launch WWIII by pitting the U.S. against Russia. Hendricks used the Kremlin bombing to cover up his theft of a Russian nuclear launch-control device.  His next port of call, a clandestine rendezvous with Moreau at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to gain access to the launch codes.

In Dubai, Ethan and his team create several deceptions to trick Moreau into believing she has met Hendricks and vice versa.  Alas, Moreau discovers this ruse, and, in the ensuing chaos, Hendricks escapes with the launch codes, eluding Ethan by forging through a perilous dust storm on foot.  Meanwhile, Carter knocks Moreau through one of the hotel’s shattered window; Moreau plummeting to her death from the 119^th floor.  Brandt accuses Carter of revenge for Hanaway. She has compromised their mission. But Ethan wisely deduces Brandt is being secretive, and eventually unearths the truth: Brandt was assigned to guard Ethan and Julia in Croatia where Julia was murdered by a hit squad – the real reason he retired from active duty as a field agent. Bogdan and Ethan briefly reunite, Bogdan encouraging Ethan to go to Mumbai to intercept the pending rendezvous between Hendricks and telecommunications entrepreneur, Brij Nath.

Carter seduces Nath to gain access to an obsolete Russian satellite’s override code. Meanwhile Hunt, Brandt and Dunn discover they are too late. Hendricks has already sent the launch codes to a Russian Delta III nuclear sub; the plan, to fire a missile at San Francisco while disabling the station's computer systems. Brandt and Dunn frantically work to get the system back online and intercept the missile with their override code. Ethan, already in hot pursuit of Hendricks, prepares for a brutal showdown inside an automated car park. Hendricks, with the launch device still in his possession, leaps to his death moments before the missile is set to detonate.  Taking his own leap of faith, Ethan plunges after Hendricks, spared death and gaining control of the device, disabling the missile with mere moments before its impact.  Sidorov, who has been trailing Ethan and his team ever since they departed Moscow, realizes the IMF is innocent of the Kremlin bombing. A short while later, Ethan and his team reassemble in Seattle after Ethan accepts a new mission from Luther Stickell. Ethan finally reveals to Brandt, Julia’s ‘murder’ was actually part of the plan to provide her with a new identity and allow Ethan to break into the Russian prison. A relieved Brandt agrees to partake of the next, as yet undisclosed, mission as Ethan and Julia momentarily share a glance from afar before going off in separate directions.

Ghost Protocol is likely the best installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise thus far. Interestingly, Paramount hoped for a 3D release; Cruise – as producer, opting instead for the IMAX experience. This greatly enhances the exhilarating Burj Khalifa sequence, capped off by the hellish sandstorm. Following its world premiere in Dubai, Ghost Protocol went on to out gross all previous movies in this franchise, earning a whopping world-wide $694.7 million on its $145 million budget; by any and all accounts, a mega-smash hit. Ghost Protocol is an exhilarating thrill ride. Director Brad Bird infuses his action sequences with a rare visual poetry. Here, at long last is a movie that feels like a movie, and not something that was either photographed or conceived with subsequent ‘home video’ and ‘cable network’ marketability in mind. After a revolving roster of team players from movie to movie, the modus operandi being all, except for Cruise’s Ethan and Rhames’ Luther, will not survive the mission, Ghost Protocol locks into a winning chemistry between Cruise and his other ‘team’ members, meant to endure and engage beyond this stand-alone entertainment.

As early as 2013, Paramount Pictures announced yet another installment – Rogue Nation, to be directed Christopher McQuarrie from a script by Drew Pearce. Eventually, Will Staples took over the writing. Paramount worked out the logistics to reunite Cruise with his stock company: Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Jeremy Renner, all returning to the fold.  But by 2014, McQuarrie had not only agreed to take on the project as director, but writer too; Staples, removed from the project; the final screenwriting credit split between McQuarrie and Pearce. Moving from Vienna to Marrakesh, Morocco, London and Monaco, production was momentarily halted to give McQuarrie and Cruise time enough to rework the movie’s original ending. In hindsight, while engaging in its own right, Rogue Nation is decidedly ‘the lesser’ flick when compared to Ghost Protocol. It is perhaps pointless to compare one movie to the other, as only the plug-n-play characterizations from the previous movie are the same. And certainly, Rogue Nation’s plot is as intricate and involved as its predecessor. But in the final analysis, something intangible is lacking from this outing.   

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) begins aggressively with Ethan Hunt intercepting a deadly nerve gas being sold to Chechen terrorists in Minsk. Ethan is fanatical in his quest to prove the existence of a criminal consortium known as ‘the Syndicate’ that the CIA does not believe exists. Instead, he is taken prisoner by this Syndicate in London, while their leader murders another IMF agent stationed there. With the considerable aid of a disavowed MI6 agent and Syndicate operative, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Ethan escapes the Syndicate’s torture chamber, overseen by Janik ‘Bone Doctor’ Vinter (Jens Hultén). But back in Washington, before a Senate committee, Ethan faces off against CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). Currently without a secretary, the IMF is seen as both controversial and outdated. Hence, Hunley succeeds in having it absorbed into the CIA. Recognizing Hunley’s next step will be to arrest Ethan, Brandt warns his old friend to remain undercover. Alone and ever-determined, Ethan identifies the IMF London agent’s assassin as ex-MI6, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Six uneventful months pass. Ethan is reunited with Benji, who is reluctant to partake of his latest mission. Still, Ethan was right about intercepting a plot to assassinate the Austrian Chancellor during a performance at the Vienna opera house. Although Benji and Ethan managed to foil the initial sniper assault, the Chancellor was nevertheless killed in a car bombing.

Blamed for the murder, Ethan is a wanted man – again (and stop me if you have heard this one before), pursued by the CIA’s Special Activities Division. Knowing his actions are tantamount to treason, Brandt nevertheless implores Luther Strickell to find Ethan before the CIA does. Meanwhile Ethan, Benji, and one of the foiled snipers, Faust have all made their way to Casablanca, where they acquire a secret file from a secure building. Faust deviously steals the data and eludes capture. But Benji reveals to Ethan he has already copied the files onto his own USB. There is no need to pursue Faust. Alas, Stickell and Brandt have caught up to the pair. Back in London, Faust tries to use the file as leverage to quit her mission. Instead, her handler, Atlee (Simon McBurney) orders her to continue. He also discreetly wipes her drive clean. Meanwhile, Benji decodes the files on his USB, revealing an encrypted British government red box that requires the Prime Minister’s biometrics to unlock it. Lane’s men abduct Benji and Faust, blackmailing Ethan into decrypting the data. As part of the plan, Brandt discloses Ethan’s location to Hunley.

Meanwhile, at a London charity auction, Hunley, Brandt, and ‘presumably’ Atlee take the PM to a secure location. Brandt has the PM confirm the existence of the Syndicate, a project proposed by Atlee to perform missions without oversight. Atlee reveals himself as Ethan in disguise. When the real Atlee arrives, Ethan forces him to admit he began the Syndicate, only to have Lane hijack it. With the PM's biometrics, Stickell gains access to 2.4 billion in British pounds spread throughout European banks – enough money for the Syndicate to continue operating under the radar.  Ethan destroys this data, but presents himself to Lane as its human equivalent, having memorized the encryptions. Proposing an exchange – him for Benji and Faust, Lane deviously agrees to Ethan’s terms, then attempts to destroy them all. Benji is freed from a bomb strapped to his person. Ethan and Faust are pursued through the London streets by Lane’s goon squad, including Vinter.  Faust kills Vinter in a knife fight. Meanwhile, Ethan lures Lane into a bulletproof glass cell where he is gassed and taken into custody. With his first-hand knowledge of the IMF’s efficiency, Hunley convenes the Senate committee with a change of heart and plans. The IMF is reinstated and Brandt is confirmed as its new Secretary.

With this movie, Paramount had hoped for a penultimate mega hit in the Mission: Impossible franchise, destined to outclass and out-gross Ghost Protocol. And although Rogue Nation did do respectable – even phenomenal – business at the box office, with a world-wide gross of $682.7 million on its $150 million budget, it fell just shy of studio expectations. Arguably, there is only so far to go – even in this perennially renewable resource of international espionage. It is only a matter of time before the antics become repetitive, or worse – utterly implausible and silly; the stunts, more daring, perhaps, but too fanciful to be accepted as part and parcel of all this cloak and dagger make-believe and pretend. It will be very interesting to observe whether or not the next (and as yet unreleased) installment in the MI franchise – Fallout – due in July 2018, will live up to audiences’ expectations, or merely continue the slow decline of the franchise in terms of box office revenue and overall popularity. There is, of course, another expiration date to consider; that of its star – Tom Cruise. At 56, Cruise has outlasted most every action star of his generation and ilk. Given the ambitious nature of the many stunts he has performed thus far in these movies, it is a blind draw whether Cruise’s pride or his knees will give out first. I am sincerely impressed he has not yet become a candidate for knee and hip replacement surgery. But like it or not (and most of us do not) the time for Cruise’s graceful retirement from these grueling productions is fast coming. And, without his trademark cocksure flippancy to buttress these movies it would be a fool’s errand to recast the franchise with somebody new once that bridge has been crossed. We will have to wait and see. To be continued…

For now, Paramount’s remastering of all five Mission: Impossible movies in 4K offers some truly arresting results. The original movie and its first sequel were both photographed in Panavision on 35mm film, and, ever since, have looked generally crummy on home video. However, in full native 4K resolution, expertly graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, prepare for a treat, because MI1 and MI2 have never looked this good, except, ostensibly, during their theatrical runs.  There is really no comparison between these 4K remasters and the abysmal Blu-rays that preceded them. The 4K advances in color fidelity, fine detail and contrast, minus all the unsightly digital noise and visible age-related scratches and dirt that plagued the tired old Blu-rays.  HDR has produced a much wider color gamut with velvety blacks and distinctly brighter highlights.  Everything is more refined, except for the SFX shots.  A word here: there is nothing more to be done with content originally rendered in less than 2K and bumped to 4K.  It will always look soft by comparison. This is as it should be, or rather, only can be. The audio also gets an effective bump in 5.1. Dolby TruHD, with very aggressive bass and superb clarity.  What may insult certain buyers is Paramount has included the old Blu-rays with this set, not a remastered 4K downrez of this newly minted edition. So, MI1 and MI2 on Blu look just as awful as before, but with all their extra content originally available on the Blu-ray only. 

Mission: Impossible III was also shot in 35mm Panavision, but finished as a 2K digital intermediate, upsampled to 4K for this release and, as before, graded in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision.  Predictably, the noted improvements are not as evident, the overall gain in fine detail and texturing, slight to say the least. Where the image vastly improves is in its wider color gamut, much deeper blacks, and, vastly superior highlights. The last two films in the franchise (for now) – Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation – were shot and finished digitally and, predictably, look utterly magnificent in 4K. Aside: the Blu-ray releases of these last two movies equally looked good – nee magnificent, so discovering them as pristine, with eye-popping colors to boot in 4K is not entirely a revelation, but damn well expected and mercifully achieved herein. Color intensity really delivers the ‘wow’ factor with the IMAX footage taking on uncanny precision that simply envelopes the screen and immerses the viewer in an experience all its own.  Textural detail is extraordinary, particularly in skin and fabrics. These visual presentations will positively blow you away. Finally, both Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation sport a 7.1 uptick in their DTS audio and the results will rattle your home theater setup to its core; deep, vibrating bass, and explosive clarity with crisp dialogue.

Extras, again, - save the audio commentaries - for all these movies are housed on the Blu-ray editions only and are too numerous to go into detail herein: rather pointless to list too, especially for anyone who already owns the Blu-ray editions. Suffice it to say, you have not lost any content with these 4K re-issues. On the flipside, you have not exactly gained any new content either! Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

Mission: Impossible – 4.5

Mission: Impossible 2 – 2.5

Mission: Impossible III – 3

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – 5+

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation – 4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

Overall – 4.5

EXTRAS

Overall - 4