Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appr...
Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appreciate any reads of my Flashforward review - it came through too fast!
Member since:10.01.2009
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Mission Impossible (1996)
We just felt in the mood for an older movie, but an excellent film all the same to watch as a family, as pickings are a bit slim at the moment. My children picked it for us to watch as a family.
What's it all about?
Of course the film is based upon the same set up used in the television series of the same name. Having said this, I have not watched any of the original series as this was before my time.
The film is a secret agent movie, with a group of agents given the task of going to Prague to stop a top secret list of agents, passing into the hands of traitors. The group are told to walk away if the mission fails and that their bosses will not admit to knowing them if they are captured.
The mission does go awry and it seems that all of the agents are killed, all except for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Ethan makes arrangements to meet his superiors in a restaurant and it is here that Ethan realises that he is a main suspect being the last man standing.
He discovers that the mission was really not what it seems and sets out to prove his innocence...
Opinion
You either love Tom Cruise or hate him, but this film was just meant for him. I thoroughly enjoy it every time I watch it (which has been more than once) for many different reasons. I enjoyed watching Tom Cruise in this type of film more than ever; this I feel is where he is at his best, rather than his more serious roles. His performance when he is distressed to find out he is the only member of the team who survived is especially good.
The first reason is the sound track; most people will have heard the catchy tune and blasting out at high volume it is great. As well as the main tune, the ongoing soundtrack is good at adding suspense at the right moments. I was going to give it four out of five stars, but gave it five in the end, because the music is such a massive part of the film.
I also like the lack of sound in key moments; there is silence as Ethan descends into a vault that adds to the tension and you are willing him to be successul.
The film has a star studded task, with Kirsten Scott Thomas, Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave to name a few. All give good performances and the direction of Brian de Palma is edgy and I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ethans discovers he is the main suspect and engages with a tit for tat with his boss Kittridge.
The stunts are particularly well executed and have been emulated many times, (especially in MI2 and MI3) Ethan has to enter a government CIA building and avoid laser beams etc (the scene already mentioned) and this has you watching holding your breath.
Ethan is also a master of disguise and perhaps this is the hardest part to find believable - but this is an escapist film in the first place. This is not a serious movie in the same way that the Bourne Identity is; it is make believe and as long as you play along, it is very enjoyable, with a few good one liners and funny scenes along the way.
A bit of trivia I found out was that Ethan (Tom Cruise) never actually fires a gun!
Now I want to watch Mission Impossible 2 tomorrow!
Availability
It is available from Amazon for only £3.78, which is a fantastic price.
It is rated PG and last for 106 minutes
Summary: The best of the series.
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Production Year: 2004 - Action/Adventure - Director: Jon Turteltaub - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Mission: Impossiblewas one of the best action blockbusters of the 1990s, deriving a ... more
quality unique amongst its peers from the tension between Brian De Palma's directorial stylisation and the overriding presence of its star and producer, Tom Cruise. Cru...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Mission: Impossiblewas one of the best action blockbusters of the 1990s, deriving a ... more
quality unique amongst its peers from the tension between Brian De Palma's directorial stylisation and the overriding presence of its star and producer, Tom Cruise. Cru...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Tom Cruise ignites the screen in this runaway smash hit. Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, a ... more
secret agent framed for the deaths of his espionage team.Fleeing from government assassins, breaking into the CIA's most impenetrable vault, clinging to the roof of ...
![Mission Impossible [1996] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78525007.jpg "Mission Impossible [1996] [DVD]")
![Mission: Impossible [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/83369697.jpg "Mission: Impossible [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
Nov 2nd, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
![Mission: Impossible II [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/83380678.jpg)
