My brief review from 2017:
"Mission: Impossible" is an American 110-minute movie from 1996, so this one is already over 20 years old. The director is Brian De Palma and the lead actor is Tom Cruise, possibly the biggest movie star back then when this film came out and still among the very biggest today, over 2 decades later. This film is based on a television series from several decades earlier, but of course most people don't know about that one, let alone have seen it (or episodes of it) and the movies are much more famous today. I said "movies" and this already tells you that several sequels were made and the franchise is still alive today because it keeps getting large crowds into theaters. As for this one here, the cast includes several known names, such as Cruise of course, but also Reno and Rhames are fun to watch. From the older generation, Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave are on board. Béart and Scott Thomas (in a pretty small role) play attractive women and Emilio Estevez has an okay cameo too. But all in all, it is really all about Cruise. The film does not offer too much in terms of performances and range really, but it does not have to do so in order to be a success.
I think the film manages a good balance overall here. It starts with a real boom that is a crucial event linked to everything that happens afterward, the entire movie, so our attention is right there where it needs to be from the very start. This film is about a lot more than just dealing with the question: Who is the traitor? It is also interesting to follow Cruise's path to finding out the man's identity and that was the real challenge. But still, it was nice to see the coat and the suspense at the end. The train scene (more what happened inside than outside) was truly a highlight here, also with Max and Hunt's aides etc. But it is only the second-best scene. The absolute highlight is of course the scene in which they steal all the data, really nerve-racking stuff and so tense that it will inevitable have you at the edge of your seat in its entirety. Certainly a contender for best movie scene of 2016 and I also think the writing there was very good with the temperature, sound sensors etc. This is thriller genre at its very best and judging from this scene alone, the film would have deserved an 8/10 at the very least. But sadly there were also some weaker moments such as the way Reno exits eventually or the plot twist at the end with Béart's character who was not half as memorable as she could have been. And there are others too. But nothing is so grave or bad to a level where it keeps this film from being a really good viewing experience. I highly recommend to check it out, if you are one of the few who haven't already. I myself will check out the sequels at some point in the future as well. Guaranteed. I give this one here, how it all started, a thumbs-up. Go see it.
My thoughts from 2024: "Mission: Impossible" is an American movie almost exclusively in the English language and this is from 1996, so almost 30 years old now. Actually, the period between this film and the 1960s series with the same name is the same like the period between this film and the now in 2024. This film launched the franchise of course that has been going on with many movies to this day and the director in charge of this beginning was Brian De Palma, a man successful enough that retrospectives are released that bring his most known films back to the big screen in countries far away from America. The man was in his 50s back then and it was not uncommon for him to write screenplays for his films, but maybe only around 50% of the time. So it is no surprise that for this film here there are three other writers credited. First is Bruce Geller, who died at a relatively young age long before the shooting of this film and developed the original "Mission: Impossible". Second is David Koepp who was quite young at that point still and this film is definitely a contender for his most known work and finally Steven Zaillian, who just won an Oscar for penning "Schindler's List" before working on this one here. The cast includes big names and two more Oscar winners.
As for the actors, this film and franchise helped a lot in turning Oscar nominee Tom Cruise into the biggest movie star on the planet although Brad Pitt fans may disagree. It came out the same time like "Jerry Maguire", which brought Cruise his second Academy Award nomination. This was also when Kristin Scott Thomas scored her only Oscar nomination so far. Her screen time here, however, is limited. Emmanuelle Béart is featured way more. Jean Reno, right after "Léon", is easy to identify. His character is definitely not best buddies with Cruise's. But you can see who the boss is in the scene when Reno's character is struggling to make sure Cruise's will not fall. Or also during the scene when we see how Reno's character was ready to kill, but is stopped. Props to you btw. If you made the connection that he was the unseen stabber at the beginning. If we keep looking at the younger folks, Ving Rhames is also on board as one of the good guys. The two aforementioned Oscar winners in this film are now in 2024 deep into their 80s: Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave. With the latter, I am not sure what her character contributed to this film. I like her as an actress, but the role was not half as impactful as they wanted her to be. Voight disappears early from the film, but reappears eventually. It was an interesting scene when we understand his character is the main antagonist, even if he tries to put the blame on somebody else. We see him give Cruise's character the information on what happened and we see the reality in flashbacks. At that point we do now know yet that Hunt (Cruise's character) was very well aware of Voight's character being the villain, but we find out later and this concludes then basically that Voight's character's story was what was going on in Cruise's head.
Overall, I would say these 110 minutes have aged alright. Some decent scenes, but also some mediocrity. It will come down to personal taste what stays memorable for you in this film. The one thing most will agree on is the scene when Hunt steals the files. The inclusions of temperature, weight and noise are easy to remember. The way this scene was shot was absolutely haunting, especially when Cruise almost hits the ground. The vomiting agent was comedy, just like him seeing the knife and the mention of his future in Alaska. The knife moment by the way was another mishap from Reno's character that showed us how he is not as much of a professional as Hunt. What I also liked was the red-green bubblegum explosive. A touch of 007 there. Locations are also fine: The film starts in Kiev, then moves to Prague before the United States and United Kingdom get included. What I did not like was the rushed-in inclusion of Hunt's family, the magic trick scene and also stuff related to Béart's character. You could feel that by then Hunt had grown on her and she did not want to kill him anymore. Maybe even fell for him. The final helicopter sequence also did not do much for me. Oh yeah and everything linked to Job. I guess it was an alias then for Voight's character. I would have preferred it to be left out. Felt too written for my liking, but could very well be that you like and dislike completely different segments. Initially, I had a feeling that Voight's character could indeed be the criminal, but my mind wandered away from him towards Kristin Scott Thomas and I thought it could be her to return from the dead in the end. Somebody would. That much was safe. What really happened then also made an interesting connection to Voight's character jokingly asking Hunt a question during the final meeting before the operation. Maybe he himself is the one who cannot trust his wife although it was not like in 007 films where the girl really sided with the good guy eventually.
Some final thoughts: The reenactment at the beginning was pretty awesome, also with the mask and how nothing was what it seemed. The second mask inclusion when we see Hunt pose as Voight's character was maybe one too many. But speaking of putting stuff on your face, I did like the glasses moment when Hunt makes sure people know that Voight's character is alive. The most gruesome scene was when another male field agent is killed early on. Not super graphic, but still. I liked all that happened early on quite a bit. I am talking everything before Hunt is hunted himself. Or well, he is still on the hunt for the mole himself. Also interesting that two henchmen were French (Ta gueule!) or at least the actors who portrayed them. Alright, this is pretty much it then. I want to end the review by saying that what stays most memorable from this film, except the data theft sequence, is the music. The tune from the franchise is so incredibly catchy that it was clear they would reuse it not only for every sequel, but also for every trailer. Everybody associates it with this franchise immediately. The music is the franchise and so is Cruise. He makes it work here too, but here and there a little less alpha male would not have been a poor decision, like of course Hunt was also romantically connected to KST's character. No woman can resist him. Thinking about it, maybe I should have known that she would not be the villain and would, from a perspective that they could not have discredited Hunt as the best guy (for any woman) on the planet, never go against the man she so dearly loved. If we look at the last scene, apparently being asked in a plane if you want to see a movie from a certain region of the planet is a code for the next mission taking place in this country. So they already had plans for a sequel and of course it happened after this film was a huge commercial success. Critics today maybe like it more than they did back then, even if not many will say that it is the best film from the franchise.
"Mission: Impossible" is an American 110-minute movie from 1996, so this one is already over 20 years old. The director is Brian De Palma and the lead actor is Tom Cruise, possibly the biggest movie star back then when this film came out and still among the very biggest today, over 2 decades later. This film is based on a television series from several decades earlier, but of course most people don't know about that one, let alone have seen it (or episodes of it) and the movies are much more famous today. I said "movies" and this already tells you that several sequels were made and the franchise is still alive today because it keeps getting large crowds into theaters. As for this one here, the cast includes several known names, such as Cruise of course, but also Reno and Rhames are fun to watch. From the older generation, Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave are on board. Béart and Scott Thomas (in a pretty small role) play attractive women and Emilio Estevez has an okay cameo too. But all in all, it is really all about Cruise. The film does not offer too much in terms of performances and range really, but it does not have to do so in order to be a success.
I think the film manages a good balance overall here. It starts with a real boom that is a crucial event linked to everything that happens afterward, the entire movie, so our attention is right there where it needs to be from the very start. This film is about a lot more than just dealing with the question: Who is the traitor? It is also interesting to follow Cruise's path to finding out the man's identity and that was the real challenge. But still, it was nice to see the coat and the suspense at the end. The train scene (more what happened inside than outside) was truly a highlight here, also with Max and Hunt's aides etc. But it is only the second-best scene. The absolute highlight is of course the scene in which they steal all the data, really nerve-racking stuff and so tense that it will inevitable have you at the edge of your seat in its entirety. Certainly a contender for best movie scene of 2016 and I also think the writing there was very good with the temperature, sound sensors etc. This is thriller genre at its very best and judging from this scene alone, the film would have deserved an 8/10 at the very least. But sadly there were also some weaker moments such as the way Reno exits eventually or the plot twist at the end with Béart's character who was not half as memorable as she could have been. And there are others too. But nothing is so grave or bad to a level where it keeps this film from being a really good viewing experience. I highly recommend to check it out, if you are one of the few who haven't already. I myself will check out the sequels at some point in the future as well. Guaranteed. I give this one here, how it all started, a thumbs-up. Go see it.
My thoughts from 2024: "Mission: Impossible" is an American movie almost exclusively in the English language and this is from 1996, so almost 30 years old now. Actually, the period between this film and the 1960s series with the same name is the same like the period between this film and the now in 2024. This film launched the franchise of course that has been going on with many movies to this day and the director in charge of this beginning was Brian De Palma, a man successful enough that retrospectives are released that bring his most known films back to the big screen in countries far away from America. The man was in his 50s back then and it was not uncommon for him to write screenplays for his films, but maybe only around 50% of the time. So it is no surprise that for this film here there are three other writers credited. First is Bruce Geller, who died at a relatively young age long before the shooting of this film and developed the original "Mission: Impossible". Second is David Koepp who was quite young at that point still and this film is definitely a contender for his most known work and finally Steven Zaillian, who just won an Oscar for penning "Schindler's List" before working on this one here. The cast includes big names and two more Oscar winners.
As for the actors, this film and franchise helped a lot in turning Oscar nominee Tom Cruise into the biggest movie star on the planet although Brad Pitt fans may disagree. It came out the same time like "Jerry Maguire", which brought Cruise his second Academy Award nomination. This was also when Kristin Scott Thomas scored her only Oscar nomination so far. Her screen time here, however, is limited. Emmanuelle Béart is featured way more. Jean Reno, right after "Léon", is easy to identify. His character is definitely not best buddies with Cruise's. But you can see who the boss is in the scene when Reno's character is struggling to make sure Cruise's will not fall. Or also during the scene when we see how Reno's character was ready to kill, but is stopped. Props to you btw. If you made the connection that he was the unseen stabber at the beginning. If we keep looking at the younger folks, Ving Rhames is also on board as one of the good guys. The two aforementioned Oscar winners in this film are now in 2024 deep into their 80s: Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave. With the latter, I am not sure what her character contributed to this film. I like her as an actress, but the role was not half as impactful as they wanted her to be. Voight disappears early from the film, but reappears eventually. It was an interesting scene when we understand his character is the main antagonist, even if he tries to put the blame on somebody else. We see him give Cruise's character the information on what happened and we see the reality in flashbacks. At that point we do now know yet that Hunt (Cruise's character) was very well aware of Voight's character being the villain, but we find out later and this concludes then basically that Voight's character's story was what was going on in Cruise's head.
Overall, I would say these 110 minutes have aged alright. Some decent scenes, but also some mediocrity. It will come down to personal taste what stays memorable for you in this film. The one thing most will agree on is the scene when Hunt steals the files. The inclusions of temperature, weight and noise are easy to remember. The way this scene was shot was absolutely haunting, especially when Cruise almost hits the ground. The vomiting agent was comedy, just like him seeing the knife and the mention of his future in Alaska. The knife moment by the way was another mishap from Reno's character that showed us how he is not as much of a professional as Hunt. What I also liked was the red-green bubblegum explosive. A touch of 007 there. Locations are also fine: The film starts in Kiev, then moves to Prague before the United States and United Kingdom get included. What I did not like was the rushed-in inclusion of Hunt's family, the magic trick scene and also stuff related to Béart's character. You could feel that by then Hunt had grown on her and she did not want to kill him anymore. Maybe even fell for him. The final helicopter sequence also did not do much for me. Oh yeah and everything linked to Job. I guess it was an alias then for Voight's character. I would have preferred it to be left out. Felt too written for my liking, but could very well be that you like and dislike completely different segments. Initially, I had a feeling that Voight's character could indeed be the criminal, but my mind wandered away from him towards Kristin Scott Thomas and I thought it could be her to return from the dead in the end. Somebody would. That much was safe. What really happened then also made an interesting connection to Voight's character jokingly asking Hunt a question during the final meeting before the operation. Maybe he himself is the one who cannot trust his wife although it was not like in 007 films where the girl really sided with the good guy eventually.
Some final thoughts: The reenactment at the beginning was pretty awesome, also with the mask and how nothing was what it seemed. The second mask inclusion when we see Hunt pose as Voight's character was maybe one too many. But speaking of putting stuff on your face, I did like the glasses moment when Hunt makes sure people know that Voight's character is alive. The most gruesome scene was when another male field agent is killed early on. Not super graphic, but still. I liked all that happened early on quite a bit. I am talking everything before Hunt is hunted himself. Or well, he is still on the hunt for the mole himself. Also interesting that two henchmen were French (Ta gueule!) or at least the actors who portrayed them. Alright, this is pretty much it then. I want to end the review by saying that what stays most memorable from this film, except the data theft sequence, is the music. The tune from the franchise is so incredibly catchy that it was clear they would reuse it not only for every sequel, but also for every trailer. Everybody associates it with this franchise immediately. The music is the franchise and so is Cruise. He makes it work here too, but here and there a little less alpha male would not have been a poor decision, like of course Hunt was also romantically connected to KST's character. No woman can resist him. Thinking about it, maybe I should have known that she would not be the villain and would, from a perspective that they could not have discredited Hunt as the best guy (for any woman) on the planet, never go against the man she so dearly loved. If we look at the last scene, apparently being asked in a plane if you want to see a movie from a certain region of the planet is a code for the next mission taking place in this country. So they already had plans for a sequel and of course it happened after this film was a huge commercial success. Critics today maybe like it more than they did back then, even if not many will say that it is the best film from the franchise.