Mission: Impossible (1996)

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Bruce Geller (television series), David Koepp (story),

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Ethan Hunt
Jon Voight	...	Jim Phelps
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Claire Phelps (as Emmanuelle Beart)
Henry Czerny	...	Eugene Kittridge
Jean Reno	...	Franz Krieger
Ving Rhames	...	Luther Stickell
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Sarah Davies (as Kristin Scott-Thomas)
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Max
Dale Dye	...	Frank Barnes
Marcel Iures	...	Alexander Golitsyn
Ion Caramitru	...	Zozimov
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Hannah Williams
Valentina Yakunina	...	Drunken Female IMF Agent
Marek Vasut	...	Drunken Male IMF Agent
Nathan Osgood	...	Kittridge Technician

Storyline

Based on the hit T.V. series. Jim Phelps was sent to Prague for a mission to prevent the theft of classified material. His wife Claire and his trusted partner Ethan Hunt were members of Phelps' team. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong and the mission failed, leaving Ethan Hunt the lone survivor. After he reported the failed mission, Kettridge the head if the agency suspects Ethan of being the culprit for the failed mission. Now, Ethan uses unorthodox methods (Which includes the aid of an arms dealer going by the name "Max") to try to find who set him up and to clear his name.

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Plot Keywords:

mission | spy | stealing | prague | espionage | 

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Taglines:

Expect the Impossible

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense action violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Czech

Release Date:

22 May 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mission Impossible

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$804,000 (USA) (26 July 1996)

Gross:

$180,965,237 (USA) (22 November 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Cruise/Wagner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While filming the famous scene where Tom Cruise drops from the ceiling and hovers inches above the ground, Cruise's head kept hitting the floor until he got the idea to put coins in his shoes for balance.

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Goofs

When referring to the hardware necessary to break into CIA database, the Hunt group discusses about a new "686 experimental RISC" hardware. Although the reference could be totally fictional, it does remind of the way Intel used to brand their CPU back then, when 586 (or pentium) processors were the top of the line. The mistake is that the whole series of x86 processors were CISC processors and no RISC processor has ever been produced by Intel in the x86 series in the nineties.

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Quotes

Jim Phelps: We're being ambushed Ethan. Abort! That's an order.
Ethan Hunt: Negative. Golitsyn is on the move.
Jim Phelps: No, dammit, I said abort!
Ethan Hunt: Eye on the package. Jim, I'm Coming.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits contain several plot points from the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Dreams"
By Dolores O'Riordan & Noel Hogan
Performed by The Cranberries
Courtesy of Island Records, Ltd.
By Arrangement with Polygram Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Not really THAT confusing

I first saw Mission: Impossible when I was 15 and I didn't have a Scooby what the hell was going on. And I considered myself to be smarter than the average bear. In retrospect, it's not that muddled. In comparison to the very-dumbed down sequel it stands out as a better example of film-making made by a director who doesn't underestimate the audience.

Brian De Palma is known to be a wildly inconsistent filmmaker. From the over-rated Carrie, to the under-rated Snake Eyes, the classic Untouchables and the downright hideous Mission to Mars and Scarface, he's been through just about everything. But Mission: Impossible was his first true mega-hit. Movies from TV shows are a dime a dozen these days and are rarely taken seriously, I mean look at trash like S.W.A.T. or Dukes of Hazard, but M:I is actually supposed to be a continuation of the show, rather than a spin-off.

Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt (no, not cockney rhyming slang) an IMF agent who's entire team is killed in a phony sting operation in Prague. Accused of being a traitor he legs it before they can nab him and assembles a team of rogue operatives to find out who the REAL traitor is. Many double-crosses and double-double crosses ensue.

For those who cannot follow the plot there are some really good set-pieces with enough tension and excitement to carry the whole movie. You'll know by now the dangling scene in the top-secret room but the best scene in the movie is the high-speed train rocketing through the English countryside. While other directors might use this as a chance to show off, De Palma keeps it as realistic as possible which makes it infinitely more cooler.

Parts of the movie may seem a bit dated now and it's weird seeing Tom Cruise look like a little boy even though he was already 33. He even sounds different. And what kind of supervillian uses floppy discs? They could have tried something a bit more high-tech there.

The M:I franchise could be a helluva lot better, I suppose. The second film was terrible and the third merely average. But they're still better than the last few Bond outings, though it ain't quite up to the rugged quality of the Jason Bourne movies.

At least it got off to a good start. But can the world tolerate Cruise long enough to ever get a fourth made?