Leading up to the July 14, 2023 release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 we are taking a look back at each of the films in the Mission: Impossible series in order. Also check out our podcasts on each episode as well.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
BASIC STATS
- Release Date: May 22, 1996
- Budget: $80 mil
- Box office Results
- Opening weekend: $45 mill
- Domestic: $180 mil
- Global: $457 mill
CAST AND DIRECTOR
- Director: Brian De Palma
- Writer: Bruce Geller (TV series), David Koepp, Steven Zaillian, Robert Towne
- Main cast:
- Tom Cruise
- Jon Voight
- Emmanuelle Beart
- Jean Reno
- Ving Rhames
BASIC PLOT SUMMARY
Following a disastrous mission in which his team is killed, agent Ethan Hunt finds himself disavowed and hunted. He must recruit a team of disavowed agents to help him with the dangerous task of completing his original mission to get to the bottom of what happened to him and why.
OBSERVATIONS
Like the TV series
The Mission Impossible movie series is loosely based on the 1960s TV show by the same name. This movie, by far, has the most connection to the look and feel of the TV show. 
No more so than the opening 30 minutes of the movie as you see the agents work together as a team to work on their mission. The general pace, tone, and feel evoke the TV series far more than any of the other movies.
Uniqueness
This film is perhaps the most unique film of the series. It has a different pace, tone, composition, and direction than any film to follow it.
Cinematography
Director Brian De Palma uses several unusual camera angle in a number of scenes throughout the movie. When focusing on characters faces the camera will often be below the actors head looking
slightly up on the face. This is used most notably in the aquarium cafe scene early in the movie where you see this camera angle multiple times and the scene cuts back and forth between Hunt and Kitrich. It’s used to create a sense of foreboding danger.
De Palma also uses several ceiling camera shots were you are looking directly down on the actors and the room.
Bond gadget sequence
Bond movies were known to always include a scene where Bond visits Q in his workshop and Q does a run-through of all the new gadgets he’s about to be given. Immediately prior to the Prague mission, the agents are given a run-though of tech by Q stand-in, Jack, played by Emilio Estevez.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- It fits nicely within the classic spy film genre. Lots of tech, double-crosses, intricate plating.
- The pacing is excellent, very little idle movement or fluff scenes. It constantly keeps up the tension and keeps the next twist coming.
- The compelling characters that mark this series began here. First and foremost with Ethan Hunt, who is the talisman of the series. Through his choices we get the moral
code and the framework of the cinematic universe of M:I. We also get introduced to the most common teammate for Hunt: Ving Rhames’ Luther Strickell. - We get reintroduced to an updated and truly great title sequence
- A strength of the story is how it uses gadgets, rules and plot devices from early in the movie to resolve the story. Things like camera glasses, masks, an impersonations, which get introduced in the Prague scene, are brought back in the train finale to expose the plot against Ethan.
- Critics, at the time, labeled the plot too confusing and hard to follow. This is not a criticism shared by most of the fans of the series.
- The tech aspect of the movie doesn’t really hold up, which is no surprise after almost 30 years.
Memorable scenes
Prague Mission Gone Wrong
This is a beautifully shot and edited scene. Fog rolling off the river, street lights, no soundtrack. Ethan is running from teammate to teammate only to show up just in time to see them get murdered. It’s this scene that establishes the character of Ethan Hunt as the focal point of the series and provides his character motivation.
Helicopter in the tunnel
The final action scene of the movie features Kreiger, in attempt to rescue a rogue Phelps from on top a train, flying his helicopter into the Chunnel. He then attempts to use the blades to his copter to slice apart Hunt. This is the definition of a high intensity thrill ride.
Vault Break-In
Ethan Hunt and team’s break in to the secure vault at CIA headquarters to steal the NOC list, is arguably the single most memorable scene in the series. This, more than any other, established the franchise’s spy action credentials. It provides the blueprint for daring stunts that would come to characterize the franchise.
Fun Facts and Tidbits
- Several side cast members are going to be in Dead Reckoning Part 1 or 2
- Close up magic Ethan used to confuse Kreiger with the discs will be back in Dead reckoning
- Tom Cruise right now is older than Jon Voight was when he filmed M:I 1
- The use a Bible to reveal the traitor was reused in the movie The Imitation Game
