July 2000

Mission: Impossible
Reviewed by Doug Schneider
DVD Format

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Picture Quality:
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Starring Tom Cruise, Vanessa Redgrave, Ving Rhames, Jon Voight

Directed by Brian DePalma

Theatrical Release: 1996
DVD Release: 1998
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen/Full Screen

With all the hoopla surrounding this summer’s release of Mission: Impossible 2, it was fun to watch the first installment again. Although released only four years ago, I must admit to being a bit surprised to see just how much different Cruise looks. It’s not just the shorter hair either, facially and physically he looks ten, perhaps even fifteen, years younger. Nevertheless, after a few moments it’s easy to settle into the Cruise-of-old and enjoy this intriguing spy film.

The Mission: Impossible series is based on the television show of the same name. Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a top-notch spy who works for a covert organization that deals with things like worldwide espionage and everything that goes with it. These guys are so secret that, should they be captured, their existence will be denied. Director Brian DePalma brings his usual visual flair to full force with this film. It’s not an exercise in action, like the latest one, it’s more of an exercise in style. Intriguing locations, long panning camera shots, odd-angle close-ups, and all the stuff he is known for are on full display. He gives it a decidedly European flavor to its look and relies mostly on building the plot through the interplay of the characters rather than a paint-by-numbers screenplay.

Mission: Impossible was criticized for having a story many could not understand. Really? Perhaps I’m missing something, but it’s all pretty clear to me (then again, with the sitcom-based TV generation, attention spans are notoriously short). John Woo, director of this year’s sequel, obviously concurred with those critics because his film makes sure that you don’t even need to wonder if it has a plot. Get up and go for popcorn in Woo’s film and you may miss a well-choreographed action scene and a few Karate flips; leave for a moment in DePalmas’ flick and you will likely miss something that will be crucial later in the film.

Mission: Impossible contains, for the most part, what I call quiet action. The best example of it is the break-in to CIA headquarters. It is done with wonderful visual style and moves along extremely slowly. However, this deliberate pacing creates very high tension and the image of Cruise suspended by wires is one of those most memorable of this film. The only real action scene comes with the helicopter and train chase through a tunnel. It, too, is done very well with music that perfectly-supplements the action. However, that one adrenaline rush of the film leaves off where Woo’s action-film-on-steroids begins.

Picture quality is quite good, but undoubtedly could be better. It was released only two years ago, but in DVD years that’s quite a long time. It looks a little dated compared to the mastering jobs being done today. Same goes for the sound quality, which is good but certainly not reference material. I would suspect that if this film were mastered for DVD today we would see something far superior.

DVD extras are, unfortunately, non-existent. This is surprising given the box-office success it achieved and the fact that it stars Tom Cruise. I expected interviews, commentary, and perhaps some deleted scenes. We get nothing more than the theatrical trailer. Too bad.

Mix the brains of this first installment with some of the action sequences of the second and we would likely have a five-star film. However, we can only wish. What we have is two very good, but very different films. While some like to pick favorites, I will simply say that I liked both equally, but for different reasons. If you haven’t seen it already, go see Mission: Impossible 2. I like to take jabs at it because of its low-brainpower nature; however, it is fun to watch. After that, rent this one on DVD.

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