Mission: Impossible (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mission Impossible | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Brian De Palma |
| Produced by | Paul Hitchcock Tom Cruise Paula Wagner |
| Written by | David Koepp Steven Zaillian Robert Towne |
| Starring | Tom Cruise Emmanuelle Béart Jon Voight Jean Reno Ving Rhames |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 22, 1996 |
| Running time | 110 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million |
| Followed by | Mission: Impossible II |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Mission: Impossible (1996) is the first film based on the television series Mission: Impossible. It was directed by Brian De Palma and starred Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. The film was the third highest grossing of the year.
It was followed by 2000's Mission: Impossible II and 2006's Mission: Impossible III.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
[edit] Mole Hunt
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is an agent who serves as a point man on a squad of intelligence operatives known as Impossible Missions Force (IMF), which is headed by Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). The movie begins with the team assembling for a mission in Prague to stop a traitor from stealing the Non-official cover (NOC) list—a comprehensive list of all IMF agents in Eastern Europe which includes their call signs and their real names. The mission goes inexplicably wrong, apparently resulting in the assassinations of nearly the entire team, including Phelps, leaving Hunt the sole survivor.
Fleeing the scene, Hunt sets up a rendezvous with Agent Kittridge (Henry Czerny), a member of the CIA, at a café where he exasperatedly discloses the details of the deaths of his teammates. Kittridge explains that a mole has infiltrated the IMF and was attempting to sell the NOC list to an illegal arms dealer named "Max". The entire mission was actually an attempt to ferret out this mole, and as Hunt is the sole survivor, the CIA believes he is the mole. Hunt realizes that his only chance of clearing his name is to go rogue and unmask the identity of the real mole, and flees from the café.
[edit] Rogue Hunt
Ethan returns to the IMF safe house, where he discovers that his fellow IMF agent Claire (Emmanuelle Béart), Jim Phelps' wife, has also survived the mission. Ethan begins correspondence with "Max" (Vanessa Redgrave), explaining that the NOC list stolen that night was a fake, and offering to deliver the real NOC list in exchange for the identity of the mole, who is codenamed "Job". Ethan uses a Bible - specifically, the book of Job - to form his communications with Max.
Ethan devises a plan to steal the authentic NOC list from the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. In order to accomplish this mission he will need additional help so he and Claire search the 'Disavowed' list of agents for possible allies. He recruits Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames), while Claire brings in Franz Krieger (Jean Reno).
By mere chance, Ethan discovers that the Bible he is using was actually also used by Jim Phelps. Ethan realizes Jim was the mole, "Job".
Realising that Ethan is close to the truth, Jim Phelps reveals himself to Ethan, fabricating a sob story that Kittridge was the mole. Ethan pretends to buy the story, while figuring out the actual events of how Jim killed his team on the night in Prague, thus setting up Ethan to take the fall. Ethan also realises that Krieger was involved as backup for Phelps, but remains uncertain of Claire's place in the conspiracy.
[edit] Finale
Max and Ethan agree to meet on the TGV en route to Paris for the exchange. In a clever move, Ethan also allows the CIA to find out he was in London. Thus all the major players will meet on the train, so the CIA can capture Max and recover the NOC list while they witness, firsthand, Ethan's redemption.
On the train, Luther uses a jamming device to prevent Max from transmitting the NOC list, thus protecting all the IMF secret agents. Meanwhile, Ethan goes to meet "Job" in the rear of the train. To test Claire's innocence, Ethan disguises himself as Phelps; in turn, Claire unwittingly admits to Ethan the part she played in betraying the CIA. Lying in wait, the real Phelps reveals himself and delivers a monologue of confession.
Ethan reveals he has recorded the confession and transmitted it directly to Kittridge. Enraged, Phelps shoots Claire dead and knocks down Ethan as he escapes to the roof of the train, where Krieger is waiting to extract Phelps via helicopter. Ethan quickly follows Phelps, impeding his efforts to escape and tethering Krieger's helicopter to the train as it heads into the Channel Tunnel, forcing the helicopter to follow. The confrontation ends with Ethan blowing up Phelps and Krieger, along with the helicopter.
[edit] Conclusion
Ethan is cleared of all charges and Luther Stickel is removed from the disavowed list, becoming an IMF agent once more. The film ends with Ethan on a plane home, with a flight attendant gently persuading him to watch a particular film...
[edit] Locations
Filming locations include:
[edit] Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise — Ethan Hunt
- Jon Voight — Jim Phelps
- Emmanuelle Béart — Claire Phelps
- Ving Rhames — Luther Stickell
- Jean Reno — Franz Krieger
- Henry Czerny — Eugene Kittridge
- Vanessa Redgrave — Max
- Emilio Estevez — Jack Harmon (uncredited)
- Kristin Scott Thomas — Sarah Davies
[edit] Crew
- Directed by: Brian De Palma
- Written by: David Koepp, Steven Zaillian
- Produced by: Paul Hitchcock , Tom Cruise
- Film Score composed by: Danny Elfman
[edit] Box office
- Budget - $80,000,000
- Marketing cost - N/A
- Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $45,436,830
- Total Domestic Grosses - $180,981,886
- Total Overseas Grosses - $275,512,947
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $456,494,833
[edit] Reaction
The movie was the third highest grosser at the box-office for the year. Despite the large revenues, the film was criticised for being unfaithful to the original television series Mission: Impossible by focusing more on the star (and also producer) Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt rather than emphasizing teamwork. At the same time the film made the central character of the television series, Jim Phelps, a traitor in the CIA. The script was also criticized for being too complicated, a twist on the usual complaints that summer blockbusters are too lowbrow and simple. Most of the actors' performances were viewed as flat. However some fans regard it as much more faithful than its immediate sequel Mission: Impossible II. The second sequel, Mission: Impossible III however, was praised for its use of teamwork in various missions; a trait very much in line with the original series.
[edit] Inaccuracies
- One sequence in the film takes place on the roof of a speeding train in open countryside. The train is identifiable as a French TGV. TGVs require overhead power cables to operate, which are clearly not present in the sequence. During the same sequence the TGV enters the Channel Tunnel. However SNCF TGVs do not operate through the tunnel. High-speed rail services between London and Paris are operated by Eurostar using British Rail Class 373 trains, which are close relatives of the TGV. Also, the structure of the tunnel is incorrect as the actual Channel Tunnel is a system of three tunnels, not a single one as depicted. The train sequence was filmed on the Glasgow South Western Line in Scotland (hence the landscape not appearing much like Kent) using a normal British train with the image of the TGV overlaid using CGI, indeed in a few frames the real diesel locomotive at the front of the train is visible.
- In the film, the building of the US Embassy in Prague is the actual building of the National Museum. Moreover, the building is shown to be at the riverfront of the Vltava. In reality, neither the museum or the embassy is by the river.
- The "Aquarium" restaurant, where the meeting between Hunt and his supreme officer takes place, is located at the Old Town square (Prague). There is no such building there. Special effects were used to cover the actual buildings by this completely fictitious restaurant.
- In many parts of the film, people have to move between parts of London which, although many miles apart, they reach in very little time.
- The helicopter chasing Ethan is an MD500, which tops out at below the top speed of the high speed train at 200MPH.
[edit] Trivia
- Peter Graves, who played Jim Phelps in the original series, declined to reprise his role in the movie after learning his character was to die at the film's conclusion.
- Diehard fans of the original TV series were upset by the treatment of the Jim Phelps character in this film, and by the decision to turn much of the focus onto one character.
- While filming the famous scene in which 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.
- It was the first film to be shown simultaneously at over 3,000 theatres in the United States.
- Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton of U2 wrote the remix of the theme song for this movie, but all of U2 has been given credit by the public. The film version was also changed to a 4/4 time signature as opposed to composer Lalo Schifrin's more uncommonly used (in pop music) 5/4.
- Apple Computer paid millions of dollars in return for a Macintosh Computer to be featured in the film. To their dismay, it was shown with a 1980-style DOS interface.
- Alan Silvestri was originally hired to write the film's original score; his music was rejected and he was replaced by Danny Elfman.
- The "diskettes" featured in the movie are actually 230 MB 3.5" magneto-optical disks.
[edit] External links
| Television: | Mission: Impossible |
| Films: | Mission: Impossible | II | III |
| Video games: | Mission: Impossible (NES) | Mission: Impossible (N64) | Operation Surma |
