Mission: Impossible (4K)

Summary

“Do you read me?! The list is in the OPEN!!”

Paramount Pictures has recently released the entire collection of Mission: Impossible films on the 4K UHD format. They have also recently released a remastered Blu-ray of Mission: Impossible to replace the dated 2007 release. Over the weekend I decided to check the film out in both the UHD and remastered Blu-ray formats to see how different they looked. The review portions for the film will essentially be the same in both reviews, with the technical specs discussed differently in the two reviews.

In 1996, I was eleven years old when Mission: Impossible was released into the theaters. I remember how excited I was to see the film. The excitement for the film had been bolstered by an advertising campaign that included the awesome remix of the Lalo Schifrin theme by U2’s Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. which was being blasted from car stereos as a Top Ten hit or the clever Apple computer advertisements that showed that the finale had benefitted from their computer power. You better believe that I had the soundtrack CD before I even saw the film. Twenty five years have passed, and today I watched the film with my eleven year old son. His response was very similar to the response I had at his age – he loved it despite some minor issues following the plot. I enjoyed the experience of revisiting the film. 

(Warning: Due to the nature of espionage films, spoilers are unavoidable if you read the plot synopsis below.)

As the film begins, in Kiev, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team, including the beautiful Claire (Emmanuelle Beart) and technological hacker Jack (Emilio Estevez) extract some information from a man by using false identities and a ruse that involves Ethan wearing a false face. On a plane, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) is delivered a secret video message with a mission from the IMF (Impossible Mission Force.) Alexander Golitsyn has stolen half of the CIA NOC-List (Non Official Cover) which contains the code names of all the agents in the CIA. It is useless without the other half, but Golitsyn has plans to gain the other half in Prague.In Prague, Jim Phelps joins his team and lays out the mission. The mission is to attend a party in the city for dignitaries and important people, photograph Golitsyn, and follow him to the potential buyer for the NOC-List before capturing both. Ethan will go in to the party in disguise as a Senator from the States. Sarah (Kristin Scott Thomas) will already be in attendance at the party. They will mark the Senator with a special spray that marks him. Hannah will follow Golitsyn’s actions using special glasses. Jack will be in charge of the elevators. Claire will cover the outside in an escape vehicle. Jim will oversee and they will regroup at 0400 in the room. The whole agency is at risk if the NOC-list falls into the wrong hands. Ethan is given glasses that transmit video, a piece of gum that can be turned into an explosive, and a hearing piece that will listen to instructions from Jim. The operation goes completely off the rails. All of the agents are seemingly killed (including a very memorable death for Jack) and the NOC-List falls into the wrong hands. Jack, with blood on his hands from Sarah’s body, runs to a telephone booth and reaches Kittridge (Henry Czerny) to let him know that the team is dead and the list is out in the open. They set a meeting at a location for an hour later at a restaurant called Akvarium. Ethan asks Kittridge why there was another team. He runs Kittridge through all the other agents he had noticed throughout the night. Kittridge explains there has been a mole for a couple years and that an arms dealer named Max is trying to purchase the NOC-List and that this whole operation was a mole hunt. The actual list is safe in Langley. Since Ethan is the only known survivor, he is the top suspect. Someone has framed him through a series of bank transactions. Ethan throws the explosive gum against the aquarium wall and flees the restaurant as water pours down and out into the street. Ethan goes the motel for the meeting at 0400, and begins doing research based on what Kittridge mentioned. Claire shows up and explains that she was not killed in the car explosion. Ethan explains that he has been disavowed. He hatches a plan to get the actual NOC-List with the hopes that the actual mole will come to him.

When I was a child and first saw Mission: Impossible, I had a little trouble following some of the plot points because, like many things written by Robert Towne, the plot was dense. I was not alone in this as evidenced by many reviews by critics at the time who felt just as lost by the constant twists in the film. Watching the film as an adult, who also has benefitted from watching the film a lot as a child, the movie’s plot makes sense and drops clever hints as it proceeds as to what is happening. It is a lot of fun to revisit the amazing sequence in Prague and see how many things you notice that did not stick out on the first viewing. The first screenplay that was the basis for the film’s plot was from David Koepp. The large scale sequences like the party in Prague, and Langley sequence were designed by De Palma. Tom Cruise actually had the idea for the Akvarium sequence, which really helps the film. Robert Towne wrote around these sequences, writing and rewriting dialogue to fit.

One of the things I like so much about the Mission: Impossible film series is that each film is different from the next. My personal favorite Mission: Impossible film is M:I:3, thanks to the fantastic villainous role by Philip Seymour Hoffman and script by J.J. Abrams. My brother and I agree that M:I:2 is probably the least enjoyable of the bunch, but aside from what is best and what is worst, it is hard to pick a favorite from the rest. They are all unique and enjoyable in their own ways. What I like about Mission: Impossible is that the film is very much a Brian De Palma film. I am a fan of the director, and the opening party sequence in Prague is one of my favorite sequences that he ever created.

The film has an exceptional cast. Tom Cruise is great in the lead role of Ethan Hunt. He was just getting started in performing the majority of his stunts with this film and it makes a huge difference in creating believability in his character. When you see Tom Cruise running away from the Akvarium with glass and water pouring down directly behind him, it would be pretty impossible to dismiss him as an action star. Over the course of the later films, he would do much more eye popping stunts, but he came out of the gate strong here. The second best acting in the film comes from Henry Czerny. Czerny had just shown himself as being capable of portraying governmental agents in Clear and Present Danger, and his work here is great. I am happy that the two upcoming Mission: Impossible films are bringing back Kittridge, since he is one of the best characters in the series’ history. Emmanuelle Beart is beautiful and hits the right notes in her role as Claire. Jon Voight is well cast as Jim Phelps. Ving Rhames nailed the role as Luther and has been great in the later films. Jean Reno, fresh off his international success as Leon, turns in a solid performance as the knife-wielding rat-killing Krieger. It was also nice to see Vanessa Redgrave in her role.

The only aspect of the film that I never thought worked was actually the finale portion that takes place in the tunnel. Surprisingly, this sequence is considered by many to be one of their favorite sequences from the film, but for myself, the slow burn of the earlier sequences was much more enjoyable. The CGI for the sequence has always looked decent, but given that everything else in the film was shot in reality, I always felt the finale was a bit jarring. 

Overall – I loved revisiting Mission: Impossible. I hadn’t watched the original film in a few years, despite having watched it numerous times as a kid. I am thankful that Paramount has given the film a strong upgrade over the dated Blu-ray.

Video

The Blu-ray released in 2007 was always considered only a decent representation of the film, so I am happy to report that the new 4K HEVC/H.265 transfer from Paramount Pictures looks fantastic. Fine detail is greatly improved from prior releases and allows the viewers to truly relish the costume and set designs from the film. I compared this 4K UHD to the newly remastered Blu-ray and the big difference between the two is the HDR. The HDR makes the colors much more vivid than on the Blu-ray, while the Blu-ray seems to maintain a very similar level of fine detail. The HDR shows up well in the sequences that it can be effective – such as in the party scene greens are more vivid and the lighting in the elevator sequence turns bright with light shades of blue diffusion. It’s great to see the HDR enhancing the film without changing the intentions of the director and cinematographer. The film looks much better on UHD than the 2007 Blu-ray, and is still an upgrade from the newly remastered Blu-ray released in 2021.

Audio

Paramount Pictures have updated the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track for this release to a new Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The track definitely benefits from the upgrade. Surrounds are more active than in the 2007 Blu-ray release and LFE support becomes very active in the latter half of the film as Danny Elfman’s score becomes more prominent. It’s a fun track that should please all fans of the film.

Supplements:

The supplements featured are only found on the Blu-Ray included in the set. The Blu-ray included in the set is the dated release from 2007, not the newly remastered disc from 2021. The supplements themself are pretty anemic. 

• Mission: Remarkable — 40 Years of Creating the Impossible
• Mission: Explosive Exploits
• Mission: Spies Among Us
• Mission: Catching the Train
• Mission: International Spy Museum
• Mission: Agent Dossiers
• Excellence in Film
• Generation: Cruise
• Photo Gallery
• Mission: Marketing

Overall Scores: 

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 2/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Mission: Impossible has aged very well. The strong direction by Brian De Palma makes the film stand out from the other films in the series. There are some truly iconic sequences in the film that are as enjoyable as any that would follow in the later films. The film does have a few minor flaws. The finale jumps the shark a little. The plot has also been criticized for being convoluted, but revisiting the film with prior knowledge of the movie, I found that the plot was actually laid out very well. It is just impossible to catch all of the small details on the first viewing. The new 4K UHD presentation of the film brings the film vividly back to life in its best presentation since its theatrical release. The clever use of HDR brings out some colors that look much more flat in other presentations. I would highly encourage you to accept this Mission.