Product Description

Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt leader of a crack squad of intelligence operatives in this labyrinthine action-thriller based on the hit 1960s-'70s television series. When a dangerous mission in Prague goes inexplicably wrong Hunt finds himself out in the cold. A mole has infiltrated the CIA and suspicions are that it's Hunt. His only chance: Find out who the real mole is and turn the tables. The plan takes him on an incredibly suspenseful infiltration of CIA security leading to a spectacular chunnel climax that would make Hitchcock proud. Thanks to crisp inventive direction from Brian De Palma and Danny Elfman's dynamite electronica score (including a catchy update of the original Lalo Schifrin theme) this mission is great fun. The talented roster of stars backing Cruise includes Ving Rhames Vanessa Redgrave John Voight Kristin Scott Thomas and Jean Reno. A witty script by Robert Towne (CHINATOWN SHAMPOO) and David Koepp keeps the ball rolling in unexpected directions with the paranoia always set to high. A box-office record-setter during its original release MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE led to a well-deserved sequel also with Cruise and Rhames.System Requirements:Running Time 110 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 097360420449 Manufacturer No: 042044

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4465 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
• Released on: 2006-04-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of Mission: Impossible. Based on the '60s TV show and an almost impenetrably complex (but nonetheless thrilling) original story by David Koepp (Jurassic Park) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), with a screenplay by Koepp and Robert Towne (Chinatown, Shampoo), Mission: Impossible begins with veteran agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his expert crew embarking on a mission that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But nothing is what it seems. The nail-biting set piece--always a signature of director De Palma (Carrie, The Untouchables)--in which Cruise is lowered from the ceiling to retrieve information from a computer in a high-security vault--is an instant classic. But perhaps even more impressive, at least in retrospect, is a flashback sequence in which two characters attempt to reconstruct a series of events from multiple points of view. It's pretty daring and sophisticated stuff for a big-budget spy movie, but brains were always what put the Mission: Impossible team ahead of the competition, anyway, no? --Jim Emerson

Amazon.com
A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of Mission: Impossible. Based on the '60s TV show and an almost impenetrably complex (but nonetheless thrilling) original story by David Koepp (Jurassic Park) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), with a screenplay by Koepp and Robert Towne (Chinatown, Shampoo), Mission: Impossible begins with veteran agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his expert crew embarking on a mission that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But nothing is what it seems. The nail-biting set piece--always a signature of director De Palma (Carrie, The Untouchables)--in which Cruise is lowered from the ceiling to retrieve information from a computer in a high-security vault--is an instant classic. But perhaps even more impressive, at least in retrospect, is a flashback sequence in which two characters attempt to reconstruct a series of events from multiple points of view. It's pretty daring and sophisticated stuff for a big-budget spy movie, but brains were always what put the Mission: Impossible team ahead of the competition, anyway, no? --Jim Emerson

On the DVD
Coinciding with the theatrical release of Mission: Impossible III, the collector's edition of the first Mission: Impossible film weighs in with a little over a half-hour of new featurettes. The first and longest, "Mission: Remarkable: 40 Years of Creating the Impossible" (11 min.), begins with a discussion of the original TV series, but quickly becomes a standard behind-the-scenes promo of the two feature films. Shorter featurettes cover special effects, gadgets displayed at the International Spy Museum, real-life covert agents, and the making of the first movie's famous tunnel sequence. Also included are Tom Cruise's acceptance speech for the 2005 BAFTA/LA Stanley Kubrick Brittania Award for Excellence in Film and an accompanying nine-minute montage of his film clips (through War of the Worlds), and his acceptance speech for the 2005 MTV Generation Award (presented by Katie Holmes) with a shorter clip montage. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

An Extraordinary Tom Cruise Vehicle From Start To Finish
"This mission will self destruct in five seconds". That is a classic line in movie history that everyone should know. Mission Impossible is based on the popular TV series that spawned 7 seasons. This motion picture adaptation is a wonderful treat indeed, it includes espionage, action, suspense you name it this movie hits the nail on the spot. The only thing about the movie that..well isn't bad but troublesome is the plot which is quite confusing but then again that is what makes the film shine; so yeah if I where you I would give the movie a couple of multiple viewings in order to comprehend the film's plot.


The movie's plot surrounds Tom Cruise' character of Ethan Hunt, IMF agent (Impossible Mission Force) Who looses his team of spies in a mission gone bad. It seems that there is a list known as the NOC list, which contains the names of all the agents working for the agency, if stolen or obtained by the wrong source it could jeopardize every agent in the force. So without ruining the movie it's all about Treason and it requires a lot of thinking and observation... In a way the viewer must behave as a spy in order to understand it and notice the tiniest important detail. So as I said it may require second viewing, in my case I had to watch it 4 times in order to understand it completely.

The only thing that I found a bit silly is the last action sequence in the train; it feels out of place as if the movie out of nowhere changed genre from espionage to action. Also the film is kind of dated but it won't ruin the movie's plot which is phenomenal. Last thing make sure that when you buy it that it is the special collectors edition. I say this because of experience; the standard version is presented in a letterboxed format. Which means that if played on a plasma HD screen it will look horendous, due to the fact that it is not enhaced for 16:9 screens. If you have a regular 4:3 screens then I guess it's okay to buy the cheaper standard one, the special edition doesn't include many special features anyway. So yeah great movie, a bit confusing but phenomenal. Definitely a must have.


MY PERSONAL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

almost cartoony but watchable
I have the standard DVD which was good but the HD DVD is super;highly recommended.
As for the movie,it is good but the main point is that it is one of those few movies which allows repeated watching without becoming boring.
One of the reasons why it is so, is that it will make you go back to 'CIA break in' and wonder how they did it;being a SINGAPOREAN, I think they made it look too easy to infiltrate the CIA.
Thanks

Your special edition, should you choose to accept it...
Shot in Prague before it became synonymous with cheap labor and tax breaks for runaway productions, the initial signs were less than promising for Mission: Impossible - rumors of clashes between Cruise and Brian De Palma, the latter pointedly keeping a very low public profile when the film opened, last-minute heavy re-editing and the dropping of Alan Silvestri's original score (not, it has to be said, anywhere near as effective as Danny Elfman's replacement) - yet the result is a lot more fun than it has any real right to be. There's little relation to the original series aside from the title, Lalo Schifrin's theme music and an ill-done by Jim Phelps, here played by Jon Voight rather than Peter Graves - indeed, the original cast turned down offers of cameos in a film which kills off almost the entire Impossible Mission Force in the first twenty minutes so the star can hog the spotlight. But then, in those days Tom Cruise still sold more tickets than anyone else and the film raked it in - as they say in gangster movies, it's nothing personal, just business.

Although it was apparently Emmanuelle Beart's role that bore the brunt of the pre-release cuts, Cruise is in more danger of being overshadowed by co-stars Ving Rhames and Jean Reno, neither of whom get as many close-ups but make up for it with much more unforced charisma and screen presence. The plot doesn't always make sense - there's really no reason to break into the CIA's headquarters in Langley to steal a real list of undercover agents' names to use as bait other than allowing the director to stage a Topkapi-inspired high-wire heist - but it just about serves to fill in the gaps between setpieces, including a neat sequence that's pure De Palma where one character's explanation of events is accompanied by visuals gradually piecing together what really happened and a doozey of an action sequence involving a helicopter in the Channel Tunnel that caused the Bond producers to drop their original storyboarded-but-unshot Channel Tunnel pre-title sequence from the script of GoldenEye as well as boasting a neat line in spectacularly breaking windows.

No classic but an above-average Summer movie that holds up surprisingly well. Although an improvement over the bare-bones original DVD release, there's a distinct feeling that the reverential special features on the new special edition are there merely to reassure Cruise and his fans that he is indeed the most special and wonderful person in the world.