Danielle Solzman
Mission: Impossible received a remastered 25th anniversary edition on Blu-ray in honor of this week’s anniversary of the 1996 release.
The Blu-ray release also coincides with the recent Fathom Events anniversary screening. Aside from a gallery of trailers for all six feature films, every bonus feature has also been previously released. The collectible edition also includes an IMF car decal. Paramount also released a trio of 4K Ultra HD anniversary editions for films starring Tom Cruise in 2020: Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and War of the Worlds. Mission: Impossible previously received an 4K UHD upgrade a month before the release of Fallout in 2018. All 6 films were released together in a 4K collection when Fallout hit home video.
The initial release in 1996 also drew some negative feedback from some of the original TV series cast members. They were especially not happy with the portrayal of Jim Phelps. Peter Graves portrayed Phelps in the TV series and because the film reveals him to be a traitor, he decided not to sign on. Instead, Jon Voight takes on the role. I can certainly understand this criticism from the original cast and it’s one in which I find myself in agreement. Making Phelps out to be the bad guy is without a doubt one of the biggest problems in watching the film. It’s a taint on the character’s legacy especially since Phelps was the protagonist in the television series.
Once you get past Phelps being the bad guy, the film lays the foundation for what is sure to be a solid action franchise starring Tom Cruise. Look at the stunts Cruise performs in the film as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. In what is one of the best set pieces in the film, Hunt penetrates a vault said to be impenetrable. This scene is just as thrilling on the small screen as it is on the big screen. Later on, we see him holding on for dear life while aboard a speeding train. We know what Tom Cruise is capable of doing in terms of stunts but this film is just one of many examples. All the while, IMF director Eugene Kittridge is out to get Hunt with the belief that he’s the mole in the agency. But, again, these two scenes in particular mark high points for the film.
With the IMF team mostly dead and Kittridge disavowing him, Hunt has to bring on new team members. He recuits both hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and helicopter pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno). They join Phelps’s wife, Claire (Emmanuelle Béart), in retrieving the actual NOC list. Easier said than done, of course.
While Mission: Impossible isn’t the best film in the franchise, it lays the foundation for everything that will come our way in the future.
Bonus Features
- 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: Cruise
- Generation: Cruise
- Photo Gallery
- Theatrical Trailers
- Mission: Impossible Teaser
- Mission: Impossible Trailer
- TV Spots
DIRECTOR: Brian De Palma
SCREENWRITERS: David Koepp and Robert Towne
CAST: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Vanessa Redgrave
