Customer Reviews

Mission Impossible [VHS]

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I am a big fan of this movie but there's nothing special about this, so-called "Collector's Edition" which only seems to have been issued in order to have something tied up for the release of MI3.
There are a few short clips on how the incredible set pieces were made but no new interviews, deleted scenes, commentaries, etc. The featurettes included are as shallow as they can get. This is too bad given the many years we had been waiting for a special edition of this movie. Compare this to the incredible SEs Fox has been issuing of movies such as the Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno, Nine to Five, Planet of the Apes, etc. and it feels like somebody at Paramount ought to be fired.

I don't quite get the bad reviews for this film. Its one of my All-Time favorites, and sure, it takes brains to follow the storyline. Yeah? So? I think that you have become to accustomed to action movies with no stories, just people getting blown up. This movie centers around Ethan Hunt (Cruise) an IMF agent sent on a mission in Keiv. The mission goes wrong and its up to Ethan to figure out what happened. He soon finds himself trying to keep a IMF NOC list from getting into the wrong hands. But whose hands are those? This movie does involve some thinking, and you may have to view it a few times to truly appreciate, but isn't that what a great movie does? You pick up new things every time you view. The movie stars Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jon Voigt in a great role and other well known actors and actresses.

The first 15 minutes of the film nod to the original series and promise a slick new version for the 90s. Then suddenly the film becomes dull, predictable and cliched, featuring all the ideas that had previously been rejected as potential storylines for an MI film - ideas suggested by people who knew little about the series but thought the title sounded catchy. When the mission goes wrong and Ethan is speaking to Phelps...its so obvious what is happening and the film vanishes under a cloud of predictability.

After the excellent first quarter hour the film plods along between its two dull stunt set-pieces. Even these are just the usualy "by-the-book" standard fare from the Hollywood production line. If you've seen one explosive/roller-coaster ride/hero triumphs over bad guy sequemce you've seem them all. When Ethan breaks into the CIA to steal the CNOC list - there's nothnig new there at all. Its a scene that has been used in other films and a great many commercials. The Channel Tunnel scene is utterly laughable - not once did it have me on the end my seat - it just had me at the end of my tether that the film deteriorated so progressively.

I have heard some people say that this is a complicated film - I can only say that its complicated if you come in durnig the end titles. This is simplistic drivel, not only easy to follow but easy to predict. If you can't see what's happening next then you are too young to be watching this film.

Overall, a lame, boring film which again demonstrates that Brian dePalma is an overrrated director. Even the one outstanding scene I remember from one of his films was ripped-off from another (Battleship Potemkin).

If you liked the TV series - AVOID the film. If you like production line films with a couple of stupid stunt scenes in them then this will suit you right down to the ground.

Mission Impossible: I is the first movie of the three mission impossibles and it is by far the only one worth watching. True, the second one has crazy explosives and flying karate kicks but that's not what true espionage is all about.

Then there's the third one, the most recent, and it's more espionage than the 2nd but it too relys too heavily on explosions and big names to give you any real value as a movie. This movie is the bread and butter of "didn't see it coming" espionage spy movies!

That said, I'd like for you as a viewer of reviews to check out the DVD reviews of this Movie and get more of a feel for what it has to offer, Here in the "Blu Ray" Review I just want to tell you whats improved or not improved, for that matter, on the blu ray version. I currently have the Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver which decodes True HD and DTS Master HD audio formats NEITHER OF WHICH ARE SUPPORTED ON THIS BLU RAY DISC.

The best audio that is offered on this Disc is regular Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 which sounds great, but does not live up to the standards that are trying to be set in this next generation of home entertainment.

So I was disappointed in not getting the HD audio I would expect it does look fantastic in HD, there's a lot of contrast in black levels and the details in face shots are phenomenal but I wouldn't replace my Old Mission Impossible DVD with a Blu Ray Version (I rented it from blockbuster online to see the difference)

Hope this helps you as a consumer Cheers.

Many of the special effects are classics in their genre, and seem somewhat cliched after being copied (or improved) by numerous other films. Tom Cruise was still a credible actor when he did MI-1. Something weird happened to him on the way to the top, but when he did Mission Impossible 1, it hadn't occurred yet. The plot is typical cloak-and-dagger stuff, with a few twists, updated for the early computer age. The technical quality of the DVD is excellent, and the movie is very entertaining, even if you barely recall the storyline a week later. If you like action movies, you NEED this one!

"Oh, there's no plot," they say. Then they obviously didn't watch the movie, and have no clue as to how the real spy world works. Sure, the plot may not involve the destruction of an entire city ("Goldeneye"), but rather, the plot is much more clandestine, which makes for a better spy film anyway. Cruise, unlike the other people say, did a remarkable job acting, and had a good supporting cast. There is very good action and suspense. (Ok, the tunnel scene at the end is questionable on the reality scale, but it made for a good movie.) The music in the film is very fitting and suspenseful. "Mission: Impossible" never gets old. It's complicated, and is a very "real" spy movie, unlike James Bond and the rest. In reality, it compliments the TV series very well. I just hope the sequal is just as good, if not better. Buy it - trust me, you won't regret it.

I've owned this DVD for almost two years now. i probably watched this five or six times. Every time I watch this movie, I notice it again and again, how skillfuly pieces are put together. First of all, nothing that comes up on the screen is accident. That means, every little action or even just slight passing of an object gives the viewer a piece of information. Director De Palma did a superb job of implying what's going to happen, without being too obvious. for example, in the beginning of the movie, you see a Russian couple walking around, drunk, out side of the embassy. Screen focuses on them just for two seconds. You wouldn't normally guess that they would have any connection with the storyline. Well, it later turns out that the couple was another IMF team working in a mole hunt mission. Another very subtle part is where Tom Cruise is obtaining the NOC list at the headquater of CIA, in Lanley. When Tom Cruise copies that list from the computer, while hanging on a rope from a ventilation, he takes out two blank writable CD's. I mean why the hell would he want to take out two CD's for. Well, little bit later in the movie, that small, subtle scene plays a role. Mission Impossible I has a lot of subtle scenes. Watch carefully, then things will make sense. All pieces fall into one great piece. As far as DVD is concerned, it has low video quality. But I think it worths spending money on DVD.

With the sequel realeased at thre moment, this is a must be watched movie. If you like action movies with great effects and storline you will love this movie, Tom Cruise fits the role like a glove, if you like James Bond, secret agent movies as I do then I would say this is one of the best non-bond movies around. The story line invloves Tom Cruise as typical secret agent on a mission, suddenly the mission goes wrong and all his team get wiped out, Tom is accused of sabotaging the mission and needs to find out what really happend. This is an ideal opening to a superb mystery action film. If the sequel comes close to its predecessor then your in for another thrill ride. The DVD is superb, both formats and awsome dolby 5.1 sound, if you have seen the movie on video, buy the DVD to experience it as it was meant to watched.

Mission-Impossible, the 1996 stylish thriller directed by Brian DePalma and starring Tom Cruise, is a fun and engaging movie that is a joy to watch. The movie clocking in at a very fast paced one hour and 50 minutes, features incredible stunts and some excellent supporting actors. The stars include Jean Reno, Jon Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ving Rhames, and Vanessa Redgrave. This former summer blockbuster, the successful film that inspired to sequels, is well-worth revisiting. It is an enjoyable and complex romp that is very memorable. A four star thrill ride!

Also check out:

Mission - Impossible II (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Mission Impossible III (Widescreen Edition)

a reviewer below me called the storyline to this movie "a jumbled mess". oh my, how wrong he is. although, i will admit... i did not fully understand the storyline to this movie for TEN years. that doesn't mean it was a jumbled mess, though. it only means that my feeble mind wasn't able to comprehend the depth, detail and layers to it at first. so, TEN years later (2006) i watched it for what was probably the 20th odd time, and i FINALLY understood all of the twists and turns in the storyline and it all came together so beautifully. it was like poetry. it was one of those moments where you sit back and say to yourself "how in the hell can someone write something so ingenious?". so anyways, my point is: this movie has depth. it has layers upon layers upon layers. this is nothing like MI2 or MI3. this is a thinking-mans movie, and it is aesthetically beautiful in a very artistic way. each time you watch it, a new part of the story will reveal itself for you. and that's why i think this is the best M:I movie in the series BY FAR. compared to this one, the other two subsuquent sequals are loud, unintelligent and highly forgettable. like another reviewer said before me... this is one of the best action films i have ever seen. get it.