Conference bookie::movies

    It was one of my favorites as a kid.
    
    The premis every week was the same.  There was a group of 3 men (I
    think) and 1 woman that worked for a goverment agency.  Can't remember
    if they ever named it (like the CIA).  They would be given an 
    assignment and they could turn it down, but if they chose do it 
    and they were caught, there would be no knowledge of them doing it.  
    Usually espionage, mostly foreign, but some domestic.  Always a 
    great story.  Can't remember the lead actor's name at the moment.  
    Greg Morris was one of the team, a huge muscular guy too and I remember 
    Leslie Ann Warren played on the team the latter part of the series.
    I want to say Barbara Bain (and maybe Martin Landau) was on there
    too.  Maybe someone with a better memory can fill in the blanks.
    I don't think it is in syndication here in New England.  Maybe
    somewhere else.
    
    Hope that helps.
    
    Mo
    

    
    
    Peter Graves was the head of the team.
    The missions were always difficult and if the team were discovered, the 
    government would deny any knowledge.
    
    there was a remake of the series starring Thao Pengus as the 
    master of disguises.
    
    the original show airs every weekend on Sky or Bravo here in the UK
    
    Chris
    :)

    The first year Stephen Hill (now on Law and Order) played the head 
    of the group, ??? Briggs
    
    In later years Peter Graves played Jim Phelps.
    
    Martin Landau - Rollin Hand, makeup expert
    Barbara Bain - Cinnamon Carter
    Peter Lupus - Willy, strongman
    Greg Morris - Barney Collier, electronics expert
    
    Martin Landau was later replaced by Leonard Nimoy (Paris).
    Leslie Ann Warren and Lee Merriweather both did stints as well.
    
    One of the most memorable features of the show was the strong
    musical score, by Lalo Schrifrin, with excellent video editting to
    match. 

One of my favs was when they stole all the gold by melting it.

Another is when Phelps was drugged by some cult-assassin group, and the team had to 
rescue him.

I remember when a friend of mine (we were about 10 or 11) got a small, portable
reel-to-reel tape recorder for his birthday.  We spent hours recording, "Good morning,
Mr. Phelps..."

>    The first year Stephen Hill (now on Law and Order) played the head 
>    of the group, ??? Briggs
    
 	I think it was Dan Briggs.
    
    -Stephen

    Re .0,
    
    The group was called IMF (Impossible Mission Force), I think.
    Everything else has been detailed. One of my favorite parts of every
    episode was the first scene where Jim Phelps would go to get the tape
    and pictures......
    
    Boy am I showing my age!
    
    
    Marilyn 
    

> One of my favs was when they stole all the gold by melting it.

    I remember that one! Phelps dropped a marble in the vault and it came to
    rest at the lowest point of the floor. They drilled thru from below and
    melted the gold out of the vault with a VERY high-powered heater.
    
    Hopefully the movie won't require this degree of suspension of disbelief.
    
    Then there's the one where Martin Landau played the East German trying
    to escape. Oops, wrong conference...
    
      John

    
         It doesn't show your age so much anymore.  You can get Mission
    Impossible tapes once per month from Columbia House Video.
    
                                       Greg

	Please continue further discussions about your favorite TV
	episodes of the show, etc in the LJSRV1::TV_Chatter conference.

	Now back to Mission:Impossible the "Movie" ...

	From Today's Scoop in today's newspaper:

Cruising on `Mission Impossible'
 Tom Cruise drew on his boyhood love of action-adventure stories to produce and
star in `Mission Impossible."
 "I was like a kid in a candy shop," Cruise said in the June issue of Vanity
Fair.  "I felt like I was 10 years old again, back in the theaters. `OK, what
would I like to see?  What would be the coolest thing?'"
 Cruise said he wanted to dispel any notions that the $64 million `Mission
Impossible' was just a vehcile for an indulgent star.  He deferred his usual
$20 million salary in favor of a percentage of the profits.
 The movie opens May 22.

> I've even seen some interesting still ads in magazines for it.  One of them
> says, " Your mission, should you choose it.." http://www.mission.apple.com
> It might be worth checking the page out.

	I viewed this page with lynx and it looks empty, though it may
	be that it requires a Java capable client or something.

	In any case, I've seen the first commericial for this movie, and
	the standard credit screen at the end of the commercial gives
	the Internet address www.missionimpossible.com, ala the URL:

		http://www.missionimpossible.com

	It sounds like there is some kind of contest where the prize(s)
	is/are Apple computers.  Here's the current contents of the
	home page below the formfeed:


   "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE"
   opens all over North America on May 22, 1996
   
   In conjunction with the release of the new
   "Mission: Impossible" motion picture,
   THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION FORCE (IMF)
   has decided to establish an online presence.


     TOP SECRET INFORMATION IS BEING DECLASSIFIED
     
   For the first time, IMF will make public, on this site, a vast variety
   of formerly classified information concerning operations, agents, and
   behind-the-scenes workings of the world's most effective and secretive
   intelligence organization. 
   DECLASSIFICATION HAS ALREADY BEGUN


     THE MOVIE
     
   Included will be significant data about the "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE"
   motion picture starring TOM CRUISE, soon to be released by Paramount
   Pictures.
   


     APPLE COMPUTER CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
     
   Apple Computer will create and sponsor an online Mission: Impossible
   experience and contest, located on a special website, where Internet
   users can take part in IMF operations without leaving their own work
   stations. Players may be eligible to win prizes from Apple Computer,
   including the cutting edge computer systems used in IMF operations. A
   special link to the Apple Computer site will be provided from this
   site.
   DECLASSIFICATION DATE: TBD. Please check again soon.


     DECLASSIFICATION CONTINUES
     
   Please be aware that the declassification is an on-going process.
   Presently, only selected files are available. New data will appear as
   it is declassified. Please check again soon.
   


     THE INSIDE STORY
     
   This alteration of IMF's security status (previously highest security,
   existence expressly denied by all agencies of U.S. government) is made
   in response to the so-called "End of the Cold War," the rise of the
   specter of domestic terrorism, and other historic shifts in the
   structure of our society and our world, and pursuant to certain court
   orders under the Freedom of Information Act.
   
   This represents a significant change of mode for a top-secret, covert
   organization. However, IMF is making its best efforts to overcome
   decades of training to the contrary. All attempts have made this make
   this site sufficiently "user friendly" to meet the public's needs and
   the court's directives.
   
   Certain areas may, for obvious reasons, remain high-security,
   protected environments, only accessible with password authorization,
   and may require more advanced security keys in addition.
   
   Be advised to avoid high-security files without proper authorization.
   
   THIS SITE IS MAXIMIZED FOR USE WITH NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR 2.0 AND THE
   MACROMEDIA SHOCKWAVE PLUG-IN
   


   [INLINE]
   
   TM & Copyright ©1996 by Paramount Pictures. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
   
   
   
   [LINK] 
   ENTER MISSION SITE
   
   [LINK] 
   
   DOWNLOAD NETSCAPE 2.0
   
   [LINK] 
   
   DOWNLOAD SHOCKWAVE

    
    Not to go PC here, but if you're look for a Afro-American role model,
    Greg Morris as Barney had to be the tops. He was the techo-genius who
    made it happen. He was a full team member for the force and was on
    almost every show until it ended.
    
    

    If I see that Mission:Impossible, Computer, MacIntosh, Apple, 
    Power Book comercial one more time, I'm gonna $#!+.

    
    This morning on my way to work..noticed that one of the local
    theaters marquee read " Mission Impossible-On all Seven Screens"
    
    Big US release.
    
    
    

    Same thing in Shrewsbury, at White City.  All three screens.  sigh
    
    
    E

    ....this one set the opening-day recoord, breaking "Jurasic Park"'s
    opening day amount...something like $3.4 mill on the opener...
    haven't seen it (yet), the reviews have been mostly mediocre
    on this one, but, heck, what do reviewers know, right??
    
    
    i'm sure the wife will drag me kicking and screaming to this one, 
    but we made a deal: the next one is "Striptease"..........
    
    macky

    I'm sort of surprised it's opening on so many screens--I mean, I
    haven't noticed a HUGE amount of hype for it, nor sensed any
    particularly massive amounts of anticipation.  Twister and Independance
    Day seemed and seem to be more eagerly awaited. But maybe that's just
    me.  Certainly I've seen enough Apple/MI print ads to last me a
    lifetime.
    
    I'd be bemused if it doesn't turn out to be as huge of hit as it's
    supposed to be.  Not that I have anything in particular against the
    movie, I just would find it bemusing. :)
    
    
    kim
    kim

    
    
    Tom Cruise's movies are ususally quite entertaining!
    I'm looking forward to it!
    
    Chris
    :0

    
    	$3.4M on opening day?
    
    	That doesn't sound like much to me, considering "Batman" made
    	about $50M during its opening w'end.
    

    
    
    
    that opening was a limited run sneak preview, not the official 
    opening day.
    
    Chris
    :)

    
    	So if it hasn't actually opened yet, how could it break the
    	opening day record?
    

    
    
    they showed it as a sneak preview !
    
    Chris
    :)<

    
    	So did it break the "sneak preview" record?
    

    
    
    I suppose it must have! :)))

Micro-review: we liked it, and it certainly was in the spirit of the TV show.

More detailed review: My wife and I were both big fans of the TV show, and
as such were looking forward to this movie.  It didn't disappoint.  We both
liked it quite a bit, since it is filled with intelligent and talented 
people doing clever things with cool technology.  The bad guys are not
brain-dead and the good guys aren't super-human (for bad examples of this,
see any Stallone movie).  Good special effects, a very exciting chase scene
where a helicopter chases the TGV into a tunnel (involuntarily), and all
in all good clean fun.

Tom Cruise was ok.  I am not his greatest fan, but he did a competent job
here (with one minor exception where I think he got bad direction).

We only had one problem with the movie, but it is a mega-mega-spoiler.


You have been warned, this will spoil the end of the movie for you...


Why was Jim Phelps a traitor?  What could have prompted him to betray his
own country like this?  Sure the NOC was a fake so no actual agents were
put in danger, but he killed 2 people of his own team and setup the third
(Tom Cruise) to take the blame for it.  Why?  This spoiled the movie for us.

-- Ken Moreau

    .24
    I agree with your spoiler......
    
    
    I also thought that Cruise was going to be "Phelps" so I had my
    wires crossed.....I liked the movie  BUT  did NOT like the
    girl that was Phelps (John Voight's wife)  Out of all the 
    fabulous american actresses we have...did he have to go with
    this french one who was Not real pleasing to look at....
    When the leading lady stinks...it kinda ruins the interplay between
    the lead actor and her...I thot Cruise was  H O T...but she was Not..
    
    Why did they make Phelps the bad guy!...that was a Real Bummer
    because you think of the TV series and he was a stand up guy...
    
	Whoever wrote this coulda done better....

    I thought it was pretty good too!
    
    	A little P/Oed at the "shocker" type ending though...
    
    In a nutshell, very good special F/X, good acting, OK story, and very
    cool action!   It's pretty much what I expected to see so no arguements
    here.
    
    	Hmmm....wonder if there'll be a sequal??? 

                                                      
    Capsule Review: 	At least as good as the average James Bond flick,
                        without the political incorrectness or over the
    			top quality that can make Bond flicks painful to
    			watch.  With slightly better writing, it could have
    			been terrific.
    
    There isn't a whole lot more to say about it than that.  Competently
    acted, competently directed (Brian De Palma still knows something about
    suspense, though everyone I saw the film with guessed the ending pretty
    much at the moment the Jon Voight character went off the bridge)
    written well enough not to leave you shaking your head, and nicely
    scored.  A utilitarian blockbuster, obviously crafted with the idea of
    turning the IMF into the same sort of money-printing machine the Bond
    flicks were in the 60's and 70's.  After all, the Cold War may be over,
    but the world will never run out of bad guys.  Perhaps Cruise's
    escapade with the helicopter was a little too over the top, but the
    rest of the film was sufficiently entertaining and within the bounds of
    belief that I was willing to throw them that bone.
    
    A little spoiler-type discussion:
    
    I had no trouble believing Phelps had been turned.  The script rendered
    what seemed to me perfectly rational reasons for Phelps to go for a
    big score.  Rearrange a few details, and Jim Phelps becomes Aldrich
    Ames.

    
    I thought the whole flick was pretty boring.....I expected a lot 
    more from it.  Didn't particularly care for the ending with 
    Phelps either.
    
    
    CF

    I must agree with most of the noters who entered spoilers, and I will
    discuss why after my own spoiler, but out in the open I want to say
    that it was a good, enjoyable movie, but not a great one.  Cruise was
    fine, but some of the supporting characters (the ones who survived)
    were kind of glossed over in the script.  A few more minutes of screen
    time to develop some characters really would have helped the movie.
    
    Now the spoiler discussion:
    
    
    I too am extremely PISSED OFF that the writers chose the Phelps
    character to turn.  Why?????  If they wanted to pay homage to the old
    TV show, having Jim turn baddie after all these years is certainly not
    the way to do it.  And Jim NEVER would have killed off innocent members
    of the IMF.  It's a ridiculous premise, and it spoiled the entire
    movie.  I'm still upset about it today.
    
    NAZZ

    
    So is it safe to assume that if I'm not expecting the movie to be a
    homage to the original series (which I'm too young to be a fan of
    although I have seen a few) and won't be too upset about the nature of
    the plot twist (I know I shouldn't have peeked but so what?), that
    it'll be a good movie to go and see?
    
    I.

    
    Wait for the video.
    
    
    CF

    Good suspense, good action, good acting and I thought that french
    actress that .25 mentioned was a fox.  I also liked the fact that the
    plot was complex, leaving the viewer guessing exactly WHAT was going on
    at times.  Unlike the ultimately predictable "Room with a View" -type 
    flicks, this one required the view to listen and think.
    
    spoilers...
    
    
    Big mistake to make Phelps the bad guy.  They burned the bridge to the
    good-ole TV series that we all loved so much.  It was not only
    unbelievable that he'd do such a thing, but it was a dissapointment as
    well.
    
    I liked the part where we got to meet some of the infamous "disavowed".
    
    Helicopter in tunnel was too unbelievable.  Exciting, but too much.
    
    Good job with the music.  Not too far from the original.
    
    I really used to like the original series when all the plans went off
    without a mistake... Every Time! (opportunity for a little nostalgic
    correction here if this is not true).  The second TV series, the one
    with Nimoy, wasn't as good because they often made mistakes.  The
    perfection in execution is what made Mission Impossible distinct.. not
    just another spy show.  
    
    There's opportunity here for a series of sequels, perhaps with Cruise
    in Phelps' position.  Personaly, I'd like to see more with extremely
    difficult missions planned and executed without a hitch.
    
    What's her name, Phelps' wife, was a fox (did I already say that?)
    
                                                            
    -dave
    
    

Inspired by the long-run TV series, this film lacks the playful deceptions
and screwups of the original.  It did take some concentration following
the plot; but just because the plot was complicated didn't make it interesting.
For example, in a later scene, the Tom Cruise character performs a ruse
to reveal the loyalties of a colleague.  The ruse succeeds, but in the
pace of the action at this point, it feels inconsequential.

In many ways, the film just feels flat.  In "Waterworld", Kevin Costner, and
the stuntman, do a trapeze act where he's flying around the ship's rigging.  
In "Mission Impossible", Cruise does a trapeze stunt where he must be 
perfectly still.

The film, like Cruise on the trapeze, is a bit stiff.

    Drove in to the Nashua Mall yesterday to watch this. I was afraid it
    would be sold out, as we arrived during the previews. HA! Everyone in
    line in front of us was buying tickets to "Twister", and there were
    maybe two dozen people in the theater.

    Bottom line: there's just too much action to wait for the small screen.
    I enjoyed it, and appreciated the fact that the audience was assumed
    to have completed grade school satisfactorily. Even with the PG13 rating.
    
    It is true that Tom Cruise plays a bit of a cardboard cut-out, just a
    bit too perfect for my taste. And *I* think they could have cast
    Phelps' wife a lot better but hey, this one wasn't all that bad.
    
    The script contained two major "M.I." events that were intricate and
    rather well-done. And there were many action scenes, all well-done.
    Now the plot that connected all these threads was a bit tenuous in
    places, if not entirely virtual at times. Still, worth seeing on
    the big screen.
    
      John
    
    Spoilers follow:
    
    Is Phelps a turncoat? Sure.
    
    Note that both Phelps AND his wife were in on the deal. The movie tried 
    to explain how Phelps must have felt after all his years of service, 
    entirely anonymous and therefore unnoticed. It isn't THAT much of
    a stretch to assume both Phelps and wife were getting frustrated with
    the IMF, though they could have spent some time creating that kind of
    history. A few failed missions, getting passed over for promotion two
    or three times, domestic disputes over missions, etc.
    
    I'm afraid I missed another plot twist. In London we have a "team" of
    Cruise, Phelps-widow, Black-guy and white-guy. Cruise and the white-guy
    have some disagreement over the conditions for the exchange, and the
    white-guy ends up storming away, saying "Don't play games with my cut
    of the profits", or something like that. But the next time we see him,
    he's piloting the helicopter for Phelps. What happened? Was there
    something in the movie to explain this?

  I really liked this movie. It's one of the best I've seen in a while. In a
way it reminded me of The Fugitive in that they kept the best parts of one of
my favorite TV shows and updated them with stuff that was even better.

  First, the music is outstanding. That was the 1st time I ever heard the old
Mission Impossible theme on huge speakers and it was worth the price of the
ticket alone. The action moves right along, there are no gaps or slow spots
and there is terrific suspense. The acting is fine, the effects are great and
there is just the right amount of complexity to the plot. 

  Tom Cruise does a fine job as an IMF agent. Of course there are a few things
that don't seem possible from a technical point of view but so what, that was
the case with the TV series as well.

  **** out of 5, don't miss on the big screen

  George

SPOILER STUFF


  I was also a bit sad to see Jim Phelps turn but I thought it was well within
the realm of credibility. As someone mentioned earlier, the end of the cold war
could easily have left him high and dry politically with no reward for the work
he had done. As I remember, in the TV show you never really got to know Phelps
that well. We saw nothing of his personal life and he was a study in repressed
feelings. Who knows what he may have been thinking? 

  To answer a question:

RE       <<< Note 1076.34 by EVMS::HALLYB "Fish have no concept of fire" >>>

>    I'm afraid I missed another plot twist. In London we have a "team" of
>    Cruise, Phelps-widow, Black-guy and white-guy. Cruise and the white-guy
>    have some disagreement over the conditions for the exchange, and the
>    white-guy ends up storming away, saying "Don't play games with my cut
>    of the profits", or something like that. But the next time we see him,
>    he's piloting the helicopter for Phelps. What happened? Was there
>    something in the movie to explain this?

  I got the impression that the helicopter pilot was working with Phelps from
the start. Their original plan was to sell the NOC list but they were both
fooled by the CIA along with the rest of the IMF team by the phony list.

  At that point it appears that Phelps started improvising and encouraged the
pilot to go along with Cruise to get the real list. Then then had to come up
with another plan to get it away from Cruise after Cruise did his slight of
hand trick. That was the thing with the chopper and the train. 

  Here's another question. How did Cruise find out about Max? I was a little
fuzzy on how that whole thing with Job 314 worked and how it lead Cruise to
Max.

  George

    Trivia fun fact:  For the movie they changed the time signature of the
    theme from the 5/4 of the original to the more mundane 4/4.
    
    - Dave

>   Trivia fun fact:  For the movie they changed the time signature of the
>   theme from the 5/4 of the original to the more mundane 4/4.
    
    If (like me) you don't have any concept of music theory, whazzat mean?

  They are talking about a way of counting time.

  When you say music is in 3/4 time that means that there are 3 beats to a
measure and a "quarter note" gets one beat.

  For example, a waltz is in 3/4 time. You count it 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 ...

  The mission impossible theme was in 5/4 time meaning that you would count it:

     1     2     3       4     5      1     2    3     4    5
                               Bum .
                         Bum .
     Bum . . pah Bum .                Bum . . pah Bum 
                                                             Bum
                                                       Bum

  It sounded to me like the 1st time they played it and the middle time on the
way to Langly that it was the old way in 5/4 time but at the end they did a
jazzy 8/4 version. 

  George

Re:
    
    >>> I'm afraid I missed another plot twist. In London we have a "team" of
    >>> Cruise, Phelps-widow, Black-guy and white-guy. Cruise and the white-guy
    >>> have some disagreement over the conditions for the exchange, and the
    >>> white-guy ends up storming away, saying "Don't play games with my cut
    >>> of the profits", or something like that. But the next time we see him,
    >>> he's piloting the helicopter for Phelps. What happened? Was there
    >>> something in the movie to explain this?

    Jean Reno was in on it from the beginning - when Cruise or is it Jon
    Voight (they didn't really make it clear) has the flashback you see
    Jean Reno stabbing the two agents through the gate.  Although how Jean
    Reno manages to get himself on Cruise's team is a bit of a stretch...
    
    
    								Michael
    

    re .39  (spoiler, maybe)
    
    
    
    
    The Jean Reno character was recruited by Phelp's wife, whatshername. 
    She "apologizes" for it later on to Cruise.  
    
    
    kim

    
    YES IT WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING, BUT REMEMBER SO WAS THE T.V. SHOW. 
    
                                BOTH VERY COMPLEX
    
               CRUISE THOUGH IS SO WATCHABLE. 
    
            WITH THE SUCCESS OF THIS FILM, HE HAS BECOME THE 2ND BIGGEST BOX
    OFFICE DRAW OF ALL-TIME. SECOND TO HARRISON FORD WHO IS #1.  
    
      NOT BAD FOR CRUISE. HE IS ONLY IN HIS EARLY THIRTIES. 
                            
    
    
    
    

>  <<< Note 1076.36 by THEBAY::WIEGLEB "Look at the dirty water...and swim" >>>
>                          -< The beat doesn't go on >-
>
>    Trivia fun fact:  For the movie they changed the time signature of the
>    theme from the 5/4 of the original to the more mundane 4/4.

I had read this reply earlier and paid attention when we went to the movie
this past weekend.
The opening theme kept the 5/4, as did the one(?) incidental occurrence
within the film.  The version over the closing credits was in 4/4, or, as 
was mentioned in another reply, a "jazzy 8/4."

I've seen the soundtrack album in stores.
It admits that little of its content is from the film.
It's music "from and inspired by" the movie.

I'm looking for a version with the original TV music, but there
apparently isn't such a version on CD.  Any pointers?

- tom]

    There *is* a CD with the TV music.  I've seen it at places
    like HMV in Cambridge.  You might want to ask there or at Tower
    Records or any other store that carries a good sized soundtrack
    section.  Or you could have somebody order it.
    
    
    kim

    
    
    They have the original T.V soundtrack at HMV, I saw it last week
    and moreover I used to have a copy in LP format. :)))
    
    Chris
    :)

>            <<< Note 1076.43 by STAR::65320::RIVERS "No comment" >>>
>
>    There *is* a CD with the TV music.  I've seen it at places
>    like HMV in Cambridge.  You might want to ask there or at Tower
>    Records or any other store that carries a good sized soundtrack
>    section.  Or you could have somebody order it.

It wasn't in the computer data base at Newbury Comics, which the salesclerk
took as an all-inclusive authority.
She did a title search on "Mission" and came up with various soundtracks
and other discs that had "mission" in their names (deNiro's "Mission"
and "Mission from Burma," for example), but no old "Mission: Impossible."
Anybody got a more inclusive search base?

- tom]

    
    	Wow, just did a search on "mission" in the Newbury Comics WWW
    	site, and noticed that Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen are cred-
    	ited as authors of the single.
    

    
    That's right.  They did the theme tune for the movie.
    
    
    I.

    
    
    Have you checked with HMV, they stock the T.V soundtrack for sure
    along with alot of t.v episodes on video tape which they are
    promoting now.
    
    Chris
    :)

    
    Is it just me or is this theme getting WAY too much air
    time?  And it don't even got any lyrics!  Geez even if
    you change the radio station, you get it playing on the
    Muzak out on the floor.
    
    I for one am getting pretty sick of it.

I did find a CD titled "The Best of Mission: Impossible - Then and Now"
at Circuit City in Framingham.
The "Then and Now" is because this disc was apparently released after
the 1988 remake series came out.
It has several versions of the theme, plus other incidental music
from the early and late series, plus a 15 minute interview with Peter Graves
(which I haven't listened to yet), plus a 6 minute version of the theme
plus the sub-theme ("The Plot," which you will surely recognize
but probably never noticed) played by the Israel Philharmonic under 
the direction of Lalo Schifrin.  (Sloppy performance/recording of that last
item, by the way.)

Also, I found that there are TWO soundtrack albums for the movie.
One is a real soundtrack with the music from the movie.
The other (more popular?) is the "music from and inspired by" the movie.

- tom]

    
    
    I hate it when they do 2 soundtracks and one of them has stuff that
    was never in the movie!!
    
    
    I saw this movie over the weekend and thought it was an 
    excellent action/adventrue flick. The door was left wide open
    for the sequel. Also, I too, thought that Phelps' wife was a fox!
                                       
    Chris
    :)

    Going back to .0.... I've seen the whole movie now, and I am also
    unable to determine the exact storyline.
    
    I lurved' the set pieces in the movie and this is definitely a movie to
    see on the big screen.
    
    4 wot' it's worth... I thought "The Rock" was better.
    
    Reargards,
    
    Stephen
    
    Ps: Thought Ally Partridge's sidekick as the fainting train guard wa
    spretty whacky.

  As the tide of the summer film quality is sinking lower and lower, _Mission
  Impossible_ is looking better and better.  Whereas my opinion of ID4 drops
  more and more as further time passes, my opinion of MI has increased over
  time.

  I have to admit that it was a very artfully made film that was a joy to
  watch.  I liked the filming styles, it had some great choreography of scenes,
  thought and effort and intelligence went into the writing of the script, and
  it was adeptly acted by everyone in the cast.

  I had the opportunity to see it again with other friends who hadn't yet, and
  MI lived up to the experience even on the second try.

  It was a very well-made film.  And so far, now that some time has passed, the
  clear winner for me of the recent Hollywood summer movies.

  -Erik

    Erik, were you a fan of the original TV show?  If so, then you cannot
    accept the premise that is at the heart of this movie.  I'll FF just in
    case someone hasn't seen the film yet
    
    
    If the movie makers insist in putting a character in the movie as Jim
    Phelps, and expect us to believe it is the same character we saw 30
    years ago on TV, they should have made him a lot older than Jon Voight,
    and the NEVER would have had him sell out for money!  I remember one
    episode when the IMF recovered an entire European country's gold stash,
    several hundred pounds of gold!  And Jim is going to take a lousy
    couple of million dollars?????  NO WAY!!!
    
    Having Jim Phelps sell out destroys what made Mission: Impossible great
    in the first place - loyalty to the premise of rooting out evil before
    harm can befall innocent people.  The TV show did a great job of not
    waving the flag in our face every week, but having us sitting on the
    edge of our seats seeing how the bad guys would be outsmarted.  This
    movie took the easy way out, a way that is illogical and disloyal to
    its much classier predecessor.
    
    NAZZ

    
    I never watched the TV programme. I think it was off the air by the
    time I started watching television. I recall seeing one or two reruns
    way back when, but have no recollection of the show other than that.
    The funny thing is that the movie made me recall watching the theme
    and recall its unique film style, those I remembered seeing. But I had
    no idea about the characters and storyline. In a sense, MI was a whole
    new experience for me, so the character changes made since the show
    didn't bother me personally and worked just fine. However, if I had
    been a regular fan of the show, the changes would have bothered me too,
    so I understand. Not having that history, the MI movie worked fine for
    me though as it stands by itself.

    -Erik

    
    I too never have seen the origianal series. I did however like this
    movie. Sure there were a lot of 'yeah right' scenes. (like the
    helicopter in the tunnel) But all in all a decent movie.
    
    I think the girl that played Phelps' wife (Emmanuella something??) 
    is very pretty. 
    Does anyone know what other movies she's been in?
    
    Overall rating **1/2 out of ***** (mainly cuz I'm not a big Cruise fan)
    
    Dave
    

    re-1
    
    Emmanuelle Beart.  great French actress.  Check out  Manon Des Source,
    Un Coeur en Hiver (sp?), Nelly et Mr Arnaud.
    
    mikef

    
    
    
    I used to watch the television show and I still thought this
    was an excellent movie. Phelps is only human after all and a
    man finding himself in his situation might lose it.
    
    Chris
    :)
    

    
    I agree with that last one. But I wonder why the makers of this film 
    would not want Cruise to have played the Phelps character in the first
    place. There probably wouldn't be all of the negativity coming from the
    t.v. fans. Still, all in all, MI is one of the most enjoyable crowd
    pleasing films of the year. 

                    <<< Note 1076.60 by HOTLNE::S_COLLINS >>>

>    I agree with that last one. But I wonder why the makers of this film 
>    would not want Cruise to have played the Phelps character in the first
>    place. 

  Remember Phelps was originally someone who was a bit older than the rest of
the original TV cast. The impression back then was that he was suppose to be
someone who cut his teeth in intelligence at the beginning of the cold war just
after WWII and already had some seniority over the early baby boomers who made
up the rest of his MI force. As it was he was played a bit too young to fit
with the TV series. 

  Cruise was playing someone who was more than a generation younger than Phelps
should have been. No doubt with makeup he could have played someone in the
50-70 year old category but that would make little business sense from a movie
making point of view. 

  George

Saw it at the weekend - wow ! 

I don't know about anyone else, but, during the bit in the computer room when
Ethan is dangling away being extremely quiet, I was just desparate to make some
noise. Maybe its my perverse nature ?

OK, so the helicopter in the tunnel was a bit far-fetched, but it made for some
good visuals. I think that was my only gripe about the film.

I'd give it 4 out of 5

Simes %^)

><<< Note 1076.62 by COMICS::MILLSS "It was the dawn of the 3rd age of mankind..." >>>
>
>Saw it at the weekend - wow ! 
>
>I don't know about anyone else, but, during the bit in the computer room when
>Ethan is dangling away being extremely quiet, I was just desparate to make some
>noise. Maybe its my perverse nature ?
>
>OK, so the helicopter in the tunnel was a bit far-fetched, but it made for some
>good visuals. I think that was my only gripe about the film.

MY gripe was the whole scene in the computer room.

They have rats in the air conditioning ducts that never set off the alarms?
The falling knife doesn't make enough noise to set off the alarm?
The suspension rig has enough oooomph to lift Cruise from floor to ceiling 
at warp speed, but the accomplice in the duct has to fight to maintain his 
altitude?
The terminal room has a temperature sensor but not a motion sensor?
They let firemen run through the secure building for a half hour without
any followup on where they are or what they're doing?

I'll let the helicopter fly through the tunnel, but the computer room scene
was nearly a movie-killer for me.

- tom]

> ... but the computer room scene was nearly a movie-killer for me.

	[major spoiler warning]

	[last warning-this is really a major spoiler]

	but remember that at the very end we find out that Cruise
	is actually in league with the guys at head quarters so
	the lax security could have been deliberate....

	.... however your other points are still quite valid (such as
	the accomplice was straining to hold cruise, but when it came time
	to lift him it was done at lightning speed).

    
    (Small spoilers)...

    Yes, that was the weakest part of the movie for me as well. Why did
    the screenwriters feel the need to use the rat at all. They could have
    used any other reason for the altitude loss. 

    However the firemen issue I could see happening (due to confusion, new
    security guards, etc, plus they were escorted), the lack of a complete
    sensor grid was fine too for me (every system has its holes), and a
    knife falling through air shouldn't make more noise than Cruise already
    made (it hit after the security measures were disabled).

    The chopper scene didn't bother me either. I knew a guy proficient
    enough with his R/C helicopter that he too could fly it through small
    clearances. Envisioning the Chunnel as being bigger than it probably
    really is helped too. :-)

    Of all this, it was that needless rat scene that really bothered me.

    Possible Spoiler
    
    
    RE: Rat
    
    I thought they put that rat in there for the purpose of comedy.  Ya
    know big strong man hold ing Cruise in midair, rope tearing at his
    hands, but a little rat walks in and the guy becomes a major chicken
    $#!+.  But ya...I think anything else would have been better!  [^:= 
    

Re: last few replies

Yep, should've thought about the whole computer room scene but I was too busy
thinking how much fun it would be to make a loud noise at that point, the
audience was soooo quiet !

Simes %^)

RE             <<< Note 1076.64 by VAXCPU::michaud "Richard Gere" >>>

Comment about spoiler
	[major spoiler warning]

	[last warning-this is really a major spoiler]

>	but remember that at the very end we find out that Cruise
>	is actually in league with the guys at head quarters so
>	the lax security could have been deliberate....

  I don't think that Cruise was in league with the guys at head quarters at
that point. It was later when he realized that Phelps was responsible for
everything that happened that he started giving the CIA clues to where he
was and essentially set Phelps up. Cruise pulled off a traditional IMF scam
by leading the CIA to the train just in time to catch Phelps red handed.

  At the time they broke into Langly the CIA was still after Cruise and still
thought he was the double agent.

  George

    
    
    re the rat scene
    
    
    what the fleet was a rat doing in that super clean setting anyhow?
    
    Chris
    :)

> Comment about spoiler
> 	[major spoiler warning]
> 
> 	[last warning-this is really a major spoiler]
> 
>>	but remember that at the very end we find out that Cruise
>>	is actually in league with the guys at head quarters so
>>	the lax security could have been deliberate....
>   I don't think that Cruise was in league with the guys at head quarters at
> that point. It was later when he realized that Phelps was responsible for
> everything that happened that he started giving the CIA clues to where he
> was and essentially set Phelps up. Cruise pulled off a traditional IMF scam
> by leading the CIA to the train just in time to catch Phelps red handed.
> 
>   At the time they broke into Langly the CIA was still after Cruise and still
> thought he was the double agent.

	I'm 90% sure that Cruise and the CIA were in bed together from
	the beginning.  Turning Cruise into an apparent double agent was
	just a ruse the CIA used to trap the real mole.  We the audience
	were just not let in on it til the end.

	It's actually a common spy movie plot.  Anyone who watches
	Star Trek: Voyager saw this plot used this past season (and
	it's not even a spy genre TV show).

    
    
    spoiler warning
    
    
    
    
    	I disagree about Cruise being in bed with the CIA from the
     	beginning. He was set up by Phelps to take the fall. Hence the
    	money showing up in his parents account and being the only one
    	to survive. If he had been in on it from the beginning then
    	how did Phelps know to fake his own death and leave Cruise 
    	the only survivor?
    
    	Chris
    	:)

    
    
    Spoiler:
    
    Re: -1
    
    There was also the fact that the CIA had his parents arrested for drug
    dealing or somethin like that.  
    
    
    Personal gripe:
    
    I was really suprised that they put in that completely stupid rat thing.
    That was about the only point in the movie that I sat there and said to
    myself "Ah come on, gimme a break!!".  All the other scenes, like the
    helicopter were entertaining enough to take your mind of anything silly
    about the scene.
    
    Pete	

>     Spoiler:
>     
>     Re: -1
>     
>     There was also the fact that the CIA had his parents arrested for drug
>     dealing or somethin like that.  

	I'm not following what you are implying with that statement.
	Please elaborate ....

RE            <<< Note 1076.73 by VAXCPU::michaud "Ziggy Stardust" >>>

Spoiler

Spoiler

  RE Why arrest the parents and what the CIA knew.

  The high level CIA guy said something to the effect that they would never
catch Cruise because the CIA had trained the IMF to be ghosts who could stay
hidden forever. The CIA arrested Cruise's parents the idea being that if Cruise
didn't give himself up his parents would go to jail. The CIA knew that was the
only way they would get him. 

  While it may be a typical Star Trek or Spy story to have the hero in with
the good guys it's not a typical Mission Impossible story. A typical Mission
Impossible story is to have the IMF agents working themselves in secret set up
a trap and have the bad guy walk into it. That's what Cruise did. 

  Remember when Cruise called the CIA from London to talk about his parents
and he was watching the clock in the train station? Remember how he hung up
seconds before they had is exact location but long enough for them to know
he was in London? At that point the CIA guy said something like "he wanted us
to know he was in London".

  Then when the CIA arrived next to the Tower of London the guy from MI5 handed
them Chunnel tickets saying they had come in the mail. They were from Cruise.
The CIA seemed to be catching on at that point that Cruise was leading them
somewhere. What he was doing was setting up the typical IMF type trap for
Phelps.

  Once they got on the train he got Phelps to confess while he was watching
him with the glasses. The black disavowed IMF guy had handed the CIA guy a
monitor so he could see Phelp's confession.

  It was a classic Mission Impossible setup, a sting pulled off by Cruise and
the one guy left that he trusted. Right out of the IMF text book.

  George

> [Spoiler warning]
> 
>   RE Why arrest the parents and what the CIA knew.
> 
>   The high level CIA guy said something to the effect that they would never
> catch Cruise because the CIA had trained the IMF to be ghosts who could stay
> hidden forever. The CIA arrested Cruise's parents the idea being that if Cruise
> didn't give himself up his parents would go to jail. The CIA knew that was the
> only way they would get him. 

	Regarding the above; that could very well be part of the ruse.  It
	all goes into making it "appear" that Cruise's character is indeed
	a mole.  BTW, what was the pretense again that they were arresting
	his parents?

	In any case .... you've convinced me with the rest of your note that
	indeed the way that it was played out is indeed a typical story
	line from the original TV series.  It's been a while since I've
	watched an episode of the original TV series, but your note has
	brought back memories.  Maybe with the success of the movie we'll
	see a more widespread syndication (assuming it's currently in
	syndication) of the original TV series, or so I hope!

	Now I know why the TV reviewers said the plot was confusing, one
	needs to refresh themselves with the original TV series before
	seeing the movie!!!!!!

    re:.73
    
    .74 explained what I meant by that.
    
    Pete
    

    
    Hi All,
    
    What is it that I hear about Tom Cruise being a sceinthology church
    sect. Why is he!?. In Germany people protest in front of gates where
    the flick is playing because they are anti-SC-tism. It is on the news
    there because government is involved init.
    
    Jan. ;)

Re .77

Its true, Tom Cruise is a Scientologist. You'll also find that John Travolta is,
as well.

Simes %^)

    
    So are Kirstie Alley and PArker Stevenson, for that matter.
    
    

    It's all part the liberal communist conspiracy to subvert our children
    through open-mindedness and free thought using televsion, theater, film
    and peanut butter advertisments.
    
    

    I thought that Scientologists (sp?) were at the other end of the
    political spectrum?  The protests at the Tom Cruise movie in Germany
    were part of a general anti-scientologist 'movement', people seem to be
    worried that they are taking over businesses and even parts of cities
    (from what I recall).  
    
    mikef

    Depends on who you ask.  In Georgia, it's impossible to be anything
    other than a liberal if you're anything other than Baptist, Methodist
    or Pentacostal.
    
    And the Methodist are highly suspect...
    
    Rick

    Getting back to the actual film...I finally went to see this last week
    - I was really expecting it not to be 'all that' at all after reading
    all these notes!!
    
    Well, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised!! I thought it was
    pretty good!. Ok - there were a few -silly mistakes- that have been
    mentioned in earlier notes but so what?? It's ONLY a film!!
    
    I think it was well balanced between action and plot!! Luved the way it
    all came together - and the acting wasn't too bad either!!
    
    All in all - an entertaining film (if you like that sort of thing!!)
    
    S..x