Mission: Impossible - films and tv series

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  • Posts: 3,169
    ...knowing that Hunt would notice that he was about to drive over the cliff, and hazardly pull his brakes beforehand, so he could scout what was underneath him? No, not warning him about the danger he was about to face, because of his what - ego? - underlines everything I've said about him and his incompetence.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2023 Posts: 14,987
    Zekidk wrote: »
    ...knowing that Hunt would notice that he was about to drive over the cliff, and hazardly pull his brakes beforehand, so he could scout what was underneath him? No, not warning him about the danger he was about to face, because of his what - ego? - underlines everything I've said about him and his incompetence.

    Ego? I'm not sure how that would boost his ego...?
    Ethan skidding to the edge was just a movie moment, there to look cool. It doesn't make Benji incompetent.
    Anyway, I'm not interested in an argument about it.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    Yeah I don't think there's much to dive into there. Benji's whole schtick now is clearly injecting comedy and incompetence into the proceedings for a laugh, even though his rookie-esque skills can get tiring after this many films. That skid is definitely meant to look cool and nothing more. Ethan surely knows what type of danger he faces by riding a motorcycle atop a giant mountain.
  • Posts: 3,169
    mtm wrote: »
    there to look cool
    You pretty much summed up the whole movie! ;-)
  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    edited July 2023 Posts: 2,061
    With MI the story is written around the stunts, so it was only a means to an end (doing the jump). I thought it was fine, even if, thanks to all the marketing hype, I knew what was coming.

    The skid and stunt do look cool, so no complaints here.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2023 Posts: 14,987
    The best and most surprising shots for me were the mid air ones following Cruise down as he skydived. I'm not even sure how they got those. There's one where he's talking to Benji telling him he's trying to get away from the cliff face before he pulls his 'chute and it's one of the greatest stunt shots I've ever seen.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 1,381
    Bernie99 wrote: »
    I really love the score @CraigMooreOHMSS. After listening to it in isolation several times, I discovered Balfe created an alternative Mission Impossible theme and weaved it throughout the score and it appears in different variations. Like in the magnificent track below, Chasing Grace.

    Oh yes, this is a fantastic track, as i said 1 week ago, i like both scores (Fallout and DR). Balfe is the best choice for Mission Impossible

    Agreed! I love both scores too.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    The marketing clearly showed the train toppling over the destroyed bridge but that was my favorite sequence, I think, and still floored me in full. I haven't been that on edge and soaked with intense anxiety in an action movie in a very, very long time. Masterful stuff.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,040
    I really love the score @CraigMooreOHMSS. After listening to it in isolation several times, I discovered Balfe created an alternative Mission Impossible theme and weaved it throughout the score and it appears in different variations. Like in the magnificent track below, Chasing Grace.

    I'm glad you enjoyed it @SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷

    There are a couple of highlights in there, but overall it just wasn't for me. It's not really a "alternative" Mission: Impossible theme: Balfe is just pulling certain notes and using them differently. It's a nice way of approaching it. admittedly. Kraemer did the same thing with his action material in Rogue Nation, but I find that score far superior to this one.
  • DraxCucumberSandwichDraxCucumberSandwich United Kingdom
    edited July 2023 Posts: 208
    There are many call backs to the first De Palma directed movie in this one. With De Palma being such a Hitchcock disciple, that got me thinking . Deliberate or not, there were heaps of Hitchcock riffs in MI: DR Part 1:
    The obvious one of course is Grace and Hunt being chased whilst handcuffed together, as per The 39 Steps.

    There is the steam train thundering through the Alps - as per The Lady Vanishes.

    But then it becomes a run away steam train hurtling towards a crash, like the carousel/merry-go-round in Strangers on Train. In SoaT the hero and villain fight each other in the crazy carousel to claim possession of a lighter. In MI:DR p1 they fight each other on top of the run away train and Ethan swaps the key for a….lighter

    And then there is Grace. She’s the closest we have ever come to a Hitchcock style protagonist in these movies. Not a spy but someone in way over their head caught up in spy world shenanigans, being chased by multiple parties, just like Thonrhill in North by Northwest or Hannay in The 39 Steps.
    In fact she has an arc not entirely dissimilar to Thornhill in NbNW, picking a side towards the end of the movie and doing something for a greater good.

    She’s a thief of course . Is her name a call out to Grace Kelly, from To Catch A Thief?
    Grace having to do the mission on the train alone has echoes of Lisa (Grace Kelly) having to search the murderers apartment alone in Rear Window


    And the climax of the movie has the hero and heroine clinging vertically off a mountain/ravine, just like North by Northwest , and ends with them in the safety of a train

    Maybe I’m over thinking this
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    That's a great list of comparisons and similarities actually, @DraxCucumberSandwich.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 1,381
    I really love the score @CraigMooreOHMSS. After listening to it in isolation several times, I discovered Balfe created an alternative Mission Impossible theme and weaved it throughout the score and it appears in different variations. Like in the magnificent track below, Chasing Grace.

    I'm glad you enjoyed it @SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷

    There are a couple of highlights in there, but overall it just wasn't for me. It's not really a "alternative" Mission: Impossible theme: Balfe is just pulling certain notes and using them differently. It's a nice way of approaching it. admittedly. Kraemer did the same thing with his action material in Rogue Nation, but I find that score far superior to this one.

    Yeah, I see what you mean. The score just happens to resonate with me though. Aah! Yes! I won't lie, Joe Kraemer's score is so unique. I really loved it. Kraemer made The Syndicate & Solomon Lane really mysterious.
  • DraxCucumberSandwichDraxCucumberSandwich United Kingdom
    Posts: 208
    @Creasy47
    Thank you. I’m a huge Hitchcock and Bond fan - one day I’ll have to bore you with my Skyfall / Vertigo comparison
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    @Creasy47
    Thank you. I’m a huge Hitchcock and Bond fan - one day I’ll have to bore you with my Skyfall / Vertigo comparison

    You're welcome! I've actually been meaning to revisit Vertigo so I'd love to read that whenever I do.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited July 2023 Posts: 8,113
    Just saw Dead Rekocking for the first time and absolutely loved it. The first half involving Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruises escapades felt like classic Moore bond with his leading ladies, as a matter of fact the whole film had a more playful operatic quality compared to the earlier M:I films, and when the emotional beats hit they are far more consequential than in any Craig film, this is the first film where ethan feels like he has some complexity and depth to him beyond just the code he lives by. The only part I felt didn't really work
    when ethan had to choose who was going to die in venice. That felt very contrived, like it needed another rewrite, and in hindsight was probably just a way to write fergusons charcater out of the ctory so they wouldn't have to find her something to do in the third act.
    But on the whole I thought they nailed it, this one was definitely better than fallout, hands down. Now EON need to wake the F up and start taking Bond 26 seriously, because Tom Cruise is making them look like yesterday's news right now...
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    Posts: 1,434
    Just saw Dead Rekocking for the first time and absolutely loved it. The first half involving Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruises escapades felt like classic Moore bond with his leading ladies, as a matter of fact the whole film had a more playful operatic quality compared to the earlier M:I films, and when the emotional beats hit they are far more consequential than in any Craig film, this is the first film where ethan feels like he has some complexity and depth to him beyond just the code he lives by. The only part I felt didn't really work
    when ethan had to choose who was going to die in venice. That felt very contrived, like it needed another rewrite, and in hindsight was probably just a way to write fergusons charcater out of the ctory so they wouldn't have to find her something to do in the third act.
    But on the whole I thought they nailed it, this one was definitely better than fallout, hands down. Now EON need to wake the F up and start taking Bond 26 seriously, because Tom Cruise is making them look like yesterday's news right now...

    Curious what you didn't like about Fallout that made this top it?
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,113
    LucknFate wrote: »
    Just saw Dead Rekocking for the first time and absolutely loved it. The first half involving Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruises escapades felt like classic Moore bond with his leading ladies, as a matter of fact the whole film had a more playful operatic quality compared to the earlier M:I films, and when the emotional beats hit they are far more consequential than in any Craig film, this is the first film where ethan feels like he has some complexity and depth to him beyond just the code he lives by. The only part I felt didn't really work
    when ethan had to choose who was going to die in venice. That felt very contrived, like it needed another rewrite, and in hindsight was probably just a way to write fergusons charcater out of the ctory so they wouldn't have to find her something to do in the third act.
    But on the whole I thought they nailed it, this one was definitely better than fallout, hands down. Now EON need to wake the F up and start taking Bond 26 seriously, because Tom Cruise is making them look like yesterday's news right now...

    Curious what you didn't like about Fallout that made this top it?

    Fallout had amazing scope and incredible action but it still had that common problem for the mission films where it feels like the slate is wiped clean after each set piece and the characters return to their defaults for the next part of the film to get underway. With dead reckoning the narrative just flows beautifully into each new location, and by the end you believe the characters have really come on a journey together. The third act really hit me hard especially between Tom and Hayley, she sold it so well. Can't wait for part 2 now.
  • DraxCucumberSandwichDraxCucumberSandwich United Kingdom
    Posts: 208
    @Creasy47

    Actually you’ll find my analysis on page 43 of the Skyfall “Did I overcomplicate the plot” appreciation thread
    Apologies for veering off topic here
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    @Creasy47

    Actually you’ll find my analysis on page 43 of the Skyfall “Did I overcomplicate the plot” appreciation thread
    Apologies for veering off topic here

    All good! I'll try to keep that in mind then. Thanks again.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2023 Posts: 14,987
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    The marketing clearly showed the train toppling over the destroyed bridge but that was my favorite sequence, I think, and still floored me in full. I haven't been that on edge and soaked with intense anxiety in an action movie in a very, very long time. Masterful stuff.

    Was the bridge exploding real? It looked very convincing.
    There are many call backs to the first De Palma directed movie in this one. With De Palma being such a Hitchcock disciple, that got me thinking . Deliberate or not, there were heaps of Hitchcock riffs in MI: DR Part 1:
    The obvious one of course is Grace and Hunt being chased whilst handcuffed together, as per The 39 Steps.

    There is the steam train thundering through the Alps - as per The Lady Vanishes.

    But then it becomes a run away steam train hurtling towards a crash, like the carousel/merry-go-round in Strangers on Train. In SoaT the hero and villain fight each other in the crazy carousel to claim possession of a lighter. In MI:DR p1 they fight each other on top of the run away train and Ethan swaps the key for a….lighter

    And then there is Grace. She’s the closest we have ever come to a Hitchcock style protagonist in these movies. Not a spy but someone in way over their head caught up in spy world shenanigans, being chased by multiple parties, just like Thonrhill in North by Northwest or Hannay in The 39 Steps.
    In fact she has an arc not entirely dissimilar to Thornhill in NbNW, picking a side towards the end of the movie and doing something for a greater good.

    She’s a thief of course . Is her name a call out to Grace Kelly, from To Catch A Thief?
    Grace having to do the mission on the train alone has echoes of Lisa (Grace Kelly) having to search the murderers apartment alone in Rear Window


    And the climax of the movie has the hero and heroine clinging vertically off a mountain/ravine, just like North by Northwest , and ends with them in the safety of a train

    Maybe I’m over thinking this

    They did dress Ethan intentionally like Cary Grant in North By Northwest for the opening of Rogue Nation, so I wouldn't say that any of those are incorrect and I think you're probably on the money. McQ is always putting in references and shots which homage previous films: like the last two both had shots which mirror shots from things like Day of the Condor etc.
    As well as callbacks to the first film: the opening of Fallout has the "Did we get it?"/"We got it" dialogue from the opening to Da Palma's M:I (that scene also pays homage to a heist from the TV show); and in Rogue Nation, when he's on the run in London and using the phone box, Ethan calls in using the same code he used to call in in the Prague section of M:I.
  • Posts: 6,747
    Having finally wrapped my cycle of Indiana Jones viewings, I'll probably watch Dead Reckoning this weekend. I certainly enjoyed Fallout but not thaat much. Hoping this one is a lot of fun.
  • DraxCucumberSandwichDraxCucumberSandwich United Kingdom
    edited July 2023 Posts: 208
    [
    mtm wrote: »

    They did dress Ethan intentionally like Cary Grant in North By Northwest for the opening of Rogue Nation,

    I didn’t realise that. Tom is without tie in that scene and
    I love how we see Ethan Hunt ditch the tie at the start of his race to save Grace in Venice.
    It clearly shows he means business and is a nice point of difference to Bond who would keep the tie on and then check his tie and cuffs after business has been taken care of.

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    I want to say the bridge explosion was CGI. I remember hearing early reports while filming that they were looking at blowing up one for real and there was some disagreement with the government or something. I could be wrong though and maybe things changed between reports and filming.
  • DraxCucumberSandwichDraxCucumberSandwich United Kingdom
    Posts: 208
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    The marketing clearly showed the train toppling over the destroyed bridge but that was my favorite sequence, I think, and still floored me in full. I haven't been that on edge and soaked with intense anxiety in an action movie in a very, very long time. Masterful stuff.

    I also loved the bridge being blown and then the train topping of it . It looked so utterly realistic and cool and It was just really exciting and fun.
    There was I’d say some obvious CGI in the subsequent scene of Grace and Ethan clambering up through the carriages one by one but it wasn’t distracting because there was still a real physicality to the proceedings
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    I just can't get over how breathtaking and intense that train toppling bit was. Watching them work through each carriage as they collapsed was a masterclass in tension.
  • Posts: 3,169
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    the train toppling over the destroyed bridge
    Time to revisit one of the best action games ever made
    Revisiting-Uncharted-2-Among-Thieves.jpg


  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    I'm sure many of us were thinking of that sequence, @Zekidk. Did the Uncharted movie try to adapt that as well? I didn't bother watching it myself, saw Tom Holland was playing Drake and that was all I needed to hear.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,989
    To those who think there is a ton of talking scenes, you might not be aware that this film was shot at the height of the pandemic. I would be this necessitated dialogue scenes if only to operate in a safer manner. I hadn't realized the homages to DePalma until the Youtuber Movie Cynic brought it up.

    As I bask in the afterglow of the movie, I find myself wishing Part 2 was coming sooner. I loved this film. Did anyone catch Calvin's review. His problems with the film are more about how the climax doesn't feel like a true climax. I would agree but am willing to overlook because I know the climax of part 2 will be great stuff!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    thedove wrote: »
    To those who think there is a ton of talking scenes, you might not be aware that this film was shot at the height of the pandemic. I would be this necessitated dialogue scenes if only to operate in a safer manner. I hadn't realized the homages to DePalma until the Youtuber Movie Cynic brought it up.

    As I bask in the afterglow of the movie, I find myself wishing Part 2 was coming sooner. I loved this film. Did anyone catch Calvin's review. His problems with the film are more about how the climax doesn't feel like a true climax. I would agree but am willing to overlook because I know the climax of part 2 will be great stuff!

    I was really excited that we'd only have to wait less than a year for Part 2 but now the strikes pretty much assure it'll get pushed to the following summer, if we're lucky. I think I read only 30-40% had been filmed but I'm not sure how accurate those numbers are.

    Just off the one stunt I saw them filming for for Part 2, I've no doubt it's going to be brilliant whenever it finally arrives.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 4,989
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I just can't get over how breathtaking and intense that train toppling bit was. Watching them work through each carriage as they collapsed was a masterclass in tension.

    I better put this as a spoiler just in case
    the whole piano sequence was bloody brilliant and well delivered!
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