Join me as I explore the first of Tom Cruise’s action movie tours de force, adapted from the nearly actionless TV series of the same name. Impossible, you say? Oh quite possible indeed if you throw out everything the TV show did.
I examine the differences between the movie’s treatment of IFM and the 1960s TV show. I consider Tom Cruise as a thinking-man’s action movie star, Brian De Palma as a director, Jon Voight as an IMF lead, and the locations as locations. I compare it to Rafifi, Topkapi, Die Hard and Knight and Day. I consider the idea of taking the TV show’s premise and complicating it until it becomes ridiculous. I pull apart story elements like the insider-gone-bad and the nonsensical parts of the plot like the use of bible verses.
NOTE: I’m shocked to find that in fact Gideons distribute full bibles to hotel rooms. The New Testament only version is typically handed out. So it’s not the huge mistake I thought it was at all. Sorry for the error.
I’m watching a DVR version. I think there’s only one version of the film. Start the film after the MGM logo on the countdown.
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Great commentary Tysto I am huge fan of the Mission Impossible films and i don’t know anything about the tv shows . I see this is Tom Cruise’s DIe Hard . Can I request you do a commentary on Snitch a movie from 2013 staring the Rock?
Are my hears fooling me, or was that your dog barking like crazy during the middle of the commentary? Fortunately not so loud and your audio was good, so it wasn’t disturbing – but it got me curious 🙂
Great commentary for a good movie. Not great, because like you said, it would be a good movie – if only it wasn’t called Mission Impossible. That gave people expectations it didn’t deliver.
Yes, sorry about the barking. I have a 6-month-old golden retriever/Australian shepherd who can be quite insistent when she wants to play.
Jimbo, I’m not at all familiar with Snitch, but I really like Dwayne Johnson and should do more of his movies, so I’ll try to look into it.