Mission: Impossible

MOVIE DETAILS

Rating: 7.9 out of 10
Director: Bruce Geller
Writer: Bruce Geller
Star: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris
Genres: Action/Adventure/Crime/Drama/Thriller
Release Date: September 17, 1966 (United States)

Mission: Impossible

If I was asked to sit for a test about the plot of “Mission Impossible”, I am not certain that I would pass. But that is okay because, probably, even the scriptwriters themselves couldn’t. This story is an almost impenetrable web of post-Cold War double dealing whose particulars do not matter much; they only serve as a backdrop against which high-octane chase sequences and a delicate computer theft operation are staged intercut with that most dependable of spy movie tropes: the midnight rendezvous under a street lamp in some cold foreign capital.

Ethan Hunt is played by Tom Cruise who stars as a professional secret agent on assignment to prevent his country’s list containing names and real identities of all its undercover officers from being stolen by enemies. It’s not sufficient just to stop this person; also, Cruise (aided by Jon Voight, Kristen Scott-Thomas and Emmanuelle Beart) must photograph them stealing it before trailing them till they deliver it elsewhere.

Among other things used during this process are eyeglasses with built-in TV cameras; hidden microphones; laptops disguised as briefcases or attache cases carried by men dressed like women etcetera There is even an exploding car involved here somewhere along the line I think but can’t quite remember where exactly… oh well! Anyway, you get my drift.

Brian De Palma directed ‘Mission Impossible’ because he is renowned for making genre thrillers with subtle Hitchcockian overtones such as ‘Blow Out’ and ‘Body Double’. Consequently, taking its plot seriously becomes an almost impossible mission since De Palma cares more about style than substance so if this film ever attempted pausing to explain itself then we might as well be prepared for one helluva long wait indeed!

There’re so many double-crosses during first half hour alone that everything/nothing becomes believable (including people themselves who might actually be wearing elaborate masks). And due to such momentum established visually throughout the narrative flow, certain logical issues fail to arise like: does really physically duplicating computer files onto other discs represent sole method of stealing them? (One of my colleagues would argue that CIA could’ve easily hired Robert Redford’s team from ‘Sneakers’ for an online theft!)

The truth is ‘Mission Impossible’ represents nothing more than a smooth surface where technical competence thrives. As far as characters are concerned they’re just not very interesting (apart from Vanessa Redgrave starring as information broker and Jon Voight who does world-weariness so touchingly in this weary-less film). The truth is nobody can follow this story line. Cruise together with his friends have come up with some strategies which do not hold water when subjected to scrutiny by their enemies; however, none of these things matter at all.

This is an instantaneous movie and we must be there with it instantly. Hence any nagging queries arising from the beginning part of the movie should remain suppressed.

De Palma knows how to keep nonverbal action going; there’re three scenes in total: the opening sequence set within a diplomatic reception; an intricate piece of thieving done through hacking into somebody else’s system while being aware that time waits for no man but rather flies like owl feathers wrapped around lightning bolts hurled by Zeus himself towards Earth (or ‘chunnel’ if you prefer); and finally a race against clock where helicopter follows fast-moving Eurostar train all way under English Channel into France while Cruise clings atop it alongside one bad guy or another…

For anyone who has seen either “Rififi” (1954) or “Topkapi” (1964), this scene will be familiar. Both were directed by Jules Dassin, who was known for his long heist sequences that played out without dialogue. In “Topkapi,” a thief is suspended from a hole in the ceiling to avoid floormounted anti-theft devices. Similar to that, De Palma has created here a computer “safe room.” Alarms will sound at any noise above a certain decibel level, any pressure on the floor, any change in temperature everything.

Cruise hangs in a harness and carefully inserts a blank disc, makes a copy of the file.

Of course it’s convenient that the decibel level is set so high that it isn’t triggered by the noise of a computer copying a disc which is exactly what it should be guarding against. Convenient, too, that these infrared rays can be conveniently dealt with and very convenient for us that they’re made visible to an ordinary eye. If you want to see infra-red rays really exploited in a heist movie, check out “Grand Slam.”

If it’s been done before and better, not even James Bond movies have ever given us anything quite like the ending chase sequence involving bad guy in helicopter flying into Chunnel linking Britain and France. Earlier it’s been established that train through Britain is traveling so fast that Cruise might easily be blown off which will cheer film’s British viewers, since Chunnel train goes that fast only on French side because high-speed tracks on British side have not yet been completed (inaugurating Chunnel, Francois Mitter wickedly described traveler “Speeding through France and then enjoying leisurely view of British countryside”).

No matter: Train goes fast; helicopter follows it right under Channel; De Palma’s special effects cleverly obscure scale involved (helicopter’s blades would obviously not fit into tunnel) but then why am I quibbling, since whole stunt is obviously impossible?

The bottom line on a film like this, the reason it works at all, is that Tom Cruise looks cool and holds our attention while doing neat things we don’t quite understand doing them so quickly, with so much style and slick assurance that we put our questions on hold, go with the flow. When movie’s over it turns out there wasn’t anything except the flow. Our consolation is that we had fun going with it.

For more movies like Mission: Impossible Visit Gomovies.