With Mission: Impossible-III scheduled to be released on May 5th Paramount has decided to release a Special Collector’s Edition of Mission: Impossible and give Mission: Impossible-II a re-release with an extra bonus disc. The DVDs were released both separately and as a box set on April 11, 2006

Mission: Impossible Review

Brian De Palma brought Mission: Impossible to the big screen in the summer of 1996 after getting its start on television nearly 40 years earlier. Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, the IMF agent brought under false suspicion for the deaths of his fellow team members on mission that was later revealed to be a mockery to catch a mole in the IMF agency. With Hunt the only survivor the director of the IMF alleges that he is the mole, which leads Hunt on a mission to find the true mole and the one responsible for the deaths of his fellow team members.

Mission: Impossible has a great cast with Tom Cruise in his perfect role as an action hero. Casual fans have expressed problems with the complex plot while fans of the old television show have expressed problems with the characters in the movie not being true to their roots. Even with some plot problems, there are some great scenes (e.g. Break-in at the CIA, train scene) with some excellent performances from Cruise, and Jon Voight as leader of the IMF team Jim Phelps.

Mission: Impossible Formatting and Special Features

There is a huge improvement from the original version in terms of formatting on the special edition. The widescreen version has been cleaned up a bit from the original release and the audio is now in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The special features however are still lacking for a special edition of one of the biggest movies of the 1990’s. There are zero commentaries. How Paramount could not get Cruise or De Palma to come in and do a commentary is beyond me. The new features on this disc include six new featurettes, none of which can truly fill the appetite of any Mission: Impossible enthusiast. The features are titled Mission: Remarkable, which chronicles both the TV show and the making of the movie. Then you have Mission: Explosive Exploits, Mission: Spies Among Us, Mission: Catching the Train, Mission: International Spy Museum, and Mission: Agent Dossiers. None of these are truly of any great length, and none of them are truly worthy of being on a special edition. There are then two Tribute Montages which focus on Tom Cruise and I find myself wondering why they are on a Mission: Impossible Special Edition when there are more features that could be more worthy of being on the disc. Lastly, the disc includes the usual teasers, trailers, and TV spots for Mission: Impossible and the trailer for Mission: Impossible-III. Overall the special features are extremely disappointing and do not do justice for a film that has become a piece of cinematic history.

Mission: Impossible-II Review

John Woo was brought in as the new director for the sequel to the popular Mission: Impossible and Woo had action on his mind. Mission: Impossible-II exploded on the big screen in May of 2000. Woo gave the Mission: Impossible franchise a newer, slicker look, along with Cruise who was sporting longer locks for the follow up to his most successful movie to date. Fans came out by the masses to see the sequel and considering its box office, many casual fans were delighted with the more high action, less plot driven sequel. However, fans of the original Mission: Impossible movie and television show again had problems with the fact that the sequel did not stay true to its roots. In my opinion M:i-2 came across as just another overblown summer blockbuster, and does not live up to the bar the original set (which was not too high in the first place). Tom Cruise is brilliant as Hunt again, showing he has found his niche as an action star, but Thandie Newton’s, while not saying her performance is bad, character is wrong for the movie and overall hurts the movie. However, the movie became Cruise’s largest grossing movie up to that date and Paramount was more than happy with the over $215 million it raked in on its way to being the number three top grossing movie of 2000.

Mission: Impossible-II Formatting and Special Features

Now this is where Paramount gets into the true double-dipping of the franchise. The first disc is the same exact disc as that in the original release. The widescreen presentation and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround are the same as the original. There are no new special features on the disc, but the features are still better than those put on the special edition for the first Mission: Impossible. Remember it must be stressed that these features are ON THE FIRST RELEASE OF THE DVD, there is nothing new about these features. Something the buyer does not get on the Mission: Impossible Special Edition is featured on this disc. A commentary by director John Woo is included, but yet again no commentary from Mr. Cruise. Also included is a 15 minute “Behind the Mission” feature which includes interviews with the cast and crew, a 5 minute “Mission Incredible” stunt featurette, and “Impossible Shots” which includes a look at 11 stunt sequences including interviews with Cruise, Woo, and stunt coordinator Brian Smrz. Then included for the MTV viewer, which seems to be who the movie was catered to, is included the music video “I Disappear,” by Metallica, and the “Mission Improbable” satire starring Ben Stiller as Tom Cruise’s stunt double. The all new bonus disc includes features already included on the Mission: Impossible Special Edition disc. So basically if you buy the box set, the second disc serves no importance to you. M:i-III teaser and Big Game Launch TV spot are included as are the Tribute Montages to Tom Cruise on the all new disc. In the end the buyer is left with no new special features in relation to the Mission: Impossible-II movie. This folks is the epitome of what a double-dip is.

The Verdict

Overall, the release is just not enough for any fan of the Mission: Impossible movies. No standout features and no commentaries make the Mission: Impossible release hardly a “Special Collector’s Edition” and the fact that there are no new features for the M:i-II disc is a travesty. The best part about the box set is the inclusion of a free ticket to see Mission: Impossible-III. Based on value alone it would not be a bad decision to buy the box set for anyone that does not have the movies, but overall the set receives a big fat…

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