Mission Impossible (film)
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''Mission: Impossible'' is a 1996 American
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...
directed by
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
and produced by and starring
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
from a screenplay by
David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial ...
and
Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...
and story by Koepp and
Steven Zaillian Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and has earned Oscar no ...
. A continuation of the 1966 television series of the same name and its 1988 sequel series ( canonically set six years after the latter), it is the first installment in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series. It also stars
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...
,
Henry Czerny Henry Czerny ( ; born February 8, 1959) is a Canadian stage, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Boys of St. Vincent, Mission: Impossible, Clear and Present Danger, The Ice Storm, The Exorcism of Emily Rose,' ...
,
Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
is a F ...
,
Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...
,
Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
, Kristin Scott Thomas, and
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
. In the film,
Ethan Hunt Ethan Matthew Hunt is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series. He is portrayed by Tom Cruise. Appearances ''Mission: Impossible'' (1996) In the first film, Hunt acts as the IMF point man for an ...
(Cruise) seeks to uncover who framed him for the murders of most of his
Impossible Missions Force ''Mission: Impossible'' is a multimedia franchise based on a fictional secret espionage agency known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The 1966 TV series ran for seven seasons and was revived in 1988 for two seasons. It inspired a serie ...
(IMF) team. Numerous efforts by Paramount Pictures to create a film adaptation of the television series stalled until Cruise founded
Cruise/Wagner Productions Cruise/Wagner Productions, also abbreviated as C/W Productions, was an American independent film production company. It was founded by actor Tom Cruise and his agent Paula Wagner in July 1992. Wagner had been representing Cruise for eleven years b ...
in 1992 and decided on ''Mission: Impossible'' as its inaugural project. Development initially began with filmmaker Sydney Pollack but most of the final screenplay was completed after De Palma,
Steven Zaillian Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and has earned Oscar no ...
,
David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial ...
and
Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...
were hired; De Palma also designed most of the action sequences, while Cruise did most of his own stunts.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in March 1995 and lasted until that August, with filming locations including
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Pinewood Studios in England, and
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
(a rarity in Hollywood at the time). ''Mission: Impossible'' was theatrically released in the United States by Paramount on May 22, 1996. The film received from mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for the action sequences, De Palma's direction and Cruise's performance but criticism for a convoluted plot. It was also negatively received by cast members of the original television series. For instance, actor Greg Morris, who had starred in the original television series, and died a few months after the film's release, called the film an "abomination". The film grossed $457.7 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 1996, while the dance rendition of the original theme song by
Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. Mullen was born in Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he co-founded U2 ...
and
Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...
became a top-ten hit internationally and was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...
. The film's success led to a long-running film franchise, beginning with '' Mission: Impossible 2'', released four years later in 2000.


Plot

After finishing a mission in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...
,
Jim Phelps This is a list of recurring fictional characters in the '' Mission: Impossible'' franchise. Main and recurring characters The cast changed considerably episode-by-episode throughout the program's seven-year run, so not all of the characters l ...
and his latest IMF team are sent to
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
to stop rogue agent Alexander Golitsyn from stealing the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
NOC list. However, the mission unexpectedly fails after the list is stolen and the team is killed one by one, along with Golitsyn, leaving Phelps's pointman
Ethan Hunt Ethan Matthew Hunt is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series. He is portrayed by Tom Cruise. Appearances ''Mission: Impossible'' (1996) In the first film, Hunt acts as the IMF point man for an ...
the only survivor. Ethan is debriefed by IMF director Eugene Kittridge in a restaurant. Hunt realizes that another IMF team was present during the mission and learns that the operation was a setup to lure out a
mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
within the IMF with the help of Golitsyn, who was posing as the rogue agent. The mole is believed to be working with an arms dealer named "Max" as part of "Job 314". Realizing that Kittridge suspects he is the mole, Ethan escapes by using a
plastic explosive Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives or blastics. Plastic explosives are especially suited for explo ...
disguised as chewing gum. After returning to the Prague safe house, Ethan realizes "Job 314" actually refers to Bible verse , with "Job" being the mole's code name. Phelps's wife Claire, thought to have been killed during the mission, arrives at the safe house, explaining that before his death, Phelps warned her that they were compromised which enabled her escape. Ethan arranges a meeting with Max to warn her that the NOC list she has is fake and equipped with a tracking device. Despite Max's initial skepticism, they escape a raid by Kittridge's team. Ethan convinces Max that he can obtain the real NOC list in exchange for $10 million and Job's true identity. Hunt and Claire recruit two disavowed IMF agents, hacker
Luther Stickell Luther Stickell is a fictional supporting character in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series who first appeared in the 1996 film '' Mission: Impossible'' and is the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in all six films. In the films, Lu ...
and helicopter pilot Franz Krieger. They infiltrate
CIA headquarters The George Bush Center for Intelligence is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, located in the unincorporated community of Langley, Virginia, Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States; near Washington, D.C. The headqua ...
in Langley, steal the authentic list, and escape to London. Krieger takes the floppy disk containing the list, but Ethan tricks him into giving it up before giving the list to Stickell for safekeeping. Kittridge has Ethan's mother and uncle falsely arrested in order to lure Ethan out. After learning about the arrests, Ethan contacts Kittridge from a payphone, intentionally allowing the IMF to trace the call. Phelps resurfaces unexpectedly, recounts surviving the shooting, and tells Ethan that Kittridge is the mole. However, Ethan has already realized that Phelps is the mole after discovering that the Bible he used in Prague was taken from
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
's Drake Hotel, where Phelps was stationed on a previous assignment. Ethan pretends to believe Phelps and arranges to exchange the list with Max aboard the
TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
train to Paris, secretly inviting Kittridge to the meeting. On the train, Ethan directs Max to the list, and she sends him to the baggage car where the money and Job are located. Meanwhile, Stickell uses a jamming device to prevent Max from uploading the list to her servers. Claire goes to the car to collect her share of the money from Phelps, only to realize that he is really Ethan in disguise. When the real Phelps arrives and takes the money at gunpoint, Hunt sends a live video of the confrontation to Kittridge, exposing Phelps as the mole. Claire tries to reason with her husband, but Phelps kills her and climbs to the train's roof, where Krieger is waiting with a helicopter. As Phelps attempts to climb onto the helicopter using a tether, Ethan hooks it onto the train, preventing Krieger from flying away and forcing the helicopter into the Channel Tunnel. He uses another piece of explosive to blow the chopper up, killing Phelps and Krieger. Kittridge takes Max into custody and recovers the NOC list from Stickell. As he and Stickell are reinstated back in the IMF, Ethan is unsure about returning to the team. On the flight home, an attendant approaches him and covertly offers him the chance to take on a new mission as team leader.


Cast

*
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
as
Ethan Hunt Ethan Matthew Hunt is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series. He is portrayed by Tom Cruise. Appearances ''Mission: Impossible'' (1996) In the first film, Hunt acts as the IMF point man for an ...
: A young IMF agent *
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...
as
Jim Phelps This is a list of recurring fictional characters in the '' Mission: Impossible'' franchise. Main and recurring characters The cast changed considerably episode-by-episode throughout the program's seven-year run, so not all of the characters l ...
: The leader of Ethan's IMF team, his mentor and the director of the IMF *
Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
is a F ...
as Claire Phelps: Phelps's wife and a member of his IMF team, specializing in getaway transportation *
Henry Czerny Henry Czerny ( ; born February 8, 1959) is a Canadian stage, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Boys of St. Vincent, Mission: Impossible, Clear and Present Danger, The Ice Storm, The Exorcism of Emily Rose,' ...
as Eugene Kittridge: The director of the IMF *
Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...
as Franz Krieger: A disavowed IMF agent and skilled pilot recruited by Ethan to assist him *
Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
as
Luther Stickell Luther Stickell is a fictional supporting character in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series who first appeared in the 1996 film '' Mission: Impossible'' and is the only character besides Ethan Hunt to appear in all six films. In the films, Lu ...
: A disavowed IMF agent and skilled computer hacker recruited by Ethan to assist him *
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
as Max Mitsopolis: An illegal arms dealer * Kristin Scott Thomas as Sarah Davies: An IMF agent and undercover infiltration expert on Phelps' IMF team *
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė (russian: Ингеборга Дапкунайте; born 20 January 1963) is а Lithuanian theatre and cinema actress, who appears mostly in Russian films. She is a winner of the Nika Award in 1994 for Best Actress. Early ...
as Hannah Williams: An IMF agent and surveillance expert on Phelps' IMF team *
Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen. Emilio Estevez started his career as an actor and is known for being a member of the acting Br ...
(uncredited) as Jack Harmon: An IMF agent and security system specialist on Phelps' IMF team * Rolf Saxon as William Donloe: A CIA analyst at Langley *
Marcel Iureş Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...
as Alexander Golitsyn: An IMF agent posing as a rogue agent to lure out a mole in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
Additional cast members include
Karel Dobrý Karel Dobrý (born 2 May 1969) is a Czechs, Czech film, television and stage actor. He is known for playing Liet-Kynes in the ''Frank Herbert's Dune, Dune'' 2000 miniseries, and Korba (Dune), Korba in the 2003 sequel ''Frank Herbert's Children of ...
and
Andreas Wisniewski Andreas Wisniewski (born 3 July 1959) is a German actor and former dancer. He is best known for his portrayals of Necros in the 1987 Bond film ''The Living Daylights'', Max's companion in the 1996 film '' Mission: Impossible'', and as one of Han ...
as Max's henchmen,
Annabel Mullion Annabel Mullion (born 1969) is an actress. She was educated at St Mary's School, Ascot and studied English and Drama at the University of East Anglia. She then completed the 3 year acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating i ...
as an IMF agent posing as the flight attendant on Ethan's plane,
Olegar Fedoro Olegar Fedoro ( ''né'' Olegár Pablo Fedóro; born 6 March 1958) is a Ukrainian-born former Soviet performer who later became a Spanish and then English actor. He enrolled in the acclaimed VGIK Film School (All-Russian State University of Ci ...
as an IMF agent during the Kiev sequence, Dale Dye as IMF agent Frank Barnes who assists Eugene Kittridge hunt down Ethan Hunt and Morgan Deare as Ethan's uncle Donald Hunt.


Production


Development and writing

Paramount Pictures owned the rights to the television series and had tried for years to make a film version but had failed to come up with a viable treatment. Tom Cruise had been a fan of the show since he was young and thought that it would be a good idea for a film. The actor chose ''Mission: Impossible'' to be the inaugural project of his new
production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...
and convinced Paramount to put up a $70 million budget. Cruise and his producing partner,
Paula Wagner Paula Kauffman Wagner (born Paula Sue Kauffman) is an American film producer and film executive. Her most recent credits include the film ''Marshall'' starring Chadwick Boseman, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, and Josh Gad as well as the Broadw ...
, worked on a story with filmmaker Sydney Pollack for a few months when the actor hired
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
to direct. While working on ''
Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...
'', Cruise met De Palma during a dinner with Steven Spielberg and was impressed by his filmography, so when he went back home, he saw all De Palma's films and convinced himself to have De Palma hired to direct ''Mission: Impossible''. They went through two screenplay drafts that no one liked. De Palma brought in screenwriters Steve Zaillian,
David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial ...
and, finally,
Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...
. When the film was green-lit Koepp was initially fired with Robert Towne being the lead writer and Koepp being brought back on later. According to the director, the goal of the script was to "constantly surprise the audience." Reportedly, Koepp was paid $1 million to rewrite an original script by
Willard Huyck Willard Miller Huyck, Jr. (born September 8, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and producer, best known for his association with George Lucas. Career Huyck and Lucas met as students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, film school ...
and
Gloria Katz Gloria Katz (October 25, 1942 – November 25, 2018) was an American screenwriter and film producer, best known for her association with George Lucas. Along with her husband Willard Huyck, Katz created the screenplays of films including ''Amer ...
. According to one project source, there were problems with dialogue and story development. However, the basic plot remained intact. The film went into pre-production without a finished script. De Palma designed the action sequences, but neither Koepp nor Towne were satisfied with the story that would make these sequences take place. Towne ended up helping organize a beginning, middle and end to hang story details on while De Palma and Koepp collaborated on the plot. De Palma convinced Cruise to set the first act of the film in Prague, a city rarely seen in Hollywood films at the time. Reportedly, studio executives wanted to keep the film's budget in the $40–50 million range. Still, Cruise wanted a "big, showy action piece" that took the budget up to $62 million range. The scene that takes place in a glass-walled restaurant with a giant lobster tank in the middle and three huge fish tanks overhead was Cruise's idea. There were 16 tons in all of the tanks, and there was a concern that when they detonated, much glass would fly around. De Palma tried the sequence with a stuntman, but it did not look convincing, and he asked Cruise to do it, despite the possibility that the actor could have drowned. During the filming of the scene in the vault heist where Cruise is suspended by a cable, Cruise put British pound coins in his shoes as counterweights to stay level. Principal photography took place between March and August 1995 mainly in Prague and England's Pinewood Studios, but some scenes were shot in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Scotland and the United States. The film was one of the first Hollywood features to be both set and shot in contemporary Prague with extensive filming throughout a number of recognizable places including
Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
, National Museum or Old Town Square. Cruise approved the script for a showdown to take place on top of a moving train. The actor wanted to use France's high-speed train for filming, the
TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
, but the rail authorities objected. Thus, De Palma visited railroads on two continents, trying to find a suitable location elsewhere. Cruise decided to dine with the TGV owners, and the following day, the crew were given permission. For the actual sequence, Cruise wanted the wind powerful enough that could blow him off the train. Cruise had difficulty finding the right machine to create the wind velocity that would look visually accurate before remembering a simulator he used while training as a skydiver. The only machine of its kind in Europe was located and acquired. Cruise had it produce winds up to 140 miles per hour so it would distort his face. Exterior shots of the train were filmed on the
Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride. History The line was built by several railway compan ...
, between
New Cumnock New Cumnock is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It expanded during the coal-mining era from the late 18th century, and mining remained its key industry until its pits were shut in the 1960s. The town is southeast of Cumnock, and east of Ayr. ...
, Dumfries and Annan. Most of the sequence, however, was filmed at Pinewood’s
007 Stage The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage is one of the largest sound stages in the world. It is located at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and named after James Bond film producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli. The stage was ori ...
against a blue screen and was later digitized by Industrial Light & Magic. The filmmakers delivered the film on time and under budget, a rarity in Hollywood, with Cruise doing most of his own stunts. Initially, there was a sophisticated opening sequence that introduced a love triangle between Jim Phelps, his wife Claire and Ethan Hunt that was removed on the advice of George Lucas because it took the test audience "out of the genre," according to De Palma. There were rumors that Cruise and De Palma did not get along. These rumors were fueled when the director excused himself at the last moment from scheduled media interviews before the film's theatrical release.


Music

The film uses Lalo Schifrin's original " Theme from Mission: Impossible".
Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Ba ...
was originally hired to write the film's score, but his music was rejected and replaced with a new score by composer Danny Elfman. According to some sources, Silvestri had written and recorded some 20 minutes of music, and the decision to replace him was made by producer
Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
during post-production. Elfman had only a few weeks to compose and produce the final score, which used Schifrin's "The Plot" theme in addition to his main theme, as well as new themes composed by Elfman for the characters
Ethan Hunt Ethan Matthew Hunt is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series. He is portrayed by Tom Cruise. Appearances ''Mission: Impossible'' (1996) In the first film, Hunt acts as the IMF point man for an ...
, Claire and the IMF. U2 bandmates
Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. Mullen was born in Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he co-founded U2 ...
and
Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...
were fans of the TV show and knew the original theme music well but were nervous about remaking Schifrin's theme song. Clayton put together his own version in New York City and Mullen did his in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
on weekends between U2 recording sessions. The two musicians were influenced by Brian Eno and the European dance club scene sound that informed the album ''
Original Soundtracks 1 ''Original Soundtracks 1'' is a studio album recorded by rock band U2 and Brian Eno under the pseudonym Passengers as a side project. Released on 6 November 1995, the album is a collection of songs written for mostly imaginary films (the excep ...
'' that U2 had recently recorded with Eno. They allowed Polygram to pick its favorite, and they wanted both. In a month, they had two versions of the song and five remixed by DJs. All seven tracks appeared on a limited-edition vinyl release. The song entered the top 10 of music charts around the world. U2's rendition, as well as Schifrin's version as performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, were nominees for the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...
for the
39th Grammy Awards The 39th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Babyface was the night's biggest winner, with 3 awards. Celine Dion, Toni B ...
.


Marketing

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
had a $15 million promotion linked to the film that included a game, print ads and television spot featuring scenes from the TV show turned into the feature film; dealer and in-theater promos; and a placement of Apple personal computers in the film. This was an attempt on Apple's part to improve their image after posting a $740 million loss in its fiscal second quarter. The film's promotion in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
was complicated by Bavarian Minister-President
Edmund Stoiber Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he r ...
's ban of
Scientologists Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...
from joining the state civil service. In response to Tom Cruise's affiliation with Scientology, members of the ruling
CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
spoke out against the film and its youth organization the
Junge Union The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint youth organisation of the two conservative German political parties, CDU and CSU. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age. Junge Union c ...
boycotted it. The Church of Scientology International responded that it had not invested in the film and that it was part of a pattern of
religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated u ...
by German authorities. The boycott was also criticized by the U.S. State Department and the
United Nations Human Rights Commission The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...
after fellow Scientologist John Travolta arranged a meeting with U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and National Security Advisor
Sandy Berger Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger (October 28, 1945 – December 2, 2015) was an attorney who served as the 18th US National Security Advisor for US President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001 after he had served as the Deputy National Security Adviso ...
. The Church later published an open letter to Chancellor
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
in the '' International Herald Tribune'' written by
Bert Fields Bertram Harris Fields (March 31, 1929 – August 7, 2022) was an American lawyer noted for his work in the field of entertainment law. He represented many of the leading film studios, as well as numerous celebrities, and lectured at both Stanfo ...
comparing German boycotts of Scientologist celebrities such as Cruise to
Nazi book burnings The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (, ''DSt'') to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed as being subversive or as representi ...
.


Release


Home media

''Mission: Impossible'' was released by
Paramount Home Video Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
on VHS and LaserDisc on November 12, 1996, and on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on November 17, 1998. The film was released on DVD again on April 11, 2006, as a special collector's edition with a
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
release followed on June 3, 2008. Special features include five featurette's about the 40-year legacy and behind-the-scenes plus photo gallery and theatrical trailers. A
4K UHD 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...
Blu-ray version released on June 26, 2018, offering upgraded picture and audio. In May 2021, a ''Mission: Impossible'' 25th-anniversary edition was released in the U.S. and UK on remastered Blu-ray Disc with all eleven previous Blu-ray special features ported over.


Reception


Box office

''Mission: Impossible'' opened on May 22, 1996, in a then-record 3,012 theaters, becoming the first film to be released to over 3,000 theaters in the United States, and broke the record for a film opening on Wednesday with
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
11.8 million, beating the $11.7 million set by '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' made in 1991. The film also set house records in several theaters around the United States. Earning $45.4 million, ''Mission: Impossible'' smashed the short-lived record held by ''
Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...
'' for having the biggest May opening weekend. It grossed $75 million in its first six days, surpassing '' Jurassic Park'', and took in more than $56 million over the four-day
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend, beating out ''
The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
''. The next year, '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' would take the records for having the largest May opening weekend, the biggest number of screenings and the highest Memorial Day gross. The film topped the box office for two weeks until it was displaced by '' The Rock''. Cruise deferred his usual $20 million fee for a significant percentage of the box office. The film went on to make $180.9 million in North America and $276.7 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $457.6 million.


Critical response

On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 66%, based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "Full of special effects, Brian De Palma's update of ''Mission: Impossible'' has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "This is a movie that exists in the instant, and we must exist in the instant to enjoy it." In his review for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Stephen Holden addressed the film's convoluted plot: "If that story doesn't make a shred of sense on any number of levels, so what? Neither did the television series, in which basic credibility didn't matter so long as its sci-fi popular mechanics kept up the suspense." Mike Clark of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars and said that it was "stylish, brisk but lacking in human dimension despite an attractive cast, the glass is either half-empty or half-full here, though the concoction goes down with ease." However,
Hal Hinson Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow critic ...
, in his review for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', wrote, "There are empty thrills, and some suspense. But throughout the film, we keep waiting for some trace of personality, some color in the dialogue, some hipness in the staging or in the characters' attitudes. And it's not there." ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine's
Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also w ...
wrote, "What is not present in ''Mission: Impossible'' (which, aside from the title, sound-track quotations from the theme song and self-destructing assignment tapes, has little to do with the old TV show) is a plot that logically links all these events or characters with any discernible motives beyond surviving the crisis of the moment." Writing for ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'', Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B" rating and said, "The problem isn't that the plot is too complicated; it's that each detail is given the exact same nagging emphasis. Intriguing yet mechanistic, jammed with action yet as talky and dense as a physics seminar, the studiously labyrinthine ''Mission: Impossible'' grabs your attention without quite tickling your imagination." Numerous reviewers have praised the CIA break-in and the last climactic pursuit scene, despite their mixed feelings about the rest of the film. Both scenes have frequently featured highly on fans and critics' lists of best action scenes from this series and have been referenced many times in other subsequent works.


Reactions from original television series cast

Several cast members of the original television series that ran from 1966 to 1973 reacted negatively to the film. Actor
Greg Morris Francis Gregory Alan Morris (September 27, 1933 – August 27, 1996) was an American actor. He was best known for portraying Barney Collier on '' Mission: Impossible'' and Lt. David Nelson on ''Vega$''. Early life and career Born in Clevela ...
, who portrayed Barney Collier in the original television series, was reportedly disgusted with the film's treatment of the Phelps character, and he walked out of the theater before the film ended.
Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...
, who played Jim Phelps in the original series as well as in the late-1980s revival, also disliked how Phelps turned out in the film. Graves had been offered the chance to reprise his role from the TV series but turned it down upon learning his character would be revealed as a traitor.
Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...
, who portrayed Rollin Hand in the original series, expressed his own disapproval concerning the film. In an MTV interview in October 2009, Landau stated, "When they were working on an early incarnation of the first one—not the script they ultimately did—they wanted the entire team to be destroyed, done away with one at a time, and I was against that. It was basically an action-adventure movie and not ''Mission''. ''Mission'' was a mind game. The ideal mission was getting in and getting out without anyone ever knowing we were there. So the whole texture changed. Why volunteer to essentially have our characters commit suicide? I passed on it ... The script wasn't that good either!"


Sequels


References


External links

* * * * {{Authority control Mission: Impossible (film series) 1996 films 1996 action thriller films 1990s chase films 1990s English-language films 1990s heist films 1990s spy action films American action thriller films American chase films American heist films American sequel films American spy action films Cruise/Wagner Productions films Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films adapted into comics Films based on television series Films directed by Brian De Palma Films produced by Tom Cruise Films scored by Danny Elfman Films set in Kyiv Films set in Kent Films set in Langley, Virginia Films set in London Films set in Prague Films set on the London Underground Films set on trains Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in Prague Films shot in Scotland Films shot in Virginia Films with screenplays by David Koepp Films with screenplays by Robert Towne Paramount Pictures films 1990s American films