Viewed – 11 August 2015  Blu-ray

With Rogue Nation fresh in my head, I thought it might be fun to revisit the original 1996 blockbuster.  Now sitting down to this, my memory was fairly cloudy and I realised I hadn’t actually seen it since it’s cinema release, yet recalled finding it overly confusing with a couple of stand out sequences.

Cruise, looking very young is Ethan Hunt, not quite the super-spy we  know him to be today but simply a special agent for a CIA division known as IMF.  Headed by John Voight, Hunt and his crew consisting of smouldering French beauty Emmanuelle Béart as well as former brat-packer Emillio Estefez must locate some stolen files that could leak the identities of a number of special agents into the wrong hands.  However during the mission, Cruise finds himself double-crossed and his team all but killed.  He’s then on the run and out to unmask the real culprit as his own innocence comes into question.

Directed by one of my favourites, Brian De Palma (Carrie, Carlitio’s Way) and with a twisting, complex narrative … this stylish and very well filmed ‘espionage thriller’ seems at first worlds away from the action extravaganza the series is known for.  Yes, we hardly get any chases, fights or stunts for pretty much the entire run time.  This was therefore more closely based on the TV show, with a more ‘pure’ mission: impossible storyline and with a strong if somewhat arrogant turn from Cruise and good work from series stalwart Ving Rhames.  It is too complicated (but not that clever) and at times confusing, which marred my enjoyment, but with a very tense CIA headquarters break-in that has been parodied to death (but is still cool) and a stunning climax on the roof of a speeding train heading into the channel tunnel – this remains a good start to a franchise that has developed and (mostly) improved with every entry.  Oh and ‘that’ theme has never been better implemented.

The Blu-ray is a mixed bag.  The image quality at first appears impressive until I noticed some harsh edge enhancement and wider shots seriously lacked detail.  The bog-standard Dolby Digital 5.1 is serviceable but lacks some punch.  Thankfully then we do get some decent extras on this box-set re-issue such as a M.I. retrospective documentary, various featurettes, a documentary on Tom Cruise and photo galleries.  A lack of a commentary is a let-down but not surprising considering the fairly underwhelming treatment of the movie itself.

Verdict:

(the movie)  3 /5

(the Blu-ray)  2.5 /5