Mission: Impossible is a series of action spy films based on the television series of the same name, produced by and starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the fictional Impossible Missions Force (IMF).
Beginning in 1996, the films follow the missions of the IMF's main field team under the leadership of Hunt, who is forced to take over after the team is betrayed from within in the first film. The series focuses on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series, although some characters, such as Luther Stickell (played by Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (played by Simon Pegg) have recurring roles in the films.
The series is the 20th-highest-grossing film series of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2.7 billion to date. A sixth film, titled Mission: Impossible - Fallout is set to be released in July 2018.
Video Mission: Impossible (film series)
Films
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ethan Hunt is framed for the murder of his fellow IMF agents during a Prague Embassy mission gone wrong and falsely accused of selling government secrets to a mysterious international criminal known only as "Max". The action spy film was directed by Brian De Palma, and was produced by and starred Tom Cruise. Work on the script had begun early with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. Mission: Impossible went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but Koepp and Towne were dissatisfied with the story that led up to those events. U2 band members Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton produced an electronic dance version of the original theme song. The song went into top ten of music charts around the world, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The film was the third-highest-grossing of the year and received positive reviews from film critics.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Ethan sends international thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton) undercover to stop rogue IMF agent, and Nyah's former lover, Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from stealing a deadly virus to start a pandemic and sell the antidote to the highest bidder. The film was directed by John Woo.
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Ethan, retired from being an IMF team leader and engaged to be married, assembles a team to face the elusive arms and information broker Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who intends to sell a mysterious dangerous object known as "The Rabbit's Foot". The film was directed by J.J. Abrams.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Ethan and the entire IMF are blamed for the bombing of the Kremlin while investigating an individual known only as "Cobalt" (Michael Nyqvist). He and three other agents are left to stop him from starting a global nuclear war. The film was directed by Brad Bird.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan Hunt comes under threat from the Syndicate, a near-mythical organization of rogue agents who kill to order. Faced with the IMF's disbandment, Hunt assembles his team for their mission to prove the Syndicate's existence and bring the organization down by any means necessary. The film was directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill his original briefing, the CIA begins to question his loyalty and his motives. Hunt finds himself in a race against time, hunted by assassins and former allies while trying to prevent a global catastrophe. The film once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
Maps Mission: Impossible (film series)
Principal cast
Additional crew & production details
Reception
Box office performance
Critical and public response
Controversy
Some fans of the TV series were upset that Jim Phelps, team leader in the series, became a traitor in the first film, selling the details of government agents to an arms dealer. Actor Greg Morris, who portrayed Barney Collier in the original television series, was so disgusted with the film's treatment of the Phelps character that he walked out of the theater before the film ended. Martin Landau, who portrayed Rollin Hand in the original series, was equally negative concerning the films. 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", he said. "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." Peter Graves turned down an offer to portray Jim Phelps in the 1996 film because of Phelps being an antagonist.
Change to theme music
The television version is in a rarely used 5/4 (five quarter-notes to a measure) time and is difficult to dance to, as was proven by a memorable segment of American Bandstand in which teenage dancers were caught off-guard by Dick Clark's playing of the Lalo Schifrin single release.
The opening theme music for the first six films are stylized renditions of Schifrin's original iconic theme, preserving the 5/4 rhythm, by Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, Joe Kraemer and Lorne Balfe respectively by the films' chronology. Most of the versions included in the score also retained the 5/4 time signature.
However, for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s remix featured on the first film's motion picture soundtrack, the time signature was changed to standard pop 4/4 (four quarter-notes to a measure) time to make it more dance-friendly, although the intro is still in 5/4 time. Also, the Limp Bizkit song "Take a Look Around" from the soundtrack to the second film was set to a similar 4/4 modification of the theme, with an interlude in 5/4.
See also
References
External links
- Latest Mission Impossible trailer: http://www.missionimpossible.com/
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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