Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible is a 1996 American action spy film[4] directed by Brian De Palma and produced by and starring Tom Cruise. A continuation of both the original television series of the same name and its revived sequel series (and set six years after the events of the latter show), it is the first installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. The film follows Ethan Hunt and his mission to uncover ‘the mole’ who has framed him for the murders of most of his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team. 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 devised several 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 a dance rendition of the original theme music, which became a top-ten hit in the US (receiving gold record certification) and six other countries and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Mission: Impossible was a commercial success, eventually becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1996, and garnered a mostly favorable response from critics. Its success spawned the Mission: Impossible film series.
Plot.
After finishing a mission in Kiev, Jim Phelps and his latest IMF team are sent to Prague to stop rogue agent Alexander Golitsyn from stealing the CIA NOC list. However, the mission unexpectedly fails after the list is stolen and the team is killed one by one. Jack, who is hidden above an elevator, is killed when it mysteriously malfunctions, and an emergency brake spike impales him. Phelps’ camera records someone shooting him and he falls over the side of a bridge. Hannah is killed by a car bomb while following Jim’s wife, fellow agent Claire. Sarah tails Golitsyn and witnesses his murder before she is stabbed to death. Ethan Hunt, the sole survivor, is debriefed by IMF director Eugene Kittridge. During the debrief, Hunt realizes that another IMF team was present during the mission and learns that the operation was a setup to lure out a mole within the IMF. The mole is believed to be working with an arms dealer named “Max” as part of “Job 314”. Hunt, realizing Kittridge suspects him of being the mole, escapes by using exploding chewing gum given to him by Jack before the mission.
After returning to the Prague safe house, Hunt realizes “Job 314” actually refers to Bible verse Job 3:14, “Job” being the mole’s code name. Claire arrives at the safe house, explaining that before his death, Phelps contacted her saying that the mission was compromised, which enabled her to avoid getting killed. Hunt arranges a meeting with Max to warn her that the NOC list she has is fake and equipped with a tracking device. After Max realizes that Hunt was telling the truth, they escape together just as Kittridge and the other IMF team, following the tracking device, raid her apartment. Hunt 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 and helicopter pilot Franz Krieger. They infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, steal the authentic list while narrowly avoiding detection, and escape to London. Krieger takes the floppy disk containing the list, but Hunt tricks him into giving the list up. Hunt then gives the list to Stickell.
Kittridge has Hunt’s mother and uncle falsely arrested for drug trafficking. After learning about their arrests, Hunt contacts Kittridge from a payphone, intentionally allowing the IMF to trace the call. Phelps resurfaces unexpectedly, recounts surviving the shooting, and tells Hunt that Kittridge is the mole. However, Hunt deduces that Phelps is the mole after realizing that the Bible he found in Prague was taken from Chicago’s Drake Hotel by Phelps. Hunt pretends to believe Phelps but pieces together how he betrayed and killed his teammates with help from Claire and Krieger. Hunt arranges to exchange the list with Max aboard the TGV train to Paris, secretly inviting Kittridge to the meeting.
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 and convinced Paramount to put up a $70 million budget. Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner, worked on a story with filmmaker Sydney Pollack for a few months when the actor hired Brian De Palma to direct. While working on Interview with the Vampire, 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, and finally Robert Towne. 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 and Gloria Katz. 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 script that the filmmakers wanted to use. 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 worked 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.
Marketing.
Apple Inc. 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 was complicated by Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber’s ban of Scientologists from joining the state civil service. In response to Tom Cruise’s affiliation with the religion, members of the ruling CDU/CSU spoke out against the film and its youth organization the Junge Union 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 by German authorities. The boycott was also criticized by the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Human Rights Commission after fellow Scientologist John Travolta arranged a meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.
Home media.
Mission: Impossible was released by Paramount Home Video on VHS on November 12, 1996, and DVD 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 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 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 U.K. on remastered Blu-ray disc with all eleven previous Blu-ray special features ported over.RELATED:
Mission: Impossible 6 – Fallout (2018) Biography, Plot, Filming, Marketing, Box office, Trailer.
