No matter how many iterations Mission: Impossible will go through, versions, remakes, reboots—I will always be a fan. And no matter how many heroes/anti-heroes the series gives birth to, I will always be a fan.
What makes Mission: Impossible such a great TV/movie series to follow is not only the awesome music—does anyone not know the Mission: Impossible theme?—but also the premise to the franchise. The premise is simple, spies try to outwit each other in a game of cat and mouse until there’s a winner. There’s more to it than that, but as a general rule, that’s what Mission: Impossible is all about.
In the Sixties, the coolest part of the series is the self-destructive tape recorder Mr. Phelps (Peter Graves) has five seconds from which to escape. The other part is the pull-away masks. These two items is the meat and potatoes of the Mission: Impossible series that carries over remake after remake. No matter how many versions I’ve seen of the series, how many times have I seen an MI agent remove a face and trick us all into believing the agent was someone else?
As a leader and a very smart individual, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is one of those agents. He has the cool gadgets. He has the masks to boot. However, nothing in his box of magic does he pull off the greatest spy capers without the help of his loyal team.
The current incarnation makes Ethan into an action hero. He can do anything. He can hop out of planes, drive fast cars, blow away enemy agents with his dead-accurate aim, and he can wow a woman simply by his charm. If I didn’t know better, he was a superhero.
Ethan’s big thrill is to catch an enemy agent in the act. If that means he has to scale a castle wall, knock out four guards, dive through a corridor booby-trapped by lasers, then that’s what Ethan will do. He will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
The cool gadgets are a bonus. From pen lasers to invisible ink, Ethan has it all. The best gadget however, is the one he uses against another agent during a dinner meeting. Green light, red light is how Ethan puts it. He bends a piece of chewing gum in half and tosses the piece on the face of an aquarium. It is one of the most thrilling scenes in the series. I believe it’s the same scene where he says, “Upset? You haven’t seen me upset.”
Lastly, what would Ethan Hunt be without his team? He needs the help of other agents to accomplish his missions. His team consists of experts in the field of technology, physics and the human condition. They follow his lead in everything. The tougher the mission, the more his team provides their loyalty to him.
What else can one say about Wednesday Warriors‘ Ethan Hunt? He’s a secret agent. Knowing that, he might as well be a superhero.
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Have you watched any of the Mission: Impossible shows or movies? What do you like about it?
Looking to God 
Oh, I guess I’m one of those quiet fans of both the show and the movies. I don’t talk about them much but the Mission Impossible movies are consistently entertaining no matter how many of them they make.
I’m also one of those closet Tom Cruise fans. A lot of people hate him but he always brings ” Game” to any action movie and that’s why I like him so much.
I plan on seeing the fifth one this year, too. I love his new team since the last movie,as well.
I’m the same. I really like Tom Cruise movies. I know a lot about Cruise’s personal life, but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying his films. They really are great movies and I also enjoy him as an actor.
A little trivia for you: My first Cruise movie is Risky Business. I watched it when I was about the same age as him in the film Great, great move!
Never saw the show, but I saw all the movies. Just saw the 4th one, which was a decent apology for 3’s ending. Good point on the action hero part. It’s funny how I hear people wishing for an ‘American’ spy like James Bond, but nobody thinks about Ethan Hunt. They’re both full of tricks, toys, and explosions.
I actually liked MI:III. I thought it had a good story, even if it was basic in nature. I enjoyed Ghost Protocol more. The sandstorm sequence was my favorite.
I agree. Though the first had it’s early charm. My big issue with 3 is that they never revealed what the rabbit’s foot was.
Ah, the rabbit foot. I forget what that was for. I’ll have to watch the movie again. Given it’s been a few years now, a rewatch seems appropriate.
It was Jj Abrams. No explanation given at all. Could have been the greatest chocolate chip recipe in the world. We’ll never know, but that’s what I’m going with.
I remember the TV series. Never watched the movies. Not only did MI have Peter Graves, it had Martin Landau ( The actor who almost became Spock ), Barbara Bain, Leonard Nimoy.
It was right up there with ” The Man From U.N.C.L.E “.
Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were incredible in their roles. I also loved them in Space 1999. I’ve never really seen The Man from U.N.C.L.E. though. I ought to catch that before for the end of my lifetime.
The Man From UNCLE was kind of a tongue – in – cheek homage to the spy / international espionage genre. It made David McAllum pretty much a turtle – necked, cigar – smoking, icon of the 60’s swingers. I don’t know what happened to Robert Vaughn.
I guess I, Spy kind of fell into the same category.
I remember I, Spy. Robert Culp was great in it. I could never figure out what the chemistry was between him and Cosby’s character. Then again, I was a kid at the time.
Robert Culp was interesting – ” I, Spy “, ” The Greatest American Hero ” ( Where he played another government agent – type ) & much, much earlier, an episode of the Outer Limits where he plays an android called Trent in ” Demon With a Glass Hand “. If ever an episode of a TV series was BEGGING for a big screen treatment, my candidate would be ” Demon ” ( If they didn’t have too many hands stirring the pot. That has been Harlan Ellison’s big gripe for the past 40 years. ).
I loved Robert Culp in Everybody Loves Raymond. Sad to see how he died falling down. I’m now wishing I could have watched him in earlier series I had no idea he had starred in.
Oh, yeah, I forgot he was in that. He was 1 of the few actors who knew Harlan Ellison ( Author of the script version of ” Demon With a Glass Hand ” ) personally. I still maintain that ” Demon ” would be good if it could be properly adapted for the big screen or maybe a mini – series.