Plot
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Release Year: 1996

Rating: 6.9/10 (127,370 voted)

Critic's Score: 60/100

Director: Brian De Palma

Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart

Storyline
Based on the hit T.V. series. Jim Phelps was sent to Prague for a mission to prevent the theft of classified material. His wife Claire and his trusted partner Ethan Hunt were members of Phelps' team. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong and the mission failed, leaving Ethan Hunt the lone survivor. After he reported the failed mission, Kettridge the head if the agency suspects Ethan of being the culprit for the failed mission. Now, Ethan uses unorthodox methods (Which includes the aid of an arms dealer going by the name "Max") to try to find who set him up and to clear his name.

Writers: Bruce Geller, David Koepp

Cast:
Tom Cruise - Ethan Hunt
Jon Voight - Jim Phelps
Emmanuelle Béart - Claire Phelps (as Emmanuelle Beart)
Henry Czerny - Eugene Kittridge
Jean Reno - Franz Krieger
Ving Rhames - Luther Stickell
Kristin Scott Thomas - Sarah Davies (as Kristin Scott-Thomas)
Vanessa Redgrave - Max
Dale Dye - Frank Barnes
Marcel Iures - Alexander Golitsyn
Ion Caramitru - Zozimov
Ingeborga Dapkunaite - Hannah Williams
Valentina Yakunina - Drunken Female IMF Agent
Marek Vasut - Drunken Male IMF Agent
Nathan Osgood - Kittridge Technician

Taglines: Expect the Impossible

Release Date: 22 May 1996

Filming Locations: Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office Details

Budget: $80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $45,436,830 (USA) (22 May 1996)

Gross: $457,696,359 (Worldwide) (19 December 1996)

Runtime: 110 min

Trivia:
Oscar-nominated writing team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz began a script that would pass through the hands of writers David Koepp and Steven Zaillian, before being ultimately refined by Koepp and Robert Towne. Towne kept revising the script all the way through production after Koepp left to direct The Trigger Effect.

Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the CIA are tracing Ethan Hunt's phone call from London, the CIA agent reports "He's in England" when the only confirmed digits are 44, from which you can only deduce a UK telephone number. You need another 3 or 4 digits to determine an area and hence part of the UK. (However, it's not unusual for people to misunderstand the distinction between England and the complete UK.)

Quotes:
Franz Krieger: Try any sleight of hand with my money and I'll cut your throat.

Confusing, But Still Fun To Watch

Rating: 8/10

Here's another film I watched when it came out and then later when the DVD was released and enjoyed both viewings, despite the fact I got "lost" several times. It's about time for another look because it's well-worth it and who knows....maybe I'll finally figure it out!

If you get a little confused trying to follow the plot, don't feel stupid. This isn't an easy story to follow but it gets high marks for keeping it interesting despite that problem.

The interesting characters, good cinematography, fun James Bond-like gadgets, just the right amount of action scenes and one very memorable heist scene with Tom Cruise dangling from a wire all make this an enjoyable two hours of entertainment. That scene with Cruise trying to break into this vault-like room remains as the one of the better tension-filled scenes I've ever witnessed on the big screen.

The final action scene with the speeding train and helicopter also is very memorable. John Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny and Jean Reno make it a fun cast to watch, too. Note: stick with this film and forget the sequel. Despite the confusion, this film is still fun to view.

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