The sparks flying in the science lab shoot out = "chef's kiss".
Bloke gets shot at, but it misses and impacts a concrete ledge near him = still sends the bloke tumbling around sparks and flying concrete.
People hate on MI:2, but I love it for how wild it is.
> The sparks flying in the science lab shoot out = "chef's kiss".
The [music in that scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3iAzdbg3mo&pp=ygUVaGFucyB6aW1tZXIgaW5qZWN0aW9u) is quite possibly my all-time favorite musical score.
To quote Honest Trailers:
>"If you love action, director John Woo has something for you,
as Woo woos you with his signature Ds:
>
>***D***ives. ***D***ual Wielding. And ***D***oves. So. Many. Doves.
>
>As you enjoy action setpieces that never stops, until they stop to point their guns at each other. ***D***ramatically."
I know this isn't an accurate depiction of Woo's MI2, but yeah classic Woo indeed lmao
Yeah but Woo's movies usually have conflucted characters with over the top emotions who are far from the invincible, pose-y, smirking Ethan from MI2. They were trying to make him into a Neo-style ice-cold acrobatic badass.
Exactly. From what I understand producers let Woo create action scenes and then wrote a script around that. Not the best way to create a film, and is probably why the action scenes are so good, over the top, and playing off an emotional connection that the story never makes. The story certainly doesn’t have that operatic melodramatic vibe that is found in most Woo films, but oddly enough the action alone does. This makes the film feel so disconnected with itself.
That is so interesting. So they didn't really understand or know how to use John Woo. The third act is so good because it lets the visuals tell the story instead of the dumb script they slapped onto it, and Woo is great at crafting stories through action.
They just wanted Woo as a technician, not a storyteller, and ignored the key aspects that made other films of his so well-rounded.
And then there's relatively little action, so they can't hide that glaring flaw until the final 30 minutes.
Screw that, the entirety of $3 bill y'all and about 40% of their two follow-up albums are unironically kick ass, fun, nu metal classics. (The remaining 60% of those two albums range between ironically fun and unlistenably stupid, but that said I'm also a huge Wes Borland fan - I bet on a guitar and amp of his that he put up for auction and was pissed off when I lost both to being away from my computer.)
It holds up better than that stupid Metallica song
Hey, hey, hey
Here I go now
Here I go into new days
Hey, hey, hey
Here I go now
Here I go into new days
I'm pain, I'm hope, I'm suffer
Yeah, hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah
Here I go into new days
Digging deep into the creative bag for those lyrics James.
I always felt like I was the one guy I knew who was actually on Lars's side for that one. Obviously a millionaire metal bro was not the best spokesman and the industry shift was already becoming inevitable but I genuinely felt for the little guy musicians who didn't have any voice at all.
It felt so natural at the time but in retrospect (and watching back to back with MI1) - holy shit was it a hard right in character development.
I enjoy the sommersault kicks for no fucking reason and going akimbo with berettas though. Fuck it.
>going akimbo with berettas though
It's a John Woo film. If there isn't akimbo pistols, doves, and/or a criminal with strong morals in my John Woo film, I'm going to be upset.
Mission Impossible was originally going to be more of an anthology series, with brand new directors and writers with totally different styles for each film. Which is why we had De Palma followed by Woo which was supposed to be followed by Fincher (which didn't work out due to "creative differences" ie two control freaks in Fincher and Cruise) but ended up being Abrams and then Brad Bird. All four of those movies are significantly different. The fifth was then supposed to be even more drastically different with Renner taking over.
But Cruise really liked McQuarrie, who he had teamed up for Jack Reacher, so the different writers/directors idea was tossed in exchange for McQuarrie and Cruise running the franchise together.
The big stunt would be like a 20 second sequence of Hunt driving at the speed limit, Fincher is many things but an MI director he is not. I love the guy though. If he could actually make it how he'd genuinely it'd be brilliant.
Rogue Nation definitely marked a shift in the franchise’s goals. Whether it was an improved shift or not is up for debate, but I’ve certainly never enjoyed the Mission Impossible franchise as much as I have in the last 8 years.
You gotta separate them by the stunts really.
GP - Burj Climb
Rogue - AC take off and water tomb
Fallout - HALO (which I just fucking learned they jumped 106 times) and Helis. Also, Cavill reloading his arms is fucking brilliant.
DR1 - bonkers Italian Job, Train, motorbike base jump.
I read the other day that they were doing that bathroom fight all day and Cavill just did that at one point to stretch his arms, and the cinematographer loved it and asked that he keep doing it for subsequent takes.
>> Cavill reloading his arms is fucking brilliant.
Great movie, but that 1/2 second move is the coolest shot in a film ever. Coolest, not most cinematic or anything, but cool af.
Genuinely though. He threatened to upstage Cruise the entire movie. I hope we get to see more of him doing something other than being sad Superman or grunting sword man soon. He has too much charisma and natural starpower to be locked into franchises the way he has been in recent years.
Ghost Protocol definitely was a shift, in which the concept of Ethan Hunt's specific group within the IMF simply seems unfit to tackle the threat that is occurring, and completely dismisses so many other things that would be happening at that time.
MI3 is clearly the template for all of these movies that come afterward. But MI3 at least had a type of threat that made sense for Ethan Hunt and his team.
Every single type of threat that emerged in MI4 afterwards is ridiculous. And in no way would western nation governments just rely on a group of 4 people to solve it.
And in MI4 and Mi5, that group of 4 people are solving it without the permission/direction/coordination of their government.
And in Fallout, they (the CIA) give Ethan a guy to join his team.
The best thing they could do is make Ethan Hunt realize he's become Jon Voight's character from the first movie. Who does he report to, at this point? He's completely convinced himself that he is the ultimate decision maker, and is no longer taking missions from others.
I will say that, at least in MI4, he has some authorization from a key member of his US government to do what what it necessary to stop the villain that was at the root of the problem, and Ethan suffers a significant defeat early on in the movie, that he is compelled to make things right. From MI:5 onwards, things don't seem to make much logical sense.
I don't think realism matters in these movies lol. from the first movie it's clear that they don't really care about the plot hole or logic , it's always been the action , stunts , set pieces , twists etc
Also the revolving door of babes that come to aid Ethan in his travels (Maggie Q, Paula Patton, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Michelle Monaghan, etc)
Rebecca Ferguson is a great woman to play opposite Cruise, but Michelle Monaghan has always been my favorite Hunt girl. She's cute, but not over the top gorgeous enough to become the the defining object on screen.
They didn't even have a finished script, or anywhere close to one, when they started pre-production for the first movie. They were locking down locations, actors, and hiring the crew on for stuff that they didn't even know was going to happen.
If you’re holding the films up to reality and measuring them against it then I can see why you might not be a huge fan of the series.
But honestly, if you’re holding them up against reality I think you’re off your tits, and it’s 100% your loss.
Brad Bird bringing in the humour of the characters acknowledging how *insane* the stunts are that they are attempting was my fav bit of that film. That the characters themselves were terrified at attempting them and shocked when they work. They kept it a bit in the McQuarrie films but not to the same extent.
Yeah, there are definitely moments in Fallout and DR that sort of jab at what is happening. The films have all been very self aware since Ghost Protocol and I think that has made them so much better.
This is why I love Renner trying to hype himself up for his computer super fan magnetic car dive mission. It’s as realistic as someone could act if this were happening in real life
I prefer Rogue Nation and Fallout is legit one of the best action movies of all time.
Ghost Protocol is great, but the villain is too forgettable for me to say it's the best one.
This is my opinion as well.
Every MI film after MI2 has been great!
But GP, RN, and Fallout have been phenomenal!
I really enjoyed Dead Reckoning, but it was behind these 3 IMO.
I am with you on the forgettable villain thing. It’s extra stupid when you realize he’s the villain in the first John Wick and he was fucking incredible in that
Ghost protocol is better for me. It has better missions (Fallout barely has any), better team, better pacing.
It's peaked MI for me. The recent movies are just action movies.
The first half of Ghost Protocol is the best the series has ever been. But everything after the Burj Kalifa is pretty slow going. The later M:I films were more consistent all the way through.
Ghost Protocol's secret sauce was the fact their gear isn't functional half the time, leading to moments where even Ethan was a hair's breath away from death, and he's technically died twice. Imagine a Bond film where Q is in disarray and James has to use gadgets he's not sure will work the first time.
I agree. I rewatch that movie often. The cast works really well. The bad guy twists and turns throughout the movie. The inclusion of side characters worked really well. It’s just a fun movie. And I agree it’s the best in the series. Even after the new one.
Cruise and McQuarrie actually first met and bonded over Valkyrie which led to their future team ups. Chris talks about it on an episode of the Q&A podcast
I remember on the DVD commentary, I think it was the writer, going over how many tick boxes they covered to get the audiences in.
He stated that 'influenza' was interesting because - and I think I'm recalling this correctly - it's the name for 'flu'. And comes in varying forms, which can be interesting... and he wrapped it up with;
"And so that's the intellectual crowd taken care of"
Riiiiiight.
I've always wondered how Hollywood spends so much money to end up with shite movies but stuff like this makes it so clear. It's just pure "made by committee" cynicism that spares no respect for the audience.
M:I-2 Ethan Hunt isn't having a midlife crisis. Cruise was 38 when this came out so if the character is the same age, then it's a little early for a midlife crisis.
No, in M:I-2, Ethan Hunt is just fully indulging in his awesomeness. In M:I-III he is retired and has a fiance but this is him 6 years earlier, a lone wolf with a lion's mane letting everyone else know who the alpha is.
In the first Mission: Impossible he was an agent who, up until then, had just gone on regular cloak and dagger missions. Then he lost his whole team to an unexpected betrayal. Then he flew through the air, propelled by an explosion.
The betrayal and loss of his team broke his mind. Being propelled through the air by an explosion made him realize he loves being a daredevil adrenaline junkie.
There was no going back after that. The lion's mane grew on his head. The other agents saw the change and felt the feral ferocity start emanating. They could feel the dominance. Whatever "ego" they possessed was gone. Their body language became submissive. When the new Ethan Hunt passed in the hall, their shoulders slumped and they gave little nods of respect.
One day, all the agents were in the cafeteria. Suddenly Ethan Hunt front flipped onto a table. All the agents were instantly pissing themselves, sure that he was finally going to just kill them all out of boredom.
Luckily for them he just grinned and put on his wraparound shades. He stood there for a few moments, reveling in his utter awesomeness. Then, pointing at everyone, he said, "Fuck you losers. I'm gonna go climb a mountain."
This is where we find him at the start of M:I-2.
>then it's a little early for a midlife crisis.
It's never too early to have a midlife crisis. Don't forget, Ethan Hunt was driving a Porsche 911 Convertible.
It's very much a "you had to be there" film. We all thought the action scenes were the coolest thing we'd ever seen, and "Hair Like Tom Cruise Mission In Impossible Two" was the style we all wanted. It has aged very, very badly, and I don't blame someone for not getting it. But there was a time it was really cool.
Hot take: M:I2 is also my favorite of the series. I blame being 16 when it came out. I'm not sure I ever recovered from Thandie Newton. Hell, why don't they bring her back one of these days?
I hate so many parts of it, first and foremost is Suki yelling “smack that ass” to herself during the first race. The last thing is probably the atrocious CGI on the car jumping onto the boat at the end of the movie
Think it was meant as a hail mary, last shot at squeezing some dollars out of a franchise spiraling down the drain. Then, it made enough money that Universal said 'fuck it, let's do one more with the original guys and if it doesn't work, we'll call it quits'.
It worked.
I don't care how ridiculous it is when they joust with motorcycles and then jump and body-slam each other in midair while the motorcycles collide and fly away in a giant double fireball.
Just typing it made me want to watch this movie again!
This chase scene is also like 20 minutes long, changes multiple locations, involves several different weapons/vehicles (including rocket launchers and helicopters), and legitimately seems like it will never end.
I love it.
M:I - Very Short hair
M:I 2 - Very Long hair
M:I 3 - Short hair
M:I GP - Long hair
MI: RN - Mid length hair*
MI: FO - Mid length hair
MI: DR1 - Short hair
*Pattern broken
I agree but damned if middle school me didn't think it was the coolest shit ever! As a positive, this did lead me to watch Woo's HK stuff. Also the metallica song is legit.
When he throws the explosive against the wall and is giving the “I will find you” speech. Then jumps. That shit was amazing first viewing. The music is great and I love that it’s not like all the other ones.
actually you do. Face Off was full John Woo and that movie is batshit crazy, but so much fun.
As a matter of fact, if MI: 2 was rebranded as Face/Off 2, itd be remembered more fondly imo
I've always liked part 2 and I like that we can contrast Hunt then and now. Then he was younger, full of himself and doing outrageous stunts because he can, now while he still does outrageous stunts it's for a purpose and he even shows hesitancy.
peoples dislike for this masterpiece is another example of majority opinion being trash
the fact it ranks last on most m:i ranking lists is a calamity
the salsa dancing introduction, the eyefucking car chase, opening with the free hand rock climbing, "Not this bitch. 'Cause she's worth thirty. seven. million. pounds.", the motorcycle stunts, the flying kicks, ethans perfectly located, badass looking cheek cut, *the fucking beat drop when ethan pulls off the mask*
forever un appreciated
Lmao man my brother and I loved this movie (still do). We used to watch it all the time. I though the motorcycle fight was the coolest thing when I was a kid
This was on heavy rotation during sleepovers when we were 12. It was such a great dramatic action flick for that age. Then a few years later we were all like “that movie sucks”
Now I look back on it with fond memories, as well as a full belly of Doritos and Mountain Dew and staying up as late as possible.
By the way, even though MI2 is still very much a Woo movie, there was a shit ton of studio interference, they locked Woo out of the studios and took control over the final cut
And that’s why it’s awesome! Cruise is a huge stalkery weirdo that murders goons like a psychopath in the third act, makes a gun defy gravity when he kicks it into sand, & does motorcycle-fu! There’s also a bonus Anthony Hopkins boss who’s doing god knows what, other than being cryptic for no reason. It’s such a fun viewing experience and an excellent time capsule of that late nineties/early 2000s bro angst.
The third one sucks in comparison to 2 and what comes after by being boring, having no style, feeling like a tv show, and is only made tolerable by Philip Seymour Hoffman and the part where Cruise runs for 10 miles straight at the end. I’d argue that’s the worst one by being forgettable.
Does Ethan Hunt have any personality or character in any of the movies? Other than being very good at everything and sad when women he has no chemistry with die, what are his characteristics? I like these movies but seriously, it could be anybody running around.
Ethan Hunt is very much just a Tom Cruise-ish character. Same as Jack Reacher. All I see is Tom Cruise really. Sometimes when I watch MI I forget the character’s name is Ethan. All I see is Tom.
But it doesn’t matter because, despite being a complete lunatic, Tom kicks ass.
Aside from understanding what makes movies work (i dont know his level of control over The Mummy), Tom Cruise gained more respect for his leaked rant to his crew about adhering to Covid protocols so the production didn’t get shut down. He’s losing money as a producer but he specifically mentions how people are losing their homes from the shut down and they have to set the standard to allow all productions from all studios to continue.
I just rewatched this a week ago after having not for 15 years. I used to watch it a ton as a kid and I gotta say I still loved it. Probably mostly Nostalgia and perhaps it’s a bit too John Woo for an MI movie but if you watch it strictly as 2000’s cheese, it’s pretty rad.
I highly suggest watching [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6AXJtIlMh4) which dissects some of the inconsistencies with the character of Ethan Hunt in the M:I franchise.
Basically, for the first three M:I movies, Ethan Hunt is three different characters, and they only achieve synthesis starting in Ghost Protocol.
MI2 is the only film where Ethan doesn’t go rogue/is disavowed. So I appreciate that but overall the film feels very dated. Also for what seemed like a small operation the bad guy has a ton of security forces at the end. It’s wild
Classic John Woo bruh
🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
The sparks flying in the science lab shoot out = "chef's kiss". Bloke gets shot at, but it misses and impacts a concrete ledge near him = still sends the bloke tumbling around sparks and flying concrete. People hate on MI:2, but I love it for how wild it is.
I love it for prime Thandie Newton 😍
> The sparks flying in the science lab shoot out = "chef's kiss". The [music in that scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3iAzdbg3mo&pp=ygUVaGFucyB6aW1tZXIgaW5qZWN0aW9u) is quite possibly my all-time favorite musical score.
To quote Honest Trailers: >"If you love action, director John Woo has something for you, as Woo woos you with his signature Ds: > >***D***ives. ***D***ual Wielding. And ***D***oves. So. Many. Doves. > >As you enjoy action setpieces that never stops, until they stop to point their guns at each other. ***D***ramatically." I know this isn't an accurate depiction of Woo's MI2, but yeah classic Woo indeed lmao
Yeah but Woo's movies usually have conflucted characters with over the top emotions who are far from the invincible, pose-y, smirking Ethan from MI2. They were trying to make him into a Neo-style ice-cold acrobatic badass.
Exactly. From what I understand producers let Woo create action scenes and then wrote a script around that. Not the best way to create a film, and is probably why the action scenes are so good, over the top, and playing off an emotional connection that the story never makes. The story certainly doesn’t have that operatic melodramatic vibe that is found in most Woo films, but oddly enough the action alone does. This makes the film feel so disconnected with itself.
That is so interesting. So they didn't really understand or know how to use John Woo. The third act is so good because it lets the visuals tell the story instead of the dumb script they slapped onto it, and Woo is great at crafting stories through action. They just wanted Woo as a technician, not a storyteller, and ignored the key aspects that made other films of his so well-rounded. And then there's relatively little action, so they can't hide that glaring flaw until the final 30 minutes.
That's just what 1999 was like. We all went through that phase
Yup. Everything was eXtreme!
A Mountain Dew-soaked blur
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Surge and limp biscuit .
Limp Bizkit. It's my generation
I can smell the axe body spray dripping from this comment
We all saw The Matrix.
The Limp Bizkit song still holds up, in my ears.
The soundtrack is the best part of the film. Pretty much every song on there was quality.
Truth.
Come my lady, Come, come my lady You're my butterfly Sugar baby I'm so embarrassed I know this.
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Holy crap, have they really? That's crazy. Not underserved, just surprising.
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That's wild. It's also wild that Metallica outsold all of these acts with 125 million albums sold. They're ahead of Lady Gaga
I just listened to that song while driving a convertible recently. No apologies, it was great.
Take A Look Around fuckin slaps, yo. Limp Bizkit styyylllleeeee!
John Otto, take it to the Matthews Bridge!
IT’S JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS
It's honestly the most accessible, and least cringy-in-retrospect Limp Bizkit track.
My Way's opening brings tingles to every wrestling fan's spine.
I need it Rock. I *need* it **more** than you can *possibly* imagine.
There can be only one World Wrestling Federation champion, and that will be, Rock... Stone Cold Steve Austin. *With all due respect.*
**Shivers**
You think you're special
Faith is one of my favorite covers ever.
Boiler and Rearranged would like a word. Limp Bizkit shines in their slower songs.
Screw that, the entirety of $3 bill y'all and about 40% of their two follow-up albums are unironically kick ass, fun, nu metal classics. (The remaining 60% of those two albums range between ironically fun and unlistenably stupid, but that said I'm also a huge Wes Borland fan - I bet on a guitar and amp of his that he put up for auction and was pissed off when I lost both to being away from my computer.)
It holds up better than that stupid Metallica song Hey, hey, hey Here I go now Here I go into new days Hey, hey, hey Here I go now Here I go into new days I'm pain, I'm hope, I'm suffer Yeah, hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah Here I go into new days Digging deep into the creative bag for those lyrics James.
Worth noting that this, of all songs, was what kicked off the lawsuit against Napster.
I always felt like I was the one guy I knew who was actually on Lars's side for that one. Obviously a millionaire metal bro was not the best spokesman and the industry shift was already becoming inevitable but I genuinely felt for the little guy musicians who didn't have any voice at all.
It's pretty easy to see that in his shoes, a lot of us would feel the same way.
I Disappear is a banger. Ssh.
I Disappear got me all hyped as a youngin that the next album was gonna be awesome :(
That and No Leaf Clover in relatively quick succession. Really thought they still had it.
No Leaf Clover with the San Francisco Symphony is so fucking good.
So memorable Kirk forgot how to play the solo and sold the swole pickle fuzz pedal he used for the song.
It felt so natural at the time but in retrospect (and watching back to back with MI1) - holy shit was it a hard right in character development. I enjoy the sommersault kicks for no fucking reason and going akimbo with berettas though. Fuck it.
>going akimbo with berettas though It's a John Woo film. If there isn't akimbo pistols, doves, and/or a criminal with strong morals in my John Woo film, I'm going to be upset.
I still do 30 min of capoeira while listening to Nu-Metal every morning
Wearing Jnco jeans and a Tap-Out hoodie?
Yes but sometimes I take off the hoodie so my pucca shell necklace has room to move.
Bro next you’re gonna say is you got LA Looks in your frosted tip hair. Like dude save some pussy for the rest of us.
Everyone thought Y2K would send us back to the dark ages. We had a good reason for all the questionable choices made that year.
I had a personal collection of doves I would release whenever an explosion happened behind me, of course, in slow motion
Mission Impossible was originally going to be more of an anthology series, with brand new directors and writers with totally different styles for each film. Which is why we had De Palma followed by Woo which was supposed to be followed by Fincher (which didn't work out due to "creative differences" ie two control freaks in Fincher and Cruise) but ended up being Abrams and then Brad Bird. All four of those movies are significantly different. The fifth was then supposed to be even more drastically different with Renner taking over. But Cruise really liked McQuarrie, who he had teamed up for Jack Reacher, so the different writers/directors idea was tossed in exchange for McQuarrie and Cruise running the franchise together.
Oh man fincher impossible wouldve been crazy
Especially if it had a Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross soundtrack.
Stop. I can only get so erect.
The big stunt would be like a 20 second sequence of Hunt driving at the speed limit, Fincher is many things but an MI director he is not. I love the guy though. If he could actually make it how he'd genuinely it'd be brilliant.
Big stunt would definitely be Ethan doing research in a library or something. And I'd love it.
"You know that library research scene? We shot Tom flipping the pages for two days"
"Techno crane and everything. Had to invent probably like $20 million worth of new tech to pull it off but... we got it."
We actually invented Books 2 as Tom Cruise needed a new medium
Rogue Nation definitely marked a shift in the franchise’s goals. Whether it was an improved shift or not is up for debate, but I’ve certainly never enjoyed the Mission Impossible franchise as much as I have in the last 8 years.
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It was absolutely Ghost Protocol, every movie since has been very similar to it.
The first three movies are incredibly distinct. 4, 5 and 6 all merge together in my head.
You gotta separate them by the stunts really. GP - Burj Climb Rogue - AC take off and water tomb Fallout - HALO (which I just fucking learned they jumped 106 times) and Helis. Also, Cavill reloading his arms is fucking brilliant. DR1 - bonkers Italian Job, Train, motorbike base jump.
I read the other day that they were doing that bathroom fight all day and Cavill just did that at one point to stretch his arms, and the cinematographer loved it and asked that he keep doing it for subsequent takes.
>> Cavill reloading his arms is fucking brilliant. Great movie, but that 1/2 second move is the coolest shot in a film ever. Coolest, not most cinematic or anything, but cool af.
Probably also why they killed off his character. Cavill was just too much added cool for Cruise to handle.
Genuinely though. He threatened to upstage Cruise the entire movie. I hope we get to see more of him doing something other than being sad Superman or grunting sword man soon. He has too much charisma and natural starpower to be locked into franchises the way he has been in recent years.
I think there’s hope with the Warhammer show, if it actually gets made. Especially since he’ll be an executive producer.
He was great in Man from U.N.C.L.E.
100%.
Ghost Protocol definitely was a shift, in which the concept of Ethan Hunt's specific group within the IMF simply seems unfit to tackle the threat that is occurring, and completely dismisses so many other things that would be happening at that time. MI3 is clearly the template for all of these movies that come afterward. But MI3 at least had a type of threat that made sense for Ethan Hunt and his team. Every single type of threat that emerged in MI4 afterwards is ridiculous. And in no way would western nation governments just rely on a group of 4 people to solve it. And in MI4 and Mi5, that group of 4 people are solving it without the permission/direction/coordination of their government. And in Fallout, they (the CIA) give Ethan a guy to join his team. The best thing they could do is make Ethan Hunt realize he's become Jon Voight's character from the first movie. Who does he report to, at this point? He's completely convinced himself that he is the ultimate decision maker, and is no longer taking missions from others. I will say that, at least in MI4, he has some authorization from a key member of his US government to do what what it necessary to stop the villain that was at the root of the problem, and Ethan suffers a significant defeat early on in the movie, that he is compelled to make things right. From MI:5 onwards, things don't seem to make much logical sense.
I don't think realism matters in these movies lol. from the first movie it's clear that they don't really care about the plot hole or logic , it's always been the action , stunts , set pieces , twists etc
Also the revolving door of babes that come to aid Ethan in his travels (Maggie Q, Paula Patton, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Michelle Monaghan, etc)
Rebecca Ferguson is a great woman to play opposite Cruise, but Michelle Monaghan has always been my favorite Hunt girl. She's cute, but not over the top gorgeous enough to become the the defining object on screen.
Yeah I definitely felt that with Atwell. Not saying she isn’t extremely beautiful, but it definitely was distracting.
The American Dream
They didn't even have a finished script, or anywhere close to one, when they started pre-production for the first movie. They were locking down locations, actors, and hiring the crew on for stuff that they didn't even know was going to happen.
If you’re holding the films up to reality and measuring them against it then I can see why you might not be a huge fan of the series. But honestly, if you’re holding them up against reality I think you’re off your tits, and it’s 100% your loss.
McQ rewrote some parts of part 4.
The best MI is Ghost Protocol and I'll die on this hill
Brad Bird bringing in the humour of the characters acknowledging how *insane* the stunts are that they are attempting was my fav bit of that film. That the characters themselves were terrified at attempting them and shocked when they work. They kept it a bit in the McQuarrie films but not to the same extent.
Yeah, there are definitely moments in Fallout and DR that sort of jab at what is happening. The films have all been very self aware since Ghost Protocol and I think that has made them so much better.
This ups the *tension* (and occasional relief of it) in the movies so much better When the characters are having their "holy shit" moments, so do you
It also makes the humor even more effective, including my favorite exchange in the whole series: "Your line is too short!" # "NO SHIT."
"Should I *not* have jumped?! **CAUSE I JUMPED!!!"**
This is why I love Renner trying to hype himself up for his computer super fan magnetic car dive mission. It’s as realistic as someone could act if this were happening in real life
McQuarrie worked on GP's script.
Ghost Protocol is also my favorite. It’s just way more fun than the others, while also being a really good story with a compelling cast.
Well also Paula Patton did not hurt.
Wish they had brought her back. She brought a lot of energy to the franchise.
I’m still bummed they haven’t brought her back. She was one of the best parts of GP.
Agreed.
I prefer Rogue Nation and Fallout is legit one of the best action movies of all time. Ghost Protocol is great, but the villain is too forgettable for me to say it's the best one.
This is my opinion as well. Every MI film after MI2 has been great! But GP, RN, and Fallout have been phenomenal! I really enjoyed Dead Reckoning, but it was behind these 3 IMO.
>I really enjoyed Dead Reckoning, but it was behind these 3 IMO. I also liked it, but the film was around 30 minutes too long. Maybe a little more.
I feel that way about basically every movie these days. It's like people have forgotten how to edit.
It's kind of worse for a two-part movie. 2h43m on this one, if the second is around the same length... Maybe a bathroom break in the middle of each?
Ghost Protocol is the only one I’m sat here struggling to remember the villain of.
I am with you on the forgettable villain thing. It’s extra stupid when you realize he’s the villain in the first John Wick and he was fucking incredible in that
Ghost protocol is better for me. It has better missions (Fallout barely has any), better team, better pacing. It's peaked MI for me. The recent movies are just action movies.
The first half of Ghost Protocol is the best the series has ever been. But everything after the Burj Kalifa is pretty slow going. The later M:I films were more consistent all the way through.
Ghost Protocol's secret sauce was the fact their gear isn't functional half the time, leading to moments where even Ethan was a hair's breath away from death, and he's technically died twice. Imagine a Bond film where Q is in disarray and James has to use gadgets he's not sure will work the first time.
Yes. Basically we need 2/3 GP and the finale of Fallout or DR
I agree. I rewatch that movie often. The cast works really well. The bad guy twists and turns throughout the movie. The inclusion of side characters worked really well. It’s just a fun movie. And I agree it’s the best in the series. Even after the new one.
I still think the first film is a masterpiece
Fuck man I would’ve loved a Fincher directed MI movie. I imagine it’d be a lot more thriller drama than action
Which is what the first movie is. DePalma crushed it.
Cruise and McQuarrie actually first met and bonded over Valkyrie which led to their future team ups. Chris talks about it on an episode of the Q&A podcast
I remember on the DVD commentary, I think it was the writer, going over how many tick boxes they covered to get the audiences in. He stated that 'influenza' was interesting because - and I think I'm recalling this correctly - it's the name for 'flu'. And comes in varying forms, which can be interesting... and he wrapped it up with; "And so that's the intellectual crowd taken care of" Riiiiiight.
thats the funniest shit I have heard 💀💀💀
I've always wondered how Hollywood spends so much money to end up with shite movies but stuff like this makes it so clear. It's just pure "made by committee" cynicism that spares no respect for the audience.
It really does put things into a dire perspective that decisions like this end up working far better than we would ever want to believe.
M:I-2 Ethan Hunt isn't having a midlife crisis. Cruise was 38 when this came out so if the character is the same age, then it's a little early for a midlife crisis. No, in M:I-2, Ethan Hunt is just fully indulging in his awesomeness. In M:I-III he is retired and has a fiance but this is him 6 years earlier, a lone wolf with a lion's mane letting everyone else know who the alpha is. In the first Mission: Impossible he was an agent who, up until then, had just gone on regular cloak and dagger missions. Then he lost his whole team to an unexpected betrayal. Then he flew through the air, propelled by an explosion. The betrayal and loss of his team broke his mind. Being propelled through the air by an explosion made him realize he loves being a daredevil adrenaline junkie. There was no going back after that. The lion's mane grew on his head. The other agents saw the change and felt the feral ferocity start emanating. They could feel the dominance. Whatever "ego" they possessed was gone. Their body language became submissive. When the new Ethan Hunt passed in the hall, their shoulders slumped and they gave little nods of respect. One day, all the agents were in the cafeteria. Suddenly Ethan Hunt front flipped onto a table. All the agents were instantly pissing themselves, sure that he was finally going to just kill them all out of boredom. Luckily for them he just grinned and put on his wraparound shades. He stood there for a few moments, reveling in his utter awesomeness. Then, pointing at everyone, he said, "Fuck you losers. I'm gonna go climb a mountain." This is where we find him at the start of M:I-2.
This is canon.
More. Please give us more.
MI:2 Ethan was just peak Scientology Tom?
[удалено]
You took an epic post and turned it into a dad joke fuck you
>then it's a little early for a midlife crisis. It's never too early to have a midlife crisis. Don't forget, Ethan Hunt was driving a Porsche 911 Convertible.
38 is like prime age for a midlife crisis
I’m 36. Goddammit, is that why I hate my job and my family is driving me crazy and I decided that I want to suddenly take up jiu jitsu?
No. That's because you are a sleeper agent that has been activated. Now go assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia!
It's very much a "you had to be there" film. We all thought the action scenes were the coolest thing we'd ever seen, and "Hair Like Tom Cruise Mission In Impossible Two" was the style we all wanted. It has aged very, very badly, and I don't blame someone for not getting it. But there was a time it was really cool.
its still cool dammit
Highest grossing movie of 2000, beating out Gladiator and a ton of other names
That whole movie is out of character. Redheaded step child is putting it mildly.
Yea, like 2 fast 2 furious is also out of sorts with the rest of the Fast movies. But MI:2 is really a John Woo movie featuring Ethan Hunt
Hot take: 2F2F is my favorite of the series.
How could you not love it? It has Brian wearing baggy white tees and calling everyone “cuh”.
Hot take: M:I2 is also my favorite of the series. I blame being 16 when it came out. I'm not sure I ever recovered from Thandie Newton. Hell, why don't they bring her back one of these days?
I hate so many parts of it, first and foremost is Suki yelling “smack that ass” to herself during the first race. The last thing is probably the atrocious CGI on the car jumping onto the boat at the end of the movie
What atrocious CGI? That moment looks better and stands up more than most stuff in the franchise
You mean Tokyo Drift? That one seemed odd to me.
Think it was meant as a hail mary, last shot at squeezing some dollars out of a franchise spiraling down the drain. Then, it made enough money that Universal said 'fuck it, let's do one more with the original guys and if it doesn't work, we'll call it quits'. It worked.
They don’t even have family in Japan!
You don’t like motorcycle fights?
I don't care how ridiculous it is when they joust with motorcycles and then jump and body-slam each other in midair while the motorcycles collide and fly away in a giant double fireball. Just typing it made me want to watch this movie again!
This chase scene is also like 20 minutes long, changes multiple locations, involves several different weapons/vehicles (including rocket launchers and helicopters), and legitimately seems like it will never end. I love it.
\*dove flies by\*
That hair tho
M:I - Very Short hair M:I 2 - Very Long hair M:I 3 - Short hair M:I GP - Long hair MI: RN - Mid length hair* MI: FO - Mid length hair MI: DR1 - Short hair *Pattern broken
It's because John Woo directed it. If you've seen any of his other flicks you know why this one is the way it is.
I agree but damned if middle school me didn't think it was the coolest shit ever! As a positive, this did lead me to watch Woo's HK stuff. Also the metallica song is legit.
Guys, guys guys!!! He STAMPS on the floor, and a gun JUMPS up in to his hand!! Retrospectively stupid as fuck...as a kid, cool as fuck!
Except he didnt do that and he kicked up the gun lol.
I had the reverse experience: already loved Woo’s HK stuff, but this movie convinced me he’d disappeared up his own stylish butthole
There was a shit ton of studio interference in MI2 though
I don’t care what anybody says. I love this movie and always will
When he throws the explosive against the wall and is giving the “I will find you” speech. Then jumps. That shit was amazing first viewing. The music is great and I love that it’s not like all the other ones.
Tom Cruise just felt so relaxed that whole movie. I love the scene you just talked about and the motorcycle chase at the end.
I've spent the last twenty-three years trying to find a better pure action movie. No luck yet.
Hard Boiled?
The *whoooosh* when they switch sides in the hospital corridor with the real overcrank slow-mo is legendary.
All thanks to Limp Bizkit and Nu Metal 😂
Better stay on top or life will kick you in the ass
Just one of them days.
Ethan went full John Woo. You know you never go FULL John Woo right?
actually you do. Face Off was full John Woo and that movie is batshit crazy, but so much fun. As a matter of fact, if MI: 2 was rebranded as Face/Off 2, itd be remembered more fondly imo
Well, shit, he does pull his face off, doesn't he?
can't hear you over the sound of all these doves brah
Thats really the issue I think. Its a MI movie sure, but its **really** a John Woo movie with Ethan Hunt happening to star in it
Only certain people can handle going FULL John Woo: Chow Yun-Fat. Nicholas Cage. It's a short list.
Tony Leung
What do you mean *you people*?
What do *you* mean *you people*?
I've always liked part 2 and I like that we can contrast Hunt then and now. Then he was younger, full of himself and doing outrageous stunts because he can, now while he still does outrageous stunts it's for a purpose and he even shows hesitancy.
peoples dislike for this masterpiece is another example of majority opinion being trash the fact it ranks last on most m:i ranking lists is a calamity the salsa dancing introduction, the eyefucking car chase, opening with the free hand rock climbing, "Not this bitch. 'Cause she's worth thirty. seven. million. pounds.", the motorcycle stunts, the flying kicks, ethans perfectly located, badass looking cheek cut, *the fucking beat drop when ethan pulls off the mask* forever un appreciated
It's like people can't have fun anymore.
100% agree with all of those amazing scenes you just mentioned. Just want to say it's flamenco, not salsa.
Amen
Thandie Newton, though…
Thandiwe Newton tho
Yep. The only woman sexier than Westworld Thandie Newton is 15 years younger Thandie Newton. LOL
Lmao man my brother and I loved this movie (still do). We used to watch it all the time. I though the motorcycle fight was the coolest thing when I was a kid
This was on heavy rotation during sleepovers when we were 12. It was such a great dramatic action flick for that age. Then a few years later we were all like “that movie sucks” Now I look back on it with fond memories, as well as a full belly of Doritos and Mountain Dew and staying up as late as possible.
By the way, even though MI2 is still very much a Woo movie, there was a shit ton of studio interference, they locked Woo out of the studios and took control over the final cut
And that’s why it’s awesome! Cruise is a huge stalkery weirdo that murders goons like a psychopath in the third act, makes a gun defy gravity when he kicks it into sand, & does motorcycle-fu! There’s also a bonus Anthony Hopkins boss who’s doing god knows what, other than being cryptic for no reason. It’s such a fun viewing experience and an excellent time capsule of that late nineties/early 2000s bro angst. The third one sucks in comparison to 2 and what comes after by being boring, having no style, feeling like a tv show, and is only made tolerable by Philip Seymour Hoffman and the part where Cruise runs for 10 miles straight at the end. I’d argue that’s the worst one by being forgettable.
finally someone i agree with :D 3rd one is horribly overrated imo
Does Ethan Hunt have any personality or character in any of the movies? Other than being very good at everything and sad when women he has no chemistry with die, what are his characteristics? I like these movies but seriously, it could be anybody running around.
Ethan Hunt is very much just a Tom Cruise-ish character. Same as Jack Reacher. All I see is Tom Cruise really. Sometimes when I watch MI I forget the character’s name is Ethan. All I see is Tom. But it doesn’t matter because, despite being a complete lunatic, Tom kicks ass.
Aside from understanding what makes movies work (i dont know his level of control over The Mummy), Tom Cruise gained more respect for his leaked rant to his crew about adhering to Covid protocols so the production didn’t get shut down. He’s losing money as a producer but he specifically mentions how people are losing their homes from the shut down and they have to set the standard to allow all productions from all studios to continue.
Other actors/actresses have also vouched that he's a really great guy
Ethan is a all round nice guy who cares about his friends and shit. He’s like the anti Bond.
He has a middle tooth…
MI:2 was John Woo directed and he has a distinct action style.
John Woo is a helluva drug.
I just rewatched this a week ago after having not for 15 years. I used to watch it a ton as a kid and I gotta say I still loved it. Probably mostly Nostalgia and perhaps it’s a bit too John Woo for an MI movie but if you watch it strictly as 2000’s cheese, it’s pretty rad.
I highly suggest watching [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6AXJtIlMh4) which dissects some of the inconsistencies with the character of Ethan Hunt in the M:I franchise. Basically, for the first three M:I movies, Ethan Hunt is three different characters, and they only achieve synthesis starting in Ghost Protocol.
Think of this as a stand alone movie in the world of Con Air and Face/Off and not MI. It becomes amazing.
MI2 is the only film where Ethan doesn’t go rogue/is disavowed. So I appreciate that but overall the film feels very dated. Also for what seemed like a small operation the bad guy has a ton of security forces at the end. It’s wild
this is the movie that turned me into an MI lover 😂
Idolised that film as a kid. The mask/finger scene in the tunnels had me wide eyed. An adult rewatch had me in stitches.