Mission: Impossible - films and tv series

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  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,182
    Finally saw the trailer (I’ve been avoiding watching trailers online, saving them for going to the theaters).

    Lorne Balfe is just ruining these for me.

    I dunno why Cruise dumped Joe Kraemer, but it’s a damn shame.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2022 Posts: 16,370
    I dunno why Cruise dumped Joe Kraemer, but it’s a damn shame.

    I think I remember hearing that MacQuarrie and him had some sort of falling out. He said he ditched Kraemer for Fallout because he wanted to keep that house style of each film feeling different, but I think it's perhaps a touch arrogant to feel that you can alter your style of direction but a composer wouldn't be capable of making a similar change.

    I wish I knew what went on with Kraemer: he made a properly excellent movie score with that one and it seems bizarre that no-one else has asked him to do another. Maybe it all got too high pressure: he's doing scores to Doctor Who audioplay CDs now among other things.
    He's been a notable absence on the Light The Fuse podcast too, who have interviewed almost everyone who's worked on the films.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited July 2022 Posts: 8,182
    I wish Cruise kept hiring other directors to have a crack at these as I loved how each installment had a very different feel. I haven’t watched FALLOUT since theaters, partly because it didn’t really feel all that different from ROGUE NATION, and I didn’t like how they made it a straight up sequel to RN.

    I was especially not a fan of turning Rebecca Ferguson into a love interest. She was much better as a fellow agent that Ethan Hunt had platonic admiration for.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,370
    I think when McQ has elevated them to another level it would be foolish not to use him though. I'm not that bothered about the different directors thing: I don't think it actually worked very well for the series in that 2 & 3 are the worst ones.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,182
    I don’t really think he elevated much. GHOST PROTOCOL is still the best. But then again I think MI2 is better than FALLOUT, so I’m an outlier.

    But you’re right, MI3 is the absolute worst.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    I never saw their relationship in RN as platonic. There was always romantic chemistry there.

    But yeah, I love Kraemer's score. Using Turandot as the basis for Ethan and Ilsa's theme was extremely clever.

    I like Balfe's score too, though.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,370
    I don’t really think he elevated much. GHOST PROTOCOL is still the best. But then again I think MI2 is better than FALLOUT, so I’m an outlier.

    But you’re right, MI3 is the absolute worst.

    I like GP but it suffers from a slightly protracted and weak last act: Rogue Nation just tips it for me as it only gets stronger towards the end of the film and has the killer opera scene. It's just creamier filmmaking, where Protocol starts to get a bit bumpy. For example the India party mission: you could remove that from the film and it makes no difference because the team entirely fail their mission! :)
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,182
    mtm wrote: »
    I dunno why Cruise dumped Joe Kraemer, but it’s a damn shame.

    I think I remember hearing that MacQuarrie and him had some sort of falling out. He said he ditched Kraemer for Fallout because he wanted to keep that house style of each film feeling different, but I think it's perhaps a touch arrogant to feel that you can alter your style of direction but a composer wouldn't be capable of making a similar change.

    I wish I knew what went on with Kraemer: he made a properly excellent movie score with that one and it seems bizarre that no-one else has asked him to do another. Maybe it all got too high pressure: he's doing scores to Doctor Who audioplay CDs now among other things.
    He's been a notable absence on the Light The Fuse podcast too, who have interviewed almost everyone who's worked on the films.

    Here’s a twitter thread by Kraemer, possibly alluding to McQ.



    If McQ really wanted each film to feel different from each other as a reason for Kraemer’s dismissal, hiring Balfe a second and third time isn’t exactly supporting that.
  • mtm wrote: »
    For Cruise’s big birthday we seem to have been given our first glimpse at Part 2:


    This actually wasn’t supposed to happen. They figured he’d spent so much time learning how to fly jets for Top Gun he’d be able to fly a biplane no problem.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    This isn't even for the film. That's just what he decided to do for his birthday.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,182
    I called it a few pages ago. His last stunt is killing himself. The ultimate snuff film.
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    Posts: 554
    mtm wrote: »
    I think when McQ has elevated them to another level it would be foolish not to use him though. I'm not that bothered about the different directors thing: I don't think it actually worked very well for the series in that 2 & 3 are the worst ones.
    I always liked 3. I prefer it to 1, anyway.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,370
    mtm wrote: »
    I dunno why Cruise dumped Joe Kraemer, but it’s a damn shame.

    I think I remember hearing that MacQuarrie and him had some sort of falling out. He said he ditched Kraemer for Fallout because he wanted to keep that house style of each film feeling different, but I think it's perhaps a touch arrogant to feel that you can alter your style of direction but a composer wouldn't be capable of making a similar change.

    I wish I knew what went on with Kraemer: he made a properly excellent movie score with that one and it seems bizarre that no-one else has asked him to do another. Maybe it all got too high pressure: he's doing scores to Doctor Who audioplay CDs now among other things.
    He's been a notable absence on the Light The Fuse podcast too, who have interviewed almost everyone who's worked on the films.

    Here’s a twitter thread by Kraemer, possibly alluding to McQ.



    If McQ really wanted each film to feel different from each other as a reason for Kraemer’s dismissal, hiring Balfe a second and third time isn’t exactly supporting that.

    Yeah I think he's abandoned that thinking now: at the time I think he thought Fallout would be his last.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,182
    Fun little mash up.

  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,092
    0RrIY2v.jpg
    Tom at Wimbledon for the men's final, Tom sure gets around.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,370
    And McQ of course.
  • Posts: 1,630
    mtm wrote: »
    And McQ of course.

    I guess TC let go of the plane and parachuted -- no, no...squirrel-suited down to Wimbledon.
  • Posts: 3,274
    MI3 is the absolute worst.
    I don't get the hate that MI3 receives. It has incredible action set pieces, a Cruise in his prime and probably the best villain of the entire series.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    edited July 2022 Posts: 1,711
    Zekidk wrote: »
    MI3 is the absolute worst.
    I don't get the hate that MI3 receives. It has incredible action set pieces, a Cruise in his prime and probably the best villain of the entire series.

    Absolutely. I find 3, 4, and 5 to be pretty untouchable. And Tom in priest's garb is just too hilarious.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    Zekidk wrote: »
    MI3 is the absolute worst.
    I don't get the hate that MI3 receives. It has incredible action set pieces, a Cruise in his prime and probably the best villain of the entire series.

    It's been hilariously christened 'Marriage: Impossible' around these parts.

    I quite like it. Much better than its predecessor but I think they found their footing with the successive entries.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    It seems most love MI3 and rank it as one of the best but it's far and away the weakest of the series and my least favorite. I've seen it so many times, much like SF, but as hard as I try to love it, I just can't.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    edited July 2022 Posts: 8,216
    I just found Woo's style utterly incompatible with the series so the second film will always be the weakest as far as I'm concerned. I'd argue it's a good Woo film but a pretty rubbish Mission film.

    It's why part of me was glad he never did a Bond film. Tamahori gave us a really shallow imitation of what a Woo-Bond could look like in terms of style.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    Woo's style is fabulous in certain sequences throughout (the shootouts, the finale) but there's also this melodramatic, sensual, romanticized style to some sequences that is a bit cheesy or is tonally off at moments (the look Hunt and Hall share as their cars spin out of control feels like something from a bad TV movie).
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,205
    Zekidk wrote: »
    MI3 is the absolute worst.
    I don't get the hate that MI3 receives. It has incredible action set pieces, a Cruise in his prime and probably the best villain of the entire series.

    Absolutely. I find 3, 4, and 5 to be pretty untouchable. And Tom in priest's garb is just too hilarious.

    Absolutely + 1 ! I am a big fan of MI:3 . It humanized Hunt and made him into a more three dimensional character.

    With that said, they wisely moved away from that relationship and didn’t become mired in too much emotional and personal baggage.
  • Posts: 1,630
    Agreed ! MI was terrific, MI2 was awful, and a sad waste of a good cast. From MI3 onward they've been great. By the time of MI2 Woo already was subject to derision for the slow-motion, the pigeons...It was more acceptable in the church scene in Face-Off, but Face-Off is intentionally over-the-top ! Not for an MI film. They turned to Woo, a hot director at the time, and they got his typical - at the time, at least - treatment. They must have know what they were getting into, but I think it was a poor decision, and a confusing one considering the quality of the initial MI film. At any rate, starting with MI3 they've been back on track and raising the bar again and again.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited July 2022 Posts: 8,182
    I just find MI3 to be very ugly looking with badly executed action. Abrams seemed to be trying to ape the Bourne films but without any of the flair. I think the worst example was the wind propeller sequence. It’s just a mess. It makes the action in MI2 look like a visual masterpiece in comparison.
    I just found Woo's style utterly incompatible with the series so the second film will always be the weakest as far as I'm concerned. I'd argue it's a good Woo film but a pretty rubbish Mission film.

    It's why part of me was glad he never did a Bond film. Tamahori gave us a really shallow imitation of what a Woo-Bond could look like in terms of style.

    I think he would have delivered a more entertaining version of TND easily. Would have given it much needed style.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited July 2022 Posts: 16,370
    Zekidk wrote: »
    MI3 is the absolute worst.
    I don't get the hate that MI3 receives. It has incredible action set pieces, a Cruise in his prime and probably the best villain of the entire series.

    I'm not really bothered about the action in it: I think MI2 delivers better. And for me a big part of the pleasure of an MI is that they are heist films - I love heist films. And MI3 just fails to be one: there's Rome, but they don't anything particularly clever or thrilling there.

    For me the main difference between Hunt and Bond is (but not always) that Bond is the blunt instrument who'll grab whatever comes to hand to get the baddie and make it up on the spot, whereas Hunt springs a trap or has a clever plan to get the baddie. Even the first MI actually followed this inspiration from the TV series much more than critics at the time noticed: even the last set piece on the train is a plan, a trap set by Ethan to catch the baddie.
    In MI3 I feel like he's on the back foot too much; he never turns the tables. He even kills the baddie by plain luck. It's fine, but it doesn't do what an MI film should I think. MI2 is mostly not a MI film either, but it's silly fun with a good score, and Ethan even does pull a clever switcheroo at the end when he puts the henchman in a Cruise mask- there's a bit of plan there, even if it's not much more than a nod towards the concept.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited July 2022 Posts: 8,182
    After watching that mash up video, I’ve decided to look back on John Woo’s Hong Kong actioners. I’ve only seen A BETTER TOMORROW 1 & 2 in the past. After that, I’ll watch THE KILLER and HARD BOILED for the first time which are supposed to be top tier Woo.

    The only American productions of John Woo films I’ve seen are FACE/OFF and of course MI2. I know he has JCVD knock a snake puppet out cold.

    snake-jean-claude-van-damme.gif
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    Oddly enough, I'd also turn into an unconscious snake puppet if JCVD punched me directly in my face.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    I am just putting this out there, I am now on duty. I see Van Damme has been mentioned...

    robert-deniro-meet-the-fockers.gif

    Just a friendly reminder, I am watching what you all say. I love Van Damme / Hard Target, it's my favorite action thriller, and I am prepared to die on that hill.
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