It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I just ordered a Blu ray set of the first 6 films- I was shocked to find most of them were just on DVD in my collection. Time for a marathon. Even III (my least favourite) is hugely entertaining!
(Edit). Yep
https://deadline.com/2025/01/super-bowl-movie-trailers-2025-preview-1236271612/
I will not look at anything online about pt.2 until after I see it. I knew too much about pt.1 before I saw it. Not making that mistake again.
The first trailer releasing so far in advance, on top of all the heavy marketing surrounding the big stunt, definitely killed the suspense when I finally got to see it in theaters (though I still loved it). I felt the same way, thanks to the delays, after the endless NTTD trailers and TV spots.
It's a given but it really is best to avoid trailers these days. Sometimes I'm way too impatient or excited and can't help myself, but when I'm able to, I notice a big difference when I finally get to see whatever the film is.
I watched a *small* bit of the new Superman movie trailer and wanted to smack myself. I will no longer be enticed into spoilers by marketing tools.
Ironically, I don't remember the last time I intentionally watched an MCU trailer before the project got released. They don't need to show me much because I generally know what to expect. If I bother to watch the MCU project. As for MI, I am still interested in another trailer, considering how long 7 & 8 have been in the works. I think there will be a surprise character death, but Ethan Hunt will still fight as long as Tom Cruise is acting.
That's still one of my only issues with Dead Reckoning:
I hadn't thought of that. At least they didn't do that de-aging crap....
They were going to but it was too expensive. Apparently the choice was the de-ageing scene or the train climax. Which kind of puts into perspective how much that Indiana Jones film cost.
My favourite parts of the two films I enjoyed, MI3 and 4, were the middle scenes that were key in even triggering the success of the plot. The Vatican and Dubai scenes are both top Mission Impossible stuff and what I'd show to anybody wanting to get into the series. MI5, with the swimming bit, didn't really give as big as an oomph. It also felt like the start of more of a spy movie age, with less focus on the heists.
Fallout continues this, I think, with less focus on a scene in one specific city. Paris, London and Kashmir (not a city, obviously) are all a bit more equal in terms of thrills and keep the pace of the movie strong overall. One especially wonderful moment when Hunt thinks aloud during the helicopter chase. Just incredible. But I think the reason why Fallout goes below both MI3 and MI4 is the plot.
I'm going to spell out the plot to London before asking questions:
1. Lark, an extremist, hires the Apostles to get plutonium for him
2. Hunt, in the PTS, poses as another buyer to beat the apostles to the punch. The Apostles steal the plutonium from both him and the seller
3. The Apostles use the White Widow as a broker to sell to Lark*
4. As a price, the apostles want Lane out of prison.
5. This goes badly for the White Widow, who now demands Faust as a price**
*Didn't Lark already pay the Apostles for acquiring the plutonium? Why are they now hiding behind a broker?
**The White Widow said that she didn't set the price. Now she's adding a price? And this can't be her brokerage fee because that's being paid by the Apostles.
Extra question: Why would the Paris man's phone have anything incriminating to anyone on the team? It's just the phone of a random backup and it'd be silly for it to have anything useful.
The rest of the plot I think will go behind spoiler tags
7. Then before continuing with the exchange, they dupe Walker into confessing****
8. After that they all get arrested by Sloane because they're all suspicious*****
9. But Walker uses Sloane's CIA forces to get out******
10. It's revealed that Walker's deal with the apostles is frame Hunt to get the plutonium*******
11. Walker refuses to kill Hunt because he only gets the cores if Hunt confesses: or else his wife is dead.*******
***Why would she give one plutonium core to Lark if that was the case? Especially since Sloane is all about getting the plutonium- at least for that part of the movie.
****How the hell did they pull that off? Was the Benji who put on the mask someone else underneath the mask? And if Walker was clean, what the hell was the plan?
***** At this point I assumed the plutonium was safe: after all, the Widow was ready for the exchange so she'd have it. But since it isn't, why the hell would Sloane do this? She's been all about the plutonium, plutonium, plutonium, but when it's time to get it she backs out and arrests all of them, despite having conclusive evidence Walker is lying. At that point, arrest all 8 billion people in the world! And also, what's the point of the operation when there's an obvious chance that an IMF operative might be on the other side?
****** How does the White Widow even make sense at this point? Walker and Lane both have an agreement directly? So what was that charade in Paris for? And if it was a decoy of sorts, why give over one plutonium core?
******* Hunt doesn't confess in London, and arrives in Kashmir, and Julia is still all fine? And Walker still gets the plutonium, with Ethan's reputation still intact? Also all the stuff with the humiliation of Ethan came from Benji-Lane?
Extra question: Did they need two bombs? How did they even make the bombs without Delbruuk? Was the plan originally to bomb the religious sites? If not why did Delbruuk fall for that?
Extra question II: Why Kashmir again? I get why with the nuclear bombs, but why with the smallpox? That was the only way IMF knew where the helicopter was going (once the tracker died).
Perhaps I was too late to the party to fully be immersed in the film. The Avengers film from the same era had as many questionable plot points but being swept up in that I could only enjoy the ride, while here I can only just point flaws in the film.
I think overall however it was quite good, and probably even more so if I turned by brain off. But still not peak MI.
Mission: Impossible- dayyyum Tom looks like a teenager here. Great direction- Ethan working stuff out in his head was great, especially in front of Phelps. Emilio's character death always shocks me. Always. Strange watching this as our FBI & CIA are being gutted & repurposed IRL....
I know what you mean, and yet so funny to think he’d already been a massive film star for 13 years at this point.
Grace is very convincing: capable without being used to the ridiculous world she's in. Being entirely truthful, she tops Ilsa for me in this film as the best co-star Cruise has had in these films.
The film isn't immune from criticism: it can be a little convoluted but it's a pause and a think away from regaining ground and the last act flows freely through this act. I question why not replicate the key instead of needing it directly. And the film does go a bit over the top in saying that Grace is someone Ethan cares for, especially to the level of his team. And the your life matter more than mine line is a bit over the top. She's just a relatively innocent person and Ethan cares for innocent lives.
And while I'm on spoilery notes: the Ethan Hunt origin story doesn't really work for me.
One thing that the film does is actually have Hunt go rogue. It's a joke that's made quite often, but before it was just a miscommunication. Now, Hunt and the IMF and CIA have very different opinions of how to proceed with the key, and this plus the chasing by the CIA agents add a great deal to the film.
The MacGuffin, the Entity, is also probably the best of the series. It's not as basic as nuclear weapons or a NOC list, and fully fledged threat (unlike the Rabbit's Foot). Even though it's a bit sci-fi, it also feels realistic: when you read in the news about hackings and cybersabotage, the Entity feels like the natural progression of that idea.
I'll be honest in the fact the it's the first MI film that I'd swap for a Bond one.
LOL, and Tomorrow Never Dies is a great companion movie- the popular megalomaniac & the unchecked AI. Ignore the warnings though- these are just movies.
I agree. Fallout was raved about and several said the series keeps getting better and better when I think the previous two films did it just right and at this point it just got overcomplicated and even repetitive. I easily guessed the big twist at the end prior to it happening and it really had deja vu with the ticking bomb, Luther reminding of the deadlines, Benjie getting beat up while trying to stop it, Ethan pursuing the trigger, etc. Not that Bond hasn't done that for years, but still.
I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on revisiting all of these if you cared to share.
You want them as I go, or once I've finished?
Your choice. Whichever you're most inspired by. I just like people's thoughts on revisiting certain films, especially if it's been a while.
I know what double feature I'm watching next. :)>-
M:I II tonight. May be the most stylish of them all. Big departure from the more grounded first film, but even that one had the crazy train sequence. Cruise no longer looks like a teen.
Zimmer's score was most excellent.
As good as the first one, but in a more action-y way.
Firstly I think the climbing scene is a little bit pointless. There's not much there to be done with it, and Hunt comes off as smug, in an annoying way. This continues well into the movie until the actual plot starts. She's interesting, but I don't think the film goes anywhere with her. The rest of the team is nothing to write home about either. Luther's a caricature and the Aussie is dull and uninteresting.
Note: what was the narrative point of showing Cruise kiss her in the car, fade to them in bed, to then continue the next scene with kissing and more bed? We get they enjoy each other's company. That didn't need to be nailed on again.
The plot is also a little bit scattered. I mean the first movie wasn't incredibly strong in that respect either, but it's almost like instead of going too convoluted they flipped and went a bit more simple, if a bit silly. The plot relies on Ambrose not getting over a breakup over six months and spending the money, efforts and resources for no guarantee of getting her back.
There's still a bit of complexity with the Biocyte bit, however. The stuff with the CEO in the car and the mask with the scientist confused me for a while, and I took a while for me to find out what actually happened.
I have a few minor quibbles: Ambrose hurting his goon for asking a question is a bit crazy, Ethan at the horse races is a bit silly and unrealistic, and if the virus really was like the flu and made from it then it'd be contagious. The 20 hours figure also wouldn't stand for every human right? That'd be an approximation, and considering Nyah's a healthy young adult in good shape it might even be longer, etc.
The most obvious complaint though is the style of the film. Zimmer's score, while a bit too rocky for my taste, tries to give a no nonsense type of vibe. But the directing and editing is fully of nonsense. Everything gets slow motion and multiple angles to the point where the action (or even normal scenes!) slowed to a halt. The Biocyte heist is unwatchable for this reason. The Hunt meets Nyah section is annoyingly interrupted by the dance performance. In the Ambrose infiltration we get three angles, each showing the same footage of Hunt kicking some lackey. Then we get another two of the impact. The editing reminded me of some of those Bollywood serials!
The birds are also annoying, unrealistic for a scene that takes place inside, and way too on the nose for the message that's being conveyed.
That's a lot of words there. "It sucked" would have done it, LOL. Maybe you were just in a bad mood when you put it on-?
Are you going to watch M:I 2 ? I watched them all in order not long ago, and had forgotten just how poorly M:I 2 came out. A waste of Thandiwe Newton and Anthony Hopkins. It barely stands. Next time I'll just skip over it.
I just remembered that I actually skipped MI:2 when I did my Mission Impossible marathon late last year.
The second film is a real stinker, when compared to the other entries.
Same here…
I'm in the minority here- I like M:I2 a LOT. I actually prefer it to III. But I like III also....
You have to be in the right mood to watch it, that's true. It's very of its time.