ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

I don't care for this one as much as the first and third movies, but it's still a rip-roarin' good yarn.

Its qualifications as a science fiction story rely on the idea that bioengineering can create a 100% fatal super-flu that kills in 24 hours, along with a 100% effective antidote. We still don't have a cure for influenza, just a serum that decreases the risk of getting it.

Yeah, yeah, I know. That's not as sexy as glasses with micro-cameras and Dick Tracy wrist watches with little screens, but the plot certainly takes a hard science view of global pandemics and how horrible they would be.

The action certainly gets the adrenaline pumping, and Tom lets no grass grow under him while he drives a motorcycle the way Anakin Skywalker drives a pod racer.

I figure the Force is strong with Jedi Master Tomi-Wan Cruisobe.

On the negative side, there's an abundance of illogic in this opus, like the fact that Tom fires about sixty rounds from one pistol during the motorcycle chase without a single reload.

And somebody please tell me how Ethan Hunt just happened to have two of those marvelous masks with him after his fight with bad guy Richard Roxburgh -- one of his own face and one of Richard's -- which allowed him to drag the disguised bad guy into the room with the villains and pretend to be Richard (complete with the fake voice) while the villain shot the real Richard because he thought he was Ethan.

It was a nice surprise for the audience (if they didn't stop to think about it too much), but I preferred the way the masks and the voice chips were presented in the third movie. Time and planning were required to make them both work.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Just to get folks interested in talking about this action adventure blockbuster, here's the trailer.


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And here's an interesting trivia item from IMDB. While watching the rock climbing scene at the beginning, I wonder how John Woo managed to do such and amazing scene.

Tom Cruise has more balls than a pool table . . .
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The famous rock climbing sequence was filmed at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Tom Cruise was on cables which were then digitally removed. Ron Kauk was the climbing double and the overhang stunt was performed by main stunt double, Keith Campbell. John Woo was so scared each time but "Tom insisted on doing it".
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And here's an item I submitted to IMDB today for the "Goofs" section.
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After a brutal fight with the villain's henchman, Ethan tricks the villain by placing a mask of his own face onto the henchman (after duct taping the henchman's mouth closed). Then Ethan puts on a mask of the henchman's face and changes clothes with the him. All this would take considerable time, of course, even if Ethan did just happened to be carrying a mask of his own face AND a mask of the henchman's face as well — both of which seems highly unlikely.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production,
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~ Director John Woo's first cut of this movie clocked in at three and a half hours. Paramount Pictures balked at this length, and told him that the final length could not exceed two hours. This would explain why there are so many plot holes and continuity errors in the theatrical cut.

Note from me: This is my least favorite MI movie, and that might be because of the plot holes — but there are other reasons, too.

~ The famous rock climbing sequence was filmed at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Tom Cruise was on cables which were then digitally removed. Ron Kauk was the climbing double and the overhang stunt was performed by main stunt double, Keith Campbell. Director John Woo was so scared each time but "Tom insisted on doing it".

Note from me: I admire Mr. Cruise's acting skills, and I also admire his incredible nerve when he does stunts like this.

~ Tom Cruise lied to the movie's insurance agents, saying that he would be letting the stunt crew handle all the major action setpieces. In reality, Cruise did about 95% of his own stunts.

Note from me: Like I said, Cruise is a ballsy guy . . .

~ Luther Stickell's (Ving Rhames') line "It's that simple, huh?" after hearing Ethan Hunt's explanation of what he thinks "Chimera" is was a joke about Mission: Impossible (1996), which was widely criticized for having an "overly complicated" plot.

Note from me: Conversely, my favorite MI movie remains the first one, partly because the plot is complicated and requires multiple viewings to fully understand and appreciate.

~ Tom Cruise and John Woo clashed over some of the stunts as Woo wanted stunt doubles, and Cruise was adamant about doing them. He told Woo he didn't like "cheating" and that it's too easy to spot when the actor is being doubled because of body movement, timing, et cetera. It didn't help that Woo is afraid of heights. Woo admired Cruise's courage.

Note from me: We've all noticed that in the older movies and TV series we can easily spot stunt doubles during fight scenes, partly because our big HD televisions don't hide the fact that the stars are the guys in the fights — unlike the older, smaller TV sets from the past.

~ Tom Cruise rode the motorcycle through the fire without the use of flame protection gear or gel.

Note from me: Like I said, Cruise has more balls than a pool table!

~ Producers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner wanted this movie to have more action, because Mission: Impossible (1996) lacked action.

Note from me: Wait . . . what? The first MI lacked action?

Damn, it might have lacked endless shot-outs, mindless explosions, and prolonged chase scenes — but I thought the action scenes were well balanced with incredibly tense moments, like famous scene with Cruise hanging on wires in the secure computer room.

That's what made that movie more like the original TV series — as opposed to the subsequent films (even though they were great action adventures!)

~ John Woo found himself locked out of the editing room by Tom Cruise who took ownership of the final cut.

Note from me: Wow . . . that must have been a tense situation. Clash of the Titanic Egos, ya might call it!

But Mr. Cruise is the alpha dog in this situation, so I guess he felt like Mr. Woo didn't quite know what Tom wanted the finished film to look like. I admire Tom for being more than just a good actor.

~ Tom Cruise's opening rockface stunt was done for real. Cruise insisted on doing the stunt seven times while John Woo was too nervous to watch him do it.

Note from me: "Ummm . . . Mr. Woo? You can open your eyes now, sir! But I'm afraid the scene didn't go well. Tom fell, and the buzzards are feeding on his shattered remains down there on the dessert floor."

"WHAT?!"

"Just kidding, Mr. Woo. Tom is fine."

~ Ethan Hunt climbing up a mountain during the opening credits was influenced by another movie from Paramount Pictures, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). In that movie, Captain James T. Kirk is seen climbing up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park during the opening credits. Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore wrote for the Star Trek film franchise, though not that movie.

Note from me: The rock climbing scene in this movie is awesome. But the rock climbing scene in Star Trek V is somewhat less impressive, Admittedly it's more believable than the incredible feats which Mr. Cruise performs in his movies.

I can't help imagining a scene in which a younger James T. Kirk from the TOS days is shown demonstrating his own "Ethan Hunt" abilities, just to demonstrate how ballsy and athletic our beloved captain is.

___ Star Trek V The Final Frontier - Opening Scene


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)