Mission: Impossible (original series)...

[Forbin]

I just watched "The Freeze," where they trick Donnelly Rhodes into thinking he's been cryogenically frozen and reawakened in the fabulous future world of 1980. The fake future included what looked uncannily like a modern flatscreen TV, complete with video cartridges. But the laugh-out-loud moment was when Dr. Rollin told Nurse Cinnamon to administer "5 ccs of cordrazine."

This is one of the few episodes that I have clearer memories of from all those years ago. The "futuristic" cars of 1980 kill me since they looked more like the '50's era of what folks thought future cars might look like.

I LOVED those cars!!! I'm so disappointed we ended up with SUVs instead!

 

[Forbin]

I liked the episode where they went to the foreign country with the badly spelled signs and tricked some guy using sets and masks.

That WAS a good one!

yeah, that's another point - were any of those "Eastern European" signs actual words in any language? It seemed to me they'd just take English words and substitute Zs for Ss and throw some odd accent marks over some letters, so the audience could still read them.

 

[Christopher]

yeah, that's another point - were any of those "Eastern European" signs actual words in any language? It seemed to me they'd just take English words and substitute Zs for Ss and throw some odd accent marks over some letters, so the audience could still read them.

Yes, exactly. It was called "Gellerese" after the show's creator/executive producer Bruce Geller. After all, they not only had to keep the signs legible for the audience, they had to avoid connecting these fictional countries with any real nationality.

However, when they did episodes set in Latin America or Francophone Africa, they did use real Spanish and French signage.

 

[Forbin]

I did not know that!

 

[Christopher]

And at the border crossing in "The Exchange," there's a sign that seems to be in genuine Russian, German, and French as well as English. I guess they could do that because there was English included so it was comprehensible, and because the multilingualism left it unspecific about what country they were in (though it was implicitly Germany -- they tended to use "Eastern Zone" and "Western Zone" in episodes that were supposed to be in East/West Germany).

The issue of languages is one of the tricky conceits of M:I. Do we choose to believe that these agents actually were fluent in every language on Earth, or that the inhabitants of every foreign country actually spoke in accented English? Although of course the problem here is nothing compared to that in science fiction shows.

 

[Marc]

And at the border crossing in "The Exchange," there's a sign that seems to be in genuine Russian, German, and French as well as English. I guess they could do that because there was English included so it was comprehensible, and because the multilingualism left it unspecific about what country they were in (though it was implicitly Germany -- they tended to use "Eastern Zone" and "Western Zone" in episodes that were supposed to be in East/West Germany).

The issue of languages is one of the tricky conceits of M:I. Do we choose to believe that these agents actually were fluent in every language on Earth, or that the inhabitants of every foreign country actually spoke in accented English? Although of course the problem here is nothing compared to that in science fiction shows.

Maybe the UT was actually invented in the 60s by an unamned Governemtn agency for use by IMF agents

 

[Christopher]

^Well, they had cordrazine and Saurian brandy decanters, so you never know...

(Seriously. There's an episode during the Nimoy years with a scene where Paris/Nimoy is talking on the phone and there's a Saurian brandy bottle right next to him on the table.)

 

[Garak]

Just rewatched Mission Impossible 2 last night, starring Tom Cruise.

What a fabulous trip down memory lane. Tom Cruise was wise in bringing on famed director John Woo to direct this epic tale.

Apart from Tom Cruise's hair, one of the more exhilarating aspects was the absence of Jim Phelps, noted traitor of Tom Cruise and IMF. With whatshisface gone, IMF is all Tom Cruise's to run and you really see that reflected in the cool efficiency and steady ease with which they completed their mission.

Another brilliant aspect of this brilliant Tom Cruise vehicle was the amazing stunts that Tom Cruise himself engages in. I don't know if any of the no names whom everyone has forgotten about that starred in the "original" version of Mission Impossible did their own stunts, but I'm going to have to go out on a limb and say no - they probably didn't take enough pride in their work like Tom Cruise so obviously does. The sacrifices he makes for our entertainment really put an already great Tom Cruise movie in to the category of "freaking incredible Tom Cruise movie".

All in all, I'd have to give this movie 9.5 Tom Cruises out of a possible 10. The 0.5 accounting for the fact that there wasn't enough Tom Cruise screen time. But bascially this movie was everything the "original" Mission Impossible wasn't - fantastic and entertaining.

 

[NextGen123]

Candidly I wondered if I would find the show somewhat creaky after all these years. Surprisingly I don't although I acknowledge that a contemporary work would probably be faster paced. Overall I like the acting and particularly the writing. It usually feels as if they respect the intelligence of the viewer to follow what's going on and not need reams of exposition to explain every little thing.

Being shot on film rather than videotape it is gorgeous to look at with all the detail we can now see that likely wouldn't have shown up on old televisions of the time. For me it's a trip back in time because I actually remember when people dressed like that, drove those cars, and so many people smoked so casually and openly. Hell, in some shots you can see Martin Landau's yellowed fingers.

I remember how Martin Landau couldn't strike a deal for more seasons so both Barbara Bain and Landau left. After that it was Nimoy for the next two or three years. Which seasons feature Nimoy? I'd like to buy them if they ever go to the $14.99 section at Wal-Mart.

 

[Harvey]

Nimoy is in seasons four and five, IIRC.

 

[Mike Ram]

^ Sadly, William Shatner guest starred in two episodes...in seasons 6 and 7. It would have been fun to see them together again.

 

[Mike Ram]

PS, I wrote reviews for each season on Netflix, but it looks like they've changed the way reviews are presented now (they're only for a series as a whole). Would anyone like me to post them here?

 

[Marc]

Candidly I wondered if I would find the show somewhat creaky after all these years. Surprisingly I don't although I acknowledge that a contemporary work would probably be faster paced. Overall I like the acting and particularly the writing. It usually feels as if they respect the intelligence of the viewer to follow what's going on and not need reams of exposition to explain every little thing.

Being shot on film rather than videotape it is gorgeous to look at with all the detail we can now see that likely wouldn't have shown up on old televisions of the time. For me it's a trip back in time because I actually remember when people dressed like that, drove those cars, and so many people smoked so casually and openly. Hell, in some shots you can see Martin Landau's yellowed fingers.

I remember how Martin Landau couldn't strike a deal for more seasons so both Barbara Bain and Landau left. After that it was Nimoy for the next two or three years. Which seasons feature Nimoy? I'd like to buy them if they ever go to the $14.99 section at Wal-Mart.

so it wasn't that he wanted to avoid type casting and left of his own accord?

 

[Christopher]

I'm not sure how you can be typecast on a show where you play a different character every week.

 

[Davros]

I was watching the episode with Barry "Greg Brady" Williams as an annoying boy king.

 

[Forbin]

IIRC (and I may not), Nimoy's very first line in his first episode directly addresses Phelps during the briefing, so for his first line in his new series, he calls somebody Jim. I think I was looking down at my food at the time (during my recent rewatch), and for a split second I thought I'd mistakenly put a Trek episode on.

 

[Warped9]

When I went to see Captain America this afternoon (really enjoyed it!) I caught the trailer for the next M:I film.

Typical trailer with over-the-top stunts and explosions and more bullshit set up. They even trash the M:I theme song.

Suffice to say that like the preceding films I won't be bothering with this particularly after revisiting the original series.

 

[Christopher]

Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is Brad Bird's first live-action feature film. I find that fascinating in itself. Naturally any trailer is going to play up the action to a disproportionate degree; that doesn't mean there won't be worthwhile story and characterization in the film. I can't imagine a Brad Bird film not having those. Basically I'm hoping for a live-action The Incredibles here.

And the plot seems intriguing:

Spoiler: MI Ghost Protocol

Apparently the titular ghost protocol is what happens after the team is disavowed by the Secretary. They're taking a totally unexplored throwaway line from the mission briefings and basing the whole story on it!

I think it's a very clever twist and it suggests that the thinking behind this film is grounded in an awareness of the show's mythology.

As for the music, again, you can't mistake what the ad agency decides to put in the trailer for what the filmmakers choose to put in the actual movie. Michael Giacchino is back to score the film, and his score for M:I:III was the only one that really made good use of Schifrin's motifs from the series, both the main title motif and "The Plot."

 

[ATimson]

And the plot seems intriguing:

Spoiler: MI Ghost Protocol

Apparently the titular ghost protocol is what happens after the team is disavowed by the Secretary. They're taking a totally unexplored throwaway line from the mission briefings and basing the whole story on it!

Spoiler: MI Ghost Protocol

Wasn't the team disavowed in the first movie too?

 

[Marc]

And the plot seems intriguing:

Spoiler: MI Ghost Protocol

Apparently the titular ghost protocol is what happens after the team is disavowed by the Secretary. They're taking a totally unexplored throwaway line from the mission briefings and basing the whole story on it!

Spoiler: MI Ghost Protocol

Wasn't the team disavowed in the first movie too?

was there actually anything left ot it to suffer that fate?

Except for one episode in the revival series did it happen to any other team member?