25 Years Ago Mission Impossible Kickstarted The Second Phase Of Tom Cruise S Astonishing Career

25 Years Ago, ‘Mission: Impossible’ Kickstarted The Second Phase Of Tom Cruise’s Astonishing Career

By Josh Spiegel/May 10, 2021 8:00 am EST

(Welcome to Man on a Mission, a monthly series where we revisit the films of the Mission: Impossible franchise as we sprint toward the release of the seventh film.)There are two phases to the career of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. In the first phase of his career, Tom Cruise worked with exciting and distinctive auteurist directors, often being pushed to deliver daring and adventurous work. Not every film Cruise made in this phase was a creative success, but working with filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick, Cameron Crowe, and Paul Thomas Anderson led the star to unlock deep wells of talent in genres as diverse as Gothic horror, ’50s teen drama, and romantic comedy.The other phase of Cruise’s career is much simpler and more straightforward. It’s Tom Cruise: Action Hero. In this phase, Cruise has fought mummies, never looked back (looking back is a classic rookie mistake), warded off science-fiction baddies, and generally kicked ass. Over the last quarter-century, Cruise has moved from working within both of these phases to fully embracing his action-hero credentials. (In the few times he has worked against those credentials in the 21st century, the resulting films are forgettable. Consider Lions for Lambs. Or maybe don’t.) Yet there’s a bridge between the two phases, connecting auteurs with Cruise’s gung-ho action style. In this bridge, the films manage to be distinctive products of not one, but two auteurs: the man credited as director (it’s always men), and Cruise himself. That bridge is comprised, of course, of the many misadventures of IMF Agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible series. To date, there are six M:I films; the seventh installment, originally scheduled to open this July, is now slated to open on Memorial Day weekend 2022, with an eighth on the way in July 2023. The series’ 25th anniversary is this month, and even as we continue to wait for the seventh and eighth chapters, there’s no better time than now to dive deep into each existing entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Over the next six months, the Man on a Mission column will explore the films of the M:I series, from its inception as one of countless adaptations of TV series into feature films to its current state as the standard-bearer of mainstream action filmmaking. And we begin with the first installment, which is best known as the origin story of an Americanized James Bond, which was plenty controversial at the time for the many people hoping that it would be a true Mission: Impossible adaptation.

Getting the Band Back Together

At first blush, the 1996 film that kickstarted the franchise does seem very much like the show, at least in the broad strokes. As was the case in the 1960s spy thriller, the head of the Impossible Mission Force team is Phelps (played here by Jon Voight). When the film begins, it’s he who’s given a mysterious case file via video and told of his mission, should he choose to accept it. And it’s he who sees said tape self-destruct in five seconds. Phelps is the one overseeing a team, one of whose members is the reliably cocky Ethan Hunt. But the mission is reliant on each member of the team – also including characters played by Kristin Scott-Thomas, Emmanuelle Beart, and an uncredited Emilio Estevez – performing their tasks, often wearing elaborate masks and costumes.That’s the first 25 minutes of the tightly wound and constructed Mission: Impossible. But just as you might figure a film starring Tom Cruise – especially at this stage of his career – would really be about Tom Cruise, you might figure that a thriller directed by Brian de Palma has something up its sleeve. Just as it appears that the mission has gone off without a hitch, one by one, the members of the team are offed – by bomb, by knife, by strange sharp object descending from the top of an elevator. (Hasta lasagna, Emilio Estevez.) De Palma, the New Hollywood cohort of Coppola and Martin Scorsese (each of whom had directed Cruise a decade earlier), had long balanced his distinctive tendencies and influences, complex and often adult sensibilities, and mainstream success. So in the same vein as his being selected to direct the tense 1987 adaptation of another TV series, The Untouchables, De Palma got to try his hand at this one too, quickly making clear that the TV inspiration didn’t mean he wouldn’t make Mission: Impossible as much a De Palma film as a Cruise film.So about 25 minutes into Mission: Impossible, the team of many turns into a team of one. The task at hand – recovering a list of undercover agents’ fake and real identities before the list gets into the hands of terrorist organizations around the globe – is completely ruined…until Ethan learns that the whole mission was a mole hunt to rifle out the sole survivor. The scene in which Ethan realizes he’s been set up as the IMF mole, and must go on the run to clear his name, is a perfect balance of Cruise’s sensibilities and De Palma’s. It’s a relatively simple back-and-forth, as supercilious CIA director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) lays out what seems like a pretty airtight case against our hero. But the dialogue, growing more suspenseful, is a buildup to a watery climax, as Ethan employs a useful gadget: a stick of gum that can be used as an explosive when smushed together, here detonating an explosion in a swanky Prague restaurant with aquariums aplenty so he can make his escape. 

Hasta Lasagna

25 years later, much of the charm of Mission: Impossible is still present. Though some fans, as well as the show’s original cast, were dismayed not only that the IMF team is killed off early on, but that Jim Phelps is the villain of the film, the reveal is incredibly effective. After Jim reveals himself in a surprise move at the London Underground, he and Ethan talk things over. As Jim tries to pin the entire operation on Kittridge, we see Ethan envision exactly how Jim (and the nefarious Krieger) actually pulled everything off. For a film that was initially criticized for making little sense – a baffling critique to consider in an era when blockbuster films are riddled with plot holes almost by design – Mission: Impossible treats its audience intelligently, by visually communicating what its dialogue chooses not to spell out.Fan complaints aside, Mission: Impossible was an out-of-the-gate massive hit, eventually grossing $180 million domestically after becoming the first film to be released in 3,000 theaters in North America. The criticisms about the film’s plot were ignored by audiences, and Cruise seemed to have found himself a full-on action franchise he could anchor himself to. And because Cruise was still firmly focused on working with auteurs, he could branch out for the second film – much like within the James Bond franchise – and pull in another filmmaker with a distinctive visual eye.The result was the most divisive film in the franchise.

Next Time: Get ready for some motorcycle fights.

25 Years Ago, ‘Mission: Impossible’ Kickstarted The Second Phase Of Tom Cruise’s Astonishing Career

By Josh Spiegel/May 10, 2021 8:00 am EST

(Welcome to Man on a Mission, a monthly series where we revisit the films of the Mission: Impossible franchise as we sprint toward the release of the seventh film.)There are two phases to the career of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. In the first phase of his career, Tom Cruise worked with exciting and distinctive auteurist directors, often being pushed to deliver daring and adventurous work. Not every film Cruise made in this phase was a creative success, but working with filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick, Cameron Crowe, and Paul Thomas Anderson led the star to unlock deep wells of talent in genres as diverse as Gothic horror, ’50s teen drama, and romantic comedy.The other phase of Cruise’s career is much simpler and more straightforward. It’s Tom Cruise: Action Hero. In this phase, Cruise has fought mummies, never looked back (looking back is a classic rookie mistake), warded off science-fiction baddies, and generally kicked ass. Over the last quarter-century, Cruise has moved from working within both of these phases to fully embracing his action-hero credentials. (In the few times he has worked against those credentials in the 21st century, the resulting films are forgettable. Consider Lions for Lambs. Or maybe don’t.) Yet there’s a bridge between the two phases, connecting auteurs with Cruise’s gung-ho action style. In this bridge, the films manage to be distinctive products of not one, but two auteurs: the man credited as director (it’s always men), and Cruise himself. That bridge is comprised, of course, of the many misadventures of IMF Agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible series. To date, there are six M:I films; the seventh installment, originally scheduled to open this July, is now slated to open on Memorial Day weekend 2022, with an eighth on the way in July 2023. The series’ 25th anniversary is this month, and even as we continue to wait for the seventh and eighth chapters, there’s no better time than now to dive deep into each existing entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Over the next six months, the Man on a Mission column will explore the films of the M:I series, from its inception as one of countless adaptations of TV series into feature films to its current state as the standard-bearer of mainstream action filmmaking. And we begin with the first installment, which is best known as the origin story of an Americanized James Bond, which was plenty controversial at the time for the many people hoping that it would be a true Mission: Impossible adaptation.

A Star-Driven Story

Getting the Band Back Together

At first blush, the 1996 film that kickstarted the franchise does seem very much like the show, at least in the broad strokes. As was the case in the 1960s spy thriller, the head of the Impossible Mission Force team is Phelps (played here by Jon Voight). When the film begins, it’s he who’s given a mysterious case file via video and told of his mission, should he choose to accept it. And it’s he who sees said tape self-destruct in five seconds. Phelps is the one overseeing a team, one of whose members is the reliably cocky Ethan Hunt. But the mission is reliant on each member of the team – also including characters played by Kristin Scott-Thomas, Emmanuelle Beart, and an uncredited Emilio Estevez – performing their tasks, often wearing elaborate masks and costumes.That’s the first 25 minutes of the tightly wound and constructed Mission: Impossible. But just as you might figure a film starring Tom Cruise – especially at this stage of his career – would really be about Tom Cruise, you might figure that a thriller directed by Brian de Palma has something up its sleeve. Just as it appears that the mission has gone off without a hitch, one by one, the members of the team are offed – by bomb, by knife, by strange sharp object descending from the top of an elevator. (Hasta lasagna, Emilio Estevez.) De Palma, the New Hollywood cohort of Coppola and Martin Scorsese (each of whom had directed Cruise a decade earlier), had long balanced his distinctive tendencies and influences, complex and often adult sensibilities, and mainstream success. So in the same vein as his being selected to direct the tense 1987 adaptation of another TV series, The Untouchables, De Palma got to try his hand at this one too, quickly making clear that the TV inspiration didn’t mean he wouldn’t make Mission: Impossible as much a De Palma film as a Cruise film.So about 25 minutes into Mission: Impossible, the team of many turns into a team of one. The task at hand – recovering a list of undercover agents’ fake and real identities before the list gets into the hands of terrorist organizations around the globe – is completely ruined…until Ethan learns that the whole mission was a mole hunt to rifle out the sole survivor. The scene in which Ethan realizes he’s been set up as the IMF mole, and must go on the run to clear his name, is a perfect balance of Cruise’s sensibilities and De Palma’s. It’s a relatively simple back-and-forth, as supercilious CIA director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) lays out what seems like a pretty airtight case against our hero. But the dialogue, growing more suspenseful, is a buildup to a watery climax, as Ethan employs a useful gadget: a stick of gum that can be used as an explosive when smushed together, here detonating an explosion in a swanky Prague restaurant with aquariums aplenty so he can make his escape. 

Red Light – Green Light

Hasta Lasagna

25 years later, much of the charm of Mission: Impossible is still present. Though some fans, as well as the show’s original cast, were dismayed not only that the IMF team is killed off early on, but that Jim Phelps is the villain of the film, the reveal is incredibly effective. After Jim reveals himself in a surprise move at the London Underground, he and Ethan talk things over. As Jim tries to pin the entire operation on Kittridge, we see Ethan envision exactly how Jim (and the nefarious Krieger) actually pulled everything off. For a film that was initially criticized for making little sense – a baffling critique to consider in an era when blockbuster films are riddled with plot holes almost by design – Mission: Impossible treats its audience intelligently, by visually communicating what its dialogue chooses not to spell out.Fan complaints aside, Mission: Impossible was an out-of-the-gate massive hit, eventually grossing $180 million domestically after becoming the first film to be released in 3,000 theaters in North America. The criticisms about the film’s plot were ignored by audiences, and Cruise seemed to have found himself a full-on action franchise he could anchor himself to. And because Cruise was still firmly focused on working with auteurs, he could branch out for the second film – much like within the James Bond franchise – and pull in another filmmaker with a distinctive visual eye.The result was the most divisive film in the franchise.

Next Time: Get ready for some motorcycle fights.

Next Time: Get ready for some motorcycle fights.