Mission: Impossible

What if in The Brady Bunch Movie, everyone but Marcia had been killed off and Mike Brady was recast as a serial killer? That, in essence, is what this ill-conceived film does to Mission: Impossible. It promptly disposes of the Impossible Missions Force team, tarnishes the name of Mr. Phelps by making him a traitor, and self-destructs into a Fugitive retread. So why bother? Because it gives Tom Cruise's cocksure charisma a workout and an action franchise to call his own. The film's record-breaking box office and the video's low price are testaments to his star power. And perhaps on video, the pause and rewind buttons will help to make sense of the labyrinthine plot. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[DVD Review—Apr. 18, 2006—Paramount, 110 min., PG-13, $19.98—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1996's Mission: Impossible (Special Collector's Edition) features a fine transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras include “Mission: Remarkable—40 Years of Creating the Impossible” featurette (12 min.), “Spies Among Us” about real-life secret agents and their training (9 min.), the tribute montages “Excellence in Film: Cruise” (9 min.) and “Generation: Cruise” (4 min.), the “International Spy Museum” Washington DC tour featurette (7 min.), “Explosive Exploits” on stunts (5 min.), Cruise's acceptance speech for MTV's Generation Award (4 min.), plus his acceptance speech for BAFTA/LA's Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film (3 min.), “Catching the Train” a featurette about the train sequence (3 min.), “Agent Dossiers” text files, and trailers. Bottom line: timed to coincide with the release of M:I: III, this version features a decent extras package and is therefore recommended, especially for those who don't already own the extra-less original.]