Mission: Impossible 7 & 8

[Jay 37,372]

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

Interesting. Simon Pegg isn't in the poster.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

"I've always been a fan of Chinese technology".

I mean ... the 'copter and motorbike chase isn't bad (I will say it features some of the worst 'henchman marksmanship' in all of Bond, though ... they miss all the way through the chase, don't bother shooting when they have the bike trapped and then somehow miss from a distance of about 6 feet when the bike slides under the 'copter to escape being trapped), but it's not a patch on the earlier action sequence with the gadgety Beamer in the multi-storey car park.  

[Jay 37,372]

There's been like 12 posters released for this film, this is just the D-Box poster.

 

He's on the main poster.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

Is Adam Ant in this film?

[Tallguy 3,401]

5 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

It's around that point that TND starts being not quite as good as it had been up to then. 

 

Do you think? I'd say it's the second most successful set piece in the film, after the teaser. It's both thrilling and it has character.

 

Although I suppose you could say that AFTER that point...

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Interesting. Simon Pegg isn't in the poster.

 

Isn't that him right under Atwell? Tiny running guy?

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

TND just ... loses something in the second half. By the end, Brosnan is striding round the stealth boat wielding dual weapons like the bloody Terminator or something.   

[Mr. Who 919]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Interesting. Simon Pegg isn't in the poster.

He is on the poster but very small.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

He is on the poster but very small.

 

(squints at poster) Ah, yes! You're right. There he is.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

In Hayley Atwell's cleavage, more or less. Lucky boy, lol. 

[Jay 37,372]

So glad she's finally in another major blockbuster. Would love to see more of her

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

34 minutes ago, Jay said:

Would love to see more of her

 

 

[Jay 37,372]

MI7 just screened at CineEurope, so reactions are probably appearing on social media now

 

https://deadline.com/2023/06/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-one-paramount-cineeurope-1235421664/

 

[Edmilson 7,468]

No, M: I 7 and 8 won't be the end of the Mission: Impossible saga.

 

Tom Cruise Wants To Continue Making ‘Mission: Impossible’ Movies Into His 80s Like Harrison Ford With ‘Indiana Jones’

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

Dead Reckoning Part 1 is 98% from 128 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. 

As the saying goes, I like those odds.  

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

The reviews are so good (and nearly unanimously so) that I feel I should watch the film, but I have to decide whether it's worth putting in thirteen hours of homework beforehand since haven't seen any of its predecessors in the series. (They might not be necessary for following the new one, but for a pedant like me it's unthinkable to jump straight in at the seventh instalment...)

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

8 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Dead Reckoning Part 1 is 98% from 128 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. 
As the saying goes, I like those odds.  

 

Never tell me the odds!

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

...I have to decide whether it's worth putting in thirteen hours of homework beforehand since haven't seen any of its predecessors in the series.

 

Start with ROGUE NATION.

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

It'll be all or nothing for me!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

Ok, then start with the one with the train.

[Tallguy 3,401]

Just now, Naïve Old Fart said:

Ok, then start with the one with the train.

 

Isn't this the one with the train? Or will this be the other one with the train?

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

10 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Ok, then start with the one with the train.

 

Okay, thanks! I found the official title using Google. I like how Tom Cruise kept the same hairstyle for Magnolia.

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

27 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

It'll be all or nothing for me!

 

Skip the second one. The others are all worth it. Just don't expect the first one (still primarily very much a thriller type of movie) to be very representative of the bulk of the series starting with the 4th.

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Skip the second one. The others are all worth it.

 

I see that the general opinion is that the films get better as the series progresses, except that Letterboxd agrees with you that the second one is rubbish.

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

I think #1 is a very good De Palma thriller (but quite different from the later films), #3 is solid as well, and #4 essentially starts a string of films that form the series as we know it today. Not by rebooting anything, mind you, it's just that the fourth one is where the series finds the formula that it sticks to from that point on. #4 to #6 are uniformly excellent in my mind. Different people have different favourites among those three, personally I don't feel a need to rank them. Except that musically, the last one is a big letdown.

[Edmilson 7,468]

Apparently, the villain of M: I 7 and 8 (or 7.1 and 7.2) is an artificial intelligence. Does that mean we'll get to see Tom Cruise punching a robot? If the movie contains a scene of Tom Cruise punching robots, I'll be there opening day. 

[saulocf 79]

I’ve watched yesterday and was surprisingly disappointed. First, all the conversation scenes were filmed so closed to the actors face that started getting really distracting. The humor didn’t work, there was one unnecessary murder scene that rubbed be off the wrong way and by the last hour (this movie is LONG) I stopped caring. Oh.. also, it follows the tradition of Fast X, Spiderverse where nothing gets resolved. 

[TolkienSS 407]

46 minutes ago, saulocf said:

I’ve watched yesterday and was surprisingly disappointed. First, all the conversation scenes were filmed so closed to the actors face that started getting really distracting. The humor didn’t work, there was one unnecessary murder scene that rubbed be off the wrong way and by the last hour (this movie is LONG) I stopped caring. Oh.. also, it follows the tradition of Fast X, Spiderverse where nothing gets resolved. 

 

What do you mean nothing gets resolved? It's a two-part movie.

[saulocf 79]

8 hours ago, TolkienSS said:

 

What do you mean nothing gets resolved? It's a two-part movie.

This is part of the problem for me. One thing is have a complete film that can work by itself have a cliffhanger that will continue in the next film (Infinity war, Lord of the Rings and Dune pt1) however, when basic things like villain motivation don’t get explained and no plot gets its own ending is very frustrating.

take infinity war for example.. the movie clearly needs Endgame to fill complete, however, Thor has his arc that gets completed, Thanos has a good resolution. Nothing close happens here. The film just ends (after again, a very long almost 3 hour runtime).

[PrayodiBA 517]

Just saw the movie. 
(MI is not one my most favorite series, but I always love watching all of the movies for all of its shenanigans with the mask and race against time.)

 

Wow, to me, this is one of the best action movies this decade!

(mind you, I rarely watch action movies, so maybe my parameter is still not the most valid)

 

After a slow first 30 minutes,

things started to get very exciting once “the race to find the macguffin” starts.

This is not a spoiler review, but the way the action sequences are arranged, hugely reminds me of The Dark Knight, which is to me a truly high bar to reach. And this movie manages to reach it!
The Rome car chase in particular

 

And hear me out,

Lorne Balfe’s score works super wonderfully in the movie.

In fact, if not for the score, the movie will not work great as it stands now!

This is a rare case where the score is one of the most important aspect of a movie.

Balfe’s music truly lifts the emotion, especially in an important scene in the middle of the movie. Sorry Balfe hater, he truly truly shines in this movie!

 

Congratulation for Tom Cruise and team. 
After watching the movie, he can now deserve the title what many medias have  given to him, “the man who singlehandedly saves the theatre”

This movie is the reason why we come to cinema!

 

 

[TolkienSS 407]

7 hours ago, saulocf said:

This is part of the problem for me. One thing is have a complete film that can work by itself have a cliffhanger that will continue in the next film (Infinity war, Lord of the Rings and Dune pt1) however, when basic things like villain motivation don’t get explained and no plot gets its own ending is very frustrating.

take infinity war for example.. the movie clearly needs Endgame to fill complete, however, Thor has his arc that gets completed, Thanos has a good resolution. Nothing close happens here. The film just ends (after again, a very long almost 3 hour runtime).

 

Three hours?

I was looking forward to it, but goddamn, WHY?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

Longer movies are coming back, and I like that.

I'd rather have a film that takes its time to tell a good story, than some 95-minute MTV "cut, cut, cut" monstrosity.

Did you see TOUCH OF EVIL? That opening shot was 6 minutes.

[leeallen01 2,136]

Just saw it and was very disappointed. 

 

I was looking forward to it as a fun, interesting, smart action film. It was quite bad all round.

 

The direction was utterly terrible and baffling. For some reason, every shot of an actor seemed to be an extreme close-up. And at least 50% of the film was in dutch angle! 

 

The action was okay. Nothing revolutionary or mindblowing. John Wick 4 and even Fast X had more inventive and interesting action set-pieces. And the big cliff jump that has been overhyped to oblivion looked CGI because they had to replace the giant ramp with a giant CG cliff...

 

The plot was over the top and dramatically cringe-worthy. It would have been more at home in a Fast and Furious film. In fact the plot of Fast X is actually more believable and less unintentionally funny.

 

The performances are bad. And I mean really bad. E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E is overacting like mad. Every line seems to be delivered like a soap opera. So so so dramatic. I don't recall a single line delivered like a normal human being. 

 

Spoilers -

 

Spoiler

Certain character choices were stupid beyond measure, like Ethan F-ing Hunt NOT wearing a disguise in an international airport haha. 

 

And Hayley Atwell's character ( who was not trained in combat) deciding to stand and knife fight the main (highly trained) villain, instead of just running...

 

And also Ethan Hunt getting the shite kicked out of him by a 5ft, 90 pound, skinny actress...

 

Also the main villain jumping off a train going 100+mph onto a perfectly places pad with perfect accuracy and he stopped dead... didn't even roll...

 

And why the hell did the evil entity AI growl? Lmao

 

Stupid writing.

 

 

Oh and the music was obnoxious, overly loud and extremely repetitive.

 

Such a shame.

[saulocf 79]

4 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

Just saw it and was very disappointed. 

 

I was looking forward to it as a fun, interesting, smart action film. It was quite bad all round.

 

The direction was utterly terrible and baffling. For some reason, every shot of an actor seemed to be an extreme close-up. And at least 50% of the film was in dutch angle! 

 

 

 

Such a shame.

Finally someone in the internet agrees with me on this movie! It is freaking 99% on rotten tomatoes!

What did you think of 

Spoiler

Ilsa’s death? 
For me it was so unnecessary, and considering that Ethan was focused on the last 2 movies to keep her alive while establishing both as a romantic couple, it is infuriating that they will not march into sunset together. Tom Cruise sure like em young.

 

[leeallen01 2,136]

10 hours ago, saulocf said:

Finally someone in the internet agrees with me on this movie! It is freaking 99% on rotten tomatoes!

What did you think of 

  Reveal hidden contents

Ilsa’s death? 
For me it was so unnecessary, and considering that Ethan was focused on the last 2 movies to keep her alive while establishing both as a romantic couple, it is infuriating that they will not march into sunset together. Tom Cruise sure like em young.

 

 

 

I agree - 

 

Spoiler

That whole venice stuff was weak. Very John Wick rip off with the eccentric buyer and nightclub setting. Also the death didn't do anything for me emotionally at all. She was given a death fake-out at the start and then just killed...

 

Also I seriously don't understand Pom's french assasin character. She tries to brutally murder them through the entire film and then just decides to help them and save their lives... and why the hell did Cruise leave her alive? I'm guessing because she's a female assasin character and Hunt just thinks she's hot or something? 

 

He seemed to have more emotion for her death than for his supposed true love.

 

[fommes 153]

The film was still more than entertaining, but it's definitely the weakest entry since 2.

 

Why did they feel the need to repeat the exact same exposition every ten minutes? Cruise, usually very reliable, is somewhat overdoing the American patriot thing with his character. Atwell is good as always but her character is somehow underdeveloped; in fact, all characters (including Ethan Hunt, with the vague background hints) seem to be underdeveloped even though this is almost three hours. Even more than with the previous McQuarrie entries, the script seems to have been written around the stunts. The score is unfortunately not better than the previous installment's.

 

And the worst thing story-wise:

Spoiler

why did they kill off the soul of the last few films? If they did it in order to invest the story with some urgency and stakes, it failed, as it completely rips away any care you might have. It was also very badly done; in fact, it was either a fake death (which they've kind of already set up in the beginning of the film) or it was very, very badly handled.

 

Still worth your time seeing this on the big screen for all the obvious reasons, but my expectations were higher. Maybe I should not have watched Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation again before this screening.

[leeallen01 2,136]

31 minutes ago, fommes said:

Atwell is good as always but her character is somehow underdeveloped; in fact, all characters (including Ethan Hunt, with the vague background hints) seem to be underdeveloped even though this is almost three hours.

 

Completely agree.

 

There was basically no character development or character arc for anyone. 

 

All characters were the same at the beginning and the end.

 

To be perfectly honest, there were no characters in this film.

 

"Let's do some stunts. Oh and also I guess we should put a story in there too."

[Richard Penna 3,694]

If Fallout repeats itself, I'll react to the score release tomorrow with a general 'wtf is this?', see the film in about a year's time on Prime and find that 20 minutes of the score actually works brilliantly in context, and despite a two-CD release right off the bat, Balfe will still have managed to edit out omit half of those standout minutes and I will bizarrely be thankful for an isolated score on the BD.

 

If Balfe truly knew the score community, he'd put together an hour of score for streaming, then a complete set for LLL to press a few thousand of, as there are easily enough RCP fans who will want every ostinato.

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

I've been rewatching the series before going to see the new one sometime during the next few days - well, those I have on Blu: The first one, and then Ghost Protocol and the later ones. Today was Rogue Nation day. No need to reiterate what I've said about it before, but some observations:

 

Not only is Benji's trip across Vienna very confused (he leaves U2, which would have taken him to Karlsplatz stations (where the State Opera is located), at Schottenring station, and seems to change to U4, which *could* take him there as well (the same station, so still no need to change in the first place), only he goes to the wrong platform for the other direction; he never actually gets *on* a train there though, but suddenly emerges at Karlsplatz station - 5 stops away) - he doesn't even take the correct exit. There's one that emerges right next to the opera house, but he takes the one across the street instead, which means he then has to cross the Ringstraße (5 lanes, plus two tramway lanes and a bike lane), right between two pedestrian crossings.

 

Inside the opera, aside from the entirely fictitious security protocols (there are *none* in reality), it's curious how many people in glamorous clothes are walking around the house *during the performance*. Also, they've replaced the centre box (some of the best seats in the house) with a control booth, and completely walled off the standing area below it (not glamorous enough I suppose).

 

And how have I never before noticed that a recurring motif in the score (one variation of Solomon Lane's theme I suppose) is pretty much the opening to LeChuck's theme? Doubly curious when in the same film, Ethan Hunt shows that he *can't* hold his breath for ten minutes… It's here for example:

 

[HunterTech 994]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

And how have I never before noticed that a recurring motif in the score (one variation of Solomon Lane's theme I suppose) is pretty much the opening to LeChuck's theme? Doubly curious when in the same film, Ethan Hunt shows that he *can't* hold his breath for ten minutes… It's here for example:

 

 

I was always confused by this theme, since prior to the last watch I had of it, I always assumed it was like a villain theme based on its grand rendition at the end of the climax. But then it plays in scenes that have nothing to do with Lane or the Syndicate (most notably in the opening set piece), so I'm not sure what it would be besides I guess signifying the IMF team (I remember Filmtracks mentioning there being one, so this could be it).

 

It is a shame the proper Solomon Lane theme (which the suite probably would've had this as a variant of if it was for him) got so whittled down in the final product, since it feels like one of the rare villain themes in recent times that had more qualities than just simply being aggressive in a one note fashion.

[Jurassic Shark 12,082]

6 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Balfe will still have managed to edit out omit half of those standout minutes

 

Probably because it was written by someone else.

[eitam 364]

13 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Not only is Benji's trip across Vienna very confused (he leaves U2, which would have taken him to Karlsplatz stations (where the State Opera is located), at Schottenring station, and seems to change to U4, which *could* take him there as well (the same station, so still no need to change in the first place), only he goes to the wrong platform for the other direction; he never actually gets *on* a train there though, but suddenly emerges at Karlsplatz station - 5 stops away) - he doesn't even take the correct exit. There's one that emerges right next to the opera house, but he takes the one across the street instead, which means he then has to cross the Ringstraße (5 lanes, plus two tramway lanes and a bike lane), right between two pedestrian crossings.

 

 

 

I'm not as familiar as you with the Vienna subway, but I understood it as Benji taking a voluntarily circuitous path to make sure he had no tail, as instructed by Ethan. 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Saw Dead Reckoning Part One, I for one (with apparently the rest of the world), do not agree with some of the members here.

I thought it was an incredible film!!!

 

I think Fallout is still my favorite, but this was so much fun.

Great setpieces, especially the whole train sequence at the end of the film was incredible. It just kept going.

 

The whole cast is great, butthe definitive standout was Haylee Atwell. She was fun, funny and was a great addition to the films. So glad that after such a long time Atwell's finally getting her big break.

 

I was actually quite surprised with the fact that large parts of action scenes were left unscored. Especially the Rome chase. I believe there are 3 cues on the album meant for that, but they aren't used.

I really liked Balfe's score, I think all the bongos are really cool.

 

I do agree with some here about 

Spoiler

Ilsa's death. She was my favorite character of the whole series, so I'm quite angry about that.

I kind of understand why they did it, but it also felt a bit like they wanted Haylee Atwell's character to continue and they didn't know how to have both of them in there.

 

[leeallen01 2,136]

Still wondering why 

 

Spoiler

Benji would gladly travel in a driverless automated car when there is a super evil self aware AI hacking into everything that knows who he is and what he's doing at all times...

 

Dumb writing.

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

12 hours ago, eitam said:

I'm not as familiar as you with the Vienna subway, but I understood it as Benji taking a voluntarily circuitous path to make sure he had no tail, as instructed by Ethan. 

 

Makes sense I suppose. Although with the confusing editing, it's rather pointless, because those who don't know the geography will never notice and those who do are just confused by the jump cuts.

 

Using the wrong exit in front of the State Opera doesn't make sense, because if anything, it'll attract more attention. I understand why they did it - you get a much better view of the front of the opera house that way - but geographically it doesn't make sense. I guess the reason behind Ilsa Lund's jump cut detour after Westminster Bridge is similar.

 

Oh, and I thought it was a missed opportunity not to use the regular opera personnel as extras. Would have been nice to see the guys who have been checking my tickets and taking care of my bags for the past 20+ years somewhere in the background.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

Well. the first in the franchise's 2-part finale is (like No Time To Die) a 2 hr 43 minute spy action-thriller ... but frankly, I enjoyed it more. I left the cinema excited to see how it's all gonna pan out in Part 2, not utterly deflated. Hayley Atwell (  ) joins the cast as an expert thief as the IMF team pursue the 2 halves of a cruciform key (which has something to do with unleashing a malevolent AI entity) across the globe.

[TolkienSS 407]

On 11/07/2023 at 12:19 AM, saulocf said:

Finally someone in the internet agrees with me on this movie! It is freaking 99% on rotten tomatoes!

What did you think of 

  Hide contents

Ilsa’s death? 
For me it was so unnecessary, and considering that Ethan was focused on the last 2 movies to keep her alive while establishing both as a romantic couple, it is infuriating that they will not march into sunset together. Tom Cruise sure like em young.

 

 

About the spoiler:

 

Spoiler

Don't count out the possibility that she turns out not to be dead in part 2.

 

[Mr. Who 919]

I saw it last night and was completely blown away! I was first a bit surprised by the slower pacing of the first 20 minutes but after that it kicks into gear and never lets up. Brilliant movie, good story and characters. As a fan of Hayley Atwell, it was great to see her have a big role like this and she was so good. The airport scene and the Rome chase were so much fun and the climax (I don't want to spoil it) was one of the most intense scenes I've seen in cinema in a long time. The practical effects are really the real deal.

 

It was also nice to see Kitridge back and I liked the CIA characters chasing the IMF team, especially Degas, hopefully he's back in MI8. The villain was good too and I liked the whole overarching AI threat, I guess they were lucky with the timing, as the movie was written before the AI mania had started.

 

Balfe's score works well in the movie and I do like his variation of the plot theme for Grace, and the new MI variation playing in the Venice chase. Overall the score is not varied enough though and a lot starts to sound similar after a while. I am curious how it will sound on album. The Venice arrival scene had some nice music so hopefully that cue appears on the OST. Overall I think Fallout was a better score based on my impression in the movie.

 

I'm definitively seeing this again in the cinema soon!

[Jay 37,372]

How did they work the barfing guy from the first movie back into things?

[crocodile 8,018]

By the way, @Jay, you will love how well Hayley Atwell is utilised in the movie. You might even say she's a central character in this. 😀

 

Karol 

[leeallen01 2,136]

I might have to sit this one out. Because I'm baffled by the praise for this film. I thought it wasn't very good initially, but with further thought and breaking it down in my head, it gets even worse. To the point of being pretty bad all round. It falls completely apart with any thought at all about the plot.