Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible" franchise is making a huge splash onto Blu-Ray.
Colors and level of detail are two of the more important measures for these high definition transfers on Blu-Ray. Throughout the films, there are highly detailed images and glorious colors. Additionally, there are numerous action scenes that move by the camera at high rates of speed and would typically introduce artifact problems or lower level of detail. Fortunately, all three films hold up very well, even during the most dynamic and aggressive moments. Colors are perfectly reproduced during all three pictures. Skin tones remain warm and accurate. Every color of the spectrum are nicely reproduced and though the newest film has stronger detail, all three films possess a nicely detailed image. You can't expect a film that is ten years old to match a movie that was filmed with HD cameras, but regardless of which "Mission: Impossible" film you are watching, you can expect to be looking at a very good picture, but if you want a true visual treat, the third film is incredible looking and definitely should be experienced in high definition.
Sound:
Sound nearly echoes the pattern set by video throughout the three films. As technology has improved, so has the ability to have knock-your-socks off sound effects and reproduction. With the impressive action and stunt sequences, high count of explosions, gunfire and other elements that have become synonymous with the "Mission: Impossible" films, a lively and solid soundtrack transfer is a necessity for these films to be enjoyed as they were intended to be - loud. There is absolutely no reason to watch a film from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise if you are going to simply enjoy it through your television speakers or at low volumes. At least, you should not be enjoying these pictures in this manner if you have purchased the Blu-Ray box set and its salty $100 price tag.
The music and sound design of the "Mission: Impossible" trilogy is an important element of the picture. There is just something magical about hearing Danny Elfman's interpretation of the well-loved and overly familiar "Mission: Impossible" theme song in the first film. The rushing sound of the train in the tunnel and the beating of the helicopter blades against the air sound great. What is very impressive is that you can hear the fabric of Tom Cruise's clothes as the air beats him down onto the train. Then of course, Elfman kicks in. One of the beautiful things about the first film was the involvement of Danny Elfman. The second film brought about another familiar name, Hans Zimmer. The second film is more impressive in its sound design, but maybe I'm biased, but the first film had better music. The third film uses the talents of Michael Giacchino and though the music was not as impressive as the first two films, the sound design of the third film was absolutely incredible.
As the series evolved, so did the sound capabilities of each film. The rear surrounds are a good indicator as to which film you are watching. The first film uses the rear surrounds to a far lesser degree than the second and third picture and the final film in the series is just jaw-dropping in the full assault the soundtrack gives your ears. The first film uses the rears effectively, but just not nearly as much as the final film. Imaging across the front speakers was also improved as the series evolved. The center speaker seemed to have more responsibility than the left and right in the first film. In the second film, all three are busy throughout and in the final film, you are faced with a complete wall of sound. The .1 LFE channel becomes more and more active as the films become newer. Explosions still rock hard in all three pictures, but the first "Mission: Impossible" is timid when compared to what is delivered by "Mission: Impossible: III." All three pictures still contain very good soundtracks that are more than adequate, but there is a definite improvement in the content as you go through the series.
Paramount has included English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital for all three films. For $100, I think I would have liked some Uncompressed PCM love, but in all honesty, these are very good soundtracks. The third film rivals nearly anything else released and I was pleased with how good the first two films sounded. All three movies sound very good with the sound cranked up. The theme song is joyous regardless of which chapter in the trilogy you are experiencing. If I had to give letter grades to the three films, I'd give the first a B+. The second film would secure and A- and the third film is about an A+++. It gets lots of bonus points for simply being that good. English, French and Spanish subtitles are provided, as well as an English SDH track.
Extras:
Each of the three films in the "Ultimate Missions Collection" box set contains at least an hour of additional material. To watch all of the supplements and take in both commentary tracks from the three films would take roughly ten hours to fully digest. The packaging of the box set is fairly nice. Each film is contained in their own Clear Blue box, with the third film having two discs. A sturdy cardboard box holds all three cases and is nice and shiny. A blue shiny Blu-Ray header is found on the top of the front cover of the box and also at the top of the spine to denote this is the Blu-Ray release. The packaging is attractive and compact. "Mission: Impossible: III" features its supplements in glorious high definition. However, the first film and the first sequel pretty much contain what was on the original releases. A nice photo gallery was added to the first film, but aside from that, there is not a lot of new material.
"Mission: Impossible":
The first film is the only title of the set that lacks a commentary track. There is, however, over an hour of vignettes and featurettes detailing the production of the film. Most of the features are provided in 480p and were simply lifted from older DVD releases. However, the new photo gallery that mirrors the one found on the third film looks extremely good in high definition and the teaser trailer and theatrical trailer are also provided in high definition. The "Excellence in Film" feature oddly is contained on each three disc. This pretty much announced that all three films will be available individually in the future. The first and second films each contain the MTV Music Awards supplement "Generation: Cruise." A new commentary track would have been very nice and I seem to remember hearing that the first film was to also have an enhanced commentary track. I suppose it never quite made it to the finished product.
* Mission: Remarkable - 40 Years of Creating the Impossible (11:25)
* Mission: Explosive Exploits (5:08)
* Mission: Spies Among Us (8:38)
* Mission: Catching the Train (2:38)
* Mission: International Spy Museum (6:30)
* Mission: Agent Dossiers (14:40)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
* Generation: Cruise (3:36)
* Photo Gallery HD
* Mission: Marketing (6:59)
The first film in the series is a single-disc set. The majority of the supplements are sadly mastered in standard definition. The first feature, "Remarkable" takes a look at how Cruise and his fellow filmmakers brought the film from television to the big screen. The second, "Explosive Exploits" is about the stunts and how Tom Cruise did them all himself. "Spies Among Us" discusses some of the background on the IMF and the technology displayed in the film and how it relates to real life CIA technology. "Catching the Train" is about the train sequence. Peter Earnest takes us through the "International Spy Museum" and the real tools used by spies. "Agent Dossiers" is an interactive feature that gives background info on the film's spies. "Excellence in Film" features the presentation for an award given to Tom Cruise. This supplement is on all three discs. "Generation: Cruise" is a similar supplement, but from the MTV Movie Awards. The Photo Gallery is a lengthy interactive photo gallery that is nicely presented in high definition and "Marketing" is composed of two trailers and nine TV spots. The two trailers are presented in high definition.
"Mission: Impossible: II"
The second film presents a slightly disappointing set of bonus materials. I was pleasantly surprised by the John Woo commentary track and found the film to be far more entertaining with John Woo talking over the action. The rest of the supplements that have not already been found on the first film's "Extras" menu runs for just about one hour. Compared to the wonderful treatment given to the third film, this is a bit thin. Still, fans of the series will certainly want to listen to the commentary track and it will still take three full hours to fully experience all of the bonus materials provided for the second film. What is disappointing is that the film lacks any high definition supplements. The first picture had a photo gallery and some trailers. Here, we have only 480p transfers from the original special edition DVD releases.
* Commentary by Director John Woo
* Behind the Mission (14:27)
* Mission Incredible (5:12)
* Impossible Shots (34:15)
* I Disappear - Metallica (4:33)
* Alternate Title Sequence (:36)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
* Generation: Cruise (3:36)
The second film in the box set is another single disc edition that features supplements that are entirely contained in standard definition. The commentary track is nicely done by John Woo and the director talks highly of Tom Cruise and delivers his thoughts of the making of the film. "Behind the Mission" is your typical EPK style documentary featuring Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner and others as they discuss making the second film and working with the franchise. The EPK materials continue with "Mission Incredible" as they discuss the scenes such as the motorcycle stunts and the opening mountain climbing sequence. "Impossible Shots" is eleven vignettes that break down some of the various shots in the film and what was done to create them, with the cast and crew discussing their thoughts on the scenes. A music video for Metallica's "I Disappear" finds the band rocking on a rocky plateau. Good song. The "Alternate Title Sequence" is just an alternate take on the animated title sequence and the final two supplements are also found on the first disc.
"Mission: Impossible: III"
"Mission Impossible III" marks a few firsts for Blu-Ray. One of these firsts is that this is the very first 2-disc set for a Blu-Ray title. Much of the argument during this format war has been on the storage space available. "Mission Impossible III" finds two 25GB Blu-Ray platters in the blue case, and the HD-DVD is also a 2-disc release. This will be a good gauge as to how welcoming the public is to a multiple disc set on formats where the great amount of available space was one of the primary selling points. If 2-disc sets are accepted without any moaning and groaning, then the argument as to how Blu-Ray can contain much more data on a single disc becomes lesser of an argument, as studios will have no problems releasing multi-disc sets on the high definition format, though the Blu-Ray platters are only single layer and technically speaking, this could have been a single disc release on Blu-Ray. The question will be if studios will pay the additional cost or just stay with 2-disc releases.
This two-disc set is the true gem of the box set. Sadly, the Blu-Ray does not feature the enhanced audio commentary, which only makes it's appearance on the HD-DVD version of the "Ultimate Missions Collection." Fortunately, many of the pieces of value added content for the third film are mastered in high definition. There is nearly three hours worth of additional content to be found on the second disc and when you combine that with the two plus hours of the enhanced commentary track, you find over five hours of bonus materials. To sit through every bit of this interesting material provided for "Mission: Impossible: III" will take a good amount of time, but sitting down and enjoying this third and final film in the box set exhibits perhaps the best example of a next generation release.
* Go Behind the Camera With the Making of the Mission (28:36 / HD)
* Inside the IMF (21:14)
* Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit (25:39 / HD)
* Visualizing the Mission (10:36 / HD)
* Mission: Metamorphosis (8:08 / HD)
* Scoring the Mission (4:56 / HD)
* Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise / J.J. Abrams (8:03)
* Launching the Mission (14:02)
* Deleted Scenes (5:21 / HD)
* Theatrical Trailers (5:30 / HD)
* TV Spots (3:12)
* Photo Gallery (HD)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
"Go Behind the Camera With the Making of the Mission" is your typical, run-of-the-mill talking-heads styled EPK feature. "Inside the IMF" looks at how the third film in the franchise involves the Impossible Mission Force and actually looks into the IMF headquarters. "Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit" looks at the special effects of the film. "Visualizing the Mission" looks at storyboarding and other techniques on laying out action sequences. "Mission: Metamorphosis" takes a look at the making of the digital masks in the picture. "Scoring the Mission" looks at those involved in the films score and how they helped bring the familiar theme song back for a third time. "Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise / J.J. Abrams" finds the two interviewing one another with questions submitted by the public. "Launching the Mission" looks at the fervor surrounding Tom Cruise and others as they attend the premieres around the world. The five "Deleted Scenes" were entertaining and would have been decent additions to the final film, but they are far from necessary. Four "Theatrical Trailers" are included. Six "TV Spots" are included and an Interactive "Photo Gallery" with literally dozens and upon dozens of scenes from the film and the making of the production in glorious high-definition. Finally, the "Excellence in Film" makes its third appearance in the box set.
Comparison to HD-DVD:
There is one major difference between the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD releases for "Mission Impossible III." This difference is the Commentary by Tom Cruise and Director J.J. Abrams as they discuss their experience making M:I:III. The HD-DVD release contains an enhanced audio commentary track as well as the standard commentary track that is also included on the Blu-Ray release. The enhanced track features picture-in-picture and additional dialogue. However, the standard commentary track is quite good. Abrams and Cruise impressed me in how well they did creating this commentary track. The standard audio commentary is an edited version of the video commentary that is cleaned up to remove the references to pausing the picture and such. The enhanced version is easily the better of the two offerings and sadly, the Blu-Ray release does not contain the better, HD-DVD only track.
Closing Comments:
The "Mission: Impossible" franchise has found three theatrical releases over the past decade. The loud and aggressive films brought about some strong stunts and fierce action sequences that gave "Mission: Impossible" its own brand of high-octane spy/action cinema. Where its gadgets are more closely related to real-life technology, the action and stunts were even more over-the-top than those seen in most James Bond films. Though I am not a fan of the second film, the series is, in general, a lot of fun to watch. Tom Cruise is great as Ethan Hunt and I am more than happy that Ving Rhames remained as a part of the series for its entire run. With Tom Cruise now at odds with Paramount, the future of the franchise is in great doubt and if I was a betting man, I'd say these three films will be the only films of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. There are many trademarks of the series. Its theme song is well known. The films always have a strong ensemble cast. The action and stunt sequences look spectacular and the series is visually strong with highly detailed sets and beautiful vistas.
The "Ultimate Missions Collection" is pricey for the Blu-Ray release at $99.99. Essentially, you are paying $39.99 for the two-disc "Mission: Impossible: III" release and $29.99 for each of the first two films. Throw in two cents for the cardboard packaging and it really is not a great bargain over what you would pay if you found the discs separately. However, at this point in time, the first two movies are only available here. It would have been very nice to see all three films being two-disc sets and having full high definition supplements. For fans of the film, the $100 asking price is not that terribly bad and this does mark the first box set release for the Blu-Ray format. There are a lot better ways to spend a hundred dollars these days, but honestly, if you want the third film and you can find the box set for a decent price, I'd recommend it to have the entire series in a set that looks and sounds wonderful. At least, you'll be letting the studios know there is money to be made in releasing on all three formats simultaneously.
Sound:
Sound nearly echoes the pattern set by video throughout the three films. As technology has improved, so has the ability to have knock-your-socks off sound effects and reproduction. With the impressive action and stunt sequences, high count of explosions, gunfire and other elements that have become synonymous with the "Mission: Impossible" films, a lively and solid soundtrack transfer is a necessity for these films to be enjoyed as they were intended to be - loud. There is absolutely no reason to watch a film from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise if you are going to simply enjoy it through your television speakers or at low volumes. At least, you should not be enjoying these pictures in this manner if you have purchased the Blu-Ray box set and its salty $100 price tag.
The music and sound design of the "Mission: Impossible" trilogy is an important element of the picture. There is just something magical about hearing Danny Elfman's interpretation of the well-loved and overly familiar "Mission: Impossible" theme song in the first film. The rushing sound of the train in the tunnel and the beating of the helicopter blades against the air sound great. What is very impressive is that you can hear the fabric of Tom Cruise's clothes as the air beats him down onto the train. Then of course, Elfman kicks in. One of the beautiful things about the first film was the involvement of Danny Elfman. The second film brought about another familiar name, Hans Zimmer. The second film is more impressive in its sound design, but maybe I'm biased, but the first film had better music. The third film uses the talents of Michael Giacchino and though the music was not as impressive as the first two films, the sound design of the third film was absolutely incredible.
As the series evolved, so did the sound capabilities of each film. The rear surrounds are a good indicator as to which film you are watching. The first film uses the rear surrounds to a far lesser degree than the second and third picture and the final film in the series is just jaw-dropping in the full assault the soundtrack gives your ears. The first film uses the rears effectively, but just not nearly as much as the final film. Imaging across the front speakers was also improved as the series evolved. The center speaker seemed to have more responsibility than the left and right in the first film. In the second film, all three are busy throughout and in the final film, you are faced with a complete wall of sound. The .1 LFE channel becomes more and more active as the films become newer. Explosions still rock hard in all three pictures, but the first "Mission: Impossible" is timid when compared to what is delivered by "Mission: Impossible: III." All three pictures still contain very good soundtracks that are more than adequate, but there is a definite improvement in the content as you go through the series.
Paramount has included English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital for all three films. For $100, I think I would have liked some Uncompressed PCM love, but in all honesty, these are very good soundtracks. The third film rivals nearly anything else released and I was pleased with how good the first two films sounded. All three movies sound very good with the sound cranked up. The theme song is joyous regardless of which chapter in the trilogy you are experiencing. If I had to give letter grades to the three films, I'd give the first a B+. The second film would secure and A- and the third film is about an A+++. It gets lots of bonus points for simply being that good. English, French and Spanish subtitles are provided, as well as an English SDH track.
Extras:
Each of the three films in the "Ultimate Missions Collection" box set contains at least an hour of additional material. To watch all of the supplements and take in both commentary tracks from the three films would take roughly ten hours to fully digest. The packaging of the box set is fairly nice. Each film is contained in their own Clear Blue box, with the third film having two discs. A sturdy cardboard box holds all three cases and is nice and shiny. A blue shiny Blu-Ray header is found on the top of the front cover of the box and also at the top of the spine to denote this is the Blu-Ray release. The packaging is attractive and compact. "Mission: Impossible: III" features its supplements in glorious high definition. However, the first film and the first sequel pretty much contain what was on the original releases. A nice photo gallery was added to the first film, but aside from that, there is not a lot of new material.
"Mission: Impossible":
The first film is the only title of the set that lacks a commentary track. There is, however, over an hour of vignettes and featurettes detailing the production of the film. Most of the features are provided in 480p and were simply lifted from older DVD releases. However, the new photo gallery that mirrors the one found on the third film looks extremely good in high definition and the teaser trailer and theatrical trailer are also provided in high definition. The "Excellence in Film" feature oddly is contained on each three disc. This pretty much announced that all three films will be available individually in the future. The first and second films each contain the MTV Music Awards supplement "Generation: Cruise." A new commentary track would have been very nice and I seem to remember hearing that the first film was to also have an enhanced commentary track. I suppose it never quite made it to the finished product.
* Mission: Remarkable - 40 Years of Creating the Impossible (11:25)
* Mission: Explosive Exploits (5:08)
* Mission: Spies Among Us (8:38)
* Mission: Catching the Train (2:38)
* Mission: International Spy Museum (6:30)
* Mission: Agent Dossiers (14:40)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
* Generation: Cruise (3:36)
* Photo Gallery HD
* Mission: Marketing (6:59)
The first film in the series is a single-disc set. The majority of the supplements are sadly mastered in standard definition. The first feature, "Remarkable" takes a look at how Cruise and his fellow filmmakers brought the film from television to the big screen. The second, "Explosive Exploits" is about the stunts and how Tom Cruise did them all himself. "Spies Among Us" discusses some of the background on the IMF and the technology displayed in the film and how it relates to real life CIA technology. "Catching the Train" is about the train sequence. Peter Earnest takes us through the "International Spy Museum" and the real tools used by spies. "Agent Dossiers" is an interactive feature that gives background info on the film's spies. "Excellence in Film" features the presentation for an award given to Tom Cruise. This supplement is on all three discs. "Generation: Cruise" is a similar supplement, but from the MTV Movie Awards. The Photo Gallery is a lengthy interactive photo gallery that is nicely presented in high definition and "Marketing" is composed of two trailers and nine TV spots. The two trailers are presented in high definition.
"Mission: Impossible: II"
The second film presents a slightly disappointing set of bonus materials. I was pleasantly surprised by the John Woo commentary track and found the film to be far more entertaining with John Woo talking over the action. The rest of the supplements that have not already been found on the first film's "Extras" menu runs for just about one hour. Compared to the wonderful treatment given to the third film, this is a bit thin. Still, fans of the series will certainly want to listen to the commentary track and it will still take three full hours to fully experience all of the bonus materials provided for the second film. What is disappointing is that the film lacks any high definition supplements. The first picture had a photo gallery and some trailers. Here, we have only 480p transfers from the original special edition DVD releases.
* Commentary by Director John Woo
* Behind the Mission (14:27)
* Mission Incredible (5:12)
* Impossible Shots (34:15)
* I Disappear - Metallica (4:33)
* Alternate Title Sequence (:36)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
* Generation: Cruise (3:36)
The second film in the box set is another single disc edition that features supplements that are entirely contained in standard definition. The commentary track is nicely done by John Woo and the director talks highly of Tom Cruise and delivers his thoughts of the making of the film. "Behind the Mission" is your typical EPK style documentary featuring Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner and others as they discuss making the second film and working with the franchise. The EPK materials continue with "Mission Incredible" as they discuss the scenes such as the motorcycle stunts and the opening mountain climbing sequence. "Impossible Shots" is eleven vignettes that break down some of the various shots in the film and what was done to create them, with the cast and crew discussing their thoughts on the scenes. A music video for Metallica's "I Disappear" finds the band rocking on a rocky plateau. Good song. The "Alternate Title Sequence" is just an alternate take on the animated title sequence and the final two supplements are also found on the first disc.
"Mission: Impossible: III"
"Mission Impossible III" marks a few firsts for Blu-Ray. One of these firsts is that this is the very first 2-disc set for a Blu-Ray title. Much of the argument during this format war has been on the storage space available. "Mission Impossible III" finds two 25GB Blu-Ray platters in the blue case, and the HD-DVD is also a 2-disc release. This will be a good gauge as to how welcoming the public is to a multiple disc set on formats where the great amount of available space was one of the primary selling points. If 2-disc sets are accepted without any moaning and groaning, then the argument as to how Blu-Ray can contain much more data on a single disc becomes lesser of an argument, as studios will have no problems releasing multi-disc sets on the high definition format, though the Blu-Ray platters are only single layer and technically speaking, this could have been a single disc release on Blu-Ray. The question will be if studios will pay the additional cost or just stay with 2-disc releases.
This two-disc set is the true gem of the box set. Sadly, the Blu-Ray does not feature the enhanced audio commentary, which only makes it's appearance on the HD-DVD version of the "Ultimate Missions Collection." Fortunately, many of the pieces of value added content for the third film are mastered in high definition. There is nearly three hours worth of additional content to be found on the second disc and when you combine that with the two plus hours of the enhanced commentary track, you find over five hours of bonus materials. To sit through every bit of this interesting material provided for "Mission: Impossible: III" will take a good amount of time, but sitting down and enjoying this third and final film in the box set exhibits perhaps the best example of a next generation release.
* Go Behind the Camera With the Making of the Mission (28:36 / HD)
* Inside the IMF (21:14)
* Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit (25:39 / HD)
* Visualizing the Mission (10:36 / HD)
* Mission: Metamorphosis (8:08 / HD)
* Scoring the Mission (4:56 / HD)
* Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise / J.J. Abrams (8:03)
* Launching the Mission (14:02)
* Deleted Scenes (5:21 / HD)
* Theatrical Trailers (5:30 / HD)
* TV Spots (3:12)
* Photo Gallery (HD)
* Excellence in Film (9:14)
"Go Behind the Camera With the Making of the Mission" is your typical, run-of-the-mill talking-heads styled EPK feature. "Inside the IMF" looks at how the third film in the franchise involves the Impossible Mission Force and actually looks into the IMF headquarters. "Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit" looks at the special effects of the film. "Visualizing the Mission" looks at storyboarding and other techniques on laying out action sequences. "Mission: Metamorphosis" takes a look at the making of the digital masks in the picture. "Scoring the Mission" looks at those involved in the films score and how they helped bring the familiar theme song back for a third time. "Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise / J.J. Abrams" finds the two interviewing one another with questions submitted by the public. "Launching the Mission" looks at the fervor surrounding Tom Cruise and others as they attend the premieres around the world. The five "Deleted Scenes" were entertaining and would have been decent additions to the final film, but they are far from necessary. Four "Theatrical Trailers" are included. Six "TV Spots" are included and an Interactive "Photo Gallery" with literally dozens and upon dozens of scenes from the film and the making of the production in glorious high-definition. Finally, the "Excellence in Film" makes its third appearance in the box set.
Comparison to HD-DVD:
There is one major difference between the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD releases for "Mission Impossible III." This difference is the Commentary by Tom Cruise and Director J.J. Abrams as they discuss their experience making M:I:III. The HD-DVD release contains an enhanced audio commentary track as well as the standard commentary track that is also included on the Blu-Ray release. The enhanced track features picture-in-picture and additional dialogue. However, the standard commentary track is quite good. Abrams and Cruise impressed me in how well they did creating this commentary track. The standard audio commentary is an edited version of the video commentary that is cleaned up to remove the references to pausing the picture and such. The enhanced version is easily the better of the two offerings and sadly, the Blu-Ray release does not contain the better, HD-DVD only track.
Closing Comments:
The "Mission: Impossible" franchise has found three theatrical releases over the past decade. The loud and aggressive films brought about some strong stunts and fierce action sequences that gave "Mission: Impossible" its own brand of high-octane spy/action cinema. Where its gadgets are more closely related to real-life technology, the action and stunts were even more over-the-top than those seen in most James Bond films. Though I am not a fan of the second film, the series is, in general, a lot of fun to watch. Tom Cruise is great as Ethan Hunt and I am more than happy that Ving Rhames remained as a part of the series for its entire run. With Tom Cruise now at odds with Paramount, the future of the franchise is in great doubt and if I was a betting man, I'd say these three films will be the only films of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. There are many trademarks of the series. Its theme song is well known. The films always have a strong ensemble cast. The action and stunt sequences look spectacular and the series is visually strong with highly detailed sets and beautiful vistas.
The "Ultimate Missions Collection" is pricey for the Blu-Ray release at $99.99. Essentially, you are paying $39.99 for the two-disc "Mission: Impossible: III" release and $29.99 for each of the first two films. Throw in two cents for the cardboard packaging and it really is not a great bargain over what you would pay if you found the discs separately. However, at this point in time, the first two movies are only available here. It would have been very nice to see all three films being two-disc sets and having full high definition supplements. For fans of the film, the $100 asking price is not that terribly bad and this does mark the first box set release for the Blu-Ray format. There are a lot better ways to spend a hundred dollars these days, but honestly, if you want the third film and you can find the box set for a decent price, I'd recommend it to have the entire series in a set that looks and sounds wonderful. At least, you'll be letting the studios know there is money to be made in releasing on all three formats simultaneously.
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[release]20028[/release]