Mission: Impossible, "Recovery" (1968)

In this bonus episode we talk about the old Mission: Impossible TV show, while we watch one of the classic episodes, "Recovery" - the last episode from season 2

The episode was directed by Robert Totten, and written by William Read Woodfield & Allan Balter.

Please note that this is not a hardcore scene-specific track, just a bit of extra fun, so we can talk about some of the stuff we couldn't fit into the main track for Mission: Impossible (1996).

On this track we cover:

- The style and structure
- The creation of the original show
- Favorite moments from the show
- The slow decline of the series
- And much more

DOWNLOAD

Download the mp3 file here. Link.

Subscribe to the commentary podcast in iTunes. Link.

STATS

Participants: David Bjerre and Dennis Rosenfeld.
Day of recording: June 20th, 2013.
Version: NTSC DVD.
Movie runtime: 0:50:06.

SCREENSHOTS

Peter Graves as The Real Jim Phelps.

Mission briefing during "the apartment scene".

Guest star Bradford Dillman.

The robot hands!

Phelps posing as the downed pilot.

The shredder chute.

Dillman and his devious smile.

Greg Morris as Barney - who finally gets a cozy assignment.

Peter Lupus as Willy. What a trooper.

Martin Landau flashes a victorious smile.

LITERATURE

The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, Patrick J. White

AUDIO/VIDEO

Steven Hill in The Firm. Link.

LINKS

IMDb. Link.

Wiki. Link.

ADDITIONAL

You can find even more screenshots and interesting goodies in this The Mission Impossible Visual Companion blog.

Rollin (Martin Landau) smuggles a guy out of prison in a wheelchair.

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt in Brian De Palma's 1996 big screen adaptation of Mission: Impossible, the classic TV show, created by Bruce Geller.

Our mission is: To investigate this fantastic action movie, with a critical eye, especially in terms of plot and connection to the original show.

On this track we cover:

- The logic of the plot
- The movie franchise vs. the series
- The origin of the series
- Tom Cruise the movie star
- And much more

Please note this track includes spoilers for all four Mission Impossible films, plus Stolen and The Untouchables.

DOWNLOAD

Download the mp3 file here. Link.

Subscribe to the commentary podcast in iTunes. Link.

STATS

Participants: David Bjerre and Dennis Rosenfeld.
Day of recording: June 20th, 2013.
Version: Bluray or NTSC DVD.
Movie runtime: 1:50:12.

SCREENSHOTS

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt.

Jim Phelps explains the bad plan to the troops.

Rob Bottin makeup on Tom Cruise. That guy behind him fought aliens!

Prague by night.

Explain this paradox thing to me again.

When we're done here, you guys are gonna have sex, right?

The Kubrick room, by production designer Norman Reynold.

Cruise. Movie star.

A split diopter shot.

The fantastic final explosion.

Jim clearly shoots himself.

To the left: A cameo from visual effect supervisor John Knoll.

ARTICLES

American Cinematographer, June 2000, article by Eric Rudolph.
Cinefex No. 81, April 2000, article by Kevin H. Martin.
Premiere, Issue #109, June 1996, article by Tom Friend.

LITERATURE

The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, Patrick J. White
Mission: Impossible - A Novel, by Peter Barsocchini

AUDIO/VIDEO

Bluray and DVD extras.

The Mythbusters episodes mentioned are:
- Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (Airduct stunt)
- Mission Impossible Mask
- Bouncing Bullet (Riding an explosion)

CNBC Show with a Cast Reunion of "Mission Impossible". Link.

LINKS

IMDb. Link.

Wiki. Link.

CORRECTIONS

Alex North wrote the discarded score for 2001, not Lalo Schifrin.

David says the train background plates were shot at high speed. He means low speed, so that they appear to go fast.

ADDITIONAL

You can find even more screenshots and interesting goodies in this The Mission Impossible Visual Companion blog.