Film Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One | The Biggest Stunt in Cinema History

I love how this movie was about TC trying to save the filmmaking industry :lol:

Also... does Ving Rhames have a contact that says he cannot get out of his chair during filming?
 
I love how this movie was about TC trying to save the filmmaking industry :lol:

Also... does Ving Rhames have a contact that says he cannot get out of his chair during filming?
The whole MI series have just been a documentary on Ving Rhames progressively losing mobility. It only makes sense in the finale he'll merge with the AI.
 
I thought this was a lot of fun and the plot seemed to always make sense, which isn't usually the case in MI world. I think Ving Rhames continues to be the only human in the series and does a great job and Haley Atwell was a good addition. As ever, the face masks and sleight of hand are entertaining and the car chases continue to be innovative. I don't think it's a film worth criticising too much, but the AI stuff felt very Terminator, and not the good Terminator films either, but I enjoyed it. Simon Pegg feels like an itch I can't scratch, and I find it incredibly frustrating that a film that goes out of its way to let Tom Cruise do such spectacular stunts has so much janky CG. Even on the big stunt itself, they've added CG flourishes which somewhat takes the wind out of its sale. They did this with the Halo jump in the last one which made it look needlessly synthetic.

The only real criticism is how the film deals with women, in particular Tom Cruise and women. It feels like they are only there to add consequence, their lives only matter as it gives Ethan emotional stakes. That's quite the tired trope and not one this film is uniquely guilty of, but it seems so blatant here that it shouldn't have survived the first draft. It is also not helped by the fact that someone has realised audiences don't like Tom Cruise having sexual relationships with women, so instead, we get these weird hugs and hints an intimacy and it all feels very off.

Sad to see two characters leave who I thought they could bring more. I wish they'd killed fecking Benji. I hate that guy.
 
Last edited:
Dumb, fun and disappointing. The set pieces here just didn't grab me here like they had in the previous 3, aside from the ending. The story was stale and felt a decade out of date, the villain just wasn't very compelling, and the handful of expositional scenes in the first half of the movie felt beneath the series. Did nobody stop to think how ridiculous it sounds when everybody keeps saying 'the Entity'?

The was also some godawful fight choreography during the Venice bridge scene that gave me PTSD from GoT season 5.


All that being said, I had a good time with it overall. Hayley Atwell is a great addition to the series and Cruise did Cruise stuff - he knocked the running scenes out of the park; some of the shots towards the end must've looked spectacular on IMAX. I was just hoping it'd continue the series on its upward trajectory and not drop down a step.

Hopefully Part Two gives the franchise the send-off it deserves.

7/10

Just watched this and although enjoyable overall I agree with the bolded. The ‘fight scene’ on the bridge was god-awful. Why are they both chasing him and trying to fight him anyway? Ilsa turns up with a massive sword and somehow barely manages to scratch the guy holding tiny knives too. Was weird and felt a flat way to kill a character who has been in multiple films.
 
I thought this was a lot of fun and the plot seemed to always make sense, which isn't usually the case in MI world. I think Ving Rhames continues to be the only human in the series and does a great job and Haley Atwell was a good addition. As ever, the face masks and sleight of hand are entertaining and the car chases continue to be innovative. I don't think it's a film worth criticising too much, but the AI stuff felt very Terminator, and not the good Terminator films either, but I enjoyed it. Simon Pegg feels like an itch I can't scratch, and I find it incredibly frustrating that a film that goes out of its way to let Tom Cruise do such spectacular stunts has so much janky CG. Even on the big stunt itself, they've added CG flourishes which somewhat takes the wind out of its sale. They did this with the Halo jump in the last one which made it look needlessly synthetic.

The only real criticism is how the film deals with women, in particular Tom Cruise and women. It feels like they are only there to add consequence, their lives only matter as it gives Ethan emotional stakes. That's quite the tired trope and not one this film is uniquely guilty of, but it seems so blatant here that it shouldn't have survived the first draft. It is also not helped by the fact that someone has realised audiences don't like Tom Cruise having sexual relationships with women, so instead, we get these weird hugs and hints an intimacy and it all feels very off.

Sad to see two characters leave who I thought they could bring more. I wish they'd killed fecking Benji. I hate that guy.
To be fair Ethan’s relationship with woman was a plot point in this instalment
 
Just watched this and although enjoyable overall I agree with the bolded. The ‘fight scene’ on the bridge was god-awful. Why are they both chasing him and trying to fight him anyway? Ilsa turns up with a massive sword and somehow barely manages to scratch the guy holding tiny knives too. Was weird and felt a flat way to kill a character who has been in multiple films.
Yeah they did her dirty there, it was pathetic. One of the most badass female characters in action films, not just MI, yet she gets bested by an old fart with a butter knife. Really pissed me off.

This is one time I hope the death was a slight of hand and she's actually alive because that character deserves to go out in a much better way.

Also can't believe Ethan can't decide between saving the life of a woman who has saved his multiple times versus a woman who in the 5 minutes he's known her, has tried to get him killed or locked up at every turn.

Also the the way the Asian woman Joker assassin changes her mind... Good grief, the women are written so poorly in these.
 
Why would Grace continually run away from Ethan anyway? I get it at the start but surely the car sequence in Rome would have been enough for her to realise that she was way over her head and needed to trust the guy? Strange character.

@Dirty Schwein, you missed the point with Asian lady. She hadn't turned at that point, but the AI had calculated she would eventually turn. So they betrayed her first.

I found the CGI in the final section in particular to be really frustrating as clearly the stunts they performed were epic, but the way the CGI was handled made you doubt what you were seeing. Shame.

Its clearly setting up for a new generation of Mission Impossible with a new team. I enjoyed the film, it was funnier than I was expecting.
 
Why would Grace continually run away from Ethan anyway? I get it at the start but surely the car sequence in Rome would have been enough for her to realise that she was way over her head and needed to trust the guy? Strange character.

@Dirty Schwein, you missed the point with Asian lady. She hadn't turned at that point, but the AI had calculated she would eventually turn. So they betrayed her first.

I found the CGI in the final section in particular to be really frustrating as clearly the stunts they performed were epic, but the way the CGI was handled made you doubt what you were seeing. Shame.

Its clearly setting up for a new generation of Mission Impossible with a new team. I enjoyed the film, it was funnier than I was expecting.

Yeah I remember seeing the video of the motorbike stunt but then when I saw it on film my first thought was "that looks fake as feck". He did a year's training and 13,000 flips on that bike for no reason.
 
Yeah I remember seeing the video of the motorbike stunt but then when I saw it on film my first thought was "that looks fake as feck". He did a year's training and 13,000 flips on that bike for no reason.

They actually did the combat sequence on the top of the train but it didn't look remotely real. I think too much blurring and the background was replaced? Either way I watched the sequence and assumed it was done in a studio.

I'd love to see the unedited footage, bet it looks much better.
 
Why would Grace continually run away from Ethan anyway? I get it at the start but surely the car sequence in Rome would have been enough for her to realise that she was way over her head and needed to trust the guy? Strange character.

@Dirty Schwein, you missed the point with Asian lady. She hadn't turned at that point, but the AI had calculated she would eventually turn. So they betrayed her first.

I found the CGI in the final section in particular to be really frustrating as clearly the stunts they performed were epic, but the way the CGI was handled made you doubt what you were seeing. Shame.

Its clearly setting up for a new generation of Mission Impossible with a new team. I enjoyed the film, it was funnier than I was expecting.
Ah maybe so I did but to me it seemed clear that she was gonna turn after he didn't kill her in that weird narrow alley fight. But I see your point.

As for the stunt... For something that was a major selling point of the movie, it felt really flat the way they actually showed it. Partly due to the camera angles used and partly due to where they placed it in the film.
 
The more I think about it the more stuff I find wrong with it.

Currently thinking about the scene where budget Tom Hardy says "kill her" despite holding a gun himself, and then the nameless henchman raising his gun at the speed of a geriatric so Tom Cruise can perform a perfectly timed obliteration of him with essentially zero damage to himself.
 
I enjoyed it, albeit it was a bit of stepdown from Fallout, ending the recent upward trajectory of the franchise. Still a high enjoyable movie though and the time felt like it flew by.

Hoping the second installment picks it up a little more.
 
The more I think about it the more stuff I find wrong with it.

Currently thinking about the scene where budget Tom Hardy says "kill her" despite holding a gun himself, and then the nameless henchman raising his gun at the speed of a geriatric so Tom Cruise can perform a perfectly timed obliteration of him with essentially zero damage to himself.

Yes, that was incredibly stupid. I laughed at how dumb it was, like he picked the exact carriage to smash through in that exact correct place. Pretty silly.

It was probably in part because landing a parachute on a moving trains roof is just too wild. So they came up with the absurdity. Made even funnier that old man bad guy strolls in, takes the key without bothering to shoot either.

The plot in general felt pretty loose and needed some refinement. It felt like a 2nd draft.

I am being a picky twat because I did enjoy it, it was funnier than the previous few but it also got sillier with its plot and action. Fallout is still for me the best one.
 
Yes, that was incredibly stupid. I laughed at how dumb it was, like he picked the exact carriage to smash through in that exact correct place. Pretty silly.

It was probably in part because landing a parachute on a moving trains roof is just too wild. So they came up with the absurdity. Made even funnier that old man bad guy strolls in, takes the key without bothering to shoot either.

The plot in general felt pretty loose and needed some refinement. It felt like a 2nd draft.

I am being a picky twat because I did enjoy it, it was funnier than the previous few but it also got sillier with its plot and action. Fallout is still for me the best one.
You've just reminded me of all the times whoever had the key just nonchalantly popped it into their trouser pocket and then proceeded to karate kick people or jump around on top of a moving train.
 
Yes, that was incredibly stupid. I laughed at how dumb it was, like he picked the exact carriage to smash through in that exact correct place. Pretty silly.

It was probably in part because landing a parachute on a moving trains roof is just too wild. So they came up with the absurdity. Made even funnier that old man bad guy strolls in, takes the key without bothering to shoot either.

The plot in general felt pretty loose and needed some refinement. It felt like a 2nd draft.

I am being a picky twat because I did enjoy it, it was funnier than the previous few but it also got sillier with its plot and action. Fallout is still for me the best one.

Yeah has multiple chances to kill our hero but takes none of them. Found him such a poor villain. So calm and composed the whole film and then screaming 'Ethaaaaaan!!!' at the end in the truck :lol:

Also he has seen every possible scenario to the point when he can time exactly when to fall off a high speed train into a truck but somehow missed the possibility that Ethan just took the key from his pocket?

The flashback of him killing someone close to Hunt too, were we supposed to care about that? I thought it must've related to the first movie but apparently it's something that happened at some point in the past with zero explanation.
 
Yeah has multiple chances to kill our hero but takes none of them. Found him such a poor villain. So calm and composed the whole film and then screaming 'Huunnntttt' at the end in the truck :lol:

Also he has seen every possible scenario to the point when he can time exactly when to fall off a high speed train into a truck but somehow missed the possibility that Ethan just took the key from his pocket?

The flashback of him killing someone close to Hunt too, were we supposed to care about that? I thought it must've related to the first movie but apparently it's something that happened at some point in the past with zero explanation.

Oh really? I assumed that came from the first film but didn't overly remember it. That was just some made up scene??? feckin hell.

Yeah, actually worse villain than the recent James Bond who I thought was utterly shite. But this guy was hilariously bad. Come up with a neat idea about him being invisible to cameras etc and then never even bother to use it in the rest of the film.
 
I am not overly concerned about the quality of the next movie so Long as they don't kill Peggy Carter.
 
Enjoyed it,atwell is a great addition but agreed with above, her running after the car chase scene was a bit OTT give the circumstances. Would have accepted it more if she was some super spy rather than just a theif. Oh well, little thing.

Tom cruise is a great action hero. And always crack up seeing him sprint at super high speeds. Can't wait for part 2
 
Had a bit of a marathon on these the last few days starting from 3 up until 6, so Dead Reckoning left which I didn't think was particularly good at the cinema. Really enjoy PSH in 3. He's only got about 20-30 minutes of screen time but probably the best villain of the entire series. Think that one is seriously underrated.

What's everyone's ranking for them then? I think for me something like...
  • Fallout (6)
  • MI 3
  • MI 1
(All of these 3 are interchangable on any given day). Then maybe...
  • Rogue Nation (5)
  • Ghost Protocol (4)
(Again both interchangeable but I think behind the top 3 for me) Then...
  • Dead Reckoning (7)
(Might get reappraised after another watch) Before the massive pile of slow motion dove shit that was...
  • MI 2
 
Last edited:
Had a bit of a marathon on these the last few days starting from 3 up until 6, so Dead Reckoning left which I didn't think was particularly good at the cinema. Really enjoy PSH in 3. He's only got about 20-30 minutes of screen time but probably the best villain of the entire series. Think that one is seriously underrated.

What's everyone's ranking for them then? I think for me something like...
  • Fallout (6)
  • MI 3
  • MI 1
(All of these 3 are interchangable on any given day). Then maybe...
  • Rogue Nation (5)
  • Ghost Protocol (4)
(Again both interchangeable but I think before the top 3 for me) Then...
  • Dead Reckoning
(Might get reappraised after another watch) Before the massive pile of slow motion dove shit that was...
  • MI 2
For @Sweet Square it's MI2 and the others don't exist
 
I know he’s had a lot of work done, but the dude is 61. Looks unbelievable for his age. Whatever work they did, it’s very very well done.

I know his thing is to run like the wind in every movie, and with each passing film they deploy more and more camera tricks to make it look like he’s running fast. But it must be funny being on the filming crew, watching a 61 year old sprint and then watching the Final Cut and seeing they make him look like prime Usain Bolt.
 
I know he’s had a lot of work done, but the dude is 61. Looks unbelievable for his age. Whatever work they did, it’s very very well done.

I know his thing is to run like the wind in every movie, and with each passing film they deploy more and more camera tricks to make it look like he’s running fast. But it must be funny being on the filming crew, watching a 61 year old sprint and then watching the Final Cut and seeing they make him look like prime Usain Bolt.
Agree – and taking a pic of someone as they're sprinting is never going to be the most flattering pic!
 
This is like when Goku went Saiyan for the first time:
GJhCBAIXUAAl9jz
 
M:I POWER RANKING

Fallout

Ghost Protocol
Rogue Nation

MI: 1
Dead Reckoning
MI: 3

MI: 2

I haven't watched #2 in its entirety since its cinema release but I've caught snippets here and there relatively recently. It just doesn't feel like an M:I film. If it was a standalone action movie, it'd probably be more highly rated by people not called @Sweet Square.
 
M:I POWER RANKING

Fallout

Ghost Protocol
Rogue Nation

MI: 1
Dead Reckoning
MI: 3

MI: 2

I haven't watched #2 in its entirety since its cinema release but I've caught snippets here and there relatively recently. It just doesn't feel like an M:I film. If it was a standalone action movie, it'd probably be more highly rated by people not called @Sweet Square.

Fair rankings. 6 is just the perfect action movie and the peak of the series. Definitely took a dive with 7. Just watching it again now and it's full of characters spouting painfully clunky exposition. I mean they do it in all of them to an extent but usually Cruise hides it quite well by doing that thing where he acts like he's just realised something himself. Some of the stuff Rebecca Ferguson has had to say made me throw up a little. Poor girl.

Also the whole film just seems to want to build up to that gratuitous motorbike stunt that we'd all already seen multiple times online before it even came out.

Oh and the "Entity" is dumb as feck.
 
Last edited:
Fair rankings. 6 is just the perfect action movie and the peak of the series. Definitely took a drive with 7. Just watching it again now and it's full of characters spouting painfully clunky exposition. I mean they do it in all of them to an extent but usually Cruise hides it quite well by doing that thing where he acts like he's just realised something himself. Some of the stuff Rebecca Ferguson has had to say made me throw up a little. Poor girl.

Also the whole film just seems to want to build up to that gratuitous motorbike stunt that we'd all already seen multiple times online before it even came out.

Oh and the "Entity" is dumb as feck.
I never want to hear Ving Rhames say the word entity ever again.
 
I thought Dead Reckoning was good fun. Looking forward to the next one.