Misión Imposible

I have got to hand it to the people behind the original Mission Impossible series. Their pilot episode was bound to hook people. Mission Impossible was a winner from the start.

The Impossible Missions Force were a team of agents with no emotional attachments who went on secret missions usually against organized crime or rogue nations. They did not go in and use guns or fists to fight a problem-the name of the game was manipulation, deception, trickery, fraud, you name it. The agents were in fact anti-heroes who stooped to the level of the bad guys themselves. But I still loved them for it.

It would be unfair to reveal any of the intricate details of the plots for the series but let's just say they were clever. Mission Impossible was a show that required a viewer's full attention-you simply couldn't switch onto an episode halfway through and expect to know what's going on. Mission Impossible was clever throughout it's entire run. The IMF always had a plan which had to be strictly adhered to for it to be a success. They used every mean trick in the book to bring the bad guys down and they always slipped away at the end without the bad guys ever finding out who they were. In fact, quite a few episodes involved the bad guys falling out with each other after believing the other one was out to get him when in fact it was the IMF who had set it all up.

A clever show indeed-highly recommended.

"Mission : impossible" is the most complex espionage series ever conceived. What makes this show so unique ? It is its storyline, its characters, its visual style and its music : a real trade mark. What I like the most is first the ritual : the tape, the dossier and the apartment briefing, then the fast-paced clips as credits, the character of Martin Landau with his masks and gimmicks, the cinematography (very quick cuts, extreme close ups as inserts, the use of special lenses, pan-and-tilt shots, upside-down camera shots, hand-held camera shots, optical zoom shots as dramatic effects), the skillful montage, and finally, the music and its various themes. The show is an impeccable and Machiavellian play. Every details are planned in advance to fool and get rid of the enemy. Each scheming is tight and shocking. I like the use of the time warp concept in "Operation Rogosh" and the role of Fritz Weaver as the paranoid Soviet Union spy trapped in a fake Russian prison which is in California. I like the tension and the suspense created by silent actions. Anyway, the whole show is about simulacrum. The devious methods of the IMF agents are always delightful and clever. Don't miss the best episodes : "The mind of Stephan Miklos", "Live bait" and "The interrogator". This tape will self-destruct in five seconds, good luck. !

I fondly remember back in the late sixties and early seventies anxiously awaiting and then enjoying each episode of "Mission: Impossible", from the opening montage to the final credits. As far as I know, no other show has (before or since) come up with anything as clever as the opening montage, where certain clips from that week's episode were shown as the theme song played, before the showing of the pictures of the stars of the show. It was always fun for me to try to pick out the scenes as the show progressed (they always looked more dramatic in the montage than they did in the actual episode). The shows were always well written and the cast did an excellent job of portraying a crew that were all good at their jobs and that even enjoyed their jobs, dangerous though they were.

And the music! Lalo Schifrin's music was excellent!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to forget what Tom Cruise and John Woo made of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE with their movies and watch this intelligent and entertaining TV series instead. It's (even after more than 30 years) the best show of its kind. The stories are complex, very exciting and the music score... Well, who doesn't love that wonderful theme written by Lalo Schifrin. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim!

I have fond memories as a child of desperately awaited another re-run on Mission: Impossible to fill my Summer days. While a few episodes were little on the long-winded side, most of them were cleverly constructed mysteries. The actors always had to come up with new accents, characters, and mannerisms for each of their undercover roles, which added immense variety to the show. If the US can lay claim to something "James Bondian" it is indeed M:I. Lots of creative ideas and technique found their way into this show and I hope the entire series sees DVD release. However, I'm not some fanboy who can't stand change. I personally felt the movie was nowhere near as bad as the majority of reviews did. The plot kinda mirrored the complexity of the TV show, although making Jim Phelps a villain was a strange twist. Regardless, the TV series was a magnificent combination of good writing and excellent actors. You'll never see anything like this again witht he current state of network TV "pretty boy" pap. The attempt at ressurecting the series in the 80's was a bad idea, though. The new cast and "MacGuyver" style plots showed how the concept just didn't hold up to writers trying to spin it into modern times to furiously.