Mission: Impossible

Mission Impossible is AMAZING!!! I've never seen the first version, and I wasn't very old when this series came out, but I can remember being spellbound and intrigued by this team of crime fighters! I still am! The background music and plots are excellent as is the acting! I have a few of these amazing episodes on tape, but I'd REALLY like to see the series come out on DVD!!! If anyone reads this and knows of anywhere I can get a copy of the series - post a comment to let me know! Thanks!

ams0143

I am a huge fan of the new version of Mission Impossible. I am sorry to say I have never seen the older version. I grew up in the 80's and this was one of my favorite shows. I am also a huge fan of the V miniseries which starred Jane Badler and the tv series Cover Up which starred Tony Hamilton. The cast was great and got even better when they added Jane Badler to replace Terry Markwell. The show had amazing locations and special effects. The movies with Tom Cruise were good with the sequel being better than the first. I didnt like the fact that they used the character of Jim Phelps that way. Especially since they didnt have Peter Graves. They should have used a different character name. I too wish the series had lasted longer than two seasons; it deserved to. I have the episodes on tape from where Jane Badler first appeared, but I would like to have all of the new version. I hope they release it on tape or DVD. My copies are showing their age a little.

I was a huge fan of the original series and couldn't wait to see this new show when it debuted. I found the cast very attractive (and I was a big fan of Tony Hamilton's, may he rest in peace) but disappointed that they recycled scripts from the original series. Nevertheless, though it wasn't the original, I did enjoy it and would have loved it if they'd kept it going.

I especially liked that they brought Peter Graves back and had him use a lot of new-fangled devices. I don't know why they got rid of the first actress, but Jane Badler was wonderful - and I guess she's since made Australia her home.

In 1988, CBS decided to revive the old "Mission: Impossible" TV show. However, to cut costs they did something odd...they filmed the show in Australia! The first season was made in Queensland (north of Sydney) and the second season was made in Melbourne. Generally, this isn't all that obvious, though some of team members sure sound like Aussies...especially Anthony Hamilton. So is it any good? Generally, very good...with a few exceptions. First, because of the writers strike, several of the early episodes are just remakes of old episodes. A few of the episodes (such as "The Devils" and "Bayou") are just insanely bad--with plots such as convincing a mark that Mr. Phelps is Satan himself!!! But generally, the show avoided this sort of thing and brought us more of what everyone loved back in the 60s and 70s...lots of cool plots and gadgets. And, even though Peter Graves was a good bit younger, the shows worked well. It's just too bad the network lost faith in the show and moved it in their schedule...making folks miss out on it because of the change.

By the way, BOTH seasons of the reboot are available on DVD and are worth having.

In a series rebooted 20 years after the original, obviously a few things were going to change. They went for more action, and this MI team got involved in frequent shootouts, something seldom seen in the original.

The original MI plots were tighter and with fewer plot holes than these stories, except for the few they reshot ... which happened because of a writer's strike in 1988.

Finally, you just don't replace Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, and they couldn't on the original series, either. Leonard Nimoy was close, but still not Landau.

However, we enjoyed rewatching this series last summer, and were sorry when we got to the last episode. The actors were engaging enough in their roles to involve us.

As good as the original? No. But decent in it's own right? Yes.