Mission impossible, 20 ans après

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 used to watch this when i was a kid and believe me its just too awesome. Its classy and its just too smart. Always waited for the episodes. The acting is just excellent and i have watched a few of the old original ones and that's great too. But this series is just too excitable and fascinating. If anyone would like to spend their weekend watching an old series of spy movies or series then THIS IS THE ONE.

Am sorry i just loved this and another series called bounty hunters. But IMDb doesn't have that series here which is very surprising.

Just feel sad that they lamed such a great series into a lame movie where stunts are just really impossible. But if you watch this series they will make you understand whats the real meaning of *Mission Impossible* where its possible but kinda impossible. Watch it then you would know what am talking about.

For this revival (which not only returned the classic series to television but also four of its original episodes - "The Killer" , "The Condemned," "The System" and "The Legacy") Peter Graves again assumed command of the IM Force with a new set of equivalents for the old unit, shot in Australia and with stronger effects... but lesser scripts.

Watching the originals again, they're miniature gems particularly in the first few years; the new version just isn't as compelling, although having Casey Randall be the first IM member to actually die in the course of duty was unusual. The episode "Submarine" pretty much encapsulates the remake's inferiority; written by the show's visual effects supervisor Dale Duguid, there's an unfortunate emphasis on how the illusion required to trap the villain is done, which suffuses any suspense.

The show does, however, have more fidelity to the concept than the misguided cinema version from Cruise and DePalma, which is why this is ultimately preferable. But the original show is the one to watch.

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.

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.