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Mission Impossible

Mission Impossible (1996)

tomatometer

61

Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 49
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 19

Full of special effects, Brian DePalma's update of Mission: Impossible has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted.

53

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 9

Full of special effects, Brian DePalma's update of Mission: Impossible has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted.

audience

70

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 795,003

My Rating

Movie Info

After he is framed for the death of several colleagues and falsely branded a traitor, a secret agent embarks on a daring scheme to clear his name in this spy adventure. Though it drew its name from the familiar television series, director Brian DePalma's big-budget adaptation shares little more with the original show than the occasional self-destructing message and the name of team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). The film focuses not on Phelps but his protégé, Ethan Hunt (a reserved Tom Cruise),

PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

Robert Towne, David Koepp, Steven Zaillian

Jan 17, 1998

Paramount Pictures

Mission Impossible Trailer & Photos

More Trailers and Videos (1)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Mission Impossible

All Critics (52) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (20) | DVD (24)

The most dour, sexless piece of escapism in memory.

May 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Humorless, charmless and flat.

January 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This movie isn't a disaster, but, all things considered, there's little reason to make it a high priority for theatrical viewing.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Every effect is so calculated that only the conscious minds of filmmakers and viewers are engaged--and not by very much or for very long.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A sleek, stunningly made movie.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Charles Taylor
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is painful in at least one way - its waste of good actors.

January 1, 2000 Comment
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If you like Cruise, it's his movie. (Extreme Blu-ray Trilogy)

December 5, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

What used to be an IMF team effort turned into another star vehicle for Tom Cruise.

December 5, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

Sensational, implausible, irresistible to teens.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Randy White
Common Sense Media

De Palma has a choppy, episodic sense of story, and he crafts individual scenes rather than telling a single unified story.

October 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | Comment
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

It's a mission De Palma shouldn't have chosen to accept.

July 18, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment (1)
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Nimble, expertly contrived summer entertainment that doesn't insult the intelligence.

May 20, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Unlike most action films, Mission: Impossible's distinct appeal operates not so much on suspense but on improbability.

September 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Zach Campbell
Slant Magazine

Despite the snags, De Palma remains a virtuoso puppet-master, pulling the strings taut in a nail-biting robbery sequence, switching from micro to macro with Hitchcockian panache, and finally letting rip with a hell-for-leather climax.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
Time Out Source: Time Out

Mission: Impossible helps remind us why the 1990s was such a powerhouse decade for great movies.

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Bullz-Eye.com | Comment
Jason Zingale
Bullz-Eye.com

...succeeds in offering up several exciting and suspenseful sequences, though one can't help but wish that the dialogue-based moments packed the same sort of punch.

May 6, 2006 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Each scene in and of itself plays very interestingly, even if they don't always logically lead one into the next scene.

April 14, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

An incredibly boring and confusing espionage thriller...So inept on so many levels that it could easily be called The Bonfire of the Secret Agents.

January 23, 2006 Comment
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Mission Impossible

View All

'Mission:Impossible' a film that will turn into a very successful franchise, seems it might've had a rocky start. Although this action-packed movie has plenty of fresh entertainment value, its corny camera work and wooden writing could use some improvement. It is however, a decent start to a franchise that will

December 17, 2011
Kase Vollebregt
Kase Vollebregt

Super Reviewer

There are spy thrillers and then there's Mission Impossible. A non-stop cavalcade of action, adrenaline and top notch suspense. With some sure-handed directing by Brian De Palma and a well-merged team of actors with Tom Cruise in the lead, this first entry in the series is undoubtedly one of the best. I haven't seen

July 10, 2007
CloudStrife84
Mike S

Super Reviewer

Mission Impossible Quotes

View All

    1. Ethan Hunt: One, two, three, toast. TOAST!
    – Submitted by Christopher H (6 months ago)
    1. Ethan Hunt: Red light, green light.
    – Submitted by Christopher H (6 months ago)
    1. Ethan Hunt: [Realizing Jim is the mole] Why Jim? Why?
    2. Jim Phelps: Well, you think about it Ethan, it was inevitable. No more cold war. No more secrets you keep from yourself. Answer to no one but yourself. Then, you wake up one morning and find out the President is running the country without your permission. The son of a bitch, how dare he. Then you realize, it's over. You are an obsolete peice of hardware, not worth upgrading, you got a lousy marriage, and 62 grand a year.
    – Submitted by Christopher H (6 months ago)
    1. Ethan Hunt: I don't communicate very well through a shroud.
    2. Matthias: If Max doesn't like what you have to say, you will be wearing that shroud indefinitely.
    – Submitted by Christopher H (6 months ago)
    1. Ethan Hunt: Well, my mom was a little confused how the DEA could mistake her and Uncle Donald for a couple of dope smugglers in the Florida Keys.
    – Submitted by Christopher H (6 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Mission: Impossible (DE)
  • Mission: Impossible (UK)
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