Mission Impossible – The Complete First Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews


Available at Amazon.com

Created by
Bruce Geller

Cast:
Steven Hill …. Daniel Briggs
Barbara Bain …. Cinnamon Carter
Martin Landau …. Rollin Hand
Greg Morris …. Barney Collier
Peter Lupus …. Willy Armitage


The Show:

In the 1960’s era of “Spymania” Bond may have been the king of the big screen, but on TV the competition was much fiercer. Inspired by 007, espionage-themed series were everywhere, such as: Wild, Wild West, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, The Saint, I, Spy, and The Prisoner. Off all of the shows to come out of the era, the one with the biggest legacy may have been Mission: Impossible. Unable to compete with Bond’s production values or action, the series simply went the opposite way; focusing on making brilliant scripts and gadgets, especially those amazing masks that make you look like anybody. Their spies weren’t glamorous, and didn’t have 007 charisma. They were virtually blank slates that were able to adapt to any mission and get the job done.

Now, of course, Mission: Impossible is able to compete with 007 in theaters, using star power and huge action sequences to try and outdo Bond’s tried and true formula. Then again, the biggest critics of the Tom Cruise-lead franchise is that the movies have borrowed too much from Bond, taking the movies too far away from their source material. Constant complaints say that there are too many death-defying stunts and not enough espionage and intrigue. With the relative failure of Mission: Impossible III, and the release of the first season of Mission: Impossible finally coming to DVD, it’s probably fair to say that the arguments aren’t going to die down anytime soon.

After watching this first season, one thing is definitely not in contention; Mission: Impossible is an incredible series. With top-notch writing and acting, the show is able to age better than any series I’ve ever seen from the era. It can be argued that not even the original Star Trek has aged as well. While the show’s Cold War conventions and technology may be passé now, the series’ entertainment value hasn’t diminished a bit, making it shocking to realize that the series just turned forty.

Right off the bat, the series hits you with both barrels in its pilot. To be able to sneak a nuclear warhead out of a South American country, Team leader Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) puts together a team of specialists. He enlists the help of Agents Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), who they call “the man of a thousand faces”, Barney Collier (Greg Morris), a tech wiz and demolitions expert, Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus), a strong man, Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), a femme fatale able to distract guards and others, and Terry Targo (Wally Cox), a safecracker. With a terrific setup and incredibly intense scenes, including narrow escapes, a vault about to run out of air, a doppelganger standing in for a tyrant, and having to overcome one their of own teammates getting taken out halfway through. The pilot is an absolute winner.

It’s this “team”aspect of the series that most critics say the movies have lost. To be able to complete their assignments, each member must rely on the skills of the other agents. With no real lead character, the show doesn’t get bogged down in individual storylines, and instead you’re just engrossed at the mission at hand.

I can’t stress enough how clever the writing of this show is. For instance, in the episode “Operation Rogosh”a weapon of mass destruction is loose in the city of Los Angeles, and the team only has a short time to locate it before the weapon destroys half the city. To be able to fool an enemy agent who is supposed to be unbreakable into giving its location, the team sets up a scenario where they make the man think he has experienced amnesia, and that he is on trial in his own country for being a double agent. Setting up fake prisons, trials and executions, the team takes the agent to the breaking point in an awesome hour of TV.

Fans of Casino Royale’s middle portion, in which Bond must face Le Chiffre in the high stakes card game, will appreciate the installment “Odds on Evil”. The IMF team has to infiltrate a crooked casino owned by Latin American leader named Prince Iben Kostas (Nehemiah Persoff). To be able to stop Kostas from buying a shipment of illegal arms, they must use their collective skills, as well as some fun gadgets and some serious slight of hand, to make the Prince gamble all of his money away. With taut direction and a terrific turn by Martin Landau, the episode turns into one of the best of this DVD set.

I say one of the best because there so many good ones in this season that it’s tough to decide which one really stands out. Mission: Impossible is a fantastic series with so many mesmerizing twists and turns that your head will spin. By not stretching out too far and doing what they were able to do really well, the series has been able to stand the test of time. Yes, some plots may feel dated because of the Cold War implications and the pace of the stories isn’t breakneck like 24, but Mission: Impossible is as about good as TV could get.


The DVD:

THE VIDEO:
On DVD, the show looks as good as it ever has. For a forty year old season of Television, the image is pretty crisp, and there’s a minimum of degradation. The Show is presented in Fullscreen with its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

THE AUDIO:
The show sounds great in Dolby Digital 5.1. You’ll be rocking to that catchy them in no time.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer

Trailer – You get a MacGyver trailer on this set and that’s about it. This is really disappointing, as the Mission: Impossible films always have a plethora of features, and you would think we could at least get some trailers for those movies. Honestly, is there really nothing they could give us? No commentaries or retrospectives about one of the greatest TV series of all time? This is a pretty disappointing effort from Paramount on this end of the DVD.

THE INSIDE PULSE:

Ignore the bottom score here people. Whatever they’re charging for this set it’s worth it. Mission: Impossible is one of the best series I’ve ever seen, and can’t believe its taken this long to get it on DVD. No features? Who cares?! This series is awesome and I can’t wait till Season 2 comes out.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Mission Impossible – The Complete First Season
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9.5
THE VIDEO

8
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

1
REPLAY VALUE

10
OVERALL
7.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

The Inside Pulse
Ignore the bottom score here people. Whatever they’re charging for this set is worth it. Mission: Impossible is one of the best series I’ve ever seen, and can’t believe its taken this long to get it on DVD. No features? Who cares?! This series is awesome and I can’t wait till Season 2 comes out.

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.