Talk:Mission: Impossible
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This is a talk page for discussion of the article about Mission: Impossible. It is not for discussion about the program itself, unless that discussion involves improving the article. In particular, it is not for discussion about whether or not Mission: Impossible is a "good" or "bad" program; or finding out what "this and that" are; or what will happen after "something".
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[edit] Movies
Given the dislike fans of the show have for the movies, they should probably be kept entirely separate. Perhaps a disambiguation page? And to describe the movies as "moderately successful" is a POV understatement. Both films earned hundreds of millions of dollars in the US alone. --Feitclub 04:57, Sep 15, 2004 (UTC)
- Agreed. Purists may grumble, but the films were definitely huge successes. Sadly that success has yet to translate into a DVD release of the original series. I agree the movies should be kept separate, much as the film version of The Avengers is listed separate from the TV series version. 23skidoo 04:39, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Yes, I think a disambiguation page is the way to go. --Commander Keane 09:39, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- I thought that the first movie basically blew, perhaps mostly because we know that Mr. Phelps would never betray his country or the IMF (okay, maybe Jon Voight would, but Peter Graves' Phelps wouldn't — the last time that Peter Graves betrayed his country was in Stalag 13, and it turned out that he wasn't an American traitor but just a German spy in that instance). But hearing the soundtrack and the original theme song on a good theater Dolby system was almost worth the price of admission. Rlquall 02:06, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
- I was more against the idea of the writers abandoning the team concept that defined the series. Yes, there is still a team involved here, including characters who later appeared in MI-2, but for all intents, this film became the Tom Cruise Show and that's not what M:I is all about. It was never the Barbara Bain Show or the Peter Lupus Show, after all! 23skidoo 21:05, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
- Welcome to Hollywood. That's what you get when you pay somebody US$20M to be in a film: a need for the actor to be in damn near every shot... Trekphiler 17:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
- MI is suppose to be about the team. Hollywood ruins everything. They turned it into a series of generic action-hero movies. Jigen III 12:44, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
- Besides that, M:I is supposed to be about the *plan.* The missions were not "impossible, unless you could pull off a lot of amazing physical stunts." M:I was never an "action" series at all. How many stunts or "action scenes" were involved in "The Mind of Stefan Miklos" or "The Council" or "Submarine"? At the end of an M:I episode or movie I want to see the bad guys realize with increasing horror just how thoroughly they've been faked out, not counting their dead; and I want to be marveling at the team's ingenuity, execution of the plan, and ability to cope with setbacks, not at the amazing stunts and "non-stop action." Ptui! Jeh 12:51, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I was so horrified by the treatmant of Phelps in the first film I vowed to never watch it again, or see any sequel. I've kept that vow. Jclinard 10:28, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
- Besides that, M:I is supposed to be about the *plan.* The missions were not "impossible, unless you could pull off a lot of amazing physical stunts." M:I was never an "action" series at all. How many stunts or "action scenes" were involved in "The Mind of Stefan Miklos" or "The Council" or "Submarine"? At the end of an M:I episode or movie I want to see the bad guys realize with increasing horror just how thoroughly they've been faked out, not counting their dead; and I want to be marveling at the team's ingenuity, execution of the plan, and ability to cope with setbacks, not at the amazing stunts and "non-stop action." Ptui! Jeh 12:51, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- MI is suppose to be about the team. Hollywood ruins everything. They turned it into a series of generic action-hero movies. Jigen III 12:44, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
- Welcome to Hollywood. That's what you get when you pay somebody US$20M to be in a film: a need for the actor to be in damn near every shot... Trekphiler 17:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
- I was more against the idea of the writers abandoning the team concept that defined the series. Yes, there is still a team involved here, including characters who later appeared in MI-2, but for all intents, this film became the Tom Cruise Show and that's not what M:I is all about. It was never the Barbara Bain Show or the Peter Lupus Show, after all! 23skidoo 21:05, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
- I thought that the first movie basically blew, perhaps mostly because we know that Mr. Phelps would never betray his country or the IMF (okay, maybe Jon Voight would, but Peter Graves' Phelps wouldn't — the last time that Peter Graves betrayed his country was in Stalag 13, and it turned out that he wasn't an American traitor but just a German spy in that instance). But hearing the soundtrack and the original theme song on a good theater Dolby system was almost worth the price of admission. Rlquall 02:06, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
- Yes, I think a disambiguation page is the way to go. --Commander Keane 09:39, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Trivia
Is that the same Barbara Anderson of "Ironside" (& a guest spot in "Conscience of the King" from "STTOS"?)? And, if I could source it, I'd mention "M:I" was produced by the same company that did "Mannix" & "STTOS": Desilu. Trekphiler 17:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
- Correct on both counts. No real need to source it: all 3 shows were produced by Desilu and M:I and TOS shared some of the same behind-the-scenes personnel, too. I don't know, however, if either trivia item is really notable enough, though. 23skidoo 17:25, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
Was there an episode in which Phelps or Briggs, instead of hearing "Your mission, should you decide to accept..." heard "Your mission, which we feel you must accept, ..." ?
- This was an ep of the 1980s revival. Someone had impersonated Phelps and framed him for a crime; the Voice On Tape felt this pretty much mandated Phelps's attention. Jeh 05:11, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
There were at least two episodes which were not begun with Phelps receiving a message at a "drop site." In one, Phelps was on vacation in his home town, and there were some deaths. In another, Barny's brother was killed. In both cases, Phelps asked the team to help bring the killer(s) to justice.
- It'd be nice to have a complete list of these. Besides the above, "The Ransom" (gangster kidnaps daughter of Briggs's friend and demands Briggs spring gangster's cohort from jail before trial), and "The Town" (Phelps stumbles on a small town in which Will Geer is masterminding an assassination plot) are two more I remember. "Homecoming" was the one where Phelps went home (guest starring Loretta Swit IIRC). I think they used some of the same sets as for Joe Mannix's homecoming episodes. ;) Jeh 05:11, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Related Items
This section should include a reference to the "Inspector Gadget" cartoon TV series. Each episode began with Gadget receiving his mission from a disguised Chief Quimby, on a sheet of paper. The mission outline would always end with the sentence, "This message will self-destruct," and then Gadget would throw the paper away, just as it exploded in Quimby's face. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.82.12 (talk • contribs)
[edit] Theme song
Does anybody know anything about the theme song?
- I imagine Lalo Schifrin does. :) Seriously, if you want the original TV theme, as used in the series, along with many other recognizable tunes, look at the CD "The Best Of Mission: Impossible Then And Now - Music From The Original Television Soundtracks". If you want the "music composed for the series" version, and the characters' theme pieces and so on, buy "Music From Mission: Impossible (1966-1973 Television Series)". Both available through amazon.com . Jeh 04:01, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Incorrect Statement
| “ |
Mission: Impossible III diverges from the format of the other films because it does not end with Hunt receiving another message. |
” |
Is an incorrect statement. Ethan Hunt was not given another assignment at the end of the second film. It will be erased.
- Also, this article is supposed to be about the TV series. I don't consider this to be in any way notable anyhow, but even if it were I'd have moved it to the article on MI3. 23skidoo 19:48, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 1990s novel
I seem to recall that there was an original M:I novel published in the late 1990s, but I can't remember if it was connected to the TV series or if it was a tie-in with the movie. Anyone remember this? 23skidoo 03:46, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Infobox
The infobox should include information about the 1988-90 series as well, but I'm not sure how to add it without messing the formatting up. 23skidoo 16:58, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
- Can you have two infoboxes? Jeh 05:12, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- ... tested in the sandbox; yes, you can. Looks profoundly ugly, but it's better than not at all. Alternately the additional info might be folded into the existing one. And speaking of ugly, it would be nice if there was some better way to refer to the 1980s revival besides writing "in the 1980s revival" all the time. Jeh 05:16, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Unfortunately, there really isn't any other commonly used terminology that I know of. Even White's book uses the term, since the 1980s revival/series wasn't subtitled "The Next Generation" or anything like that. I think it would be better to simply use one infobox for both series, since the 1980s version is explicity a continuation of the 1960s-70s series (just as the 2000s Doctor Who series is a continuation of the 1960s-80s series), and it is unlikely a separate article on the 1980s series would survive an AFD challenge since it's linked so strongly with this article (as opposed to the Cruise films which are independently notable). 23skidoo 23:30, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Home Video
Several seasons of the original series were released on LaserDisc. IMHO details of these should be added to the this section.--ukexpat 17:46, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
- Good point. In the US, only six LDs were ever released afiak; I have them all. However there was a Japanese release of the first three or so seasons in boxed sets (two or more boxes per season). These show up on eBay once in a blue moon. Probably a LaserDisc collector site -- if there are any left -- would be a reasonable source of details. Jeh 10:15, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The Other IMF ?
Is the use of the initials IMF coincidence ? The other IMF, the International Monetary Fund, lend money to countries with a failing economy. LookerOn 08:30, 31 May 2007 (UTC)LookerOn
- Which came first? It's probably a coincidence. The Six Million Dollar Man used OSI which also had a real-life use, as well. And I seem to recall the use of WHO as a criminal organization in a film or book, despite it also being used as World Health Organization. 23skidoo 14:27, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Dossier scene
Is it correct to say that in the dossier scene, the photographs of the characters to be chosen for each mission were in colour and those that weren't were in black and white? Alastairward 09:28, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
- No. Jeh 05:46, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
- Just to expand on Jeh's response, during the first season both Willy and Barney's photos were black-and-white, plus I recall a number of the "guest star" agents also had color photos. In fact I think for awhile only Landau and Bain had color photos and I'm willing to bet that was probably in their contract ... 23skidoo 00:21, 29 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Tape speed/direction and dubbing
Regarding a content disagreement and reversions: I owned at the time a recorder of the same make and model as that frequently shown on the series. The tape movement on the show looked the same as when my recorder was playing a tape forward at the normal speed, to the best of my recollection. I do not doubt that there were scenes of tape being rewound, especially when the smoke poured out to show the tape and recorder were "being destroyed." It is not worth mentioning that the sound was dubbed, since we would then need to mention that sound effects, sirens, explosions, etc are dubbed in movies and TV shows. Very little of the sound you hear was recorded as the film was shot in studio productions. Even the actors' voices are commonly dubbed in in the looping process. IMDB is not a WP:RS reliable source to prove a claim such as this, since it lacks signed articles and it lacks editorial supervision. Find a reliable source which makes the statement about the tape always being in fast rewing when it was supposed to be playing the message and I will certainly go along with the disputed claim about tape speed and direction. But remember that back at the time viewers knew exactly what a reel-to-reel tape recorder looked like when playing, and it would have been bizarre and surprising to show it playing the tape in a mode where playback was not generally done. The little reels would have turned briskly at 3 3/4 inches per second, and would not have been looked like the machine was playing a message if whirring away in fast rewind. A variety of different audio players were used at various times. Again, this is not to say there was never such a scene. It just does not seem appropriate to add a statement that is both trivial and questionable. Edison 21:37, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
- I own a Craig 212 tape recorder, the most famous of the classic Mission Impossible tape machines. When in normal Play mode, the reels do spin that fast. But you dont have to own a Craig 212 to know that the machine is not shown in Rewind of Fast Forward mode. Queue up an episode with the machine "The Widow" from season 2 for example. Look at the control shift - it's in the play position (down). And if those reels are really in FF mode - well, it would take a full half hour to respool a tape. I have no idea where the rumors of FF and Rewind started. Perhaps that really tiny tape recorder that shows up in several episodes? Ted 3000 21:16, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Feature films
This section's a mess of unverified opinions. (Take special note of the "Reaction" section, although "Change to theme song" needs some work too.) I'm tempted to just strip the "Reaction" section out entirely, but maybe someone can still salvage it.--Roger McCoy/រ៉ាចើ (talk) 07:24, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:CBS-Milogo.jpg
Image:CBS-Milogo.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot (talk) 04:12, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Mission-Impossible-book.jpg
Image:Mission-Impossible-book.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot (talk) 19:33, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Plot Holes
- In one epsiode a flying saucer type spy camera-the strings are seen which control it in a air duct!
- In one epsiode supposedly taking place in a east European underground bunker-a clock on the wall was manufactored in "Elwood, Illinois"!
[edit] Missing characters
The article states:
- As a side effect of this, cast turnover was never once explained on the show. None of the main characters ever died or were disavowed in the original series, but a character could disappear in an interval of one episode without mention or acknowledgment.
This is not true in at least one instance, when Casey (Lynda Day George) was missing from an episode (1972) and replaced by another female lead, Jim Phelps mentions that she was on assignment deep undercover in Europe and would not return for a while. — Loadmaster (talk) 22:53, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Edits to season 3 DVD
Although we're allowed to cite sources like Amazon to confirm the release of products such as DVDs, reviews on Amazon are not acceptable under WP:RS so we need a better source for the claim that the Season 3 DVD used the edited versions of the episodes. (Also, remember releases may not be identical from country to country, so an edit in Region 1 may not necessarily be the same as the edit seen in Region 2). 23skidoo (talk) 19:14, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
