The Fake Life - Love movies? We do too!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

DVD Review: Mission: Impossible - Season 1

By Nathan Wishart

This series has always had a really cool concept: a group of people getting paid by the government to perform con-jobs on enemies of the state. I never realized how potentially that concept could be. The series is pretty black and white when it comes to this, there are no gray areas where they might begin to question if what they’re doing is morally ethical. The IMF (Impossible Missions Force) are the good guys and the people they set-up are the bad guys, that’s about it.

I’m not saying it’s not a great series because it doesn’t address that, but it’s an interesting idea that came to mind while watching it. I’m sure most are familiar with the Mission: Impossible template: at the beginning of each episode, the leader, in this case Dan Briggs (Jim Phelps appears in Season 2), arrives at a pre-determined location and finds a recorder with the details of the mission which is then disposed of. He then assembles his crew which primarily consists of Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), model, actress and femme fatale - I know that sounds limiting but as the series goes on she proves herself to be quite capable; Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), magician, actor, make-up artist; Barney Collier (Greg Morris), electronics expert; and Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus), the muscle of the group. The leader is played by Steven Hill (who later went on to play D.A. Adam Schiff in Law and Order - I absolutely had no idea), aside from a few guest stars, some famous, some not so famous, that remains the core group until Landau and Bain leave the series after season 3.

Another interesting facet about the show is the complete lack of background info on the group, except for mentions of their day jobs and one episode which involves Dan Briggs being blackmailed by someone from his past. Next to nothing is known about these people which I find refreshing. All that matters to them is the mission.

At times, there’s a real cinematic feel to this show which is really quite groundbreaking, there’s a shot in one of the episodes (Action!) where the camera pulls back from an auditorium and seamlessly through a viewing window where we see Rollin Hand standing close by. It’s a stunning shot and something you really didn’t see being done when this show was on in 1966. In another episode (Operation Rogosh) slow motion was used to interesting effect to create the sensation of going mad.

The theme tune is absolutely iconic and provides a sonic blast to open the show while offering glimpses of what’s to come. It’s a very cool way to set-up the episode and the composer. Lalo Schifrin also adds little cues here and there throughout the episodes to heighten the tension and set the mood. His music is an absolutely vital component to the series success.

One of the flaws in this show is that you know they’re going to win in the end, although the show keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout and creates some memorable villains for the IMF team to match wits with. The formula is such that at the end of every episode the IMF time overcomes their opponent. I think it would’ve been interesting if they had done an episode where the IMF had an opponent they couldn’t outsmart. It would’ve shaken things up a bit.

Unfortunately, there are no extras for this set. It would’ve been interesting to hear what the cast and crew had to say about the show, Bruce Geller not withstanding as he died in 1978.

All in all, this show was a total blast to watch and holds up really nicely as a tension packed series with cold war overtones.