Mission Impossible II - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Mission Impossible II

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Fans of the Mission Impossible series have been BEGGING for a re-release of the original films that wasn’t just a re-package of the same cruddy MPEG2 releases that Paramount has been recycling for over 10 years. Luckily Paramount has finally heard the call, and just in time for the latest Mission Impossible film in July, are releasing all 5 of the films in 4K UHD combo packs a month early. The later 2 films are nice and shiny new, so they don’t have the problems that the original trilogy had, but it’s been a LOOOOOOOOOONG time coming to see the “classic” films given the treatment they deserve. This effort by Paramount is done nearly impeccably, giving us a much needed boost to the video and audio, and gives us some really snazzy looking art work as well. You’re mission, should you choose to accept, is to upgrade your old and aging Blu-rays with a nice new 4K UHD disc that will give you everything that you’ve been wanting in your home theater.

It’s amazing what a change a single director can make to a film franchise, especially if they’re left to their own devices. Whoever thought that John Woo would have made a sequel to the 1996 hit Mission Impossible with a logical sequel should have their head examined, as that’s like having Michael Bay or Clint Eastwood direct the next Twilight movie. It’s not that Woo is a bad director by any stretch of the imagination, but his style of action film making is so antithetical to the Berliner style spy movie series that it’s laughable to even consider it. When you think John Woo, most people are imagining Jean Claude Van Damme punching a snake on the back of the head, or Chow Yun Fat dual wielding pistols in a hospital, or Nicholas Cage acting crazy on screen. He loves his low motion shots, and has a penchant for making things so over the top that his films are almost comedies as a result (hilariously awesome comedies usually). His roll as one off director for Mission Impossible II nearly killed the (soon to be) 6 film franchise, by making a film so uniquely different than the first movie, that most audience members wrote it off as the film that killed what life was left in making sequels. It was fun movie to be sure, but really it’s a John Woo film that just so happens to star Ethan Hunt rather than a Mission Impossible film if you look at it with more than a passing glance.

Ethan Hunt is back again, but this time he’s got long hair, a black leather jacket, and a rougher and tougher attitude than his naive (but baby faced) character in the first film. This time the stakes are larger. Instead of saving the lives of countless spies, Hunt is tasked with saving the entire world when a top scientist for a bio chemical company tries to blow the whistle on his company for creating a deadly pathogen. Said scientist injects himself with the drug in order to act as a human petri dish to smuggle the drug out, and in the process rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) manages to intercept the virus (and the antidote) for his own nefarious plans of financial gain.

Ethan is given the mission of finding out just what exactly Ambrose’s ambitions really are, and what he is intending to do with the virus (which turns out to be “not good”, as is the case with these movies). Using the help of quirky pilot Billy Baird (John Polson), and computer hacker Luther (Ving Rhames), Hunt and his men have to cajole, wheedle, spy and manipulate everyone they can to find out. Their biggest asset turns out to be Ambrose’s spy turned criminal girlfriend Nyah (Thankie Newton), who is willing to give up her boyfriend who has turned a bit crazier than she is willing to handle. However, Ethan is up against an enemy that is as crafty as he is, and much more diabolical to boot. Ambrose see’s Ethan coming a mile away and manipulates Nyah while she’s manipulating him and laying a carefully laid trap for the IMF’s most valuable asset.

John Woo really pulls out all the stops for Mission Impossible II. It’s a hilariously over the top action movie that just screams “JOHN WOO!!” to the rafters, and has a blast doing so. Woo uses his trademark style of visual action, filming large action set pieces with lots of hand to hand combat, car chases (and a motorcycle chase considering Tom Cruise is a rabid biker), and lots and lots of explosions. When I say explosions, I mean EVERYTHING blows up! A car gets hit with 3 bullets, it blows up. A stray bullet hits a chemical tank, bla bla bloom! A kitten falls off the sidewalk, it blows up (I may be exaggerating about the kitten). Slow motion shots rein supreme, and while it may be a drastic change of pace from the original film, is still a lot of fun to watch as a typical John Woo action flick.

The change of pace with Woo directing drastically shifts the feel of the series off course, and it really is shockingly different than even the later, more action packed, sequels that were yet to come. The tone is lighter and fluffier, with some scenes really having comedic elements to them, and the technology in the film getting more ridiculous and over the top, ala a Pierce Brosnan. James Bond film vs. a Sean Connery one. The use of the masks and voice modulators may seem more at home in today’s tech, but in the very early 2000’s it was laughably hysterical when we saw it on screen, and feels more like a sci-fi flick than anything. Still, the flick is competently acted, and Cruise’s natural charm and eager enthusiasm for the franchise, combined with Woo’s frenetic styling, makes for a fun “alternate reality” Mission Impossible movie.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some sensuality




4K Video: Video:

Mission Impossible II was not near as bad as the first movie was in terms of picture quality, but it wasn’t exactly a looker either. The disc was plagued with lots of soft shots, weak colors and some compression artifacts that really frustrated me when I first got the discs 11 years ago. However, don’t be alarmed, this is another stunning 4K UHD disc that handily out paces the aging Blu-ray disc with effortless ease. The disc still has a few soft focus shots (such as on the plane, or in Ambrose’s underground lair), but these are few and further in between than expected. Especially when compared against the rest of the movie which is just lovely to behold. Colors are once again the highlight of the disc, with the use of HDR handily raising the playing field with some incredibly well saturated highlights, and great black levels. The dark sequences (which there are many) are exquisite, with great shadow detail, no major artifacting that I could see, and the grain level of the film is very clean and even across the board. The slow motion John Woo action scenes look fantastic, with little bits of sand and dirt kicking up from every footstep between Hunt and Amborse, and you can actually see the sun light glint ever so softly off of Ambrose’s Sphinx AT 2000 9mm in the darkness of the lab (a fantastic gun, based off of a fantastic Czech design). Simply put, this is the upgrade that we were all waiting and hoping for, and the 2nd film of the franchise delivers as much as the first one does.






Audio:

Wooooooowheeeeeee! Being directed by John Woo himself, you can be sure that Mission Impossible II is a loud, aggressive, balls to the walls audio mix that takes no prisoners. Surprisingly enough, the 5.1 Dolby Digital lossy track from the Blu-ray was pretty mediocre, which was a direct opposite experience from when I saw the film in theaters (and it tore the roof down). That being said, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 remix has done wonders with the film, bringing back that powerful and aggressive sensation from my early 2000s theater experience. Guns ring out with authority, motorcycles roar and throb with power, helicopters thud their rotors with glee, and the score just permeates the track with wave after wave of powerful LFE. John Woo is known for his excess, both in his films, and in his audio mixing, with Mission Impossible II really showcasing the man’s love of being the Asian Michael Bay. The opening scenes with Hunt finding Thandie Newton’s character on the dance floor really shows how much the track has improved, as the bass response is incredible and the front sound stage sings with the music. The surrounds are wildly active at all time, with gunshots, explosions, and the chaos of battle keeping them rolling from beginning to end.







Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director John Woo
• Behind the Mission
• Mission Incredible
• Impossible Shots
• Music Video: "I Disappear" by Metallica
• Alternate Title Sequence
• Excellence in Film
• Generation: Cruise

Final Score: ​

Mission Impossible II is probably the least Mission Impossible of the series, as it really is just Ethan Hunt starring in a typical John Woo movie more than it is concerned with staying true to the first film. While it’s definitely the black sheep of the Tom Cruise franchise, it is still a good popcorn film and has quite a lot of great action scenes in it (along with typical John Woo hilarity, such as Ethan dual wielding hand guns, slow motion gun fights, and hot babes). The audio and video are a great improvement over the old Blu-ray, and I will not hesitated to recommend this as an EASY upgrade over said disc (despite no new extras). Definitely a good watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott
Directed by: John Woo
Written by: Bruce Geller (TV series), Robert Towne (Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese DD 5.1, Portuguese DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 124 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 26th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[Jon Liu]

Being a fan of John Woo, I was originally happy about this film. However, after watching several times, I just feel it is completely out of place. It doesn't feel like a M:I movie. It's still entertaining and definitely one to add to complete the collection, but you're right:

Mission Impossible II

is probably the least Mission Impossible of the series

 

[Todd Anderson]

I kind of agree with you on this Jon... I too liked it at release. But when viewed as part of the collection, it just feels like an odd man out.

Still a fun flick... but not nearly as good as the last several releases