Mission Impossible III - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Mission Impossible III

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.

After how badly Mission Impossible II did with critics and fans I’m actually surprised that Tom Cruise came back for a third try. However, I shouldn’t be surprised, as Cruise has been an adamant supporter of the franchise and supposedly pushed really hard for this one to be made. However, fans were rather nervous after the tonally deaf Mission Impossible II pushed the series outside of a spy thriller into non stop action, but I guess it’s just like they say. The third time’s the charm. Director J.J. Abrams was a relative unknown at this point (outside of TV shows like Lost), but the man magically breathed new life into the franchise, closing the gap between the spies of the future and spies of the past, while still adding in the fun aspects of the John Woo directed Mission Impossible II. While I don’t rate it as the BEST of the franchise as some have done (the first will always be my favorite), it actually lifted the series out of the doldrums that it was in and gave the studios enough incentive to green light a 4th, 5th and now 6th film with Cruise still the leading man.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is no longer a baby faced agent, nor is he a leather jacket wearing, long haired tough guy. It’s been 6 years since the events of Mission Impossible II and he’s retired from active field duty, content to train the next generation of IMG agents for their glory days. He’s also finally settling down and getting ready to marry a nurse named Julia (Michelle Monaghan) and live a normal life. But Ethan is given news that his best protege, one agent Lindsay Farris (Keri Russll) has been kidnapped by the mysterious Owen Davian (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman), and the agency has asked for Hunt’s expertise in bringing her back one more time.

Things get nastily personal when the IMF crew is able to rescue Lindsay, but Owen Davian gets the last word by detonating an explosive device in her head just as they exit. Livid at the death of his student, Ethan decides that he’s not going to let sleeping dogs lie and once more gets back into the field to find out just what Owen Davian is up to, and what is the mysterious “rabbits foot” that Lindsay left clues to. Being that the head of the IMF, Theodore Brassel (Lawrence Fishbourne), has refused to authorize the mission, Hunt is forced to do what he does best. Go rogue and do things himself. With the help of the IMF agents Benji (Simon Pegg), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), old friend Luther (Ving Rhames), and Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), Ethan finds and kidnaps Davian, only to find out that he may have come up against a villain even smarter than he is.

Mission Impossible III does a bit of a juggling act with it’s tone and feel. J.J. Abrams was given his first feature film project with this one, and he does a great job at pulling out the best aspects of each of the previous two films, and blending them with the modern day spy tale of this era. There’s still the cool tech and seriousness of the first film, but Abrams has tempered it with a more down to earth and even tempered Ethan Hunt. The hair is trimmed, the whole film feels much more modern with the areas of the world visited, and the villain is viciously cruel instead of the cheesy megalomaniac cliché. At the same time the film has definitely kept the high octane energy of the John Woo film without making itself a parody with all of the late 90s action comedy that Mission Impossible II was plagued with.

Another bit advantage comes in the form of the cast. Tom Cruise is still the driving force behind the series, and his role as leading man can NOT be duplicated by anyone else. At the same time, the inclusion of new blood was a distinct boon to the series as it gave new flairs and a more ensemble style casting to the front. Simon Pegg, Lawrence Fishbourne, Maggie Q, Michelle Monaghan, Philip Seymour Hofmman. They’re all great actors and actresses in their own right, and the close nit group of people make for a more entertaining watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the standout performance though, as his portrayal of Davian is nothing short of chilling. The cold, cruel, merciless bad guy makes such a horrific foil to Hunt’s heart and charm that he almost takes the spotlight from Cruise whenever he’s on screen. It’s a compliment to Hoffman that he knows when to back off and let Cruise shine. Instead of hogging the spotlight he and Cruise do a little back and forth dance that gives each one a turn to lead, and their chemistry is simply off the charts.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images and some sensuality




4K Video: Video:

Out of the originally released Mission Impossible films, Mission Impossible III easily looked the best of the trilogy. That was naturally due to the fact that it was only 1 year old when it was released on Blu-ray, and had the benefit of a much newer master as a result. The uptick from Blu-ray to 4K UHD is a substantial one, but not AS wild as some of the others due to the better looking Blu-ray closing the gap just a bit. I’m not sure whether this master was from the 2K one from 2006, or another has been struck in the meantime, but the results are definitely pleasing. There are textural details that I have never seen before on the Blu-ray, such as the debris from the opening shootout, or the grime on Ethan’s face during the bridge rescue. Things like stone walls, the ground, facial details, all show appreciable upticks in quality, but once again, it’s the use of HDR that really shines here. The colors just pop when the group goes to Rome, and the blacks are just oh so silky and inky. The only real complaint I have is that some of Abrams shot composition are prone to softness, and the color grading when Ethan goes to get Julia gives a slightly hazy look to a few scenes. It’s nothing that is egregious or irritating, it just keeps the image from being razor sharp at all times.







Audio:

Yup, once more we get a nice upgrade from the 5.1 Dolby Digital track of the Blu-ray to the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track on the 4K disc. I’ve always thought that the 5.1 mix from the 2007 disc was rather good for the time, but the Lossless mix kicks it up a notch with a wider sound stage and a really nice bass line. I will say this though, while I’m not denigrating the uptick in quality, the two mixes are more similar than they are different. The lossless track takes all of the good points of the Dolby Digital track and just gives it a stronger sense of fullness and richness across the board. The gun battle on the bridge sounds deeper and more weighty, and the music itself feels like it’s less constrained and not as “thin” as the beefier lossless track. Abrams had his film mixed with a lot of heavy LFE, and I would put the track firmly between Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible II in terms of quality. It’s louder, beefier, and more expansive than the first movie, but not as rocking and aggressive as the 2nd. My only only real complaint is that the LFE, while loud and aggressive, isn’t as DEEP as I would have liked. All the battles are impressive as all getout, but I had this nagging sensation (especially after watching Mission Impossible II not a couple hours earlier) that it was missing that chest cracking DEPTH that I was hoping for. Something that the Blu-ray itself had an issue with, as did the DVD I have as well (I A/B/C’d all three of them), so I’m not sure whether it’s a mixing issue, or just how the audio master was recorded. Either way, it’s an excellent track and a welcome improvement by Paramount.







Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Actor Tom Cruise and Director J.J. Abrams.
• The Making of the Mission
• Inside the IMF
• Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit
• Visualizing the Mission
• Mission: Metamorphosis
• Scoring the Mission
• Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise/J.J. Abrams
• Launching the Mission
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Photo Gallery
• Excellence in Film

Final Score: ​

Mission Impossible III is the film that really breathed new life back into the franchise, as it blends the wildly frenetic action of Mission Impossible II with the old school spy vibe of the first film. It’s new, it’s fresh, it’s got J.J. Abrams before he became super famous, and the new IMF blood really makes for a great watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman (may he rest in peace) is to date the BEST villain of the series, and his acting alone makes the film worth watching, even if everyone else had phoned it home (hypothetically). The 4K UHD release is a solid upgrade over the Blu-ray, and completes the original trilogy for finally upgrading the audio track from a lossy 5.1 mix to a full lossless one. As usual, all extras are the ones contained on the Blu-ray, and the disc itself is highly recommended to buy. One little thing to note.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 125 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 26th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will have to revisit this franchise. I think I only saw the first one.