Review of Mission Impossible 2

Introduction

The lure of John Woo and Tom Cruise was too much for me earlier this summer - the trailers for Mission Impossible 2 got me into the cinema and I liked what I saw. I have had the disc on pre-order since the day it was announced and was delighted when it popped through my letterbox last week.

Video

As you would expect with a film made this year, the 2.35:1 anamorphic video transfer is excellent throughout and cannot be faulted.

Visually this film has it all. The first big action sequence sees a Boeing 747 taken over bythe terrorists, the next sees Cruise rock climbing in the Moab desert, followed through the film by a spectacular car chase, some aerial lunacy similar to the first film, and a hair-raising motorcycle chase culminating in motorcycle jousting!

In typical Woo fashion there are explosions, gunfire, helicopters and complex fight sequences - all of which looks great.

My only complaint about the visuals was the sudden change from road tyres to off-road tyres half-way through the motorcycle chase...the continuity person obviously lost out to the demands of riding too fast on dirt there!

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is excellent. There is a great deal of dynamic range and the soundstage is used very well throughout the film. Dialogue is always clear amongst the flying debris and music.

Features

This disc has some of the best features I`ve yet seen on a DVD - not just because of the quantity of extras - but the quality.

In particular, the "Impossible Shots" section which has featurettes on 11 of the crazy sequences is excellent. I was suprised to learn that Tom Cruise actually did most of the stunts in the film, including the hair-raising rockface antics at the start. Similarly, the motorcycle joust at the end actually occured and was not done in a studio!

There is also a 14 minute "Behind the Mission" featurette, a 5 minute "Mission Incredible" stunt featurette, commentary, Metallica Video, Mission Improbable Parody, DVD-ROm features (Agent Dossiers, Mission Locations etc), Alternative title sequence and trailer.

The menus are also very well designed and animated - however some parts of them did not agree with my DVD-ROM drive despite playing properly in my living room player.

Conclusion

The film was enjoyable the second time round - a friend who watched it with me thought it was better this time than when he say it at the cinema!

A good cast is led by Cruise who is definetly more comfortable in this role than in drivel like "Eyes Wide Shut" backed up by the rather tasty Thandie Newton and Dougray Scott as the villian helps, but in reality the film is really a series of action setpieces strung together with a fairly uninteresting plot. In general it is edge of the seat stuff but there is a slight lull in the middle which is a shame. The sequences themselves are terrific, and they look so good because they are real - John Woo doesn`t seem to believe in back projection!

The extras are top notch and the sound and video are without fault - so overall this is a very good DVD.

Top marks to Paramount for putting so much effort into the presentation and extras.