Mission: Impossible III (M:I:III): 2-Disc Collector's Edition Combined HD DVD And Blu-ray Disc Review

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Mission: Impossible: Ultimate Missions Collection HD DVD And Blu-ray Disc Sets: Part Three

Title: Mission: Impossible III (M:I:III): 2-Disc Collector’s Edition

Blu-ray Disc Region: A

HD DVD Region: N/A

Genre: Spy-Fi

Stars: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudop, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kerri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, and Laurence Fishburne

Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and J.J. Abrams

Based On The Television Series Created By: Bruce Geller

Director: J.J. Abrams

Feature length: 125 minutes

HD DVD/BD Extras: HD DVD Exclusive Enhanced Commentary Option With Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams, Audio Commentary Option With Tom Cruise And J.J. Abrams, Making Of Documentary, Inside The IMF Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Mission Action – Inside The Action Unit, Visualizing The Mission, Mission: Metamorphosis, Scoring The Mission, Launching The Mission, Moviefone Unscripted, Excellence In Film, Trailers, TV Spots, and Photo Gallery

HD DVD Languages: English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Blu-ray Disc Languages: English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles

HD DVD Packaging: 2-Disc Elite Red HD Case

Blu-ray Disc Packaging: 2-Disc Blue BD Case

Chapter Stops: 19

HD DVD Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Blu-ray Disc Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2006/HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc Release: 2006

Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Mission: Impossible III brings back Tom Cruise as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt in a new adventure that once again pits Hunt against a ruthless villain, played this time by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and yet another IMF agent turned rogue working within the organization. J.J. Abrams co-wrote the script and makes his feature film directing debut after Tom Cruise saw some early episodes of ALIAS on DVD, called Abrams up and basically offered him the job of directing the film, which might be the biggest break Mr. Abrams and any other Entertainment Industry professional could ever receive outside of getting a phone call with a job offer from Steven Spielberg and/or George Lucas. The film also brings back Ving Rhames, who remains the only other recurring character besides Cruise’ Ethan Hunt to appear in all three films. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q make up the rest of Ethan’s new IMF team as he is called away from his job as an IMF Instructor and his fiancé, played by Michelle Monaghan, who is unaware of Ethan’s true occupation, to rescue a field agent (Kerri Russell) Ethan trained personally from captivity in Germany. This set up forces Ethan and his team to abduct Hoffman’s character in Rome only to be betrayed in Virginia when another group of “faceless” operatives rescues the villain and subsequently kidnaps his wife, who Ethan married in a quick ceremony at the hospital following the events in Germany. Now Ethan and his team must head into Shanghai, China to get a mysterious device called “The Rabbit’s Foot” and bring it to those holding his wife if there is to be any chance of saving her and exposing the link between the rogue IMF agent and the arms dealer.

In addition to the above mentioned cast members, Mission: Impossible III also features Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudop, and Simon Pegg. When I saw Mission: Impossible III on the big screen I definitely felt that it was better than the second film, but still not as exciting as the original. The biggest problem with Mission: Impossible III is that it feels like an episode of ALIAS more than it does Mission: Impossible and perhaps not surprisingly the film plays better on television as a result. This is not to say that Mr. Abrams did not do a great job. On the contrary, I think he did a terrific job and probably gave Cruise exactly what he wanted, but especially if you are familiar with the previous films as well as the series ALIAS, it is not hard to pick out the McGuffin and the now cliché IMF agent turned bad scenario since now three films have featured the same element. Perhaps I am wrong, but wasn’t the TV series more about spy intrigue and espionage rather than finding the mole in the organization. At this point I feel that the IMF must have the world’s worst recruitment judgment and internal affairs within the American global intelligence community if the turnover rate is one per movie. One wonders how the agency even exists given this sort of problem and I don’t care if in the real world, spies do turn on each other and their respective agencies all the time. I don’t think anyone going to see a Mission: Impossible film is going to get a glimpse at how the real world of American intelligence anymore than people go see a James Bond film expecting to see an accurate representation of the British Secret Service and Ministry of Intelligence. We go to these films to escape into an exciting larger than life world where in the end we know the hero wins and we’re entertained all the way through. So taking this as a genre popcorn flick as much any other that opens during the summer, my one request for a fourth film if one should happen is please create a villain so powerful and creative that he or she does not need rogue IMF agents and any relationship with the CIA for that matter in order to be a threat. Like the early season’s of ALIAS, the film also deals with the complexities of being a secret agent while trying to maintain a normal life and the grief that can occur since one can’t share their problems on the job with their significant other since that would be breach in national security. The film in many ways is more about relationships, trust, and families whether it is one that a person becomes a part of when he or she gets married or our extended family of friends that develops throughout one’s life.

I have to give Tom Cruise credit as an actor in this film because he holds up very well when paired against Philip Seymour Hoffman. They both seem very generous as actors when they work together on screen. Mission: Impossible III is the only film in the series that can be purchased on HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc at the time of this writing outside of Paramount Home Entertainment’s Mission: Impossible: Ultimate Missions Collection. If you want the first two films on HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc, you have to buy the box set for now at least. Not surprisingly Mission: Impossible III is by far the most elaborate of the three films released on either high definition optical disc format right down to the fact that this is a two-disc set with extra features actually presented in high definition instead of a series of extra value materials ported over from the standard definition DVD release, which came out day and date with the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions as well as the respective box sets. It could have been very easy for Paramount to just have any extras shot in four by three standard definition and just put them out on all of the various media versions available, but true to the Paramount High Definition label, both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of Mission: Impossible III: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition are perhaps the studio’s showcase titles for their commitment to releasing quality HD home video products.

Both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions of Mission: Impossible III: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition present the film a native 16 by 9 widescreen format of approximately (2.35:1) and offer a maximum resolution of 1080p depending upon equipment used to screen the discs. The picture quality on both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs are once again, the same. In short they both look excellent with rich colors, vivid detail, and deep contrasting blacks. I found both editions to look so good in every way that I am really beginning if the amount of space on a disc, whether it is 25 gigabytes or 30 gigabytes makes any real difference if the source material is pristine and the mastering is handled carefully. Where the two versions differ is the sound quality. In my opinion Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus is superior to ordinary Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The audio quality is simply more pronounced and vividly creates a three dimensional sound environment that is closer to DTS in quality than ordinary Dolby Digital and is more discrete too. English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtracks are included on the HD DVD edition while the Blu-ray Disc features English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks. Both discs in both versions feature English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options. While the extra value features on disc two are all presented with Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound regardless if the featurettes are in high definition or not for the HD DVD version, the majority of the extra value features on the Blu-ray Disc version are presented in Dolby Stereo Surround with the exception of the theatrical trailers, which are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.

The HD DVD has an enhanced picture in picture commentary track with J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise as well as a seamless branching option to footage regarding a topic that is being discussed and then after the clip is over, the viewer is returned to the exact place where they left off in the film with the enhanced commentary just like a DVD. Also similar to the commentary tracks found on Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s LOST: The Complete First Season On DVD Box Set, J.J. Abrams and Cruise will sometimes pause the film as if they could magically control your HD DVD experience from wherever they recorded it and then continue onward with the film from where they left off. The audio commentary without the enhanced features can also be accessed on the HD DVD and the standard audio commentary version is the one included on the Blu-ray Disc version. The enhanced commentary is exclusive to the HD DVD. Tom Cruise comes off better on the audio commentary version than he does when you see him on the enhanced commentary because he looks tired. Perhaps it is simply the angle of his head watching the film playback from where the commentary was recorded or perhaps and understandably so, having a video camera present while recording an audio commentary might seem a bit awkward. For whatever the reason might be, on the enhanced commentary track he comes of better during the second half when he is smiling and really seems to be more interactive with Abrams than he seems visually in the first part of the enhanced audio commentary. If the commentary track was audio only I don’t think I would have noticed this about him. What I really appreciated about Mr. Cruise’s comments is that he not only discusses the film in a scene specific manner with J.J. Abrams, but he references his experiences working on other films and given his resume, it adds an extra dimension of interest into his character as both an actor and movie star. So overall, the commentary is a home run in my opinion because both men share their professional experiences in a conversational manner that makes listening or watching it more interesting.

The rest of the extra value features on disc two are more or less equal with exception of the above mentioned soundtrack differences. Please note than running times on these featurettes and documentaries are approximations and may differ according to both what player and video format one views them on. The HD extra value features found on disc two of both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions include Making The Mission (28:31), Mission: Action – Inside The Action Unit (25:00), Visualizing The Mission with CGI animatics to finished feature comparisons (10:38), Mission: Metamorphosis, a look at the mask making machine effects for the film and if you hit the left arrow or cursor button on your remote, there is an Easter egg with Actor Dermot Mulroney talking about playing the cello for the film’s score recording session (: 58). There is also a Scoring The Mission featurette (4:59), and the theatrical teaser, Japan trailer, and two domestic theatrical trailers, which can be viewed individually or through a “Play All” feature (5:29). Some grainy deleted scenes are also included (5:21).

Standard definition letterboxed and pillar boxed extra value features include a look at Tom Cruise’s publicity tour to support the film in New York, Japan, Rome, Paris, and London (14:02). Watching him travel around New York City with a police escort even on the subway one might think the President was visiting Manhattan instead of Tom Cruise. The Moviefone Internet clips where J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise ask both viewer questions and their own unscripted questions are included (8:03), along with six TV spots (3:12), the Excellence In Film montage from BAFTA (9:14) and a photo gallery. The gallery worked better on the Samsung Blu-ray Disc player, which treated as a manually controlled slide show. The interactive menus are beautifully rendered and the menus that can be activated while the film is in progress with no interruption also work quite well.

The two-discs come in a single size Elite Red HD Case or Blue BD Case depending on the format and are indistinguishable from single disc releases at face value in both formats and the three films come housed within a cardboard slipcase with a mix of flat and shiny artwork. Collectively they make for one excellent set regardless of which format version you buy. However you can buy Mission: Impossible III: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition separately on HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc too. Personally while the picture quality is equal, the enhanced commentary option and soundtrack make the HD DVD version the better of the two if you have both a BD and an HD DVD player, but can only buy the film on one format or the other. The first two films on either HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc are exclusive at the time of this writing to the Mission Impossible: Ultimate Missions Collection box sets. They are both available on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc as is Mission: Impossible III: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition separately on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

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