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List Price: $39.99 | | Label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 22571
Released: October 30, 2006 |
| Our Price: $8.27 |
| Used Price: $4.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: HD DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Tom Cruise returns as Special Agent Ethan Hunt, who faces the mission of his life in "Mission: Impossible III." Director J. J. Abrams ("Lost"," "Alias") brings his unique blend of action and drama to the billion-dollar franchise.
Description of Mission Impossible III (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) [HD DVD]:
At the time of its release, Mission: Impossible III's box office was plagued by the publicity backlash against couch-jumping star Tom Cruise. It's too bad, because this third installment of the spy thriller franchise deserved a better reception than it got. First-time feature director J.J. Abrams (bigwig TV director/producer of Lost, Alias, & Felicity) proves more than able-bodied in creating a Mission: Impossible that's leaner and less over-stylized than John Woo's sequel and less confusing than Brian De Palma's original. Plot is still a throwaway here (Cruise's Ethan Hunt rescues his kidnapped former trainee and works to steal a device that... well, we don't really know what it does, but it's something about mass destruction that costs $850 million), but the action sequences, particularly one where Ethan faces down a helicopter on a bridge and gets flung hard against the side of a car, are particularly impressive since Cruise, at 44, is still doing most of his own stunts and shows no hint of the weathered look that's struck his action-star peers. (Though no Mission: Impossible stunt will ever be quite as simultaneously nail-biting and funny as the first film's wire-dangling break-in of CIA headquarters.)
Mission: Impossible III boasts a pedigreed cast, particularly Oscar® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) as baddie arms dealer Owen Davian. Hoffman plays Owen all teeth-clenched and cool, especially when threatening to kill Ethan in front of his lovely new wife (Michelle Monaghan) who has no idea of his spy life. But in his first action-film lead role, Hoffman's almost too calm and collected to really make a memorable villain, especially when the rest of the cast--Ving Rhames (the only other cast member to return for all three films), Asian film star Maggie Q, and an underused Jonathan Rhys-Meyers--are a highlight as Ethan's IMF team. Mission: Impossible is still fun popcorn spy fare, and if Cruise chooses to end the franchise here, at least he goes out on a high note. --Ellen A. Kim
Mission Impossible III (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) [HD DVD] Reviews:
How did I miss this?!? AWESOME. 
2008-10-06 - Skipped this one in the theatre due to media overexposure of the infamous "Couch Jumping Incident" at the time. Big mistake on my part. This movie kicks major you-know-what and any action movie fan with a heartbeat should find it suitably, uh, "fibrillating". Minus one star for the razor thin plot, but let's face it - that's not why you watch a movie like this. Great action setpieces (see: "Bridge Scene"), uniformly great casting (Hoffman oozes evil as the villain) and roller coaster pacing that, as they say, takes you for a ride and never lets go. Pure awesomeness.
P.S. Does Michelle Monaghan have a sister?
P.P.S. I want a Lamborghini. And Maggie Q as my full time driver :-)
Slight mix-up, but seller made good.
2008-09-29 - While item sent was not the version I requested, the seller did offer to send it or offered a discount.
Third Time Was A Charm 
2008-09-19 - It took 3 trys and JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias etc)to finally get a great MI movie. And, unfortunately, it only took one crazy session of couch jumping on Opera to make a lot of people ignore it. Well, that and the audio players that were placed in LA Times newspaper vending machines to play the theme music when opened, that people mistook for bombs. That negative publicity at release time was very unfortunate because this is by far the best MI of the three.
The trailer gives a good idea of the intense action and interactions between Cruise and Hoffman, who are both at the top of their form. I can't think of a film where either are better. This is an action film with some outlandish gadgets, just like the original TV series and chock full of action. So its not like the new Casino Royale [Blu-ray] or Bourne Trilogy (3pc) (Ws Dub Sub Ac3 Dol Gift) offerings which do not have anywhere near the gadgets that don't exist. This movie is like an update of an old Bond movie with its intense action and fantastic gear.
The plot is no more outlandish then any vintage bond move and is followable. The action scenes are as good as any I have seen, and I am a movie buff. One of my favorite scenes is shot on the old bridge that goes to the Florida Keys. The amount of destruction in that one scene makes me wonder if that strip will be used in a film again.
If you want to watch a great action flick with some intense action scenes I highly recommend MI3
Excellent action movie - but don't think about it too much!
2008-09-17 - Brilliant performances by Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman plus excellent, non-cliched action sequences lift this above the average action movie. Throws credibility out the window but moves so fast you wont mind too much. Easily the best entry in the Mission Impossible franchise.
Better than Bond
2008-09-01 - Better than some recent James Bond films, MI 3 is a shoot-for-the-moon international caper which moves well into the new millennium. This episode takes us from Berlin to the Vatican to Shanghai - ambitious indeed. Slick, youthful and fun, Tom's partners in crime - Ving Rhames, Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are cool and great eye candy. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a good actor, but still looks too much like a blonde teddy bear to be menacing for me. In spite of this, the movie works. Instead of suffering from sucky sequel-itis, the MI 3 creative team keeps making these films better. And that's what I appreciate about the movie. I suspect that JJ Abrams has to take a lot of credit for improving the drama and clarity of the story, which has more character and drama than the usual slam bang action flick.
And at the end of it all, there's no denying that Tom Cruise knows what he is doing. Laugh or sneer at him, but Cruise knows how to deliver with the right team. It remains to be seen what will happen to the eternally youthful Cruise (will he end up like Arnold or Stallone?) and MI 3 could be the last of an era, I suspect.
