Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Mission Impossible: Fallout: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital: 3-Disc Set Review

Mission Impossible: Fallout is not only one of the best installments in the Tom Cruise lead franchise, but it is also one of the best Spy-Fi films, as I call the genre and coined the term, in years. Simple plot with lots of twists and turns as well as action and Tom Cruise does much of the stunt work too. In fact I have no idea how the insurers who provide the bond that enables big budget extravaganzas like this, even agree to this regardless of Tom Cruise’s status and power as a movie star and producer. I mean unless he one day chooses to gracefully step away to give the franchise lead to another young actor, you can’t have a Mission Impossible picture without him. To paraphrase what radio legend Howard Stern described many years ago regarding what Cruise has accomplished as like starring in his own “James Bond” franchise. Since Bond is and should always be played by a British actor, Cruise can never hope to be James Bond, but now as Ethan Hunt in his Mission Impossible franchise he is one film short of equaling the amount of times both Sean Connery and Roger Moore played the legendary British Secret Service Agent. Personally I think Cruise is having too much fun being Ethan Hunt to move on anytime soon. I would not be surprised if he surpasses the amount of times his English counterparts played Ian Fleming’s eponymous MI-6 Agent.

Mission Impossible: Fallout not only brings back Tom Cruise, it also brings back Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames as members of his Impossible Mission Force AKA IMF team as well as Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Michelle Monaghan from the previous films along with Sean Harris as the villain once again. The film also features Wes Bentley, Angela Bassett and Henry Cavill in a role he refused to shave his mustache for when he had to return for reshoots on Justice League, which lead to the strange CGI removal of that facial growth and subsequently gave an almost Clutch Cargo effect on those scenes. Cavill deserves better and he really shines in this adventure with and without Tom Cruise on screen with him. The plot has anarchists attempting to wipe out one third of the world’s population with stolen plutonium for nuclear bombs to start a New World Order. Mission Impossible: Fallout also reunites Cruise with Writer and Director Christopher McQuarrie as well as Producer J.J. Abrams. 

The Ultra High Definition resolution of the 4K Blu-ray Disc with High Dynamic Range looks phenomenal. The Disc is also encoded for Dolby Vision capable television and 4K Blu-ray Disc Players. A full HD 1080p version is also included on Blu-ray Disc. Both versions feature enveloping English Dolby ATMOS Soundtracks along with French, Spanish and Portuguese Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks and English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French, Spanish, and Portuguese Language Subtitles. English Descriptive Audio is also provided on both discs for the Visually Impaired. The 4K and Full HD discs also feature audio commentary tracks with Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise, McQuarrie and Editor Eddie Hamilton, Composer Lorne Balfe and an Isolated Score Track. Cruise and McQuarrie really work well together and share a great synergy as well. I know in the past Cruise has had different filmmakers direct each film to give each one a distinct visual thumbprint, but I hope McQuarrie and Cruise work together again because after two collaborations in this blockbuster franchise, why break up a good thing?

The third disc within the set is a 1080p full HD Blu-ray Disc that contains the bulk of the other extra value features that include six Behind The Fallout examinations, a deleted scenes montage with optional commentary by McQuarrie and Hamilton, another sequence breakdown, and more, including storyboards and the theatrical trailer too. A collectible booklet highlighting Tom Cruise’s stunt work for the film and an insert containing a code for a limited time only redeemable digital copy of this film are housed within the black 4K BD case.

This should make an excellent holiday gift for action and Spy-Fi fans alike, Mission Impossible: Fallout: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital: 3-Disc Set is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

(C) Copyright 2018 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.