Mission: Impossible

Ten years after first hitting theatres, there’s finally a decent DVD release for Mission: Impossible, the successful film franchise Tom Cruise resurrected as a star vehicle for himself. The original DVD of this action thriller, which introduced Ethan Hunt, an IMF espionage agent framed for the death of his team who must prove his innocence and thwart the bad guys, was a bare-bones release with no special features. Sure, the "Special Collector’s Edition” ups the content of the extra features quite a bit, but only a few of them are truly of interest. The featurettes "Mission: Explosive Exploits” and "Mission: Catching the Train” do a fine job of documenting the creation of three high-adrenalin moments; the former focuses on the action sequences for the exploding fish tank and the infiltration of the C.I.A. mainframe, and the latter examines the visual effects behind the train chase sequence. Also of interest are "Mission: Spies Among Us” and "Mission: International Spy Museum,” both of which attempt to uncover some of the mystery behind the secretive world of espionage. Otherwise, there are a couple of ego-stroking montages of Cruise, a promotional spot for M:I:3, as well as some detailed agent dossiers for the extremely obsessed. Oh, and still no commentary from the director, the star or anyone else. While the few worthwhile special features may not be reason enough to replace your previous copy, they do offer a little more incentive for fans of the Mission: Impossible saga or of Tom Cruise who may have been holding off for a release with more substance. Just keep in mind that this edition isn’t really that special, either. (Paramount)