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Mission: Impossible - The Complete First TV Season
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
December 5, 2006 "Please retry" | — | — |
—
| — | $3.57 |
Watch Instantly with | Per Episode | Buy Season |
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | Action & Adventure/Television, Television |
Format | Multiple Formats, NTSC, Closed-captioned |
Contributor | Steven Hill, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain |
Language | English |
Number Of Discs | 7 |
Frequently bought together
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From the manufacturer
Paramount provides premium content to audiences across worldwide. We connect with billions of people. Our studios create content for all audiences, across every genre and format, while our networks and brands forge deep connections with the world’s one of the most diverse audiences. In streaming, our differentiated strategy is scaling rapidly across free, broad pay, and premium.
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global
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Product Description
Product Description
1404 Minutes.
Amazon.com
With its combination of Cold War villains and James Bond-like techno-gadgets, Mission: Impossible was an instant hit when it premiered on September 17, 1966. Airing Saturday nights at 9:00 on CBS, the series was the brainchild of creator/producer Bruce Geller, whose formula for seven successful seasons included a well-chosen ensemble cast, noteworthy guest stars, and a flexible premise that inspired clever plots twists and a constant variety of "international" locations (mostly filmed on a studio backlot). This seven-disc set includes all 28 episodes of season 1, the only season to feature Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, leader of the top-secret counterintelligence team known as Impossible Missions Force (IMF). As the no-nonsense Briggs, Hill (better known for his later role on Law & Order from 1990 to 2000) began each episode by sneakily retrieving the dossier and recorded instructions (voiced throughout the entire series by uncredited actor Bob Johnson) for the IMF's latest assignment. "Your mission, should you decide to accept it" and "this recording will self-destruct in five seconds" quickly became pop-cultural catch-phrases, as Briggs routinely selected his preferred teammates based on their mastery of practical skills. With "special appearance" billing for M:I's first three seasons, Martin Landau played master-of-disguise Rollin Hand; his off-screen wife, Barbara Bain, played top-model and undercover seductress Cinnamon Carter; Greg Morris brought hip coolness (and racial diversity) to his role as electronics expert Barney Collier; and Peter Lupus played handsome hunk Willy Armitage, adding IMF muscle to Briggs' brainy strategies.
As a Desilu production based at Paramount Studios, Mission: Impossible shared guest stars, production personnel, locations, and even occasional sets with the original Star Trek. Fans of both shows will enjoy spotting these crossover details (including George Takei's appearance in "The Carriers," a first-season highlight), and this season's other stand-out episodes include the "Pilot" (featuring Wally Cox as an ace safe-cracker), "Operation Rogosh," "A Spool There Was," "Action!," "The Train," and "The Traitor." Whether they were toppling dictators, rescuing doomed prisoners, foiling despots, or framing Mafia kingpins, the IMF agents were consistently blessed with taut, well-written plots, many unfolding with minimal dialogue and highly visual schemes that demanded (and rewarded) the viewer's close attention. Although Steven Hill eventually left the series (as an Orthodox Jew, he preferred not to work on the Jewish Sabbath, as M:I required), his single season set the stage for M:I's long-term popularity, with Peter Graves (replacing Hill as "Jim Phelps") leading the IMF from 1967 to 1973. And while Paramount has again neglected to offer DVD extras with this set, the episodes look and sound just about perfect, with a parade of guest stars including Carol O'Connor, Simon Oakland, Fritz Weaver, Nehemiah Persoff, Barbara Luna, Vic Tayback, and a host of other '60s TV regulars. Your mission--and you shouldn't hesitate to accept it--is to enjoy this classic series all over again! --Jeff Shannon
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 1.17 x 5.45 x 7.66 inches; 10.4 ounces
- Item model number : 44840448
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, NTSC, Closed-captioned
- Run time : 23 hours and 24 minutes
- Release date : December 5, 2006
- Actors : Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Steven Hill
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Unqualified, English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Studio : PARAMOUNT
- ASIN : B000HWZ4HU
- Number of discs : 7
- Best Sellers Rank: #10,206 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #5,625 in DVD
- Customer Reviews:
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Many people believe that the show finally gelled when Peter Graves stepped in to lead the team in Season 2. That is true in many ways, but I've always had a soft spot for Stephen Hill's Dan Briggs. His role was (by necessity - he placed some strict limitations on his rehearsal and performance times) much more that of a leader and delegator, not a participant. He frequently turns over the execution of the plan to his team, pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Peter Graves will be much more "hands-on" when he takes over leadership of the team. Watch the last few seconds of the pilot and you will see a white/gray-haired man pulling the team members to safety on their getaway plane. His face is never seen, so it isn't much of a stretch to imagine that Phelps was in fact there, all along, behind the scenes, learning the ropes and waiting for a promotion to team leader.
Some of the series' best episodes appear in the first season. Operation Rogosh is only the third episode, but it's both an absorbing drama and a promise of what will come. It introduces many of the bag of tricks that will be the team's stock in trade over the run of the series: memory gaps, replicated locations, leaving the antagonist to suffer retribution at the hands of his "friends" rather than the team. It's a brilliant psychological drama, and every team member gets a star turn. Greg Morris (as Barney) adopting a Caribbean accent and howling, "I protest this whole COUNTRY, mon!" is a delight. Martin Landau's little karate chop to his palm, promising that if Rogosh confesses there will be no more "little...eh...massages" is not menacing, rather he gives us a professional who does his job thoroughly and with competence. (Something more frightening in ways). Stephen Hill is the worst public defender in history, hunched, stammering, incompetent, and when he finally gets an excuse to slug Rogosh, he does it with such relish that the viewer can't contain a satisfied "attaboy." Even Peter Lupus rises to the occasion, although he was never there for his acting ability. Barbara Bain relies on acting not glamour in this episode, and she portrays the hysteria and paranoia of an "innocent" woman tortured by hypothetical interrogators superbly.
Season 1 is full of big and little moments. One of my favorites is from "The Frame." The evil (and slightly psychopathic) Syndicate leader "accidently" stumbles across her, clad only in a lacy teddy and silk stockings. She's all tearing eyes, trembling lips, and terrified vulnerability as she proceeds to twist him around her pinky finger. As he turns and leaves, she gives tosses her head and gives a little shoulder waggle and tiny smirk, as if to say, "I'm GOOD. The poor schmuck doesn't have a prayer against me." It's a delightful moment, one of those serendipitous marriages of writing and acting, that lasts two seconds at the most. It tells us more about Cinnamon Carter than any number of speeches or "very special episodes." It also features the under-appreciated Arthur Batanides who appeared so many times in so many different roles that not even IMDb lists them all.
Just as "Rogosh" employed many of MI's future tactics early in the season, "The Train" empties the bag entirely. It's one of their "Big Moments" special effects schemes, and one that will be used over and over again, (see for example, season Six's "The Submarine."). The villains are persuaded they are on a train headed across the Alps, and tricked into revealing their contempt for their leader and plans to establish a harsh dictatorship after his death. The poor (dying of heart disease) Prime Minister watches them discuss their plans, and limps away, saddened but wiser, comforted by the team.
There are several things that make this season, and the series for the first few years, nearly perfect television. The writing is brilliant and the performances spectacular. Production standards are consistently high Some of the best episodes are now, sadly, somewhat dated, since they deal with the surviving remnants of WWII. There are a number of plots revolving around attempts to restore a Nazi reich, which 22 years after the war was not unrealistic. One of those episodes is "The Legacy." Briggs is shot in the chest at the end of the episode. If they had held it back and shown it at the end of the season, it might have given the producers just the excuse they needed to explain Peter Graves' elevation to team leader in Season 2. Ah well, if that's the worst carp I can come up with, clearly there's no more to say.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Mission was a program unique to it's era and should be viewed in that context. It was, of course, the James Bond era, but it was also the ear of the cold war, where enemies, foreign and domestic were somehow lucking everywhere and our mission, should we decide to accept it, was to intercede and prevent the downfall of civilizations.
In viewing the episodes on this collection, I discovered, again, that Mission was really in its way, the first ensemble TV shows. In the first episodes, jointing the cast members of Stephen Hill, Barbara Bain, Gregg Morris and Peter Lupus, would be several guest stars, each with unique skills to help the mission. The mission, famously, was given by a mysterious voice on a series of interesting devices, not all tape recorders then. This allowed the plot to start quickly, bypassing the James Bond speaks to M stage of the drama.
In the first episodes were are clearly told what the mission was and what the goals were. Almost always something went wrong and a "new" mission had to be developed to pull their rears out of the fire. This also made the show seem more like an anthology program because each week the stars and the new quest star played new roles in new circumstances. Eventually the shows become a mystery when Dr Briggs does not tell the viewer exactly what his goals are. You sit there and wonder, "what the heck are they doing?" While the show was always written well, it shows signs of brilliance the first season. For example, in one episode, Martin Landau must find a important tape recorder that an agent had hidden while being chased by the bad guys. They do it by putting him into the same, terrible situation. Really smart. And while they may be looking for that formula for episodes yet to come, it is not here
Of course, in the first season Martin Landau becomes a regular, and the use of gust stars goes down. But Greg Morris also expands his presence and becomes one of the signatures of the series. I had forgotten just how perfect he was in this role.
And the music of course is outstanding, this show set the example for series yet to come.
The Bad:
Not quite overwhelming yet are the electronic devices that will take over the show and the constant face masks that change a person height, weight, body structure and voice making the episode hard to believe. The agents rely on each other and well as themselves and their acting convinces you. The plot sometimes also rely on unbelievable circumstances. In one episode, Martin Landau using slight of hand to get lockmithing tools within a prison when he was being taken prisoner. That sort of thing takes you out of the reality.
The Ugly:
A lone voice on a recorder game them instructions to have people killed, both in and out of the U.S. No trial, no evidence. That's right, these people are often assassins. They also topple small governments in their spare time. Usually they just set up people to be killed but they shoot people on their way out! In one episode, "The Diamond" they blow up the leader of a country, steal his diamond and kill a few guards on the way out.
Finally, while they may be looking for that formula for episodes yet to come, it is not here yet and the action, the writing, the music and the sets almost make in a mini movie. If you can get past the ugly, that's not bad for 1966.
Top reviews from other countries
C'est à la hauteur de ce que l'on en dit depuis toujours. Scénario tous plus originaux les uns que les autres et gadgets tous aussi incroyables. On retrouve aussi l'ambiance très spécifique à ces séries anciennes qui en font tout leur charme. A voir si vous êtes amateurs de séries d'espionnage. Un petit bémol, pas de bonus, mais c'est compréhensible étant donné l'ancienneté de la série.