Tom Cruise:

Minority Report ASIN: B00006RCPM Our Price: $14.99 Customer's Rating: 5 Summary: A defining example of a fine American film Comments: The film opens 52 years from now in Washington, D.C. The world is much like it is today, with more people and more technological ways to solve crimes and more technological ways to commit crimes and to evade detection. The future follows the future trend where the liberties our founding fathers fought for are tossed out the window for the ultimate "ends justify the means" way of catching crime... using pre-cogs, three unfortunate souls who happen to have an uncanny knack for seeing a murder before it occurs. By tapping into the pre-cogs' brainwaves, detectives and future crime cops can locate the place a murder will occur and stop it before it happens. Even without the sci-fi elements, the classics from good movies are evident... love, loss, betrayal, loyalty, duty, angst and a pinch of humor. There's a touch of everything - drug use, violence, macabre, who-dunnits, etc. The sci-fi elements are subtle in many ways... eye candy (if you've seen this, pardon the pun) is not just thrown at the viewer to dull the senses or to distract the viewer from the true quality of the film. The world of the near future is much like it is today, just a bit more gadgetry and a little less freedom. Iris-scanners are EVERYWHERE, calling people by name in shopping malls, enticing them to buy, buy, buy. With the obvious advances in medical technology, there are still those who are mentally ill, still those who kidnap and molest children, still those who deal and do drugs, still those who are willing to murder, even though they know they will probably get caught. In a world where guns have been banished, people are still murdered by ye-olde methods... drowning, stabbing, strangulation, etc. The Metropolis-like scenes with modern cars that can quickly travel in any direction, even on a 90 degree highway, are a definite tribute to the classic films that Spielberg holds dear. Some scenes are predictable, some are not. Sometimes just when you think you know what is going to happen, it's something else entirely. After seeing the film, you can't help but run dozens of "what if" questions through your mind. The film is an experience - you feel it, and you sympathize with the characters and you even care what happens to them after the film is over. This may be Tom Cruise's finest performance and the entire cast deserves a standing ovation. Like a good book, the characters stay in your head and you tend to recount different experiences and relate to characters in a way that is all too rare in the majority of movies that get cranked out of Hollywood each year. Of the films I've seen this year, this is the only one in my Oscar pile this year. I'm already anticipating the port to DVD and behind the scenes footage, etc.

Mission Impossible 2 ASIN: B00005AACC Our Price: $9.95 Customer's Rating: 4 Summary: Your mission if you choose to accept it... Comments: Mission Impossible 2 (MI2) succeeds best in presenting the overall concept of the proposed Mission Impossible series. Producer and star Tom Cruise states each film should have its own identity, directed in a unique manner. After Brian DePalma's extremely complicated plot and ambitious nod to Hitchcock filmmaking, this time we get John Woo's simplified nod to James Bond with an emphasis on the art of violence. Even Cruise's role as Hunt has magically transformed from a serious taskmaster to a smiling and suave secret agent who is confidently one-step ahead. Ethan chases the villains who are holding a deadly virus named "Chimera" and its antidote. Their evil plan is to infect everyone and then sell the antidote for top dollar. Throughout, we have a lot of mistaken identity, often influenced by mask swapping similar to themes in another John Woo film, FACE-OFF. Story line aside, the whole thing is actually an excuse for big action scenes. And this film has plenty. From Hunt's phenomenal cliff climbing opening (impressive work by Tom Cruise), to a romance building car accident. Woo creates his action the same way as a young child in a sandbox. Gravity and physics are optional, only the "wow" factor matters. And this film thrives on that wow. This film is a bit of a departure from the prior film, which had Hunt working intimately with several other agents who may or may not be trustworthy. This time, he operates mostly alone giving the film a 007 flavor. And what Bond film doesn't have a gorgeous Bond-Babe. Thandie Newton is the exotic thief who steals Ethan's heart. This is a wonderful DVD, loaded and with a stellar audio/video transfer. It is in itself a film workshop, even if the film does not totally deserve of it. The making of materials is extremely informative and revealing. There is a GREAT piece where Ben Stiller acts as Tom Cruise's stunt double. That alone is worth the price of admission... David Fincher is in discussion to bring Mission Impossible 3 to the screen. This review will self-destruct in 5 seconds...

Mission Impossible ASIN: 630420065X Our Price: $9.95 Customer's Rating: 5 Summary: A very well done transition from TV to the big screen Comments: Mission Impossible is one of my favorite movies. I have already watched it numerous times and will probably watch it again before too long. Some buffs of the TV show weren't too pleased with a certain defection, but without it the movie wouldn't have been half as cool. The basic story here is a winner. I won't give it away, but it made perfect sense. (Not a plot to take over the world or blow up a major city, etc.) The special effects were just a bonus to the script, although there were a couple incidents of being a little unrealistic. There have been much worst in past movies, so I don't really hold it against Mission Impossible. The characters were well represented by their actors. Cruise may have overacted a touch but nobody seemed out of place in their role. Just like in the show of old, they were always cool under pressure and had the cool little gadgets to get the job done. When I heard there was a sequel in the works I knew it would not live up to the first. They should have let it be. It's a rare occurance that a sequel can top an original, especially when the original is as good as this one.

Also See: Mission Impossible Videos