Movie

If you even remotely liked either of the first two films this one is definitely the must.  If you’re an action buff this movie has action in spades.  If you like gadgets, this movie has that too.  One thing I really liked about this film is that they showed Cruise’s character to have a life outside of his work.  It really shows how hard it is to be in his line of work and balance a personal life as well.  They spent a while showing the character dealing with this aspect of his life.  But that does not slow the movie down at all.  Its fast and action packed, and I think one of the better films I have seen this year.  The reason I think this film was so good is thanks to two people;  J J Abrams and Tom Cruise.  For all the negative publicity Tom Cruise has gotten this year, he deserves a lot of credit for how well this film turned out.  He does 99% of the stunts in the film and it shows.  He is super intense and definitely believable.  So no matter what he does outside of his movies, I think he is one heck of an actor.  This was JJ Abrams first feature film.  But looking at this film you would think he had been doing them for years.  I would assume his experience in dealing with the spy genres helped him in this film.  Overall I think it was a great movie!

9 out of 10

Video

The movie is presented in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio.  This movie has a lot going on, from explosions to missiles to gunfire and everything comes across crisp.  The colours are vivid and beautiful to look at.  Paramount did an excellent job with this transfer.  I don’t think they could get much better unless they put it out on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

9 out of 10

Sound

The audio is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 track.  It does an impeccable job making the bone jarring explosions come to life.  It also has the capability to bring the quieter scenes to the forefront.  Overall I think this track smacks you around and leaves you bleeding with a highly aggressive mix.

9.5 out of 10

Extras

Disc One

• Commentary by Tom Cruise and director J.J. Abrams
• Featurette: "The Making of the Mission "
• Deleted scenes
• Featurette: "Excellence in Film"
• Previews: Transformers, World Trade Center , "Tom Cruise on DVD"

Disc Two

• Featurette: " Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit"
• Featurette: "Visualizing the Mission "
• Featurette: "Inside the IMF"
• Featurette: " Mission : Metamorphosis"
• Featurette: "Scoring the Mission "
• Featurette: "Launching the Mission "
• Featurette: "Moviefone Unscripted: Tom Cruise/ J.J. Abrams"
• Featurette: "Tribute Montage: Generation: Cruise"

As you can see this 2 disc set is loaded with extras.  For the most part these are well done and offer insight to the filming of the production.  Overall my favorite was the featurette “Mission Action: Inside the Action Unit.” It offered a ton of cool behind the scenes info on how they shot the action.  I was impressed that Tom Cruise did all his own stunts.  I also enjoyed “Scoring the Mission ” because I am sucker for movie soundtracks.  “Launching the Mission ” was interesting as well showing, the movies multiple premiers.

9 out of 10

Overall

This is one jam packed 2 disc set.  I would definitely recommend it.  The picture and audio are both superb.  If you have not picked this set up yet, run, don’t walk to your local dvd hotspot and pick up the disc.  I suspect you will be glad you did.  This DVD set is awarded the Gadgetboyz Seal of Approval.

9 out of 10