Just in time for the highly anticipated debut of Mission: Impossible Fallout, all five of the blockbuster films have arrived for the fist time ever on 4K Ultra HD.
Tom Cruise is IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, one of the greatest action heroes of all time, in the adrenaline-pumping Mission: Impossible franchise. Filmed in the most exotic locations around the world by the biggest directors in Hollywood, every film offers breathtaking action, jaw-dropping stunts, and heart-pounding suspense that will thrill any action fan. Your mission, should you choose to accept it – experience all five action-packed films in eye-popping 4K Ultra HD. Follow below for the technical details and review.
Plots
MI1: An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization. MI2: A secret agent is sent to Sydney, to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called “Chimera”. MI3: Agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancee in response. MI4: The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name. MI5: Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
Directors: Brian De Palma , John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird & Christopher McQuarrie
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Runtime: 110 min, 123 min, 126 min, 132 min & 131 min
Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 75% & IMDB 7/10 (Average Rating of all 5 Films)
Unboxing (see below)
Mission: Impossible Review:
You will see a fine to heavy layer of grain throughout the movie depending on the shot — it will be more apparent in darker scenes & long shots like at the beginning of the film when Sarah is following the lead through the heavy fog. The black levels don’t look bad at all and there wasn’t much softness during the film either — I don’t have anything negative to say, so we will keep it at standard.
HDR looks good in some scenes, but it also misses in others. There were a few scenes where it felt overused, maybe too saturated? If I had to guess, it could have been the mix of DNR & HDR together (but that may be to the beholder’s eye) A part where it was apparent to me was the restaurant scene in Chapter 4. It could have been all the green in the room, but the highlighting looked a bit off with the use of HDR. I feel like I could be nit-picking here and it was literally the lighting in the room. It wasn’t bad.
As usual with these 4K upgrades, the close up shots show very fine detail, some even looked like they were shot more recently, not over 20 years ago when this released. A good example of this is in Chapter 10 when Ethan and Jim are discussing the operation and what went down. Nice, clean and sharp, full of up-close details.
The first half of the film is dark, taking place mostly at night so there isn’t too much pop outside of the resolution boost. As soon as the plot carries on and Ethan meets Max things start to shift. Colors start to shine through with HDR, clarity shots increase in number, action pursues, etc.
Summing this one up, it’s not a big jump, but a decent upgrade, worth it if your a fan of the series.
Mission: Impossible II Review:
A very fine layer grain is apparent throughout, but it’s clearly less than the first film. There were just a few soft shots seen in the entirety of the film. Take chapter Chapter 2 when Ethan is scaling the cliff — this scene was incredibly soft to me .The entire scene was shaky, but when they zoomed in on his face and I knew it was UHD.
There was also more color in this film which benefited from the HDR. There are a lot of beautiful reds and skin tones that finished nicely across the board. Blues, green, even splashes of purple and pink are increased over the Blu-Ray. A good example of this is when Ethan enters the room with virus in Chapter 10. You get large splashes of green, red, blue and purple!
As usual, close up shots show an incredible amount of fine detail and even a dimensional look with soft backgrounds enhancing the foreground. A good example is seen in Chapter 4 while Ethan & Nyah are laying in bed talking to each other. Another example is in Chapter 15 during the final shots of the film — you get a fight between Ethan and Sean with tons of added detail, from the sand on the beach to the way it covers their clothes and faces against a clear blue sky background — not including the blood and scratches highlighted from the knife-fight.
The last note — closing the final scene in the film, the last 30 seconds are crystal clear with a wide variety of colors in the park to the wide shot of the waters of Sydney. Beautiful shot!
I’m not talking about how good this movie is critically, but moving forward from the first film, it’s more of an upgrade which makes it worth it if your a fan of the series.
Mission: Impossible III Review:
In this film, there is a moderate to heavy level of grain throughout. This was the first time in the MI series where I was wondering if it looked better than the Blu-Ray. When it comes to the first half of the movie, it’s only a very slight jump, due to some HDR like in Chapter 7 when Zhen is driving around the orange Ferrari in that red dress — it’s crisp and colorful. For the most part I wasn’t impressed, but then when Chapter 12 rolls out it picks up for the rest of the film.
Close up shots show the fine detail, as usual, but there were a smaller amount of ‘these scenes’ in comparison to the first two. A good example is seen in Chapter 12 when Theodore is in Ethan’s face. You can see the worn leather on the face mask and crazy clarity in their faces down to pores, sweat, facial deformities, etc. Actually, the whole scene of the interrogation and Ethan’s escape is very well done.
The shots provided of Shanghai near the end look great, both during the day and at night, like when they pan in to Ethan on the roof, just before he is does that ‘jump-swing’ thing, landing perfectly to get inside of the building.
If you’re thinking about getting this collection, I doubt you would skip III, but outside of the first half of the film, the second half and ultimate conclusion makes it worth it if your a fan of the series.
Mission: Impossible IV (Ghost Protocol) Review:
Right out the gate, the opening shots of Budapest are eye-popping — you knew you were in for a treat. Almost every single shot of cities involved, looked amazing; Moscow, Dubai, Budapest, etc. (except Mumbai)
There is a light touch of grain in certain scenes, heavy in a few, but for the most part it’s clean, sometimes crystal clear. This was to be expected since this movie was released in 2011.
Overall, it was a really-really nice transfer and the black levels were spot on. You could see it not only at night, but also in scenes like Chapter 7 when the car crashes into the river. You have Ethan and Brandt dealing with inches of air in a dark car filled with murky water. The levels were consistent and the little color (that was there) popped out of the darkness — whether it was their faces catching the little air left or the debris in the car. It looked great, even as they came out of the car into the river you got a touch of street lights hitting the surface for contrast.
Now we get to Chapter 10, HOLY REFERENCE. While Ethan is scaling the tallest building in Dubai you get highly impressive shots from so many perspectives. The colors pop absolutely everywhere. The entire scene is Wow! Wow! Wow!
I really loved this disc from start to finish, it’s the best film in the series and it’s definitely worth adding to your UHD collection. I would further say that it’s a MUST OWN, one of the best discs I’ve seen in the format.
Mission: Impossible V (Rouge Nation) Review
There is a light amount of grain throughout the majority of the film — heavy in a few, but for the most part it’s pretty light. Right out of the gate you get the shots of Benji laying in a field covered in grass. The blades of grass in the foreground are pretty crystal and the HDR enhances the entire shot.
There are also very nice looking shots of London & Vienna consistently throughout the movie, whether it’s up close in the streets, or ariels views from the sky — both during the street life at night and the leisure of the day.
Chapter 9 shows a lot of what UHD offers in action movies like this — the car/motorcycle chase through Morocco. This movie (and this scene in particular) casts out a lot of Sepia tones, so adding HDR makes it all shine and look very real, like your there. The entire action driven scene looks great. A very quick and subtle HDR look was in the following scene in Chapter 10, the conversation in the graveyard. You get all the elements of fall with fresh green grass, trees vary from every green to every shade of orange, leaves on the ground, etc. It’s an added touch.
You also get a bunch of three demential looks that highlight all the details you see in 4K UHD close ups — soft backgrounds brings every detail to the forefront.
The disc wasn’t as eye-popping as ‘Ghost Protocol,’ but that was to be expected. Most of this film take place during the night, whether it’s running through the alleys in London or different night events, like an Opera or an Auction. It isn’t a reference disc, but it does it’s job for how dark it is.
As expected, this is the newest release in the MI series makes an easy upgrade over the Blu to complete your UHD collection.
Conclusion:
From time to time I find it hard to tell people how they should spend their money or how to double dip on movies they already own. This series sits inside that problem — it’s easy for me to tell you to pick up a single movie because it’s so impressive, but telling you to go out and pick up five full priced movies…. you wouldn’t believe me because you’d just see the dollar signs.
Questions that should come up; is it worth it to buy all 5 movies at full price Day 1? Should you wait till it goes on sale and get it for half the price? Are there a couple movies I can skip? Speak to my wallet.
If you’re a fan of this series, I would say that you absolutely have my approval to pick these up — you won’t be disappointed. If you just want the best, the last two movies are in the realm of all the new 4K UHD releases, so they’re worth the price point. I would also go as far to say that if you don’t like Mission: Impossible in general, I would still say you have to pick up ‘Ghost Protocol’ for the sheer beauty it brings to the UHD format. If you’re waiting to get these discounted, you also won’t be disappointed when you get them for the price you want.
Whatever you decide to do, this entire collection releases via Paramount June 26th, I wouldn’t miss it!
Cheers,
Matt.
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