‘Mission: Impossible’

By Angela Tricarico

Top Gun isn’t the only Tom Cruise movie hitting a major milestone this month; May 22 marked 30 years of Mission: Impossible! Directed by Brian De Palma, Mission: Impossible is based on the classic ’60s TV series of the same name that followed a group of field agents versed in espionage working for the Impossible Missions Force. The film, which spawned an eight-movie franchise, stars Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an IMF field agent. When Hunt is framed for the deaths of his IMF crew members, he goes to great lengths to prove his innocence. Mission: Impossible introduces viewers to Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), who becomes a mainstay of the franchise and one of Ethan’s closest friends, and it also features one of the series’ most iconic set pieces: the Langley CIA heist where Hunt is lowered from the ceiling to steal secret information from an inaccessible computer. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stream Mission: Impossible (1996) soon, whether you’ve never seen it or it’ll be your tenth rewatch. You won’t regret it.

Everett Collection