any movie that kills emilio estevez off in the first fifteen minutes has something going for it . 
unfortunately , this and the familiar theme music are the only worthwhile things about mission impossible , directed by brian depalma . 
the first problem is that this film has absolutely no connection with the tv show whatsoever , aside from the music . 
the tv show was about an impossible mission force whose deft teamwork , orchestrated by jim phelps , allowed them to counfound evil dictators of mythic banana republics from inflicting their sordid schemes upon the world . 
teamwork was the key . 
this film is set up as a cross between james bond and depalma's " blow out , " where the john travolta character was the victim of real and imagined conspiracies from all directions . 
it was travolta's vulnerability that made that film so exciting and claustrophobic . 
in this film , tom cruise is basically omniscient ( believe that ? ) and so there's no fun going on here whatsoever . 
the story is about as contrived as contrived gets , and is full of holes . 
there are basically two memorable sequences : one involves breaking into a kubrickesque computer room -- a task that could have been made much easier had the characters a whit of common sense ( suffice it to say that the alarm system is disengaged when the computer operator is in the room ) ; the second involves a high-speed train , a helicopter , and the chunnel and does not have to be seen to be disbelieved . 
the actors are all miscast , especially emannuelle beart as jim phelps wife , who cannot act , and ving rhames as a computer hacker ( ! ) , who looks lost and embarrased to be in this movie . 
tom cruise is no james bond , and jon voight looks more like bobby " the brain " heenan than jim phelps . 
brian depalma's career has been bafflingly erratic . 
at his best , he beats hitchcock at his own game ( " blow out , " " carrie , " " body double " ) but this is not his best . 
the screenplay was partly written by robert towne , who wrote the best scenario of the seventies in " chinatown , " but this script is perfunctory at best , and terrrible at worst . 
the cinematography has a comic book red/blue emphasis , which is nice to look at , but the suspense sequences are all telegraphed and this movie even features the old " killer who talks too much before shooting thus giving the victim time to think of an escape " trick . 
please don't spend your money on this ; it'll only encourage hollywood to make more .