The Corner Penthouse

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to read this review of the Mission: Impossible: The Complete Original TV Series Blu-Ray Set...


Mission: Impossible (1966–1973) follows elite covert operations unit Impossible Missions Force (IMF) as they carry out only the most hazardous of espionage missions. Each an expert in their own field, the group of extraordinary spies was first led by Daniel Briggs (Steven Hill) and later overseen by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves). Each episode featured the now-famous tape-recorded message outlining the latest task for the group to tackle. Popular during the Cold War, the group's missions centered on toppling evil dictators, shutting down corrupt organizations and exploiting crime lords. The IMF crew includes disguise expert Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), femme fatale Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), electronics technician Barney Collier (Greg Morris), strong man Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus) and, in later episodes, disguise-master Paris (Leonard Nimoy), the doctor Doug Robert (Sam Elliot), and the charmer Dana Lambert (Lesley Ann Warren).


If you're only familiar with Mission: Impossible from the theatrical movie series starring Tom Cruise, be aware that this classic 1960s/1970s espionage thriller is a very different beast. The films are action movies with a focus on spectacular stunts, expert fight choreography, and vehicular chase sequences. The television series is a heist/con-game narrative with a full ensemble cast, each character having their own individual, important part to play in the proceedings. If you're expecting "action" like fights and chases, look elsewhere. The TV series is suspenseful "action" with intelligent plots featuring a lot of gadgets. Plots unfold in a slow, methodical, nail-biting pace.


Each episode starts with the team leader going to a place and finding a recording (usually on a reel-to-reel tape recorder) with information from an unknown source (voiced by an uncredited Bob Johnson) about the mission, which then self-destructs - a scene that would become an iconic part of the later animated series, Inspector Gadget. (The IMF must have a very large tape recorder budget.) He then goes back to the agency apartment and sorts through photos to pick his crew for the mission. Then the mission unfolds for the remainder of the episode. There wasn't much variation to the structure. Thankfully, by Season 3, they got rid of the unnecessary "team building" scene because, aside from the occasional guest star, the team was virtually the same from episode to episode.


The first season features IMF team leader, Dan Briggs, played by actor Steven Hill, whose religious beliefs restricted his availability to work - eventually resulting in his departure. The show really hits its stride in Season 2, with new leader Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves. Other regular IMF members come and go. Real-life husband and wife actors Martin Landau and Barbara Baines left after Season 3. Fresh off this three-year stint on Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy joins the team for Seasons 4 and 5.


The adorable Leslie Ann Warren is only around for Season 5, as is Sam Elliott for a dozen episodes (usually substituting for Peter Lupus). Linda Day George is the token female for Seasons 6 and 7, though she only appears sporadically in the last season due to pregnancy. No explanations are given for why the various agents left. Greg Morris is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series.


This is not a show that was ever meant to be "binge watched". Doing so reveals how many of the "mission recording" scenes were reused (with different photo inserts and voice over), and how many character actors reappear in completely different roles. Even though they look exactly the same as their previous characters, the IMF team never recognizes them.


This box set contains all 7 seasons of the CBS series, consisting of a total of 171 episodes, on 46 discs. Each season is on seven discs (Seasons 1-4) or six discs (Seasons 5-7), with each disc containing 3 or 4 episodes. Episodes run between 50 and 51 minutes each, though four episodes run shorter: "The Contender Part 1" (45:33) and "The Contender Part 2" (45:35), both on Season 3, Disc 1; "The Fighter" (49:36) on Season 7, Disc 5; and "Pendulum" (49:36) on Season 7, Disc 6. I do not know if these episodes are edited, or if it is normal that the first two are five minutes shorter than the rest of that season, and the last two are a minute shorter than the rest of that season. I believe that all music has been retained, as the iconic jazz theme by Lalo Shifrin is most certainly present.


Mission: Impossible is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The following audio tracks are provided for all episodes: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, German 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital, and French 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital. Subtitles are available in English, German, and French.


There are no bonus features, which is INEXCUSABLE since CBS could have included the Bonus Disc DVD from the 2012 Complete Series "Dynamite Packaging" DVD set. According to online sources, that disc included the featurettes "Birth of the Mission" and "Mission Debriefing", both of which featured contemporary interviews with Peter Graves, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau; a vintage "Hour Magazine" segment featuring Martin Landau, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris; an archival interview with Greg Morris; a clip from CBS' 1966 Fall Preview Show "Seven Wonderful Nights"; Select Episodic Promos From All Seven Seasons; Series Promos; and a Photo Montage with a vocal version of the Mission: Impossible Theme performed by The Kane Triplets. There is plenty of room for this extra disc to have been included somewhere in the set; such as in a 7th disc slot in the Season 7 "case".


Aside from the exclusion of the pre-existing Bonus Disc DVD, there are really only two negatives to the set:

1. Every disc has the same minutes-worth of unskippable videos and screens, which is interrupted halfway by a language selection screen that you MUST interact with in order for the boot-up process to continue. Considering that there are 46 discs, this gets annoying REALLY fast!


2. The really cheap fold-out paperboard packaging. Instead of using plastic cases, all seven seasons are stored in fold-out paperboard jackets. Those jackets are then stored inside a paperboard box (measures approx. 6.25"x6.5"x4.75") with a huge cut down the side (so you can read the season numbers on the spines of the jackets). While this is (somewhat) better than CBS/Paramount's usual superthick overlapped-disc or stacked-disc plastic cases, I have no doubt that everyone will DESPISE this packaging, and that includes me, too. It's the type of thing budget company Mill Creek used to do (still does?) for their DVD sets. However, Mill Creek uses thick plastic cases inside a slipbox for their Blu-ray sets, and that's what CBS/Paramount should have done with this set. I suspect that the reason for the cheap all-paperboard packaging is to reduce costs and the overall size of the set, which is still important for retail (and warehouse?) shelf space. In regards to the appearance, the use of so much white space and the overuse of the same visual elements on every season makes this packaging feel very generic. Also, Leonard Nimoy's photo is included in the Season 3 "case", but he didn't join the show until Season 4. Oops.


Mission: Impossible: The Complete Original TV Series is available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Either set is recommended, but Blu-ray is preferred because the show looks FANTASTIC in HD. You can see this for yourself using the 1080 screenshots I added to Spook Central's Greystone Mansion page of that site's appearance in two Season 1 episodes. If you want the Bonus Disc, you'll have to get the 2012 Dynamite-Packaging DVD Box Set, which also includes the complete 1988-1990 revival series. You can also buy the two-season 1988 series separately on DVD. And, of course, the currently six-film Tom Cruise movie franchise is available on Blu-ray.


All images were taken from the IMDB gallery of the show. This item has been provided by CBS Home Entertainment for review on this site.

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