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Posted by dgates on 12/14/06 05:36
On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:07:40 -0500, Derek Janssen
<ejanss@nospam.comcast.net> wrote:
>dgates wrote:
>
>>>anybody else discovering the old 60's version right about now?
>>>
>>>For those who only know the Movie versions, think back as to why the
>>>FIRST Brian DePalma movie--with an entire *team*--was so much better
>>>than those two other Tom Cruise vanity sequels:
>>>The mission's all about the How, not the Who. :)
>>
>> I too am a fan of the TV season, but alas, I prefer the later years.
>
>(Okay, I know "Good morning, Mr. Briggs" gets replaced, but what other
>changes were there besides the babe-rotation?)
I'll name a few changes that I prefer. I think, however, that I'm in
the minority on my preference for the post-Landau years over the
Landau years.
#1. In the L (Landau) years, the episodes began with Briggs/Phelps
("BP") carefully going through a dossier of agents, and always picking
the exact same team (with possibly a bonus specialist agent).
In the PL (Post-Landau) years, that bit was skipped.
#2. In a way, my point #1 can be generalized to the idea that, once
the show accepted that people understood the formula, it could pick up
the pace a little.
#3. The PL episodes were a little less "intense." This is a personal
preference for me but, since the basic mechanics of the show tended
toward the preposterous anyway, I preferred when the show started
taking itself less seriously.
To use a James Bond analogy, you'd have to ask which Bond movie people
preferred, The Spy Who Loved Me or On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
#4. The music got... "groovier" in the PL years. This goes with #3;
in the L years, the music was more military, more uncomfortable,
less... "fun."
#5. More surprises. This could possibly be debated but, following up
on #2 and the idea that folks now understood the basics of the show,
the PL years could offer a lot more interesting ways for the plan to
go somewhat wrong, forcing the team to think on their feet.
I say this is debatable because, in the three Season 1 episodes I
remember clearly, something went wrong each time, forcing Briggs to
improvise.
#5. The PL episodes were the ones I grew up with. When I look down at
my #6 and #7 below, I see that my preference is basically just that --
*my* preference. So I'll disclaim away. The first season I was old
enough to watch and comprehend was a Leonard Nimoy season.
#6. The pre-credits "teaser." I think this started in Nimoy's second
season and continued for a couple of years. The idea was to show a
couple minutes of what the IMF was going to be up against before
Phelps gets his recorded briefing.
#7. America, rather than Europe. This might be a tough sell, but one
benefit of setting episodes in America was that the show could film
anywhere it wanted. It was much freer to film outside, on any street
it wanted, in front of any landmark, etc.
Not all of the PL years were in America. In fact, one of my
favorites, "Submarine," involved capturing a prisoner being held in
some Eastern European country. So, sure enough, they intercepted the
transport vehicle in "the warehouse district," meaning on the backlot
between a couple of soundstages.
Actually, I'm only throwing in #7 because I'm already on a roll.
In short, people knew the show better, allowing for a couple more
surprises, and the show also became a little less serious.
>> In all fairness to Tom C and Brian D, I can see where movies about a
>> single character are more compelling than movies about an ensemble
>> team. And I even liked how Tom Cruise had to... well, it's hard to
>> say much about the first MI movie without giving any spoilers.
>
>The initial Macguffin "political fundraiser" setup felt more in the
>spirit of an upgraded old-school episode...
I guess we've decided De Palma spoilers are fair game... ? Okay.
I agree. And then, from what I've heard, the CIA plan was more in
line with what I've heard about the *original* intention of the show
-- namely that the team leader is on the run, he has to build his own
team and work without official help.
It was a very promising idea; it was just too bad that the team only
stuck together for about the duration of one quick break-in scene.
Still, the timing was there; a woman slips a man a drug in the
cafeteria while another man prepares to climb though a ventilation
shaft.
>Unfortunately, the First movie assumed we already knew the show by heart
>and tried to branch out, and as for the Second...John Woo was *bragging*
>that he'd never seen the original series before trying to bring "his own
>approach" to the sequel. Gosh, you'd never know it. -_-
I think the filmmakers have decided that the spirit of the series is
wrong for a feature length plot. As you've said, the series was about
the "how," not the "who." I think each movie has tried to honor the
spirit of the series in one or two scenes.
The first had the Political Fundraiser and the CIA break-in.
The second, which I don't remember that well, has at least one scene
where someone was being tricked into revealing something he wouldn't
ordinarily (in a hospital bed, IIRC?)
The third had the scene... was it at the Vatican? That was paced
about like a condensed little episode.
I wonder what a movie based exactly on the spirit of the series would
be like? Probably somewhere between The Bunker and the movie
Sneakers, I suppose.
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