The original theme is in 5/4 time. The hack band they got for the movie couldn’t handle the meter so they played it in 4/4.
The sound effects aren’t the only thing lifted from Star Trek. You’ll also see a lot of actors shared between the two series. Leonard Nimoy, of course, took a turn as an IMF team member. William Shatner guest starred, as did George Takei. You’ll also see various Klingons, technicians, and red shirts from Star Trek as the villains du jour in Mission: Impossible. They’ve even had an inside joke once: Arlene Martel, who played T’Pring (Spock’s fiance) in Star Trek, guested on M:I as their native contact. Paris (i.e., Leonard Nimoy), upon being presented with her picture, dryly remarked, “Interesting face.”
I’ve been DVRing them for a while and when they started working in the US against “The Syndicate”, the plots got so needlessly complex that it’s not even entertaining.
I love that Maj. Burnz was in a couple of episodes.
One ROTFLMAO moment I recall: College days, sitting in TV room at the rooming house with 6 other Trekkies, watching re-runs for the umpteenth time, 5 days a week. Same crowd, mostly, hung around to watch M:I re-runs immediately following. One scene: Phelps & crew at sidewalk cafe, inobtrusively “observing”. Suddenly, car drives by, sticks gun out window, bang bang, guy is bleeding on the ground at the cafe as other patrons scream and dive for cover.
Phelps just stands there, looking somber. Paris (Leonard Nimoy) rushes to victim, takes his pulse. Phelps just stands there, looking somber. Paris looks up to Phelps and says “He’s DEAD, Jim!”
TV audience in college rooming house TV room is ROTFLMAO.
(ETA: Wonder how many times they had to shoot that scene until they all got it with straight faces.)
I remember somebody (Spider Robinson, IIRC) write that he was waiting for an episode where the IMF members finally turned on their bosses. The big reveal would be that they had their own tape recorder running to make copies of all the sooper sekrit self-destructing tapes.
Hey, by the final season we get the episode with syndicate asset Mike Brady and a needlessly complex plan that completely fails to work – prompting our heroes, with only minutes left, to throw up their hands and say, ah, screw it, who needs an elaborate con when we can just let Willy tower over a guy and say threatening stuff? This immediately produces the information they’ve been after all along, such that Willy gets back to driving the van in time for the ending.
To me, it was absolutely unforgivable that they not only didn’t allow for cameos by any of the actors from the original TV show, they actually made Jim Phelps the BAD guy!!!
As for the movie’s theme music, Lalo Schifrin DELIBERATELY made the music undanceable. The movie makers wanted it to be danceable, so it had to be reworked to the point where you wondered, "Why are you even calling this movie or this song Mission: Impossible? Why not just called it ***Lone Wolf Superspy ***or something?
If you don’t like anything about the original series, why not just start from scratch?
Yes and no- would anyone buy the rights to the TITLE Star Trek, then turn Kirk and Spock into villains who must be killed, blow up the Enterprise, and create an action/adventure franchise revolving around a brand new character?
You’re not buying just a brand NAME- you’re also buying characters that millions of peoiple have grown to like and care about.
Here is a piece if MI trivia for you.
The first episode had a eastern European prison in it.
The exteriors for the prison where shot at a job site of my father’s. He was in charge of tearing down the old Fairfax High School in LA so he could be in charge of building the new school.
In the opening shots there are “guard offices” in the foreground with the “prison” in the background.
The offices were the job shack and the prison was the HS.
