# Mission Impossible **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277 "2011-12-15T04:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/41 "2011-12-29T15:48:14Z")
> [@mikenj](#): > > 1. Within that mess there are more problems (or at least I didn’t understand what was happening). About the switcheroo for the codes and diamonds. The part of using the special contact lens to scramble the launch codes made sense. What I don’t understand is how the baddie having the guy to authenticate the codes with him meant that the IMF plan was ruined. Other than the sequence of the numbers nothing else about the codes should have been different-they should have still looked authentic. Unless the authenticator actually knew what the exact codes were, what difference could he have made? And if he DOES know what the exact codes are then why does the baddie need to buy them in the first place? Since the guy verifying the codes was a cryptographer, presumably the codes contained a hash value and the cryptographer would be able to, in his head, do the math necessary to make sure that the codes matched their hash values. Randomly reordering the characters in the code would result in not matching the hash and the expert would be able to tell they were fake. Simple version, lets say I have a 10 digit code, the first nine digits are random numbers and the 10th digit is the last digit of the sum of the 1st, 3rd, and 7th digits. So a code of 123456789 would end up being 1234567891 (1, 3, and 7 equal 11, last digit is 1 which is tacked to the end as the 10th digit). If randomly reordered you might end up with 1987654321 which you could tell is fake because the last digit should be a 3 (1+8+4=13, last digit is 3). > [@](#): > > 1. One of the main requirements in the hotel scene is that they were not supposed to kill either of the baddies because they were the only link to the main villain. OK, makes sense. So the IMF girl kicks the assassin girl out the window. Again, no problem, that made sense in the context of the movie. But Cruise is chasing the other baddie in a car through the dust storm and his method of stopping him is to send a BMW head on into the baddies’ SUV at 60 or 80 mph. Is that really something you’d do and still expect the occupant of the other car to still be alive? He did not expect him to come out alive. At this point the plan has gone awry and the choice is let him escape with real launch codes or kill him to maintain possession of them and hopefully find another way to the head bad guy. Not trying to change your opinion of it, if you didn’t enjoy it, you didn’t enjoy it. But I found that for the genre the plot did generally hang together better than most. I liked that it did not rely on the omniscient superhero or omniscient supervillain and both sides screwed up and had to recover. The big fight at the end was ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/42 "2011-12-29T15:56:32Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > This film felt a lot cheesier than the prior ones. It didn’t take itself very seriously at all. And that was OK. Not a great film, but an enjoyable ride. I doubt I’d watch it again, but I don’t regret spending the money to see it on the big screen. This is what made the film enjoyable for me. While I’m not the Cruise fan I once was; this is the way to make me a fan again. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/43 "2011-12-29T15:59:45Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > He’s member of a cult that preys on the weak, isolates them from their friends and families, and then enslaves them. No biggie. Not just a member, he’s pretty much the most public face of them. I simply refuse to watch anything he’s involved with based on this. Looking at IMDB it seems that 2002’s Minority Report is the last thing I saw of his. Pity really. He’s a damn fine actor, but I do have my principles. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/44 "2011-12-29T16:21:22Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > While I’m not the Cruise fan I once was; this is the way to make me a fan again. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. Then you should track down the _Rock of Ages_ trailer. The cheesy unseriousness of the Tom Cruise reveal will bring you back to the fold. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/45 "2011-12-29T18:13:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Like **Bob Ducca** suggested, it apparently racked up an anemic $12 million stateside during the limited-release “opening weekend” of December 16-18 – before pulling in a respectable $29.5 million during the officially announced “opening weekend” of December 23-25. > > So it’s currently at $86+ million domestic and $169+ million foreign, grossing $255+ million thus far on its $145 million budget. Ok, thanks. I guess I should have dug around the internet for more info. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/46 "2011-12-29T19:06:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > It’s like [spoiler]Catwoman[/spoile] turning out to be [spoiler]Aunt Harriet[/spoilr] in disguise. You mean she’s NOT?!? Thanks for ruining it, dude. Saw “Mission” last night. Lots of fun. Really liked having a bit of humor added to the mix. Also glad to see no identity fake-outs with latex masks. Lots of ridiculous moments (climbing a building with magic gloves? hitting the big red button at the last second?) that pushed the movie toward cartoon-land but it was still very entertaining. Also, I would have bet good money that all the stuff about Cruise doing his own stunts on the side of the building was crap. I guess YouTube proves me wrong. I have to admire Cruise’s guts for doing that. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/47 "2011-12-29T19:12:31Z")
> [@Clark\_K](#): > > You mean she’s NOT?!? Thanks for ruining it, dude. > > Saw “Mission” last night. Lots of fun. Really liked having a bit of humor added to the mix. Also glad to see no identity fake-outs with latex masks. Except that the main bad guy went to the Burj Khalifa wearing a latex mask. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/48 "2011-12-29T19:25:56Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Like **Bob Ducca** suggested, it apparently racked up an anemic $12 million stateside during the limited-release “opening weekend” of December 16-18 – before pulling in a respectable $29.5 million during the officially announced “opening weekend” of December 23-25. > > So it’s currently at $86+ million domestic and $169+ million foreign, grossing $255+ million thus far on its $145 million budget. You’re actually doing a major disservice to the film to suggest that it’s opening was “anemic”. As [this article from Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3327&p=.htm) points out, > [@](#): > > Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was the one bright spot at the box office this weekend. Opening at just 425 locations, Ghost Protocol earned $12.8 million for an impressive per-theater average of $30,083. That tops Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason ($8.7 million) for highest-grossing limited debut ever (fewer than 600 theaters). Ghost Protocol’s 300 IMAX locations contributed $10/5 million, and its $35,000 average was slightly behind that of Inception ($36,548) but ahead of Fast Five ($32,787). Of course both of those movies were in nationwide and IMAX release simultaneously, though it still serves to highlight the strong numbers from the fourth Mission: Impossible movie. > > By releasing the movie five days early in IMAX and consistently pushing the format’s immersive benefits, distributor Paramount Pictures managed to at least initially turn Ghost Protocol in to an event movie that demands to be seen on the big screen. It probably didn’t hurt that a six-minute prologue for The Dark Knight Rises was attached at around 42 locations, though that also isn’t a large-enough sample to solely account for the above-average performance. It’s tough to say for sure if Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’s success will continue when it makes its nationwide expansion on Wednesday, but for the time being the movie appears to be in very good shape. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/49 "2011-12-29T19:28:45Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > You’re actually doing a major disservice to the film to suggest that it’s opening was “anemic”. I think he could run out and tell everyone on the street that it had an anemic opening, and it’d still do just fine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/50 "2011-12-29T20:59:53Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > You’re actually doing a major disservice to the film to suggest that it’s opening was “anemic”. By ending the sentence with mention that it grossed more than double that – the amount **SenorBeef** expected – during the nationwide opening weekend? Before using the next sentence to mention that the movie has already grossed more than a hundred million over its budget? I don’t really see it as a disservice; I don’t even see it as damning with faint praise; I’m not sure it’s even praising with faint damns. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/51 "2011-12-29T22:05:16Z")
I saw it a few days ago and didn’t realize this was the thread for it. I found it a decent action movie with some good sequences. A couple of mild complaints though: 1. At times the movie seemed to expect me to remember things that happened in previous movies and I had no memories of this stuff at all. 2. For a globetrotting adventure, the movie just seemed a little “small”. Next one is a spoiler 3. It seemed to me that in reality, as soon as the missile launched from the sub, the bad guy would have won. The US would have detected the attack immediately and WWIII would have begun. Unless they mentioned IMF warning them not to do that, which I don’t recall happening. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/52 "2011-12-30T00:06:39Z")
Tommy boy is starting to look old. Not a bad movie, I even got paid to see it. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/53 "2011-12-30T01:00:05Z")
Does “starting to look old” = “now that he’s 50 he finally looks like he’s in his 40s”? Because if that is looking old then I’ll sign up for some. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/54 "2011-12-30T01:03:43Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Next one is a spoiler > > 3. It seemed to me that in reality, as soon as the missile launched from the sub, the bad guy would have won. The US would have detected the attack immediately and WWIII would have begun. Unless they mentioned IMF warning them not to do that, which I don’t recall happening. For those who don’t like to click spoilers, you’ll be fine - that’s not a spoiler. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/55 "2011-12-30T01:16:38Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > For those who don’t like to click spoilers, you’ll be fine - that’s not a spoiler. I’m not sure I understand your logic, here. How would you know otherwise that the missile actually gets launched? I realize that they show snippets of what happens in the movie during the intro (including that launch scene), but I think it’s still fair to call that a spoiler since that’s some of the suspense in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/56 "2011-12-30T01:53:43Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Does “starting to look old” = “now that he’s 50 he finally looks like he’s in his 40s”? > > Because if that is looking old then I’ll sign up for some. Heck, aside from the movie, I saw him on _Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon_ recently and I can’t believe how young he still looks. I think he could believably pass for mid-30s. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/57 "2011-12-30T02:00:32Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Heck, aside from the movie, I saw him on _Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon_ recently and I can’t believe how young he still looks. I think he could believably pass for mid-30s. I pretty much agree. I think he looks 40 even, not nearly 50. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/58 "2011-12-30T04:50:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > By ending the sentence with mention that it grossed more than double that – the amount **SenorBeef** expected – during the nationwide opening weekend? Before using the next sentence to mention that the movie has already grossed more than a hundred million over its budget? I don’t really see it as a disservice; I don’t even see it as damning with faint praise; I’m not sure it’s even praising with faint damns. Well, you called it an > [@](#): > > anemic $12 million stateside during the limited-release “opening weekend” when the Box Office Mojo article clearly states that it was the > [@](#): > > highest-grossing limited debut ever. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/59 "2011-12-30T06:48:02Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Except that the main bad guy went to the Burj Khalifa wearing a latex mask. I knew someone was going to quibble with me on that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277/60 "2011-12-30T11:02:05Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > Well, you called it an > > > [@](#): > > > > anemic $12 million stateside during the limited-release “opening weekend” In reply to someone else, who promptly added that he was seeing two sets of numbers for the opening weekend – one of which he termed _“bad”_, while the other reflected _“a more typical opening weekend.”_ He then asked _“what’re they measuring here?”_ I wanted to make it clear that (a) what he termed a “bad” opening only involved the limited-release dates; that (b) the wide-release real opening was the one he saw as grossing a more typical revenue; and that (c) the combined approach, plus all the other business it’s already done, has earned back a hundred million past the budget. Since you didn’t object to his characterization, but only to mine, possibly you wouldn’t have called it “a major disservice” if I’d merely repeated “bad” right back when describing it; the problem is, I felt “bad” was too strong even if it _ **had** _ been the wide-release opening, and so swapped in a different term. My mistake, apparently; next time I’ll take the path of least resistance more thoroughly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mission-impossible/606277.md?page=4)