This week, we disavow any knowledge of Brian de Palma’s 1996 spy thriller Mission: Impossible. How does 1996 reimagine the 1960s’ spycraft of the original TV series? How does a labyrinthine plot collapse into three big actions sequences? Is this the Tom Cruise franchise we were waiting for?

Content warning: violence, drugs, betrayal

Unanswered Questions:

• Does this film function as a response to GoldenEye? If so, in what ways?
  
  
• What are the politics of the IMF, of individual heroism, and of American treason in a pre-9/11 world?
  
  
• What is the function of a blockbuster franchise at this point in Cruise’s career?
  

Further reading:

• The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone)
  
  
• Carrie (1976)
  
  
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
  
  
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
  
  
• Weak (Skunk Anansie)
  
  
• TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse)
  
  
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
  
  
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule
  

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Join us next time as we show you the money in Cameron’s Crowe’s 1996 rom-com Jerry Maguire!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

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