Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Fans of the Mission Impossible series have been BEGGING for a re-release of the original films that wasn’t just a re-package of the same cruddy MPEG2 releases that Paramount has been recycling for over 10 years. Luckily Paramount has finally heard the call, and just in time for the latest Mission Impossible film in July, are releasing all 5 of the films in 4K UHD combo packs a month early. The later 2 films are nice and shiny new, so they don’t have the problems that the original trilogy had, but it’s been a LOOOOOOOOOONG time coming to see the “classic” films given the treatment they deserve. This effort by Paramount is done nearly impeccably, giving us a much needed boost to the video and audio, and gives us some really snazzy looking art work as well. You’re mission, should you choose to accept, is to upgrade your old and aging Blu-rays with a nice new 4K UHD disc that will give you everything that you’ve been wanting in your home theater.

The Mission Impossible theme song brings instant excitement as the energetic tempo prepares you for just that…the impossible. Tom Cruise may not have been the original face of “Mission Impossible”, but with his help Paramount revitalized a franchise that had lain dormant for decades. Now after almost 20 years, Tom Cruise is still in the saddle and amping up the excitement with each film he does. In fact, if it wasn’t for Cruise pushing the studio hard, the last two films would never have been made (the movies make a profit, but not the gigantic profit that Comic Book movies make, or other giant blockbusters). His passion for the role and his insistence on doing all of his own stunts have given fans everywhere more films than we ever could have hoped for after the crash and burn of Mission Impossible II.

Rogue Nation takes place shortly after Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, sending Ethan Hunt after another impossible mission. This time he may have met his match. After completing a routine assignment, Hunt (Tom Cruise) comes face to face with his most deadly foe yet. He’s been tracking the existence of a shadow organization known as The Syndicate for months, only to run into dead ends at every turn. However, the mysterious leader of this Syndicate shows his face, only to taunt Ethan with his failure and vanish into the night. To make matters worse, the IMF has been completely disbanded by CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) due to the IMF’s unorthodox methods, and has completely absorbed their resources in the CIA’s repertoire of tricks. This leaves Hunt with the option to either come in and face the music, or strike out on his own and take down the Syndicate without support.

Well, we know for a fact that the IMF never lets their friends down, and that means that Benjie (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) use their own unique skills to give a little behind the scenes help when they can. Hunt’s mission is made a lot easier when he recognizes that the Syndicate has a weak spot in the form of Isla Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a double agent for MI6 intelligence. Working for the Syndicate has given her a cover that’s nearly impenetrable, but after helping Ethan escape from their clutches, Hunt knows that he can use her to get to the top. However, things aren’t always as they seem, and Ethan finds out that those dead ends that he kept running into were not an accident. The mysterious mastermind behind this all really IS all that and a box of chocolates too. Every plan is already anticipated. Every movement and betrayal was created on purpose and every avenue of escape is blocked off before Hunt can even think it up. Now he has to come up with a way to get out of a truly impossible situation and hopefully still take down the Syndicate…even if it kills him.

As I mentioned earlier, “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” was almost never made. Ghost Protocol was a decent hit (and one of the best of the series), but Tom Cruise just isn’t the financial draw that he once was. Sure they made a profit, but it was a meager one and the series was to be shelved. However, Cruise has a love affair with the franchise and pushed HARD for the series to continue. So hard in fact that Paramount caved and finally went along with the idea, and thankfully for us, it payed off well. Amping up the action to new heights, Rogue Nation is only a hair breadth of a lesser film than the excellent Ghost Protocol. That alone is a feat as most franchises usually stumble after a while. However, the stumbling really came early on when John Woo did his thing with Mission Impossible II (which actually wasn’t a bad MOVIE, it was just a bad Mission Impossible movie). However Brad Bird saved the series with the 3rd outing and the movies have just gone up in production value and entertainment as they progress.

Rogue Nation is good, but not perfect. The fun is there, the action is there, but sometimes the movie mistakes action for plot and we have a times where I feel the action overshadows actual story. With that being said, I have to really give props to the movie as it was everything you could have wanted in a summer blockbuster. Guns, knives, explosions, good one liners, and Tom Cruise having a complete blast as a superhero spy. I may not enjoy EVERY movie he’s ever been in, and he’s not the greatest actor to grace the silver screen, but I will fully admit that he gives it his all in every movie he’s ever in, and being in his early 50s the man shows some dedication to the role as he jumps onto moving planes and dives through windows without the aid of a stunt double. While Cruise is the main star as Ethan Hunt I was really excited with what they did with Rebecca Ferguson. Here role as Ilsa was the perfect foil for Hunt. She’s a spy, a gorgeous woman and just as intelligent as our hero, giving him a partner who is truly his equal. The sizzling chemistry between the two is felt in the very air and their growing attraction is never overstated to force a romantic subplot. It’s there, just under the surface, but you could almost miss it if you aren’t paying attention. Hunt has fallen in love with thieves, a simple nurse, and lost them all as a result of his job, but now, he has the opportunity to pair up with someone who can actually hang with him.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity




4K Video: Video:

Yummy yummy yumny. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation leaps onto 4K with a simply gorgeous looking scope transfer. Filmed on actual FILM, Rogue Nation shows a nice layer of grain and looks very organic in texture. Colors are warm and fantastically saturated. Reds, blues and yellows shine through with incredible brightness, while the film is softened with a touch of gold (especially during the Middle East robbery sequence). Every detail is captured with a single problem, every bit of stubble on Cruise’s face, every line and wrinkle on Rebecca’s yellow dress, every piece of dirty or dust on clothing. Long shoots look equally amazing, with strong focus and great detail, even in the most sweeping of shots. Being that it was the newest film, Rogue Nation (much like Ghost Protocol) didn't suffer from botched Blu-ray transfers and were considered demo worthy a couple of years ago. As a result, the Blu-ray to 4K UHD comparison isn't AS wild as the first 3, but still makes quite a few advances over the 2015 Blu-ray without breaking a sweat. The HDR adds a vibrant texture to the colors, with Rebecca's dress looking shockingly gorgeous, as well as the red blood and paint on passing cars. Little textures like the ground during the motorcycle chase scene shows off these little bits of dirt and rocks that weren't visible on the Blu-ray, and the blacks are just SILKY, without any major signs of artifacting. The golden hued segments give the image a lightly soft look in shots, but by and large, this is a stellar 4K UHD disc.








Audio:

While the video is amazing, the Dolby Atmos track that Rogue Nation is privy to just simply ROCKS in all ways. Atmos has been picking up steam to the point where I’m doing at least on a week almost anymore and they have been a treat to listen to. This little jewel is an action track to the core and just revels in all of the fun little eccentricities and over the top robustness that they tend to give for summer blockbusters. Dialog is never a problem, and I was well balanced with the rest of the track, but I get giddy at the sheer ferocity of the surrounds and LFE system. There is great panning effects up front and to the rear, but the surrounds are pinpoint accurate with the constantly shifting soundscape. Especially when the action kicks into high gear and the roar of a plane is thundering throughout your house as Ethan Hunt attempts to hijack it. The LFE is just crushing and powerful, but also wonderfully restrained when necessary. Instead of being a nonstop assault on the sense the bass can be very reserved when needed, but then just rock your socks off when the guns and action blast off. HOWEVER, I noticed that the LFE can run the whole gambit. Sometimes it’s soft, sometimes it’s ripping the doors off, but sometimes it can travel in that in-between stage, adding a soft and dull hum of a rotor that doesn’t really stand out, but isn’t so soft that you have to TRY and detect. It’s those little nuances and changes in pitch and loudness that really make Rogue Nation’s Atmos experience a truly stellar one.






Extras:

4K UHD
• Audio Commentary with Tom Cruise and Director Christopher McQuarrie

Blu-ray Disc 1
• Audio Commentary with Tom Cruise and Director Christopher McQuarrie
• Lighting the Fuse
• Cruise Control
• Heroes
• Cruising Altitude
• Mission Immersible
• Sand Theft Auto
• The Missions Continue

Blu-ray Disc 2
• … And Rogues
• Top Crews
• Travel Agents
• Opera-tion Turnout
• Practically Impossible
• Stunts
• Cut!
• Variations On A Theme
• The Missions Continue

Final Score: ​

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation manages to be my third favorite “Mission Impossible” film, ranking JUUUUUUUUUUUUST barely under Ghost Protocol (yes I still rank the first as my favorite). The action is bigger, the guns louder, and it was really nice to see a female agent who was able to be Hunt’s match, both physically and intellectually. Sometimes I felt as if the action got in the way of some of the character development with Rebecca Ferguson’s character, but the sheer goofy fun of the movie more than made up for that little flaw. Audio and video are off the charts and paramount certainly did not disappoint with the extras. I tend to be a bit critical of summer blockbusters due to becoming so generic, but Tom Cruise never fails to entertain and the production values leave nothing to be desired. The 4K UHD shares the same stellar Atmos track as the Blu-ray (along with the extras), but it sports a very nice 4K UHD upgrade in the video department, and still earns my rating of highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Spanish, French, Portuguese DD 5.1
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 132 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 26th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[Todd Anderson]

WOW! Another one for the collection!

 

[bkeeler10]

I suppose I'll have to purchase this one, since I don't yet own a copy. MI is one of my favorite series, and I'm really hoping the one hitting theaters soon lives up to the standards of most of the rest of the series. Thanks for the review.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I’m hoping the same thing (about the new one)... could use a good MI flick right about now!

 

[JStewart]

Dolby Atmos track that Rogue Nation is privy to just simply ROCKS in all ways.

I think this and the rest of your commentary on the audio is spot on. It's been my go to when checking after any changes due to the quality and variety in the soundtrack.