Bird House - 141 - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird's direction, combined with Tom Cruise's unwavering commitment to the role of Ethan Hunt, creates a captivating experience that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish with 2011s "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol".

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the nerd party. Goodevening, mister Renault. Your mission,
if you choose to accept it,is to discuss the twenty eleven film Mission
Impossible Ghost Protocol. New intelligence suggeststhat this film was directed by one Brad
Bird. At the same time,we've chosen your team for you, agents
Moser and Mills. As always,should you or any member of your team

(00:27):
be caught or killed, the Secretarywill disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This message will self destruct in fiveseconds. Good luctrins. Oh just we

(00:49):
had to have that intro for discussingghost Protocol, and I hope you all
are as jazz to talk about thisentry into the Birdhouse. The birdhouse is
back. We're all back, We'reall here. Maybe some of us will
die. Who knows. It's unpredictablein these kinds of movies. Who's wearing
a mask? Who's not? Well? Yeah? Oh, I love It's

(01:11):
like I want to do a maskbut no alas Yeah, man, Ghost
Protocol. I've been looking forward totalking about this movie. It is one
of my favorite mission Impostle move movies, and I think we can collectively agree
it kind of started the modern eraof Mission Impossible. Like one, two
and three are kind of on theirown, and they're kind of like seeing

(01:33):
what sticks as they throw it againstthe wall. Sometimes it's doves, sometimes
it's you know, philis Steve Varhoffmanin that order. You know, you
never know. But yeah, thisone though, was like kind of a
like a reset almost like a partialreset of what these were going to be.
Very born, very you know,action, like a huge set piece

(01:57):
kind of sequence. I mean,not that the first way didn't have it,
but but yeah, but let's getinto it. This is a more
modern film twenty eleven, only twelveyears ago. Many they've put out a
lot in those intervening twelve years.But John, let's start with you.
UM, don't don't have any typoshere, but where where where does this

(02:17):
kind of rank in your Mission Impossible? For you? You a big Mission
Impossible fan? Or is it notyour cup of tea? Do you think
Nolan did it better? Or youknow what? How how is that going?
Oh gosh, I mean Mission Impossible? I like the whole series,
um, except for two, becauseit's so funny how many of these long

(02:38):
running series, the second one isalways one where even the die hard fans
so like you can kind of skipthe second one, fast and Furious mission
possible. They're like a whole lotof them where it's like, hey,
you know, I can kind ofgo over to they weren't quite sure what
they were empires trying to do here, bosh nothing, yeah, star Shrek
two. What a week entry.But it's um. I had cooled on

(03:00):
the franchise by this point. Iliked the first one. I saw the
first one a couple of times inthe theater. I actually thought it really
good movie. Did not care forthe second one. Third one. I
don't remember quite when I saw it, but I was like, oh,
that was good. That was different. But it very much has the jj
abrams shaky cam television feel to themystery box stuff going on and everything,

(03:23):
and it's like, Okay, thisis this is better, this this this
works. There's some good work here, almost quite literally a mystery box yes,
yeah, and like yeah, butthen we come to the fourth one
and they get me back into thetheater because this was shot with Imax cameras
and they had a little three DImax, but they had a little prologue

(03:46):
that they were attaching. If youwent to an actual real Imax theater,
which living in the DC metro area, I could get to one that would
show massive release movies, and soI went to see this in the theater
just to see the Dark Knight Risesprolog. That was why they got me
in. I was like, Igotta see this, and I went in
and I saw it, and Iwas like, oh lord, oh right,

(04:08):
there's a mission like the I paidthe money for the prologue, and
then I was like, oh andthere's a movie too cool. It happened
to keep you in the seat.But I'll tell you this was one hell
of a way to do what you'resaying, which is like that soft reboot.
I think every expectation of what aMission Impossible movie is gets reset with
this one. And yes, itall pivots around that that Burge Dubai Hotel

(04:32):
sequence where he's up there. Iremember seeing that on the big six story
tall screen and everything at the ScienceCenter. I am afraid of heights and
I had like sweaty palms and panicbreathing during that sequence. So yeah,
this is where Spectacle really became thecalling card of the series. Oh yeah,
okay, well we'll get to theburgh Khalifa's it's a couple of scenes

(04:54):
in But Tristan, what about you? Where is this a reboot? Are
you a die hard? I'd eatthe hunt fan? Do you have a
gum collection for red Light? GreenLight? How? How does this rank
with you? I've been a hugeMission Impossible fan ever since ninety six.
My dad and I would want rewatchthe first one over and over and over

(05:18):
again. We love the Brian DePalmayou know, you know, I can't
say Eric because it was only onefilm, but we love like the Brian
DePalma version of Mission Impossible. Like, to me, that's still my favorite
one of the entire series. AndI know that I'm looking back on it
through nostalgia glasses. I know that, you know, like I have a

(05:39):
connection to it because of my fatherand you know, watching it in our
basement and everything like that. Butit's just such a great thriller. Like
by today's standard, this has beena long running series. By today's Mission
Impossible standards, it's could be consideredquaint, but right, you know,
back then, it's such a greatthriller. Loppy disks and cameras and glasses,

(06:03):
oh my gosh, like people smokingon planes, like that's how that's
how old Mission Possible is the series? And the first one, people like
John Voight was smoking on a plane, like that's how old this series is,
um John? Like, like you, I there's no Internet, Like
the Internet is barely a thing inthe first movie. It's a thing that

(06:25):
only super nerds are spending their timedoing computer labs and types Bible versus to
contact Like it's yep, because that'swhat the net was. That's what the
yeah, speaking of the net.But um John, like you, the
second one, I pretend it doesnot exist. I think I rewatched it
a couple of years ago, doinga hardcore rewatch of all the Mission Impossibles,

(06:47):
just to say, like, Ihaven't watched this for ten years.
I wonder if it's aged any better. Nope, aged worse. It's so
god awful. And it was funnybecause I bought all of them on UM
iTunes, so I get the fourK upgrades, and my mother in law
has access to my iTunes and sheis she she called me up. She's
like, hey, I was rewatchingall of the Mission Impossibles in preparation for

(07:12):
UM for the new one coming out, but I couldn't find two anywhere,
Like not on any of your services, not even on your personal plex.
I'm like, yeah, no,I refuse to spend money on them.
It's the right call. It's reallythe right call. So anyway, it's
self destructed after five seconds. I'msorry, Oh my god, I can
do about it. And like inme, I'm even a completest in a
lot of senses, but not inthis one. That's how much I hate

(07:33):
the second one. But the thirdone I saw in the theater and I
was like, holy crap, thisis good. Like I love p Seymour.
Hoffman was pulling out the stops.He really delicious bad guy. And
even though it was a mystery boxwhere the where the audience literally had no

(07:54):
idea what the rabbit's foot was,I think it worked. And I was
actually Darren. I was actually thinkingas I was watching rewatching Ghost Protocol today,
I was like, is three thebeginning of the modern era? And
Ghost Protocol defined good question. It'sbeen a while since I've watched three,
so it's hard for me to say. I think John might be right though,

(08:16):
because there's so much shaky cam,there's so many lens flares, it's
so j J. Yeah, Ithink three might have been a course correction.
I mean, but I think isindeed the beginning of the modern era.
It's the new template. Well,and even just the titling the whole
Mission Possible colon title, like we'renot doing numbers anymore. We're we're like,

(08:37):
it's kind of title and no title, like those are the eras,
damn it. Yeah, yeah,I know it's aus to get a little
weird. Um. Well, sofor me, I remember seeing you know,
Mission If Possible early on, andthen yeah, the second one was
we won't we won't talk anymore aboutthe second one. We've given enough airtime.

(08:58):
Um. But then my wife andI we love the TV show.
We have watched every episode of thenineteen sixties Mission Impossible show. We own
it all on DVD. And it'sbecause it's thrilling, but it's kind of
chill, like you're not actually likesweating or anything. As you're you know,
you're kind of like, okay,are they gonna get in trouble or

(09:20):
are they gonna get caught? Butat the it's sixties TV, it's it's
really too And then all of asudden, let her Nimore shows up in
like season four, You're like,oh my gosh, here you go,
because that's where he went right aftera Star Trek. So we love that
film, we we love that series. We love these characters. And then
unfortunately, when I introduced my wifeto Mission Impossible to movies, I started

(09:43):
with the first one, which hasJim spoiler Jim Phelps, the same Jim
Phelps from the show as the badguy. So that's like your hero character
becoming the jaded bad guy of themovie and it and she hated it,
like it really turned her off tothe series. I think that's why many

(10:05):
of the original care actors were actuallygoing to either reprise their roles in like
a minor way, or they wereliterally going to cameo in that opening sequence
from the show. But then whenthey read the script, they're like,
no, this is stupid, Likethis would never It's like Luke Iwicker going
to the dark side, Like youwouldn't have this. So so she really

(10:26):
got turned off to that. Butthen we I kind of like brought her
back into two Ghost Protocol because againit was kind of that refresh restart,
and she's really enjoyed those going forward. I think it's you know, I
don't think it's fully washed that badtaste out of her mouth, but she's
said that she has enjoyed that.And I love Ghost Protocol it. I
mean, I love all the allthe other films in different ways, but

(10:50):
I would almost say, again,maybe I need to rewatch to figure it
all out, but I would almostsay Ghost Protocol is my favorite so far,
Like it is just such a goodoverall film. I think the other
ones do kind of take it upa notch, but I still love Ghost
Protocol. I I don't know ifit's dethroned it yet. I'll have to
do my was it like four orfive six rewatch to to prep for Fallout.

(11:11):
Well, I'm glad you mentioned likethe four or five six because Christopher
mcquarie enters the chat with this filmtoo, and Christopher mcquarie basically then got
into the business of making mission impossiblefilms and like, so this becomes mcquarie
series here, even though this isa Brad Bird directed film, and I
think that that plays a very largesort of thing because we know that Bird

(11:35):
can come in and manage a projectwe talked about with Ratatuila last week where
it's like he wasn't even really inthe pre production stuff that they were like,
this is kind of getting out ofhand, Brad, we need you
to come in and take it.There's where he sort of proves, Okay,
I can manage a large project.I can I can hold the reins.
And then he goes into this.I mean, what a leap from

(11:56):
animation to live action to go tothis this right, Like talk about my
way in. But I'm gonna startwith the fourth movie of a Missions Possible
series, and not just the fourthmovie, but the movie that has and
I know I'm probably gonna screw upand call it a Birge to Buy Again.
I always thought that was the nameof it. But the Bird Khalif
at the Hotel. Imagine how perfectthough Brad Bird was for this because of

(12:18):
the meticulous planning that goes into animation. You need a meticulous planner to get
these shots right. You need ifyou don't have yeah, if you don't
have if you do not have aproject manager who knows how to give the
correct direction and setups and have everythingplanned in the tea because everything that can

(12:39):
go wrong with that shoot. Ithink it makes Bird a very logical choice
for this. I think that's reallyastute to mention that because that's something that
we've we've praised Bird in this houseand everything. But what's crazy, and
this is totally JJ's fault, iswhat's what's absolutely insane to me is that

(13:03):
I think if it wasn't for Bradbird, I think if they got any other
director, I think JJ Abrams wouldhave tanked this. Yeah, and I'm
not saying this out of hate forJJ Abrams. I'm not some sort of
anti fanboy because of Star Wars andeverything like that, or Star Wars Star
Trek. But apparently, like theywent through so many versions of the script

(13:26):
that when they hired Bradbird, JJdidn't really want to show him the script
because he's like, hey, it'snot really done. We got a lot
of ideas. You can you know, you can come in with it,
like you can bring your own ideasif you want. And then Bradbird said,
he's like, please just send mesomething. And so even while they
were in production friggin production, notpre production production, they still didn't have

(13:50):
certain plot points nailed down. Well, that's insane to me on a movie
of this scale, But if youdon't have someone like Bradbird, it's it's
not going to fly well, we'retalking about, Well, yeah, you're
talking about mcquarie. And I've readthis quote on where was it. It
was on one of those sites thattells you things about movies. Where it

(14:11):
comes from it doesn't matter, butit's talking about how mcquarie during Ghost Protocol
was brought in and this is hisquote on Ghost Protocol. I came in
on the middle of the shoot todo a rewrite of the screenplay. So
during production, though they had alreadystarted the movie, I had to communicate
with the entire staff to determine whatI could and couldn't change, what sets

(14:35):
had been built or struck, whatscenes I could or couldn't reshoot. And
I learned so much about production beingright there. The script had these fantastic
sequence in it, but it wasstill a mystery was over very it was
very, very complicated. What Idid about it was adding clarity. The
mystery had to be made simpler.It's like reaching into, you know,
a sock and pulling it inside out. It's still a sock. It's still

(14:58):
all the same pieces, but allput together in a different order. So,
I mean, this is one ofthose movies that could have like fallen
apart in production. And you,And I'm not doing this to be to
give like a cheap compliment to Bird. But a good director who secure in
him or herself is the person thatcan bring on a Christopher Macquarie and say

(15:22):
I trust you, this isn't work. You to make this work and not
be dictatorial about it and not sayI'm bringing you in because I need you
to do this. Is bringing thatperson in to say I need somebody that
can get me there. Macquarie alsodid like a basically a day by day,
page one rewrite of Edge of Tomorrowas well, and so also a
very complex film that like you couldeasily see that going off the rails right

(15:46):
and you and I would say thatyou need, especially with time time director,
a director who's going to work withthat writer and get that result out
of it, but also a directorwho's going to keep the crew from panicking,
because the crew can panic very easilyif you're in a situation like that.
And Bird obviously is a strong leaderbecause the crew never panics. The

(16:10):
cast, we never hear stories aboutsomebody complaining about working on this set or
anything like that. It is acrew that delivers an incredible film. And
he even has you know, aidinghim and abetting him. He's working with
Paul Hirsch, one of the mostlegendary editors in cinema history, is working

(16:30):
on this film with him, andhe's got to communicate with the writers and
the cast and the crew and theeditor to put something together like this.
Now, I would offer back thatthey didn't resolve everything quite as well as
they could have in terms of thescript and the overall flow of everything.
Yeah, there are a couple ofthings. I think in the very beginning

(16:52):
you can still feel a bit ofthat abrams Ish nest to it, where
you have that that flip back tothe you know, you flash back to
what you just saw from a differentangle, and it's it's building this intimate
story between the two characters, sortof thing that feels unnecessarily complicated to everything,

(17:12):
but at the same time it givesmotivation for why they kill Lisa do
later. Okay, but did weneed that? No, No, exactly,
we didn't need that pseudo revenge thingwhere she's just she's flying off the
handle and because she's not unfessional.Yeah, I always felt that that rang

(17:33):
hollow because in that moment where umis her name, Cooper could starts with
a Crter Carter, Carter, Carter, Yeah, because of Agent Carter.
So there you go, right becauseof Agent Carter. Right. Um.
When Carter is fighting the French goddessknown as Lisa do Um, like like
Renter comes in and says Carter nowand kicks her out the window. But

(18:00):
then in the very next scene he'sscreaming at her say why I thought now
he said Carter. No. Ithink he said no, like makes much
more sense. Yeah, yeah,that makes so much more sense because you
trist he did, you did honestlybecause I thought in that moment he was
like telling her, Oh, now'sthe time to take your shot. That

(18:22):
totally makes more sense. Yeah,yeah, I who know. It's like
we don't know the order of production, but I could totally see this being
kind of like a solo, aStar Wars issue, where like they had
shot the entire first piece. Theyhad shot all of the that opening train
station sequence, you know, andand so that's not changing, like that's
in the can. They can't goback and redo. But I don't know,

(18:45):
I don't know if that was shotlater, especially with this rewrite happening.
But that's that's another thing that Ilike that you that you you take
us too there, because while Iwas on this rewatch, that's one of
the things that sort of sticks withme about this movie that I think is
a little clunky. For my money, I would have just started it in
the Moscow prison and not even openedwith the action sequence. That opening action

(19:07):
sequence again, feels a very Abramssort of thing. I mean, for
God's sake, you have a sawyerfrom most episode of the show is what
it does. It feels exactly likeone. But what a great intro scene
for Ethan Hunt Like it feels likethe movie sort of begins twice. Yeah,
it's such a great reveal for him. I would argue that it's much
better if you just cut that trainsequence and you just rely on it and

(19:32):
flashback and you just start with Ethanin the Russian prison, because that sequence
is so I remember being so delightedbecause again, like I said, I
went for the Dark Knight Rises prologueand I go in and I'm like,
oh, look, it's a missionipossible movies. It starts off, I'm
like, yeah, that's okay.I'm having a good time. And then
it got to the Russian prison sequence. I was like, this is really
I'm enjoying this now, and that'swhat you remember, you do when you

(19:52):
think about this movie, you rememberthe prison sequence, Like when you think
about the beginning, you don't thinkabout the Sawyer part. The meat of
that. It's later. Although Iwill say I feel I can see why
they did put that beginning sequence inbecause it is establishing the other characters,
and that's kind of one of thethings this movie does that's a little different

(20:14):
than the other previous mission Impossible,is it's more of a team. Like
Tom Cruise is obviously the lead,but you're having a strong pull in from
Jeremy Rayner, and it's almost likethey're kind of like is you know,
they're not to say that he's usurpingTom, Like Tom has definitely still like

(20:37):
eating, He's still the old hewas. Heught it specifically for that reason
though, Like Renner was the insurancepolicy for Cruise if if he died or
you know, doing a stunt oryeah, if he if he fell off
story hotel, Yes, so theycould pivot the franchise. So there,
so they're introducing Brenner, they're introducingor sorry, Brandt. I combined Renner
and Brenner. But so, yeah, they're introducing Simon Peg, they're introducing

(21:00):
all these other characters. But Itotally get what you're saying. I agree.
It's it's a there's two intros,and really the beginning is the and
oh man, well it actually isthe intro because right after it we get
that awesome light the match title sequence, and that's just like the show.
The show always had them lighting thematch or the fuse, and they would

(21:25):
show shots from the episode you're aboutto watch, and that's what they do
in this intro. You actually seeclips from later in the actual movie,
not quite giving the plot away,but like enticing you to be like,
oh, it's going to be awild ride. So and again not to
give too much credit to Bird,but we are talking about him as a

(21:45):
director. I say that with thisspecific fuse lighting, you see the whimsie
of an animator at playing with thefact that it's not just the fuse going
and then cutting back as a wholetitle itself. Yeah, it's it's like
looping around, it's going in funnyplaces, is taking you through unexpected views

(22:06):
and stuff like that. I thinkyou see. I would say that in
that title sequence, you can seethe influence of the director of Ratatui because
of all the perspective shifts with itthat you go tiny and big and fast
and slow and all of those sortsof things. But even deeper than that.
Brad Bird is such a fan ofold TV shows and older movies.

(22:26):
I could see him watching like TheWhole Sea Season before making this movie,
because it's fingerprints are all over this. This feels much more like someone who
grew up. Not that he did, but it's like someone who has that
reverence for the source of the showput it into this movie way more than
the other two the other three movies, you know, just real quick,

(22:48):
because you know, we're talking aboutBird and everything obviously, but I so
long as we're talking about that thatopening sequence, you know, with the
Russian prison breakout thing, I thinkthat the Ushi in prison breakout. There
are a couple of different moments wherethis is true as well, but that
is really I think a director knowinghow to play the Tom Cruise's strengths as

(23:11):
an actor. Cruise has a verywell not just his physicality but his facial
expressions, in specific when he isgetting annoyed with Benji and doing the spinning
finger thing that like say, openedthe door and everything. Like he's it's
a gifted actor who can communicate nonverbally on screen with absolutely no dialogue or

(23:37):
whatever, you know what he's sayingin his head. What's funny that that
makes me think of an interesting storywith Jay Moore. It's kind of like
the opposite of what you're just saying. No, it's in agreement. Yeah,
where Tom Cruise has so much controlover his face and his body as
an actor that he can even dothe opposite. So like apparently during Jerry

(23:59):
McGuire when Jay Moore is sharing ascene with him, you know as as
Sugar, he uh like, Apparentlylike Moore was like leaning a little bit
too far to the left and wasblocking the camera a little bit with his
shoulder, but crews didn't want toruin the take, and so under the
table he's violently shaking his arm topoint him to move out of the camera's

(24:23):
way, But his face and upperbody did not change position in the slightest.
He didn't stop emoting or changing hisexpression whatsoever. But yet was able
to communicate to Jay not to ruinthe take, even though it would have
been fine just to to stop andsay move a little bit. And if
an actor can do that, thenyou're you know, they can absolutely do

(24:45):
what you're talking about, which isone hundred percent true. Like you you
can see it on his face,especially like when he leans back and he's
just like, I'm not looking allday, you know, all day.
Yeah, the most beautiful moment iswhen he is when he leans back and
he looks at the guards in theroo him and he's just like his hands
just go He's like, what areyou gonna do? Yeah, It's like
it's like this guy, you know, it's got such I remember it got

(25:07):
such a big laugh in the theaterwhen he did that where he's like what
are you gonna do? And everybody, like the whole theater just busted out
laughing. So but you know,also again those poor prison guards speaking of
yeah, they're having we're supposed towe're supposed to laugh it off. But
those guys are dead, you know. But they're bad prison guards. They're

(25:30):
bad people, Okay, right,they're the bad type of prison guards.
You're supposed to be okay with thathappening. That's although you do have to
give again Cruise and UH and companycredit especially actually, i'd say Simon Peg
credit when he mounts sorry to thecard that gets jumped by the guys.
He's like, oh sorry, Butthat's another thing where I'll give Bird a

(25:52):
lot of credit because Peg is agifted comic actor and he uses him to
his fullest, and that's that isthe mark of a great director is somebody
who doesn't let Peg go too far, who knows when to rein him in,
and say, I would point specificallyto the to the moment where he
says, oh, I thought yousaid we were going to the Kremlin.

(26:15):
I thought, and he gets backin wait, wait you did you did
see go? But he does.He doesn't keep talking past it. His
face changes and he quietly accepts,Oh, that's what we're doing. Whereas
I would say, you put Abramsin that director's chair and you have a
slightly more over the top Simon Pigdoesn't shut up, and he keeps talking

(26:37):
and it's like that moment has gone. You should have stopped talking, right
Whereas I think it's one of thebest comic moments in the entire film,
So you know, along with theirthey're moving hallway bit when his face gets
in the uh in the camera.Okay, yeah, let's I mean we
can kind of string through the mainsequences, because like that's really a Mission

(27:00):
Impossible movie is these amazing missions likestrung together. Of course, we get
introduced by the telephone booth exploding whenthat was Brad Byrd as the voice of
the recording the mister hunt you mustchoose your mission. And it's already kind
of showing like you know, IMFdoesn't really have the full budget right now,

(27:22):
like things are getting a little rustyand a little this is the Russian
budget. That's what I take itas. Yeah, this phone's been here
since nineteen sixty two. We're luckyit's still working. It's been blown up
a few too many times. ButI love the KREMNSTI. I love the
hallway sequence. It is such andthat's the best thing I think about Mission

(27:45):
Impossible movies in general, from theshow to the movies or anything. Anytime
you just ride that edge of technologywhere you're like, I know this doesn't
exist, but I could see someoneinventing it, like and it's like just
there and and you're like, okay, it's a camera and a computer program

(28:06):
that does parallax and it and itfilms the screen and it puts it on
a short throw kind of like youknow, microreld whatever projector like we obviously
don't have that technology, but it'salmost there, like you buy that the
IMF has it. It's almost likethe volume in the Mandalorian where it's like
a more advanced in the pocket kindof version but like and fabric yeah yeah,

(28:33):
but yeah and just and again justthat scene, it's like there's tension,
like they're they're quiet, they can'tmake a sound and um, and
then you start to get the curveballsof the other you know team there,
which made me think of the firstmovie where there was the other IMF team
that he recognizes, you know that, where he's like the other IMF team.

(28:55):
So, so, okay, youspeaking of someone else going something else
going on. I want to Iwant to mention this real quick. Okay.
So in the first one, likeEthan Hunt is on the run after
the first set piece, full timeokay. So in the second one,
he's a full fledged agent, youknow, not a rogue whatsoever, ghost
protocol you know, he don't theydon't have IMF backup. He's on the

(29:18):
run, So rogue nation again,IMF is is out and they're on the
run, and then you have falloutand um, like they're being watched but
they see I A and if hegoes crazy, then um, he'll be
taken out. So is there atime like is tuned normally like his movie

(29:41):
Too, the only time when EthanHunt is not on the run from his
own company. And I think theyfigured out that that's why Too had problems.
Is you need to have the youneed to have the hero have limitations
placed on him, and and thatis that is this movie. That's one
thing really appreciated about Ghost Protocol isthat like there are struggles every single is

(30:04):
it? Yeah, Like there strugglesevery single step of the way. Like
it would have been so easy,just like for him and Brenner again you
made me do it, Darren,for Brandt to go to the train and
then just do the retinal scan andthen go into the secret hideout. But
no, like the train was runningand they were about to get hit by

(30:26):
the pillars or whatever, and thenthey had to get in like like the
hand thing climbing up the windows onedidn't quite work. Like it adds to
the drama, It adds to thetension, and they don't have backup and
say they can't get different stuff.This movie sets that apart. It's kind
of like the falcon not working anempire strikes back. It adds to the
story. Yes, and because we'vementioned Brandt a couple of times, that's

(30:51):
one of those things where I thinkbird, I don't think anybody could have
really made this work quite right.But the one scene that I think really
doesn't work that very much, playslike a freshman monologue class, is when
Renner is giving his history of yeahhe is and what happened in the past.

(31:11):
I skipped that every time I pressforward that scene every single time.
That whole part of the story oflike tying back into the previous movies,
like that didn't need to be there. If that had been if they had
rewritten from the get go, Idon't think they would have had any of
that. We didn't need this othersidebar of him feeling like he is responsible

(31:32):
for Hunt's wife's death for ninety percentof the movie. We didn't need that.
Yeah, and McQuary tried to reworkthat apparently like that was one of
those things that was in there andhe couldn't take it out. But he
was the one who was responsible fornot having his wife be dead at the
end like he was. I mean, that was a great like they pull

(31:53):
it off, but it like likeyou said, it's a it's a freshman
monologue. It's it's I mean,that's the only thing that works about it
though, is the twist, whichthankfully you know McCoy was responsible for.
But that whole storyline, that wholeway to put there, they just have
wrinter cup in, Like he doesn'tneed to have that connection to Hunt,

(32:15):
just have him come in. It'sawkward, it's weird, and also the
first time I watched it, Ididn't understand it, Like I felt like
an idiot because I'm just like,wait, what was he doing again?
Like he was they didn't have himfor them because they were merry. I
don't know, it was weird.I feel like J if JJ had been
directing this, that we would haveseen black and white flashbacks from the previous

(32:37):
movie of Hunt and his wife,Like would have seen that inner cut as
he's talking about it, Like didwe not see that? I can't remember
that that wasn't in this movie,right, Okay, But I feel like
that's something that he would have done, Like maybe at a slightly off frame
rate or something like that, likejust to make it clear that this guy

(32:57):
has a connection. And it's likeyelling that Tom Cruise yo, nah yeah,
but I again gets you know,we keep saying this, but like
it gets back to bird. He'sgot to have such a bulletproof reputation when
he ushers this through and turns itinto a massive hit, and he's coming

(33:17):
off a ratitui where he did thesame thing and the Incredibles he's known for,
Like, this is one heck ofa calling card to have on your
resume. And I think that mosteverybody walks out of this thinking, boy,
that was a really good movie.I really enjoyed it. But what's
so fascinating to me about it isthe fact that he doesn't get tapped after

(33:40):
this, so like I would like, yeah, I was watching it this
time, Like, so why wouldn'tyou bring this guy back? He has
he has helped, you know.JJ Abrams arguably saves the franchise with three
by making it a respectable entry.The people enjoy their pleasantly surprised after two.

(34:01):
Now, movies didn't always make abillion dollars per release, kids,
so this movie budget one hundred fortyfive million makes almost seven hundred million.
That's a great return on an investment. So and he inherits basically a troubled
production and turns it into that hitwhere do you see? Like I'm sitting

(34:23):
here watching it, I'm like,where do I see the shortcomings? Where
do I see why they don't bringhim back for the next one? This
one? Where see it? Quiteland? So I just looked it up
timeline wise. So the next moviewas twenty fifteen, so that's four years
later. And the next film thatbrad Bird did was Tomorrowland, which also

(34:45):
came out in twenty fifteen, Sothat's what he was doing instead of this.
And I mean, I know we'llget to it more next week,
but I Tomorrowland feels like the here'sa blank check, you've done so well,
do whatever you want, and thisis the passion project that Brad Bird
wants to do. Now. Idon't true if that's true, but that's

(35:07):
what that feels like. And maybethat's why he didn't continue on Mission Impossible,
because he's like, I had threebangers in a row and my blank
check, so I'm going to doa Disney Tomorrowland movie Like I could see
him saying that one thing that didn'thappen during an interview, like way back
when this movie was released, orI should say after it was released and

(35:30):
its success and they were, youknow, like it was clear that they
were going to do a fifth one. A lot of people asked him,
like, are you going to comeback? And like he just kind of
kept it simple and he said he'slike He's like, eh, you know,
I think it's pretty cool. I'mparaphrasing. I think it's pretty cool
that they bring it in a differentdirector for each one, you know.
So it was essentially him. Itwas essentially him saying I had my run,

(35:52):
I had my time. Now I'mgoing to go do different things.
And he's a mission except for Incrediblestoo, He's not a sequel guy.
He's he does something new every singletime that he's that he's coming to bat
Yeah, and I know that.Christopher macquarie when he heard that in the
interview, he said, Jack Pott, yes, because you know, he

(36:14):
definitely takes over the whole franchise fromthis point forward and even works with Cruise
on Top gutt in Everick. Sohe's in the Tom Cruise business. If
anything Muy did Maverick, he was. He was a writer and producer on
it. I'm pretty sure, Ohhe was. Okay, writer and producer.
You're right, because I could havesworn that the director. He didn't
direct it. You're right. No, No, it was directed by Kazinski.

(36:36):
But I'm pretty sure that he wasa writer producer on it. Um.
Yeah, so he was. Yes, he was a writer producer for
Maverick. And he's the director,writer and producer for the next two Dead
reckonings. So yes, yeah,so's he's definitely. Well, once you're
in the Tom Cruise business, ifTom Cruise likes you, you you work

(36:57):
for a while, you got hemakes sure that he takes care you.
Yeah, takes care of his friends. You gotta respect that about the guy.
Well, let's let's jump to thebig set piece, I mean,
the tallest building in the world,the Burj Khalifa, and you're going outside
it. This sequence was man andso I'm trying to think so, so
John, you said you saw theDark Night treat teaser for right before?

(37:22):
Okay, so the last the thirdone, so that came out after Because
I'm trying to think of other likespectacle movies, around this time, and
like, I feel like this kindof just took the ball and went home.
It really did. I mean,he's he's because of Tom's physicality and
just the obviously there's you know,support wires and safety and all of that,

(37:43):
of course, but he is literallyon the outside of this building.
It is not like I don't aset in the backyard of some place.
I don't care what stunt wires you'reputting on me or anything like that.
You get me up on that buildingand you're like, so, we're gonna
do this with all these stunt wires. I'm gonna look at you and say,
no, we're gonna do this withgreen screen, and you're gonna get

(38:05):
helicopters you shoot really good plates.I'm not walking out the outside of this
building. You're insane, because goodLord, the height that you are is
it like I've done the curvature ofthe earth high, Like it is so
high. I've done the thing inthe Sears Tower or whatever it's called.
Now It'll always be the Sears Towerto me. Where you walk out,
yeah, Sears Tower, and youwalk out there and you're in that little

(38:29):
plexiglass thing and you look down andit's nothing underneath you. And I got
vertigo. Like I looked down andI was like, oh my god,
I'm gonna die, and like Ihad to get out of the clinching,
didn't it. Yes were recently inin Vegas and we went on the Stratosphere,
which is crazy high it is.We were on the hundred and eighth

(38:50):
story like, and we looked downand I'm like, oh, that that
was the mall we went to yesterdayand it looks like a toy, like
it is so so high. Uhyeah, I'm trying to it's it's taller
than the space Needle. It's tallerthan It's one thousand, one hundred forty
nine feet tall. It's it's crazyhow tall that building is. So yeah
yeah, So now if they is, but it's even taller if they strapped

(39:14):
stunt wires on, you would youwe walk around the outside of it.
No, I don't think so.No, you can. You can skydive
off it, but I would neverdo I would, Oh my god,
yeah I would. I would think. I would like if they had that
many wires and protections everything like that, I would do it. I would
have to be so And it's notjust the climbing, because there's the climbing
scene, but then there's the partwhere he like John McClane's himself on the

(39:37):
you know, with the hose downand he's like, my live's too short,
and then he does the jump spinand and I'm just like no,
no, no, no, butand it gets me every single time,
even though I know it's coming,It gets me every single time. And
this, again, I think isthe mark of a good good director and

(39:58):
and and and writer and everything likethat, of not quite making it and
hitting the upper part of the windowframe and going every single time, I
jump out at my seat going,oh, like, it's so effectively done,
it's so well cut, it's soperfectly sounded. Everything it's it comes

(40:20):
together so incredibly perfectly that like thatthat is. And the thing is it
gets you to buy in to theinsane things that he's doing. It's the
diehard principle where if you if youput dirt on his shirt and he gets
a cut on his arm, you'relike, oh, well, yeah,
okay, it's realism. It's realism. Yeah, he's not when it's like

(40:44):
somebody cracks his knee, he hitsthe top, and then it's like no,
what he should have done has beenlike pop and then he's gone.
He's he's up. But yeah,it's just like when his knee gets snapped
side way and he's like, oh, I'm limping, I'm limping. I'm
like, you know, you're notmoving anymore, You're not You're stream down.

(41:06):
They're screaming. Yeah. So duringthat sequence, um, apparently you
know, they of course practiced itfor months and they did it in like
an airplane hanger and did the wholeswing around and everything like that. So
you know, like Brad Bird's upthere the you know, some producers up
some producers are up there and everythinglike that, and you know Tom Cruise

(41:28):
is getting ready to do the jump, you know where he swings out,
you know where he does the diehard thing and swing out and everything like
that, and they're all like supernervous of course, and they're all you
know, wearing helmets and whatnot.And then Tom Cruise does the first time
he does it, he wangs hishead right into the into the window and
they all look at each other like, we are horrible filmmakers. This was

(41:51):
a horrible decision. What are wedoing? Why are we doing this?
This is stupid, and then youknow, Tom Cruise shakes it off because
he Tom friggin Cruise and then doesit a second time and does it perfectly,
and they're like and they all lookat each other going like, yep,
that's because he's Tom Cruise and we'renot. You know, like there's

(42:14):
honestly, and I know that peoplehave different problems, you know, blah
blah blah blah, but like TomCruise, he has only ever existed in
this film reality for basically the entiretime I've been alive. And it's one
of those things where his reputation iswell learned because he does not understand reality

(42:37):
the way that the three of usdo or anybody listening to this does.
He Like, there's one of thosethings where I almost think like he's like
Pinocchio, where if you turn himinto a real boy, he would freak
out and be like, huh,how does the world work? Like there's
some sort of like bubble he livesin that is all about Marx and production

(42:59):
and writing and everything like that thatI think that like a normal person wangs
their head on the window and they'relike, oh my, I gotta go
to the hospital. I gotta doall of those sorts of things. But
he's so programmed as I missed amark must redo that. I think there's
like almost like a part of hisbrain that's like, you didn't feel anything,
you have to get the next takeyou didn't And I think what's gonna

(43:20):
happen is after they rap on DeadWreckoning part two, his brain's gonna say,
oh, you're done. We gotdecades to catch up on bro,
and he's gonna like wind up ina hospital bed somewhere, like even in
rogue nation. In the next one, like he does a huge jump,
like a huge jump and then missesthe ledge just by a little bit and

(43:43):
shatters his ankle, but he kepton running and they were able to use
the take, yes, because hehad to get the take. And then
he collapses and it's like, okay, now you can tend to my ankle.
And then in the next one he'slike, oh, well, the
only way I can do this isif I learned how to fly a helicopter.

(44:05):
So I'm going to learn how tofly a helicopter. But going back
to to ghost protocol, like speakingof that stunt, he like the insurance
company said, we're not going toensure you for the stunt, and so
with Tom Cruise thinking, he said, okay, we'll fire the insurance company.
Then right, I'll answer myself yeah, and then got another insurance company
that would say, yes, Idon't know, I don't know. It's

(44:29):
it's it's so crazy. I mean, when you think about though, the
fact that this series becomes known fromGhost Protocol forward as the crazy stunt series
right right the spectacle, there's areason that, for instance, a lot
of people draw, not just me, draw comparisons between like Fast and Furious

(44:51):
Emission Impossible. They're they're both runningabout the same time. They're both doing
the same sort of like crazy overthe top stunts. But Fast and Furious
does exactly what I would do,which is, yeah, you can do
that with computers, right, whereasMission Impossible is a much more revered franchise
because it's well known and I mean, I gotta put the question out there

(45:14):
as much as possible. He's doingeverything, But is it really I mean
I think yes, it is infact that noticeable that it's not fake,
because like when the Kremlin blows up, you're like, you look at it,
You're like, eh, yeah,it looks like CG. Yeah,
that's a panoramic CG. Yeah yeah, and uh but well, I mean,
why didn't they go through the effortof blowing up the actual kremlin,

(45:35):
you know, like it's just like, don't half fast things, guys.
Yeah, I know, right,like go in for a penny, in
for a pound, let's go allthe way here. But it's, um,
it is something to be said.I mean, I'm I'm a big
defender of using CG. I don'tmind it. I like it, and
when it's done well, it's terrific. But this really is a testament to
the fact that audiences appreciate it whenthe real stunts happen. Yeah, you

(45:58):
know your your brain that you knowit or not. Your brain recognizes the
difference, and we can go onand it's just like how your mind can
recognize a CG character. Still there'slike those million tiny micro movements in the
face that we pick up on asreal or not. And it's the same
I think for visual effects that youknow, even if they're painting out a

(46:19):
safety wire or whatever, like wecan tell like this is this is real,
like and it's it's a it's thrilling, it's really thrilling. Um,
all right, as we as we'reround in a third in this movie.
Yeah, the the end like itdoes kind of get away from itself.
The plot is very much like,well, okay, we have to get
the code and we have to stopthe satellite, but we have to do

(46:43):
that. Like there's a lot thathappens in that third act, like it
is like go boom boom, boom, boom boom and um. And then
you have the parking lot or theparking garage scene, which I still think
it's hilarious where he's like, well, fastest way to get to the bottom,
buckle up and trust the airbags.I'm like, not world, that

(47:04):
was the safest option. Yeah,is like this is the guy who read
light green lights a fish tank toget away, Like this is this is
exactly what he does as somebody whorecently went through a you know, getting
rear ended. Um, I cantell you that. Just the way he
gets out of that car, I'mkind of like, uh, I don't
know, does it seems like he'sbeen kicked out? Remember yeah, it's

(47:29):
still yeah. And then in thefinal scene he's just walked around. He's
like, oh, yeah, he'shad time to heal I'm like no,
no, no, no, no, you're in traction for a long time,
bro, Like you're like hospital,there's a lot happening. Yeah,
do you guys, I mean slightsidebar, do you guys feel the French
Inspector Like did was that a lotof convoluting because like I got why it

(47:50):
was there, but kind of thinkingabout it, like it's a lot to
put in this side character that hedidn't really need someone who is also chasing
him down, like the bad RusianInspector. That's why I'm at the Russian
Inspector. Yeah, I was finewith it. I don't think wasn't terrible,
but it's just one more thing.Yeah, it was one more thing
that didn't need to be there.But at the same time, I don't

(48:14):
think it detracted from anything. Iguess the other fact of he's really passive,
Like nothing he does. I mean, I know he like handcuffs him
in the hospital, but really nothingthe Inspector does impacts Hunt at all.
I mean, I think that he'sa useful plot device, and I don't
have a problem with that per se. I think that he's a useful plot

(48:36):
device in the sense that he showsup at the right times to complicate a
situation so that Ethan can you know, get out of this. They're yeah,
yeah, that's true. Um yeah, and then you know, Benji's
really good at rewiring stuff and hyeah. And again, the end of
this movie is on a railroad trainjust going. It's like Benji's doing this

(49:01):
and he's doing that, and we'reseeing a missile literally come into reentry and
we're kind of, you know,hit the button. Mission accomplished, which
is just hilarious. Like I lovethat they they like fourth wall break,
like you actually said that, Likeit's because they know it's crazy. I
do love that that happened, becauselike it's so crazy that he said that,

(49:23):
and it's so jokey. It's sojokey. Us the Mission Impossible theme
right at that moment, and it'sjust yeah. But the thing is,
though, is that Mission Impossible moviesdon't know how to end. They don't
know how to end. This isprobably one of the worst offenders. I
know. I take that back.I take that back. Mission Impossible three

(49:45):
is the worst offender of not knowinghow to end, because like ving Rahim's
like, you know, air gunsin the sky and like they just show
his fiance, I am. Theykind of don't know how to end,
You're right, and like ghost protocol, everybody's there and they're just like fake
laughing, Like wasn't that a crazytime? We just add these died.

(50:07):
They totally could have died. It'slike, yeah, yeah, we know,
we know, we watch yeah exceptfor Zard Yeah, Like this is
a common thing in Mission Possible films, Like even in the first one,
like they end it with Ving rhimeson, like in him having a beer
at a table. You know,Like this feels weird, and I mean

(50:27):
the part where he goes into thesmoke and disappears as cool, But it
doesn't mean that you didn't have thatlead up scene of you know, Fisherman's
wharf like debrief, which is soweird. Yeah, it's you know,
I don't mind the debrief so muchas I think that the ending is an
animated movie ending of the hero walkinginto the cloud and literally disappearing felt a

(50:53):
little a little more animated than Lie. The Mission Possible does that a lot
though, Like in the first one, you know, the very end is
him on the plane and gets thenew mission, you know, and he's
watching the new tape, you know, like that's usually how they really have
the end piece where the next missionis always coming. Um. Yeah,

(51:14):
I'm trying to think how the show'sended. I think they literally just this
is like the era of like thefreeze frame, you know, like the
oh everybody, I really expected themto like all high five and freeze frame,
and then the credits were going toroll. Oh man uh and then
we kick into the the one savinggrace of the earlier movies with the rock

(51:37):
version of Mission Impossible, you know, playing you know. Speaking of the
score, I'm I'm going to goout on a limb here. I'm gonna
say that that I don't think thatGiacchino did a particularly exceptional job with the
score on this. I think hedoes fine, but I don't. I
don't enjoy his interpretation of the MissionPossible theme as much as some other conductors

(52:00):
or I'm sorry composers and conductors,but like its just something about it is
good but not great. And Imean, did you guys fall into that
same camp? I would say Ikind of have the same feeling. It
feels. Honestly, if I justdid a still down Mission Impossible ghost protocol.

(52:21):
It's the essence of what the showwas in story plot, pacing music,
but on a big movie budget.So really that I mean, that's
what the theme the score was.You had the main theme, you had
the little riffs like they had alot of little riffs like they have in
the show where they'll kind of havelike the secondary music playing. You had

(52:45):
the you know, the Middle Easternriff, and you had the Mumbai riff,
and the you know, the score. I mean again, comparing to
things like The Incredibles and even Ratatui, it's like it's night and day,
like it is not his best bestwork and it's not terrible. It's you
know, he's He's definitely been pairedwith bird a lot at this point.

(53:07):
But that's that's how I feel.It's kind of like TV show plus.
And maybe that's doing a disservice,but it's it. It kind of has
that vibe. Overall. Giacchino doesgreat work with scores in general. I
just didn't think that his style meshedparticularly well with with what they're going for

(53:29):
here. I think what you're sayingwhere it's uh, it's it's a little
bit television plus. I think thatworks as a criticism in the sense that
this feels like a score for uh, you know, like a smaller scale
Mission Impossible movie. Okay, right, yeah, Like it's not. It

(53:50):
doesn't like that radios thing moment.Yeah, it's it's kind of playing it
safe, right, Like I lookat what Lauren Bauf did with Mission Impossible
Fallout, and that's like one ofmy favorite Mission Impossible scores, and I
and specifically because I love how heuses the Mission Impossible theme in it,
and it's one of my favorite treatmentsof that theme, and so like I

(54:14):
would look at that, and Iwould say, if people are trying to
look for where my criticism is comingfrom, where the score is fine but
it's not great, Mission Impossible FalloutI think is a great Mission Impossible score,
whereas this is good. It doesits job, but it's not there's
nothing particularly outstanding about it, allright, any other things we missed or

(54:35):
will cover him in final wrap up? Bird I think made the right call
to follow his passion project after thisbecause I look at Ghost Protocol, and
while I enjoyed it and while Iremembered it, there's nothing. I mean,
the opening credit sequence is the onlyone where I can point to it
and say I see some brad Birdin here. The rest of it very

(55:00):
very much feels like a an oldschool movie in the sense that the director
didn't have a personal style stamp onit. Am I wrong in that?
Do you see any anything outside ofthat opening fuselit sequence where you see like
a brad Bird film, which ishard because his first live action Yeah,

(55:21):
I mean that that's hard. Thatmight be a little bit of an unfair
question because this is his live actiondebut. Like maybe after we see Tomorrowland,
I would say maybe he handles playfulness. I say, the little moments
that are playful, like like thefact that the you know, phone booth
doesn't fully explode and he's got tolike whack it like that. Just feel

(55:44):
that only Bradbird can do playful comedy. Like I'm not saying that, but
I feel like he Bradbird's also kindof a hard one to nail for,
Like you said, the overall likelook, because honestly, his strongest suit
is landing the dang plane and jugglingall the script rewrites and the casting and

(56:07):
the crazy stunts and the budget andall of that. Like he's just a
workhorse director. But I think,but especially what Tristan was saying, it's
like the first one after an animatedcareer. It's like, how do you
what is his live action style?Does he even have one? Like?

(56:29):
You know, that'll be really interestingto compare with Tomorrowland. I agree,
all right, your missions, youchoose to accept it. John, how
many how many prison rocks do youdo? You give? Mission a possible
ghost producol or any final thoughts?I will give it a four to solid

(56:51):
four. I enjoy this film.I don't love this film. I think
it's a little long. I thinkthat the opening and the ending are a
little clunky, and I think thatprobably they would not have been if they
didn't have the aforementioned sort of writingand production difficulties that we talked about.
So I would go ahead and giveit a solid four for the fourth entry

(57:14):
of the Mission Impossible series. AndTristan, how many Burge Khalifa skydives would
you give it for the fourth installmentof Mission Impossible? I'm with John.
I'm giving this a solid four.This is a great Mission Impossible film.
This is the beginning of the modernera. This is we have some great

(57:36):
moments, some great set pieces.You know, a clunky script here and
there I don't think. I don'tthink it's overly long, you know,
especially not compared to fall Out,which is thirty minutes too long. This
is out of the six Mission Possiblefilms that I've seen, this is number
three on my list. Yeah,though, this was a fun discussion because

(58:00):
we kind of got to touch onthis whole franchise in a way which we
don't rarely get to do unless we'redoing something special. Yeah, jumping in
on this one. Like I said, it's is probably one of my favorite
Mission Impossible movies. Yes, doesit have its flaws. It does.
Maybe a little bit of it isnostalgia lens is. I'm also going to

(58:20):
give it a solid four. Ikind of initially wanted to give it a
five just because it's like my favorite, but then the more I kind of
thought about, like, but thereare also some stuff that the next,
the later ones do even better,Like maybe it was so such a great
like offering after the first three thatwe were like, oh my gosh,
this franchise can be amazing, andlook what it can achieve, and then

(58:45):
it took it even farther. Soit definitely has a lot to say for
it. For ushering in this newera, but it does have Yeah,
I'm really kind of curious what acompletely one Brad from script to screen would
have been like. If he hadbrought in Macquarie and they're like, we're

(59:06):
gonna make a mission impossible. Ilove the show as a kid, and
we're gonna do it like that couldhave been really interesting. Obviously, you
have Tom Cruise's input and other youknow, factors, of course, because
he is the franchise. But sofour us all around for a mission impossible
ghost protocol. Next week on thebird House, we're going to as we've

(59:28):
asked for mentioned possibly Bradbird's passion project, his blank check as it was that
he received after Ghost Protocol. Buttune in next week. Mission accomplished,
Joined the Revolution, Joined the NetParty.