Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Mission: Impossible 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the quasi-classic Tom Cruise Action film 'Mission: Impossible' to the UHD format. The disc replaces an aging Blu-ray which first released in 2007 with an MPEG-2 video encode and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. While this UHD adds no new extras, it does feature new 4K/Dolby Vision video and a new Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack.

Mission: Impossible 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

What a difference 11 years make. Mission: Impossible's Blu-ray debut wasn't exactly the stuff of format legend. Dull, flat, and wholly unimpressive, the picture lacked the cinematic yield its source material should command and fans were left with an image that bordered on the unwatchable, particularly as time passed and the format's true capabilities became ever more obvious.

Fans, exhale. Paramount has finally taken the opportunity of the film's UHD release to offer an image that is not just a massive improvement but one that's about as perfect as the 4K format, and some of this film's own source limitations, allow. Brian De Palma and Cinematographer Stephen H. Burum shot the picture on film, with many tight close-up shots, shadowy and foggy exteriors, dark apparel, slow motion, intensive visual effects, the whole nine yards. Whatever visual challenge the film throws the UHD format's way, it passes with flying colors. The image looks gorgeous. There's no mistaking its crisp, seamless cinematic bonafides. Grain can be a little heavy in select shots, but it's often very even, albeit well pronounced. It's flattering and gorgeously rendered. Texturally, the image soars. Intimate skin details, clothes, environments, everything is ultra-sharp and finely revealing. Basic superlatives don't really do it justice; this, and many of the other top 4K releases, really do require a new vocabulary to differentiate "great" and "excellent" from Blu-ray discs that are at the top end for that format (this film's 1080p release was not one of them). Needless to say, though, viewers who have long yearned for an improved release get it, in spades.

The 12-bit Dolby Vision colors are a great improvement over the Blu-ray as well. Whites are more intense and clean, flesh tones are far more balanced, and the entire palette enjoys a significant increase in color depth, vibrance, and yield. It's much more evenly presented. Nuances are spectacularly revealing -- a sunrise at 39:54 -- and large color swaths are handled with great care and attention to tonal detail. Green plants at a gala early in the film stand nicely apart from the white and black attire that populates the scene. City streets, red lasers, yellow firefighter gear, various essential colors in any number of locations, even those appearing on computer screens and other digital readouts, look amazing, and certainly far, far more refined than the comparatively dull and decidedly lackluster Blu-ray. The transfer's shortcomings are few. Several inherently soft shots appear throughout, various visual effects shots (and scenes, for that matter) lack the crispness of the image at its best, and black levels infrequently teeter on crush during the most challenging nighttime exteriors, but as a general rule perform admirably, with solid, intensive depth and complimentary immersion. This is a first-rate catalogue release from Paramount. Fans will be nothing less than ecstatic with the presentation, which is one of the finer on the developing, and increasingly impressive, UHD format.

Mission: Impossible 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mission: Impossible's UHD release does not include the film's soundtrack encoded in the desirable Dolby Atmos configuration, but the good news is that it does contain a 5.1 lossless track of the Dolby TrueHD variety, and it's a solid step forward from the Blu-ray's antiquated Dolby Digital 5.1 offering. Opening title clarity is much improved. The TrueHD track makes excellent use of the entire front side of the soundstage. There's not a lot of significant back channel engagement, but the dominant front side, the attention to detail, and the substantial low end output more than make up for it. The theme music blares again around the 56 minute mark with much the same excellence, featuring super clarity, wonderful low end support, and pinpoint instrumental distinction and fidelity. There some impressive one-off moments, such as a scene in chapter three in which Jack is caught in an elevator shaft with the big metal box being maneuvered about on its pulley system. There's a very strongly pronounced sense of claustrophobic, mechanical space in the scene as the elevator slowly descends or ascends, depending on the moment. An Atmos track certainly would have improved on the sensation, all but certainly creating a more tightly defined sonic space, but the 5.1 track does deliver the moment with all of the essential and nuanced elements necessary to bring it to life. On the flip side, a high speed train pursuit -- along its top, no less -- that also involves a whirling helicopter near film's end offers a very impressive sense of whooshing weight and movement that, combined with the music, delivers a substantial and very enjoyable burst of sonic energy that's the perfect compliment to the sequence. Dialogue presents without issue. An Atmos track certainly would have been nice, but it's hard to find too much fault in or disappointment with this 5.1 presentation.

Mission: Impossible 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mission: Impossible's UHD disc contains no supplemental content, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to that released in 2007, contains all of the extras. For convenience, below is a list of what's included. Please click here for full reviews. A UV/iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Mission: Remarkable -- 40 Years of Creating the Impossible
• Mission: Explosive Exploits
• Mission: Spies Among Us
• Mission: Catching the Train
• Mission: International Spy Museum
• Mission: Agent Dossiers
• Excellence in Film
• Generation: Cruise
• Photo Gallery
• Mission: Marketing

Mission: Impossible 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paramount has done a very good, but not perfect, job bringing Mission: Impossible to UHD. The picture quality is exceptional and a drastic improvement over an aged Blu-ray. Audio is boosted, too (though the absence of an Atmos track will certainly disappoint some potential buyers). No new extras are included, but the carryover Blu-ray offers plenty. A fresh digital copy code rounds out a fairly good package. Highly recommended.