Could have been much better.

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2004)

For a mindless action thriller, it's not bad. Two casting changes would have made for infinite improvement, although they probably would have increased the film's budget by 25%. First, while I don't mean to belittle Jon Voight's abilities and fully competent performance, it just wasn't the same without Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. The second change I imagine any time I watch the movie is replacing Czerny as Kittridge with Leonard Nimoy as (The Amazing) Paris-- but changing none of the lines, save the names. Having a former underling be his current boss would have given far more substance to Phelps's motivations, and Nimoy's quiet competence would have made for a far more effective foil for the energetic Cruise. Go on, drag out this hoary DVD one more time, and try making the change in your head. If you've enough imagination to do this post-production edit with your mind's camera, you'll be amazed how much better the movie turns out.