"Good morning, Mr. Phelps." (mini-review)

There are some movies that contain a particular scene that is, alone, good enough reason to watch the entire movie over again, and again. I've always felt that the Langley-computer-room segment from Mission: Impossible was one of those scenes. Who can forget the image of Tom Cruise dangling from the ceiling in a stark white room where any sound or temperature variance would set off the alarm? Especially the moment when his rig falls several feet leaving him dangling mere inches from the bottom, desperately struggling to ensure no part of his body, even a stray bead of sweat, makes contact with the pressure-sensitive floor.
And it was for that reason alone that I decided to watch the Mission: Impossible DVD on Saturday. I was especially keen to watch that particular scene on my widescreen television. Sadly, I was disappointed to discover that this particular DVD suffers from a non-anamorphic transfer. I really am going to blog about anamorphic DVDs one day, but this isn't it. Let's just say that while the movie itself was still in Widescreen format, it was not enhanced for widescreen TVs, meaning that instead of small black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, there were really BIG black bars at the top and bottom, and the picture itself was slightly squished. Imagine a picture image that measures about 42 inches wide by 14 inches tall. That's a rectangle roughly 3 1/2 feet wide but only 1 foot tall. Very distorted.

Anyway, to make long, boring, technical story short, I still enjoyed watching the movie but was disappointed in the transfer. And considering the movie is largely a visual affair, the poor transfer was significant.

And so, off I go to the internet to see if a new version of Mission: Impossible is scheduled for release any time soon.

(Frantic Internet search)

Sigh. Nothing yet. My guess is they'll plan some kind of special edition release when Mission: Impossible 3 hits DVD. So I guess I just have to wait.

In the meantime, there are other movies I can watch. Like X-men!

During my trip to EB Games my roommate picked up an X-Men game for the Playstation 2. We sat down to play it a little bit. A little bit turned into a little bit more. Then a lot. Then he got a phone call from his parents wondering if he was still coming over for dinner. Oops, missed that appointment. He quickly did the right thing; cancelled his dinner plans and kept playing video games with me.

Eventually we did have to eat something. And during our dinner we decided (well, I decided) to watch X-Men. I don't think I need to review the movie itself since most readers will have already seen it. Basically it's a really good superhero flick. Oh yeah, and it stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Shauna would have words with me if I forgot to mention that important piece of information. According to Shauna, Hugh Jackman = great movie. Fortunately, this is mostly true. Mostly...

I was just about to pop in my copy when the roommate advised that his version of the DVD (X-Men 1.5) contained a DTS audio track. Gasp! How did I end up with a non-DTS version of such a great movie?! Time to add another DVD to my wishlist.

Good times ensued. Loud explosions, great fight scenes, witty banter, and of course, super mutant powers. What more could you ask for? The video transfer was anamorphic too! Oh happy day.

Here's a fun assignment for a couple of really bored readers of this blog (Vince, this one has your name all over it). Who would win this showdown: The X-Men vs. Ethan Hunt and his IMF Team? Leave your answer, in essay form, on my desk by 3:00pm.

This blog will self-destruct in 5 seconds...

Top secret trivia for Mission: Impossible.
Highly evolved trivia for X-Men.