h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'Mission: Impossible' - the Film Series - A87937384
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read this entry before it self-destructs!

<BB<

Mission accepted

The opening two paragraphs are excellent - really set the scene of the contrast between the two versions. The only niggle is too many 'instead's.

"what differentiates the Mission: Impossible films' plots from that of other spy series? In a word – nothing." -

Is the 'Outside the plot...' sentence saying that although the plots are the same, there are some differences from other spy films?

I'm not quite clear about where Gulf+Western fits in - Cruise signed a deal with Paramount, not Gulf+Western, even though Gulf+Western owned Paramount?

"It is obviously not a job that comes with pension benefits."

In Mission Impossible 1, someone wanted to buy the stolen copy of the NOC list as part of the fake mission?

"Thandie Newon" - Thandie Newton?

"almost threatens to give the film an element of character development."

"the equivalent of robbing a bank, but for billions" - what does that mean?

Interesting about the role of women - because of being called out as misogynist for one thing, they are misogynist in another way... They are called out for that as well, tbough, as they fail the Bechdel Test... "While it is acceptable for the villain to punch a woman, the male hero must not." - is that because of issues related to domestic violence?

Superb Conclusion

Thanks for your suggestions and comments. You'll be pleased to know that instead of including instead I've deleted some insteads instead.

The 'Outside the plot' section was indeed intended to say that though the plots are interchangeable, there are some non-plot related differences. The biggest difference, of course, is that the lead character's name doesn't begin with a J. I mean – that's, well, revolutionary in the spy film genre.

I've tweaked the Roles for Women and bank-robbing sections too and simplified the Gulf+Western bit, so hopefully you won't get bogged down by unnecessary details when reading it now.

<BB<

Well tweaked - I especially like that you highlight how the series hasn't managed to pass the Bechdel Test once in 12 hours!

I think there's a audience for these nerd-takes on movies, with the lists and snarky nitpicks and all. Like the 'Mission:Impossible' film series itself, they're definitely not my cup of tea, but that's my problem.

This whole paragraph is bugging me:

'The original series had been created by Desilu Productions, a company formed by husband and wife team Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, famed for starring in television show I Love Lucy (1951-7). It is perhaps best known for Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-9). After the two divorced in 1960, Lucille Ball ran Desilu alone until 1967 when she sold the company to Paramount Pictures' parent company, who renamed Desilu to Paramount Television and Paramount gained the film rights to both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. In 1993 Tom Cruise and his agent Paula Wagner formed Cruise/Wagner Productions to co-produce films in which Tom Cruise starred. They signed an exclusive deal with Paramount which ensured that Cruise was in charge of the films Cruise/Wagner Productions made, giving him virtually complete artistic freedom, including the ability to do his stunts.'

I think the paragraph is just unnecessary.

1. I can't tell from this paragraph who bought what. The part about Desilu is unnecessary, and only serves to work in references to 'I Love Lucy' and 'Star Trek'. If you're not a corporate investor, who cares about all this?

2. The paragraphs before and after are about the themes and gimmicks in the movies. They work together perfectly well if you leave out the business part, which is boring, anyway.

3. The only possible information you could want from that paragraph might be, 'Tom Cruise's production company acquired the rights to the Mission:Impossible franchise from Paramount Pictures.' Although unless you have stock in the company, this is not interesting information.

I like the conclusion. Ties it up nicely.

Okay, farewell Lucille Ball and 'Star Trek' references - gone now.

<BB<

Much tighter! Good flow in your lead-up to the individual films now.

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Congratulations