Mission Impossible - The Fifth TV Season
Starring: Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Bob JohnsonStudio: Paramount
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Mono
Running Time: 60 minutes
DVD Release: October 7th 2008
Buy DVD:
DVD Review
The hit series Mission: Impossible? returns to DVD, featuring all 23 Season Five episodes! By the fifth season, the show's changing times meant changing crimes, as the emerging drug culture forced the IMF to spend more time in America, battling organized crime and drug czars. But the winning formula stayed the same: Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) gets his assignment, Barney Collier (Greg Morris) makes the required special effects, and Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus) supplies the muscle. And while Paris (Leonard Nimoy) has the makeup skills to become any character required, it's the team's newest member ? the gorgeous Dana Lambert (Lesley Ann Warren) ? who gives this season an added boost, and makes this set of Mission: Impossible? the most thrilling DVD experience yet!
User Reviews
Mission Impossible Season 5 - fun trip down memory lane - Rating: 3/5
It's fun to see the old episodes and the characters. It would have been nice to see bonus features - behind the scenes, interviews with regulars and guest actors, etc. I like the episodes where you get a glimpse into some of the characters' pasts - like Jim Phelps' home town, Barney's brother trying to expose criminal corruption, etc. Peter Lupus' character Willy is strangely absent from many episodes, replaced by Sam Elliot as "Doug", a doctor. Seeing Leonard Nimoy in action is always fun.
Good, but not great - Rating: 3/5
The 5th season of Mission:Impossible was good but far inferior to the previous 4 seasons. The main problem is Lesley Warren, who is cute but way too young and unsophisticated for the IMF. She would be replaced the following year by Lynda Day George who fit in much better with the men of the IMF. Also a problem was the lack of use of Leonard Nimoy who, in many episodes, had little to do at all. Nimoy has related in various books how disappointed he was with the show and how he couldn't wait to get off Mission after this season.
As others have previously said, the best episode of this set is "The Killer" guest starring Robert Conrad, a terrific episode.
As usual I continue to be amazed by the CBS/Paramount lack of retrospectives or commentaries on any of the Mission DVD sets. This is one of the few classics of the 1960s with the majority of the cast still alive: how they can continue to release these sets with nothing extra is beyond me.
Revamping the Series - Rating: 5/5
The first four years were a formula series with the same thing week after week. Few episodes broke from the formula and are generally considered the best of the series. This season broke the mold by eliminating the slower formats of the series such as reviewing the files of potential assistants, and the criminals were more local terrorists of the times such as rebel fighters to teenage crime waves. Leonard Nimoy appears in a number of episodes and only his voice gives away his ability to disguise himself to the average television viewer.
Among the highlights worth watching are "The Killer" with Robert Conrad as a hitman who makes decisions randomly using a pair of dice -- thus proving a challenge for the gang. "My Friend, My Enemy" has Paris (Nimoy) abducted in Switzerland and subjected to a procedure that turns him into a killing machine. His first target is Jim Phelps! "Homecoming" features Jim Phelps returning home and discovering one of his old friends may be a killer. In "Cat's Paw" Barney tries to avenge his father's death by bringing down the crooked police captain and black syndicate leader who had him killed.
Anyone who has watched the first four seasons can tell from the plots described that this is the season that makes the transition and revamps into a more hip series. Recommended.
Mission: Impossible The Fifth TV Season - Rating: 5/5
"Mission: Impossible" (the television series which ran in seven seasons from 1966 through 1973) is typical of its era and a lot of clean fun. This was the second TV season for Paris (played by Leonard Nemoy) and the first TV season for Dana (played by Lesley Anne Warren). Television and movies made prior to the 1990s have much less graphic violence and sex, and more worthwhile dialogue, characters and plots.
Usual Greatness - Rating: 5/5
This series was the ultimate gadgets and spy stories. There was a lot of thought put into each and every episode unlide the MI movies of today which is sad. With all of our technology I would have expected todays movies to take what the TV show started and improve it immensely. that has not been the case. The TV show,in theory, has the movies out done.
