20 Declassified Facts About The Mission: Impossible Series
Why'd it cause a bomb scare? And why can't you see the "bikinis and nuns" scene?
Like the spies they can portray, filmmakers are all about making the impossible seem easy, almost magical, doing all their obsessive labor in secret. A lot of work went into the making of the Mission: Impossible films, which might make up the most dangerous blockbuster franchise of this century, at least if you're Tom Cruise, who takes bigger and bigger physical risks with every instalment.
The fifth of those, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation has just hit cinemas to surprisingly great critical reception (well over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and robust ticket sales (at last report, it was on its way to a $50 million weekend). With that sort of reaction, the sixth - which was already tentatively heading into production - is an inevitability, presumably to the dismay of Cruise's insurance company.
Heighten your appreciation of the spy series, and impress your friends, with these fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbits about the high-octane, narrative-heavy franchise.
20. M:I3 Used The Smallest Real-Life PC
About 43 minutes into Mission: Impossible 3, Ethan pulls an OQO personal computer out of a dummy Bible. When the movie came out (2006), Guinness World Records had named the OQO, slightly larger than a BlackBerry, as the smallest fully functional PC. Its slogan, "Anytime/Anywhere Productivity," seems like something Ethan would appreciate.
Breaking records isn't a guarantee of long-term success, however. By April 2009, OQO was deader than Betamax, having been acquired by a rival and then shut down altogether. And its record has long since been broken. Though Guinness won't confirm, Intel now claims to have the smallest functioning PC. It's about four inches long, or about the size of a five-pack of chewing gum.