This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at Mission: Impossible (1996) by Danny Elfman.
Danny Elfman’s score to 1996’s Mission: Impossible is certainly an unusual “blockbuster” action score, but I really dig its off-kilter funky approach and creativity. Elfman can be hit or miss with me and some of the slower tracks on the CD here (“Biblical Revelation”, “Love Theme?”) don’t really do anything for me, but virtually all of the action or suspense tracks are sublime in their individuality in today’s action film score landscape and even more thoughtful or dramatic cues like “Betrayal” or “Looking for ‘Job’” are very enjoyable (the former track a highlight because whenever Elfman turns on the vocal power I’m putty in his hands).
As it is an iconic starter film remake (from an iconic television show) to a now iconic film franchise, I thought I would revisit the movie and work in a CSB at the same time. The film itself, despite DePalma’s considerable talent, remains the weakest of the series so far for me, but I’ve never loved the score more, and I don’t mind that Lalo Schifrin’s main M:I theme doesn’t appear much. It does appear again in an unreleased cue, “The Heist Pt. 2” and sounds great, though.
The CD runtime is 52 and ½ minutes, and in film version of the score runtime is only a mere upgrade to 53 minutes. There is scant unreleased material to be found. There is an alternate film version of the CD track “Red Handed” that runs an extra 50 seconds and only contains portions of the CD track’s content, and there is an extended film version of “Big Trouble” that offers an extra 1:30 of unreleased material. When you factor in those numbers with traditional unreleased standalone cues, the total amount of unreleased content comes to 10 and ½ minutes. The total amount of known score written for the film comes to somewhere near 62-63 minutes.
A few CD tracks are edited for the film (“Train Time”, “Zoom A”, “The Heist”, “The Disc” and severely “Looking for ‘Job’”) as well.
Personally I wouldn’t say this score needs an expansion, unless there are unused or alternate takes that we don’t know about. Otherwise I think the current CD release is quite sufficient.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 52min 30sec COMPLETE SCORE RUNTIME (AS HEARD IN FILM): 53min 05sec ALL KNOWN ORIGINAL MUSIC WRITTEN FOR THE FILM (INCLUDING UNEDITED CD TRACKS, UNUSED TRACKS, AND/OR ALTERNATE FILM VERSIONS, WITH NO IDENTICAL DUPLICATION REGARDING FILM TRACKS & CD TRACKS): 62min 50sec
UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 10min 20sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
+ – previously unreleased (or includes previously unreleased material)
1. Sleeping Beauty (2:58) + – (extended film version; contains extra 0:30 of unreleased music) 2. Mission: Impossible Theme (1:03) 3. Red Handed (5:10) + – (alternate film version) 4. Big Trouble (7:00) + – (extended film version; contains extra 1:30 of unreleased music) 5. Akvarium (0:49) + 6. Mole Hunt (3:30) + – (extended film version; contains extra 0:30 of unreleased music) 7. Looking for ‘Job’ (1:53) – (edited from CD track) 8. Double Vision (1:03) + 9. Max Found (1:02) 10. The Disc (1:12) – (edited from CD track) 11. I’m with You (0:49) + 12. The Heist Pt. 1 (1:37) + – (extended film version; contains extra 0:20 of unreleased music; includes segment 0:00-1:17 of CD track “The Heist”) 13. The Heist Pt. 2 (0:54) + 14. The Heist Pt. 3 (3:25) – (includes segment 1:58-5:12 of CD track “The Heist”) 15. Uh-Oh! (1:25) 16. Biblical Revelation (1:30) 17. Phone Home (2:25) 18. Betrayal (2:54) 19. Love Theme? (2:18) 20. Train Time (3:40) – (edited from CD track) 21. Wrong Jim (0:41) + 22. Ménage à Trois (2:55) 23. Zoom A (1:06) – (edited from CD track) 24. Zoom B (3:05)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Sleeping Beauty (2:28) 2. Mission: Impossible Theme (1:02) 3. Red Handed (4:21) 4. Big Trouble (5:33) 5. Love Theme? (2:21) 6. Mole Hunt (3:02) 7. The Disc (1:54) 8. Max Found (1:02) 9. Looking for ‘Job’ (4:38) 10. Betrayal (2:56) 11. The Heist (5:46) 12. Uh-Oh! (1:28) 13. Biblical Revelation (1:33) 14. Phone Home (2:25) 15. Train Time (4:11) 16. Menage a Trois (2:55) 17. Zoom A (1:53) 18. Zoom B (2:54)
This is one of my personal favorite scores by the composer. I also would easily place it on a list of his Top 10 works.
I love the sound, the oddness, the use of Schfrin themes, and consider Zoom A to be one of the best things he's ever don*. I would easily buy an expanded score. I can't say the same for Silvestri's rejected score (though it has one good cue).
* = as a standlone. I feel Zoom B loses steam. It always annoyed me that the commercial score CD has it as one continuous play though in two seperate tracks. I wanted a proper fade out. I worry a complete edition will crossfade the cues.
It's definitely one of Elfman's best, and it's definitely coming out complete, but I wouldn't say it was urgent (twice!). His microedits were always so annoying, so it will be cool when it comes out complete, so we can jettison the eight seconds or whatever from the song album and Darkened Theater 2.
Well the only thing I can say with complete certainty is that it contains 0:50 of unreleased material and the film version starts out with the unreleased material. As far as when and where the two tracks deviate from one another, I'm not familiar enough with the content to offer up a detailed differentiation of the two versions.
As far as when and where the two tracks deviate from one another, I'm not familiar enough with the content to offer up a detailed differentiation of the two versions.
Isn't that the whole point of what you're doing?
The film track of "Red Handed" starts "in progress" but almost immediately contains a bunch of music Elfman edited out for the CD version.
Well, the urgency derives from having been waiting for almost 20 years for the missing bits
Indeed, in the film the opening is dialed out. I love that micro-edited part of Red Handed. Sometimes Elfman's album edits make sense, but in this case he made some odd decisions.
Well, the urgency derives from having been waiting for almost 20 years for the missing bits
Indeed, in the film the opening is dialed out. I love that micro-edited part of Red Handed. Sometimes Elfman's album edits make sense, but in this case he made some odd decisions.
Hopefully when it comes out complete, the album edits aren't retained like in Mars Attacks because the film tracks are just "filler music."
You also forgot about the soundtrack, which curiously features two sections that the score album had micro-edited out.
That's right... I totally forgot about that!
I agree this one could use an expansion (help us, LLL!). There are some micro-edited parts of "Red Handed" that I'd love to have, specifically the brief bit when the security guard asks to see an ID and Kristin Scott Thomas asks Tom Cruise, "Do you have someone on your staff named Jack?"
I thought I'd bring up this thread again. This film opened 20 years ago today and I shudder to think I'm now almost as old as Tom Cruise was when he made this movie!
I thought I'd bring up this thread again. This film opened 20 years ago today and I shudder to think I'm now almost as old as Tom Cruise was when he made this movie!
I realize there's only 10 minutes of music missing (barring other unused cues/alternates we don't know about), but I'm very excited at the news today that LLL is working on a definitive 2CD "20th Anniversary" edition!
From MV: "BTW, in case anyone was wondering LLLCD 1411 - Mission Impossible 20th Anniversary 2 cd set (yes, it was supposed to be released in 2016, but we are still waiting on a rewrite/interview for the notes). Maybe next year? frown MI2 - may happen some day. a bit more complicated. We have it all, just waiting on a legal thumbs up MI3 - with Varese MI Ghost Protocol - see above MI Rogue Nation - out now, may do an expanded version for the 10 year anniversary...if we are still in business. lol"
Agreeing with the OP, the "Betrayal" cue on here is a highlight of the soundtrack and of this whole period of Elfman's career. I think of these years as his second major period of productivity, one marked by a more mature and even darker sound than his early (also great, of course) stuff. "Betrayal" is of a piece with "Dolores Claiborne" and "A Simple Plan," and I always play it for friends who are curious what the big deal is about Danny Elfman.
Yeah, this score is a thousand times beyond any of the other M:I scores. I want every last bit he microedited out of the Point album! There's a vinyl version of Elfman's score coming out soon-ish, too.
