Mission: Impossible

Factual error: The vents that Hunt and his sidekick crawl down at CIA Headquarters are standard galvanized steel box vents; they are very common in the building trade. Try walking or crawling down one - you'll make a noise like the sky is falling down. People will be able to hear you for miles. Every person in that building would know somebody crawling about in the vent system. (This error applies to dozens of films, not only this one).

Factual error: CIA headquarters in Langley has its own firefighting unit and never, ever calls for outside help. In fact it is official CIA policy that they would rather have a building and its contents burn to the ground than allow unauthorised access by firefighters they know nothing about.

Factual error: When the helicopter blows up, the train stops dead in its tracks almost instantly. A high-speed train like the TGV needs more then two miles to come to a complete stop from its top speed, or at least from the speed it's traveling at. And a Little Bird attached to it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.

Friso94

Factual error: The train is a French TGV, these do not operate in the UK (not to date anyway) The Channel Tunnel passenger train is the Eurostar.

Factual error: In the scene where the helicopter is being flown into the tunnel, sparks can be seen on the far tunnel wall, where the rotors have hit it. No helicopter can keep flying in a straight line after the rotors have collided with a solid object in this way.

Plot hole: In the air vent, we see a rat. Wouldn't rats in the vents set off the alarms on a regular basis, because the lasers were on the upper side of the vent?

Continuity mistake: Besides the fact that during the final action sequence it is impossible for two trains to occupy the same tunnel, how is it that the blades of the helicopter attached to the first train don't strike the second? Tight fit.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Ethan is in the NOC list room Krieger starts to drop him and Ethan is hanging there for a little while. Suddenly some sweat starts to drip down his glasses and he catches the drop with his hand. If you look at how close he is to the floor this move would be impossible.

Factual error: When Ethan is lowered into the computer room at Langley, he is dropped and nearly lands on the pressure-sensitive floor. When an object moves through the air, it pushes the air in front of the object. As the floor sensors were set so high that a drop of water was sufficient to set an alarm off, the air displaced during Ethan's fall would have triggered them too.

Continuity mistake: The train is electric, supplied by overhead cables, which do not appear to be present at any time. If it was a Eurostar then it could use 3rd rail pick-up but it wouldn't be going so fast, but that's academic; its not a Eurostar and no 3rd rail is visible either.

Factual error: The Channel Tunnel tracks run through separate tunnels, one going to France, one going to Britain, so trains don't pass in the tunnel as they do in the film.

Continuity mistake: When Tom goes to the restaurant to meet with Henry Czerny, the plants in the aquarium are noticeably different after he goes inside.

Plot hole: There is no reason whatsoever for Jim to have brought the bible from the hotel with him. Max says that Job never quotes scripture in his messages, so he has no reason to bring the bible. The only biblical reference is job 3:14, and that is simply a phrase to remember: having the bible with you will not help you remember it in any way.

swordfish

Factual error: Liverpool Street Station is shown as more or less deserted in the hours of daylight. The only way this could be achieved in real life is by phoning in a bomb threat.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It's night. After Ethan sees that his parents have been arrested, he walks out in the streets, and it's dark outside. Several shots later the big clock in the station is shown, and you can see that it's about 11pm.

This validates the entry rather than correcting it. If it is 11.00 pm the pubs have just closed and Liverpool Street Station would be heaving. This is true of any mainline station in London - as well as the fast food restaurants associated with them. Any Londoner knows that.

Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, Ethan drops his mask. His hair looks flat and wet. At the next shot it's dry and up. (01:34:20)

Factual error: The train is running on the right-hand track, but in the UK and France trains run on the left-hand side.

Revealing mistake: When Ethan uses the magnetic screwdriver to undo the screws holding the grille to the air-vent in the NOC list room, the spindle that is actually turning the screw is visible after it falls out.

Other mistake: The version of the Bible which Jim Phelps supposedly got from the Gideons at the Drake Hotel was a New International Version (NIV). The Gideons International distributes only the King James Version (KJV) or the New King James Version (NKJV).

Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when Ethan and Luther are sitting at the pub, just after the cheers/here's to you speech, Luther said "Hey, I'm flavour of the month" and brings his glass up to his lips for a drink. In a split second cut to a wide shot facing Luther his glass is on the table, and there are only two glasses on the table as established in a wide shot where Ethan says, "I'd better go catch my flight."

Ethan Hunt: Can I ask you something, Kittridge? If you're dealing with a man who has crushed, shot, stabbed, and detonated five members of his own IMF team, how devastated do you think you're gonna make him by hauling Mom and Uncle Donald down to the county courthouse?

More quotes from Mission: Impossible

Trivia: Director Brian De Palma reportedly had creative difficulties with Tom Cruise, who was also a producer and thus had final say in the decisions made during production. While this has been disputed, many have noted the fact that De Palma did very little press for the film (including "politely excusing" himself from scheduled media interviews at the last moment) and never took up an offer to record an audio commentary for the film as evidence.

More trivia for Mission: Impossible

Question: Did Ethan actually know it was a mole hunt to trap Jim, or was he oblivious until he worked it out at the train station?

Answer: Ethan never thought it was a mole hunt to trap Jim. He found out from Kittridge at the restaurant that it was a mole hunt, but Kittridge believes that Ethan is the mole (the money his parents mysteriously receive). At the station Ethan realises that Jim must be the mole since it is too convenient both he and his wife survived. However, the hunt to catch the mole was never directed at Jim - Kittridge never suspected him until at the end when he sees Jim alive.

swordfish

Actually had suspicions before Jim showed up. Ethan found the Bible that was stamped from the Drake Hotel. Where Jim had literally just come back from before the mission. It made no sense otherwise why that would be in Jim's possession.

More questions & answers from Mission: Impossible

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