The Equalizer (1987) – Beyond Control, and Carnal Persuasion

McCall (Edward Woodward) and Mickey (Keith Szarabajka) find themselves back in the spy game in Beyond Control. Written by Coleman Luck it first aired on 14 January, 1987. Control (Robert Lansing) comes to McCall when a KGB mole is killed. To protect names, sources, and plans within plans Control has to work outside the Company…

Bridge of Spies (2015) – Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are always a winning combination as far as I’m concerned, and their work on Bridge of Spies just continues to confirm that for me. Using the true life story of the Abel-Powers incident, the pair take us behind the scenes of one of the major events of the Cold War….

The Apollo Murders (2021) – Chris Hadfield

Retired astronaut and national treasure Chris Hadfield delivers a fast-paced thriller with The Apollo Murders. It’s a look at an all too believable reality as the story follows the training, launch, and mission of Apollo 18. It’s made all the more believable because Hadfield not only knows his subject matter, emotionally and technically, using an…

Mission: Impossible (1970) -Butterfly, and Decoy

Phelps (Peter Graves) and his IMF team (with Willy (Peter Lupus) back) head to Japan in Butterfly. Written by Eric Bercovici and Jerrold L. Ludwig from a story by Sheldon Stark, it first aired on 31 October, 1970. There’s some uncomfortable things that go on in this episode as the characters pose as various Japanese…

Mission: Impossible (1967) – Snowball in Hell, and The Confession

Ricardo Montalban (!) guest stars in Snowball in Hell, the first mission I accept this week as I continue my exploration of Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray, available now! Written by Judith and Robert Guy Barrows, this episode first debuted on 18 February, 1967, and featured new IMF photos for both Barney…

Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Legacy, and The Reluctant Dragon

Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray continues to entertain as I explore more of the first season of the iconic season. First up this week is The Legacy, written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, it debuted on 7 January, 1967. Dan (Steven Hill) and his IMF team, including Rollin…

The Man From Barbarossa (1991) – John Gardner

James Bond is back in John Gardner’s eleventh outing with the secret agent. And it was going to happen sooner or later. I just couldn’t get into this one. While I love the idea of tying Bond in with the real political landscape of the early 90s with events that would lead up to the…

Mission: Impossible (1966) – Pilot, and Memory

Your mission, should you choose to accept it… This week I begin my travels with the original Impossible Mission Force, as I explore The Complete Series on blu-ray available now from Paramount Pictures. The series originally debuted on 17 September, 1966 with the Pilot episode written by the series creator Bruce Geller. We are introduced…

Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series – Blu-Ray Review

Seven seasons of classic television come to blu-ray this week. You’re mission should you choose to accept it, and you know I’m going to, is to work my way through each and every mission and delight in the (re)discovery of this classic television show. The stylish series collection box set debuts from Paramount Canada today,…

Topaz (1969) – Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock takes on Leon Uris’ novel Topaz in this film adaptation of the same name. It’s not quite on the level of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller, but the subject material, centring around the Cuban Missile Crisis and a Russian spy ring within the French intelligence community is pretty engaging stuff. Unfortunately, for me, it ended…