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.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Jean Reno, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, Henry Czerny, Emmanuelle Béart
Jim Phelps (Voight) finds Ethan at the trian station in London and tells him that Kittridge is the mole. Ethan pretends to believe him but he actually has got it all figured out (that Phelps faked his own death and killed the rest of the team) and tells Phelps about the exchange on the trian so he will turn up. On the train Ethan gives Max the NOC list and Luther sends a jamming signal so she can't send it. Meanwhile Ethan (disguised as Phelps) tests Claire to see if she knew about all of what happining. It turns out she knew about Phelps and Ethan reveals himself. Phelps then comes out with a gun and is busted when Ethan puts on the camera glasses and then Phelps shoots claire, killing her. He goes on the roof of the trian to be picked up by Kriger(Reno) in a chopper. (Who now we know works for Phelps). Ethan attaches the chopper to the trian and Phelps jumps on the chopper. So does Ethan and he sticks the explosive gum on the chopper killing Kriger and Phelps. Max is busted by Kittridge and Luther and Ethan and let back in to IMF.
More mistakes in Mission: Impossible
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?
Trivia: An early draft of the script was set to feature several characters from the original series all being killed off to raise the stakes for the new characters. The producers wanted to bring back as many of the original actors as possible. All declined, as they felt it was disrespectful to the original series. As a result, only the character of Jim Phelps was brought back, albeit as a surprise villain and not a hero.
Question: Why did Claire return to Ethan? Jim must have sent her but why? Ethan had been framed, why send Claire to potentially expose herself to IMF if found? Is it because: Max receives mail from Ethan, immediately contacts Job to say "What the hell man someone claims you sold me junk!" Now Job/Jim knows he didn't deliver the actual list so he already plans to have Ethan steal the real one for him. Or is that too far fetched?
Answer: Sending Claire back to Ethan was a daring ploy to get on the inside of Ethan's confidence. It made no sense and was the least likely thing Claire would do if she was part of Jim's plan. Ethan could have killed her, but the ploy worked and Ethan was confused enough to let her live.
But why? Jim sells the list to Max and rides off into the sunset with Claire, or so he intends to. What does he gain from having someone on the inside initially? Ethan is screwed, Jim doesn't need to get all the juicy details of how he goes down. Later on it's beneficial for him to have Claire in place there, but initially it makes no sense. Before Ethan formulates any plan and before Max finds out the list is bad.
Jim knew the first NOC list was bad but used the failed raid as an opportunity to kill off a number of IMF agents who might otherwise thwart his plans. Jim still needed Ethan to procure the real NOC list, but this time using a reduced team that contained 2 moles (Claire and Franz). Jim knew that Ethan was the most capable agent, but wanted him under close scrutiny by Claire and Franz.
He knew it was bad? Then why did he give it to Max anyway? If Ethan hadn't warned her she might have been caught by Kittrdige. Are you saying Jim foresaw everything, I mean everything that Ethan would do? He went through with the embassy raid knowing it was a mole hunt in advance, knowing Ethan would later get the real one for him? What if Ethan had gone with Kittridge in the restaurant? I mean it's unlikely, but this whole scenario sees Jim leaving sooo much to chance. I find it more plausible that he did think he was getting the list in Prague and then adapted to the situation to use Ethan to get the real one. I mean if he really knew the list wasn't in Praque he could have saved himself the trouble and just hire a couple of disavowed agents to do the Langley job himself, just like Ethan did. He had Claire, Krieger and Luther. Yeah no Ethan, but I mean I'm sure he could have found someone else who is capable.
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Answer: Jim has not been paid (at least in full) yet. This is revealed in the conversation Ethan has with Max in the car. Payment was conditional on the disk passing all her safety checks, which she had not done yet (she had not even looked at it yet). There is no way Jim knew the NOC list was junk at this point in time. However, since Jim has not been paid yet for the NOC list, he might have been trying to play it safe, and have Claire just keep tabs. If things don't go as planned, he might have left Claire as she was expendable to him. Also it is unlikely Max contacted Jim (Job) to ask about the email from Ethan (pretending to be Job). Max at this point believes the two are the same person. She simply invites Job to come in and discuss further.