Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning 4K UHD Review

The Final Reckoning subtitle says the obvious – this is supposedly the last Tom Cruise-starring Mission Impossible movie. If that somehow wasn’t obvious though, take a drink each time a character says, “the final time,” or “last chance,” or “the end,” or “finish.” You’ll be drunk before the first act is out.

Outside of the spectacular and marvelously scaled major action scenes, The Final Reckoning spends an inordinate amount of time in its own mind. Flashbacks cross the entire series, connecting dots that were clearly never intended, locking onto the nostalgia for those moments, and uttering gobs of exposition to make it all sensible. It’s disruptive to the flow, and speaking so directly to the audience alone, it’s remarkable no one looks or points to the camera. There’s no reason they’d say most of this to each other given the circumstances.

The parts everyone watches these movie for? That’s where The Final Reckoning delivers

But the story was set up in the previous movie. A rogue AI begins to devour military systems, with Cruise chasing down the only way to prevent catastrophe. The Final Reckoning, after re-layering the overly complex twists in this saga in flashbacks, serves as only the final act. The storytelling becomes cautious, making sure no one misses how this ties into previous movies, even jumping back to the iconic ceiling drop and theft from the original Mission Impossible movie to find a key player in this thriller.

The rising expectations director Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise put on themselves are immeasurable, leading to a flight-based climax that’s utterly jaw-dropping. Before that, a trek to an underwater submarine disaster that find’s Final Reckoning’s star twisting in sea water, dodging floating torpedoes, and swimming through frigid ocean. Spectacle on a grand scale continued to be the hallmark of this series, and it finishes with equally impressive stunt and camera work. The returns don’t diminish in this rare case.

There’s relevancy too, pitching an unnervingly likely real world scenario as people wrestle for power over AI. The international scenario pitting nations against each other feels proper as well, a contemporary Missile Crisis with rational, well-measured people in charge to prevent this from turning into annihilation, even if all they do is speak in exposition too. The parts everyone watches these movie for? That’s where The Final Reckoning delivers.

In Dolby Vision, park brightness hits a satisfying tier. Not the brightest on the format, but enough to give lights, fire, and other elements some bite. The perfect black levels bring the offset, giving The Final Reckoning tremendous depth and pop.

The thin grain structure is barely detectable. Tremendous definition fills the close-ups with facial texture. Wide shots display dazzling, even brilliant resolution. The level of detail is impressive even for cynical eyes.

Equally splendid is the color, digitally graded for warmth but making that barely detectable. Flesh tones show life, and primaries remain bold. Note the presentation does use a changing aspect ratio.

Incredible low-end power is this Dolby Atmos mix’s heart. Explosions bring weight, rattling the room with the deepest tones a home subwoofer can produce. Jet engines launch from a carrier with nearly deafening strength. There’s a scene around 1:29:00 where Hunt enters a pressure suit, and the bass becomes a consistent signal to simulate his hearing inside. It’s fantastic. The sequence that follows, with a submarine falling from its underwater grave, contains some of the strongest bass possible.

Surrounds and heights see frequent use. It’s a wide soundstage, tracking planes and other vehicles in whatever direction they move. Gunshots pop from the proper channels, with their impact heard elsewhere. Rushing water convincingly fills cabins, while snow and wind rip across the channels.

Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie pair together for a commentary, the first of three. The second has McQuarrie, editor Eddie Hamilton, and assistant director Mary Boulding. Composers Max Aru and Alfie Godfrey join score producer Cecile Tournesac on the third. And, there’s an isolated score track, a rarity anymore. The other bonuses reside on an additional Blu-ray in the case.

A five-part behind-the-scenes featurette runs 17-minutes. Deleted footage offers optional McQuarrie commentary. A few promos and EPK materials after that and it’s a wonder why Paramount thought this was worth an extra disc beyond marketing.

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 60 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: