SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
Mission: Impossible is all about Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, but the franchise has built up a number of supporting players to help Ethan accomplish his missions. One such character is IMF secretary Alan Hunley, played by Alec Baldwin. Hunley is basically Ethan's boss, but that relationship was tragically cut short when Hunley met his end in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. It was an emotional scene, and not only did Cruise write Hunley's final line, but Baldwin recorded it on his iPhone and literally phoned it into production.
In Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ethan Hunt and his team must track down stolen plutonium while being watched by the CIA after a mission goes awry. There are lots of twists and turns involved, with some classic trickery thrown in for good measure, but not everything runs smoothly for Ethan. His team suffers a casualty in the form of the death of Alan Hunley. As Ethan knells closer, Hunley whispers his final words, "Go." Ethan then takes off for a lengthy and epic chase across London to catch Hunley's killer.
It's a pretty sweet final line to go out on, as Hunley tells Ethan to go to work, and the line was actually Tom Cruise's idea. In the audio commentary for the Fallout digital and Blu-ray release (via the Hollywood Reporter), Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie give tons of behind-the-scenes details about the making of the film. One of these tidbits is that Cruise came up with Hunley's final line.
Apparently, this idea came a bit later in production, and Alec Baldwin had to record the line on his iPhone and then send it to Christopher McQuarrie for inclusion in the final cut. Whatever works! Fun fact: while filming this scene, Tom Cruise couldn't walk that particular day, and Baldwin was overdue for double hip replacement surgery, so they had to film the scene with minimal movement from both.
You wouldn't be able to tell by watching the final cut, but Fallout had a rough production. The film only had 33 pages of script before it started shooting, so the story evolved throughout production. Filming also had to take a multi-week hiatus after Tom Cruise broke his ankle in a stunt. It wasn't always the smoothest production, but the result is a phenomenal action film that elevates every stunt.
The home release of Mision: Impossible - Fallout is packed with special features and includes three different full-length commentaries. The extras also include a deleted-scenes montage and isolated score track. The digital release is already available, and you can find the Blu-ray in stores on December 4. For more movie news and updates, be sure to keep it right here at CinemaBlend, and we'll update you as soon as that information is available.
