Okay so the movie opens with Tom Cruise’s team—still technically Jon Voight’s team at this point—on a mission. In the midst of the mission, it goes sideways. They’ve been made. And Emilio Estevez dies, rather horribly. Knives to the eyes, baby.
Okay so the movie opens with Tom Cruise’s team—still technically Jon Voight’s team at this point—on a mission. In the midst of the mission, it goes sideways. They’ve been made. And Emilio Estevez dies, rather horribly. Knives to the eyes, baby.
This does two things: serves as a misdirect for Voight’s non-death moments later (we’ve seen one killing, we have no reason to believe any others are fake) but also sets the stakes for the whole series at “Anyone Can Die At Any Time.” Estevez was still a fairly big star at this point in his career; bumping him off puts everyone in peril at all times.
Anyway, it’s a little thing, but I think it matters.
I can't say I completely agree. I remember watching it in the theater and if I remember correctly Estevez did not event have billing. It seemed odd that a big star (he definitely was a name at the time) was in it and not mentioned. Immediately I was on guard for a cameo. I know this movie had mixed reviews when it first came out but I loved it. It was a thriller with a healthy dose of action. Since then MI movies have been about what crazy ass stunt is Tom Cruise going to pull now.
SPOILERS for the first M:I movie to follow.
Spoilers!
Okay so the movie opens with Tom Cruise’s team—still technically Jon Voight’s team at this point—on a mission. In the midst of the mission, it goes sideways. They’ve been made. And Emilio Estevez dies, rather horribly. Knives to the eyes, baby.
This does two things: serves as a misdirect for Voight’s non-death moments later (we’ve seen one killing, we have no reason to believe any others are fake) but also sets the stakes for the whole series at “Anyone Can Die At Any Time.” Estevez was still a fairly big star at this point in his career; bumping him off puts everyone in peril at all times.
Anyway, it’s a little thing, but I think it matters.
I can't say I completely agree. I remember watching it in the theater and if I remember correctly Estevez did not event have billing. It seemed odd that a big star (he definitely was a name at the time) was in it and not mentioned. Immediately I was on guard for a cameo. I know this movie had mixed reviews when it first came out but I loved it. It was a thriller with a healthy dose of action. Since then MI movies have been about what crazy ass stunt is Tom Cruise going to pull now.
Would this be comparable to Drew Barrymore's death at the beginning of Scream?
Yes though that ended up doing something slightly different in that it set EXPECTATIONS for that first person to die.