Mission: Impossible (1996)

Tom Cruise: Ethan Hunt

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Quotes 

• Ethan Hunt : [sitting in an outdoor café]  So, how does it feel to be a solid citizen again?

  Luther Stickell : Man, I don't know. I'm gonna miss bein' disreputable.

  Ethan Hunt : Well, Luther, if it makes you feel any better, I'll always think of you that way.

• 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?

• Ethan Hunt : [to Jim as both of them hang from the helicopter's landing struts]  RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT!

• Eugene Kittridge : [after Hunt's team was killed and meets up with Kittridge in an Aquarium/Restaurant]  I - ahm - I can't tell you how, uh sorry I am. I know how much Jim in particular meant to you, Ethan, personally as well as professionally.

  [slides Hunt a passport] 

  Ethan Hunt : Yeah.

  Eugene Kittridge : It's - uhhh - passport, visa, the usual drill. We'll work the ex-filtration through Canada, debrief you at Langley, throw the Prague police a bone or two, you know. Toss them a few suspects. You follow me?

  Ethan Hunt : [Muffled]  Yeah. I follow.

  Eugene Kittridge : I think we lost enough agents for one night.

  Ethan Hunt : You mean, *I've* lost enough agents for one night.

  Eugene Kittridge : You seem hell bent on blaming yourself, Ethan.

  Ethan Hunt : Who else is left?

  Eugene Kittridge : Yeah. I see your point.

  Ethan Hunt : Why was there another team?

  Eugene Kittridge : What?

  Ethan Hunt : Of IMF agents at the embassy - tonight...

  Eugene Kittridge : I don't quite follow you.

  Ethan Hunt : Well, let's see if you can follow me around the room. The drunk Russians on the embankment at seven and eight o'clock. The couple waltzing around me at the embassy at nine and eleven. The waiter standing behind Hannah at the top of the stairs, bow tie, twelve o'clock. The other IMF team! You're worried about me, why?

  Eugene Kittridge : Well, for a little over two years we have been spotting serious blowback in IMF operations, we have a penetration. The other day, we decoded a message on the Internet from a Czech we know as Max.

  Ethan Hunt : The Arms dealer.

  Eugene Kittridge : That's right. Max, it seems has two unique gifts: a capacity for anonymity and for corrupting susceptible agents. This time he'd gotten to someone on the inside, he'd gotten himself into a position to buy our NOC list, operation he referred to as job 314. The job he thought Golitsyn was doing tonight.

  Ethan Hunt : The list Golitsyn stole was a decoy.

  Eugene Kittridge : That's correct. The actual list is secure at Langley. Golitsyn was a lightning rod. He was one of ours.

  Ethan Hunt : [In disbelief]  This whole operation was a mole hunt. This whole operation was a mole hunt.

  Eugene Kittridge : Yeah, the mole's deep inside... and like you said, you survived. I want to show you something, Ethan.

  [Takes out a piece of paper and unfolds it and hands it to Hunt] 

  Eugene Kittridge : Since your father's death, your family's farm has been in receivership. Now, suddenly, they're flush with over a hundred twenty grand in the bank, your father's illness was supposed to wipe out that bank account. Dying slowly in America after all, can be a very expensive proposition.

  [Hunt takes out the exploding gum] 

  Eugene Kittridge : So. Why don't we quietly get out of here onto a plane. I can understand you're very upset.

  Ethan Hunt : Kittridge, you've never seen me very upset.

  Eugene Kittridge : Alright, Hunt. Enough is enough. You have bribed, cajoled and killed and you have done it using loyalties on the inside, you want to shake hands with the devil, that's fine with me, I just want to make sure you do it in hell.

  [Hunt throws the gum against one of the aquariums which destroys it, covering his escape] 

• Jim Phelps : [in a safe house in a Prague]  Any questions?

  Ethan Hunt : Yeah. Could we get a capuccino machine in here? 'Cause I don't know what you call this.

  Jack Harmon : I call it cruel and unusual.

  Claire Phelps : Hey, I made that coffee.

  Ethan Hunt : Exactly.

• Ethan Hunt : [over a pay phone in Prague]  They're dead.

  Eugene Kittridge : What? Who's dead?

  Ethan Hunt : My team. My team is DEAD. They knew we were coming, man. They knew we were coming and the disk is gone.

  Eugene Kittridge : Are you intact?

  Ethan Hunt : Do you read me! The list is in the OPEN!

• Ethan Hunt : [stopping Krieger from killing a guard]  Zero bodycount.

  Franz Krieger : We'll see.

• Ethan Hunt : [inside a compartment on the TGV, referring to stealing the NOC list from CIA headquarters]  Relax Luther, it's much worse than you think.

• Ethan Hunt : [inside a luggage compartment on the TGV]  You know, Claire was wrong about one thing, Jim.

  Jim Phelps : Oh really? What's that?

  [Ethan slowly puts on his camera glasses, Kittridge sees Phelps on his watch] 

  Eugene Kittridge : Good morning, Mr. Phelps.

  Ethan Hunt : I'm not the only one who's seen you alive.

• Ethan Hunt : [Narrating, as William Donloe enters the vault]  The terminal is in a black vault lockdown. The only person allowed in the room has to pass through a series of security checks.

  CIA Analyst William Donloe : [to keypad microphone]  William Donloe.

  Ethan Hunt : The first is a voice print identification and a six-digit access code.

  [Donloe types in a code and enters the outer room] 

  Ethan Hunt : This only gets him into the outer room. Next he has to pass a retinal scan.

  [Donloe passes the retinal scan] 

  Ethan Hunt : And finally, the security measures are only deactivated by a double electronic keycard... which we won't have.

  [Donloe scans his card, enters the vault, and logs in at the terminal] 

  Ethan Hunt : Now, inside the black vault, there are three systems operating whenever the technician is out of the room. The first is sound-sensitive. Anything above a whisper sets it off. The second system detects any increase in temperature. Even the body heat of an unauthorized person in the room will trigger it if the temperature rises just a single degree. Now, that temperature is controlled by the air conditioning coming in through an overhead duct, 30 feet above the floor. That vent is guarded by a laser net.

  [Donloe leaves the vault, security measures activate] 

  Ethan Hunt : The third one is on the floor and is pressure-sensitive. The slightest increase in weight will trigger the alarm. And any one of these systems, if set off, will activate an automatic lockdown. Now, believe me when I tell you, gentlemen, all three systems are state-of-the-art.

  [condensation from Donloe's drink drops to the floor sets off the alarm] 

• Luther Stickell : Reach your folks?

  [Ethan nods] 

  Luther Stickell : How do they feel?

  Ethan Hunt : About what?

  Luther Stickell : The apology from the Justice Department, VIP treatment. You know, the whole nine yards.

  Ethan Hunt : Well, my mom was a little confused how the DEA could mistake her and Uncle Donald for a couple of dope smugglers in the Florida Keys.

• Jim Phelps : Of course he knew. Just *when* he knew is something of a mystery. You mind telling me, Ethan? Was it before or after I showed up in London?

  Ethan Hunt : Before London. But after you took the Bible from the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

  Jim Phelps : They stamped it, didn't they? Those damn Gideons.

• Sarah Davies : [as Jack is trying to get the elevator to them]  Tell me, Senator, do you all have someone on your staff named Jack?

  Ethan Hunt : [impersonating Senator John Waltzer]  Jack... I believe we did have a Jack. An unreliable fellow as I recall. Constantly late, and behind in his work. I was forced to tie him behind one of my best stallions and drag him around my barn for a few days.

  Jack Harmon : Relax your crack, Foghorn. I'm working on it

• Ethan Hunt : [realizes Jim is the mole]  Why Jim? Why?

  Jim Phelps : [covering for himself]  Well, you think about it Ethan, it was inevitable. No more cold war. No more secrets you keep from yourself. Answer to no one but yourself. Then, you wake up one morning and find out the President is running the country without your permission. The son of a bitch, how dare he. Then you realize, it's over. You are an obsolete peice of hardware, not worth upgrading, you got a lousy marriage, and 62 grand a year.

• [last lines] 

  Flight Attendant : Excuse me. Mr. Hunt? Would you like to watch a movie?

  Ethan Hunt : Oh, uh, no thank you.

  Flight Attendant : Would you consider the cinema of the Caribbean? Aruba, perhaps?

  [Ethan gives a suspicious look] 

• Ethan Hunt : [to Luther,inside a compartment on the TGV referring to CIA headquarters]  This is the Mount Everest of hacks.

• Ethan Hunt : I thought I was going to see Max.

  Matthias : You misunderstood. No one sees Max.

  Ethan Hunt : Then what am I doing here?

  Matthias : Allowing Max to see you and hear what you've got to say.

  Ethan Hunt : I don't communicate very well through a shroud.

  Matthias : If Max doesn't like what you have to say, you will be wearing that shroud indefinitely.

• Ethan Hunt : [tied to a chair inside an apartment own by one of Max's friends]  The disk Job sold you is worthless. Bait. Part of an internal mole hunt.

  Max : And how would you know? Are you another company man?

  Max : Like Job?

  Max : We're asking about you

  Ethan Hunt : I'm NOC, Was. Now, disavowed.

  Max : Why, may I ask?

  Ethan Hunt : That's the question I want to ask Job.

• Ethan Hunt : Saved your ass again, Jack.

  Jack Harmon : Give me a break, Pops.

  Sarah Davies : Such a nice ass.

  Jack Harmon : And a lonely ass.

• Ethan Hunt : [talking in a safe house in Prague, referring to his previous mission he was in charge of]  Ahh, we missed you, Jim.

  Jim Phelps : Missed you too, Ethan.

  Jack Harmon : Were you on one of your cushy recruiting assignments again?

  Ethan Hunt : Yeah, where did they put you up this time? The Plaza?

  Jim Phelps : Drake Hotel, Chicago.

  [everybody "ooohs"] 

  Jack Harmon : Punishing. 24 hour room service?

  Ethan Hunt : Chauffeured limos? Man's getting soft in his old age.

• Luther Stickell : [inside a compartment on the TGV, referring to stealing the NOC list from CIA headquarters]  You really think we can do this.

  Ethan Hunt : We're going to do it.

• Senator John Waltzer : We were living in a democracy the last time I checked.

• Ethan Hunt : [to Claire]  Wake up, Claire! Jim's dead! He's dead! They're all dead!

• Jim Phelps : We're being ambushed Ethan. Abort! That's an order.

  Ethan Hunt : Negative. Golitsyn is on the move.

  Jim Phelps : No, dammit, I said abort!

  Ethan Hunt : Eye on the package. Jim, I'm Coming.

• Ethan Hunt : [after crawling through the ventilation tunnel above the vault just before entering the vault]  Krieger, from this point on... absolute silence!

• Eugene Kittridge : [Aquarium/Restaurant]  I think we've lost enough agents for one night.

  Ethan Hunt : You mean, *I've* lost enough agents for one night.

  Eugene Kittridge : You seem hell-bent on blaming yourself, Ethan.

  Ethan Hunt : Who else is left?

  Eugene Kittridge : Yeah. I see your point.

• Claire Phelps : [inside a luggage compartment on the TGV]  Just give me the money.

  Ethan Hunt : [quietly]  You've earned it.

• Ethan Hunt : [as he sees the bible on a shelf in the safe house]  Job 3:14...

• Ethan Hunt : [Entire conversation is on the phone]  The list is in the open.

  Eugene Kittridge : Calm down Ethan, look some and see me.

  Ethan Hunt : Wait, you're in Prague?