Mission: Impossible 7 accused of ripping off decades-old PlayStation game
It seems it's not as 'impossible' as you'd think to get to the top of the box office, as Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is storming the charts and breaking records as the highest-rated movie in the franchise's 27-year history.
Tom Cruise is back in action as Ethan Hunt, pulling off some death-defying stunts and delivering another high-adrenaline outing for Mission: Impossible's seventh movie. The trailers spoiled the surprise ahead of time, but things culminate in a thrilling action scene aboard the Orient Express. Still, doesn't it look a little familiar?
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One accused of ripping off Uncharted 2
For those who can't see the comparisons, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One's train scene shares more than a few similarities with 2009's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Naughty Dog's hit game features a similar scene where Nathan Drake catches up to Lazarević's train and ends up hanging off a cliff.
Geoff Keigley picked up on it, and while the Game Awards host didn't name Uncharted 2, it's pretty clear to see what he was referring to. Keighley wasn't alone in his musings, with another user adding, "The second I saw this scene I was thinking they are really doing the Uncharted 2 train scene."
It's possible that Cruise and McQuarrie were somewhat inspired by Uncharted 2, as someone else concluded, "Tom Cruise is a big Uncharted fan. I remember he said the Mummy airplane sequence was inspired by Uncharted 3." Then again, Uncharted 2 doesn't own the rights to every train scene.
Someone wasn't impressed with the connection, adding, "I mean Uncharted wouldn't exist without Indiana Jones and The Mummy and 200 other action adventure movies so it's weird to even point out." Remember, it was only recently that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny pulled off a similar train stunt (albeit with Nazis).
Plenty of others pointed to similarities between Dead Reckoning and Jurassic Park: The Lost World's iconic bus scene. Elsewhere, Wanted, Extraction 2, and even the OG Mission: Impossible have all included daring train stunts similar to Dead Reckoning Part One.
Will there be another Uncharted game?
Click to enlargeIf you're wondering whether Naughty Dog will return the favour and have Drake scaling the Burj Khalifa to honour Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, we wouldn't bet on it. Although a mythical Uncharted 5 was leaked in 2022, Naughty Dog itself has thrown cold water on the idea of more adventures.
Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann has said, "we're moving on," from Uncharted, and even if that doesn't necessarily mean someone else can't pick up the reins, it's not a positive sign. By the looks of it, Druckman and co. are all-in on The Last of Us Part 3, so we might have to get our Uncharted fix elsewhere. Like the M:I movies.