Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Composer Explains How He “Reinvented” The Score To Embrace a “Different Side” of Ethan Hunt

Before Mission: Impossible was an action-packed franchise starring Tom Cruise, it was a television series that began in 1966. The films have taken a lot of inspiration from the show, but one of the biggest things to carry over to the films was the music. The Mission: Impossible theme has become iconic, and multiple composers have added to it throughout the franchise’s seven films. The original theme was written and composed by Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin, and Danny Elfman would go on the score the first Cruise-led film, which was helmed by Brian de Palma. Other Mission: Impossible film composers have included huge names such as Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino, Joe Kraemer, and Lorne Balfe. Balfe scored Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and has returned for the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. During a recent interview with Variety, Balfe talked about reinventing the score and teased some big changes for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. 

“There were certain things on bridges and certain relationships that come to an end. You see a totally different side to Ethan. You see someone who is protective and driven by different things, and that’s where that emotion came from,” Balfe explained. “I embraced it … That DNA is well connected throughout the film. It’s connected to Ethan’s theme and the main opening titles.”

“I went back and looked at [Russian composers] Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky and reinvented what was already there,” he continued. “It’s what the audience relates to and their connection with it, but it’s twisted differently … It was about taking that and delving into the emotional and tragic vocabulary.” He added, “I wanted to be pure and honest about what we were seeing and involve the local community … So, when they were filming in Rome, we recorded there. And we went to Vienna and found local musicians there … There are times when it warrants a small ensemble, and there are times when it warrants a global franchise.”

Balfe revealed, “They’re military drummers and it was as if I had found the missing piece of the score’s DNA … I started involving them in the score where it becomes rhythmical and percussive … It doesn’t matter about the size of the orchestra, it’s about how you use it.”

What Is Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning About?

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which premieres in theaters on July 12th. It’s the beginning of the end for the action-packed franchise, as Cruise reteams with longtime collaborator and filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie for more death-defying and breathtaking stunts. Hunt and allies Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) attempt to track down a new weapon with the power to tear the world apart. Actors Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales join the cast for the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which is set to wrap up with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.