Mission: Impossible II Page #2

ETHAN:

(in the same tone)

You keep calling me Dmitri. You really

shouldn't.

Nekhorvich's eyes narrow.

NEKHORVICH:

You're not Dmitri?

With a lightning swift move Ethan breaks Nekhorvich's neck.

ETHAN:

- no.

He grabs the satchel.

ETHAN (cont'd)

(to Wallis)

Wallis, hold onto it.

Wallis slashes the satchel handle open, takes the satchel for

Ambrose. He peels off the latex mask, revealing SEAN AMBROSE.

ETHAN (cont'd)

Ulrich, pull the -

He tears off the vocal oscillator at his adam's apple, clears his

throat, now as Ambrose:

AMBROSE:

- pull the NO2 tank and dump it, it's potential evidence..

STAMP:

(the 'captain' into shot)

All done, chief..

AMBROSE:

(what else)

- right -

(kidding)

- don't go too far ahead of me now -

STAMP:

Not possible..

Ulrich has rolled back the carpet over an access panel just

beneath them that leads to the belly of the plane. Stamp pulls

back the panel, hops into the compartment below which is four

walls of electronic equipment. Stamp kneels and slides back the

floor hatch. The wind howls, puffs of cloud zip by beneath them.

As they descend into the belly:

WALLIS:

Checkpoint Charlie plus 30, altitude minus

two-zero-thousand. Airspeed one-seven-

niner knots..

AMBROSE:

It's that time. Go.

They don goggles and, with Ambrose in the lead,

the team leaps, one after another from the hatch, sailing off

into the sky.

INT - COCKPIT (DAY)

An automated voice repeats in an ominous monotone:

VOICE:

Terrain, terrain. Pull up, pull up.

The co-pilot stirs. He blearily rouses himself just in time to

see:

A mountain rushing toward him. As mountain meets airplane, the

frame is filled with fire, but when camera pulls back from the

fireball, it is in fact no more than a match head filling frame,

which ignited, lights a fuse..

The MI theme music kicks in, the main credits roll to:

EXT - FACE OF MOUNTAIN (DAY)

For a moment it might be thought part of the same range when the

plane crashed but when Ethan Hunt climbs into frame the angle

widen and titles down, revealing more of where he's come from

than where he's going. Aside from the fact that he's in the

midst of free-climbing what is easily a sheer rock face of at

least a thousand feet, there's the sunny picture-postcard view of

a lovely valley and pellucid lake thousands of feet below. Ethan

climbs out of shot.

WIDE UP ANGLE (DAY)

revealing the summit, a light breeze hitting the lichen and

whatever growth has a slender purchase on the rocky mountainside,

fluffy clouds overhead.

Ethan into shot. Despite the spectacularly precarious handholds

he's using to hang onto the mountain and his life, he appears

relaxed, engaged - for him - in the equivalent of busman's

holiday. It's leisurely danger for Ethan; one might almost

expect to hear Julie Andrews trilling 'Climb Every Mountain' on

the soundtrack.

Then a rock he's been grasping crumbles and Ethan drops about six

inches before he grabs onto the mountain again. As he hangs by

five fingers thousands of feet above the earth he doesn't seem

terribly concerned until he spots a helicopter.

It's materialized behind the summit and passes surprisingly close

just overhead, casting its shadow downward over Ethan.

Instinctively, Ethan flattens himself against the rock surface,

as if the copter poses some sort of threat to him. But when

its rotors whir it into the distance Ethan relaxes and resumes his

climb.

A HAIRY OVERHANG (EXT. MOUNTAIN - DAY)

near the summit Ethan departing from the vertical and is now

traversing the mountain with more of his back than his feet

exposed to the earth far below. He's clinging to the mountain

almost like a fly walking on the ceiling. When he reaches for a

handhold that will restore him to the vertical, he dislodges a

lizard - and manages to catch it before it plunges thousand of

feet to oblivion.

ETHAN:

Whoaa..

He pockets the lizard, climbs the overhang.

REVERSE ANGLE - SUMMIT

with Ethan's hand, then Ethan coming into view and making the

summit. He reaches into his pocket and releases the lizard who

favors Ethan with a stern reptilian stare by way of gratitude. To

lizard:

ETHAN:

You're welcome.

The lizard scampers off, then a low beeping sound at his back

attracts his attention. He turns to see the source of the

beeping, a small package in day-glo colors with a day-glo

streamer. Ethan looks to the sky where the helicopter is now

ominously circling back.

Ethan lifts the day-glo package and waves it in the direction of

the copter. With a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

The helicopter once again turns, banks and disappears. Ethan has

opened the beeping package and finds a pair of sunglasses.

ETHAN'S POV SUNGLASSES

First, a retinal scan.

ELECTRONIC VOICE

Identity confirmed.

SWANBECK:

Good morning, Mr. Hunt.

Swanbeck's face flashes onscreen. Over his introduction of Nyah

is a series of satellite photographs whose subject is so elusive

she never seems to give the camera a clean shot.

SWANBECK'S VOICE

Your mission, should you choose to accept

it, requires you to recover a stolen item,

designated Chimera. Essential to the

mission is the recruitment of a civilian --

a Miss Nyah Nordoff-Hall. She is a highly

capable professional thief currently

active in Spain.

A series of Nyah's 'accomplishments', i.e., warrants, complaints,

Interpol summaries of her various criminal activities, as well as

glimpses of the elusive Nyah circulating about Seville.

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