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"Mission Impossible" Cable Drop: Difference between revisions
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[[File:mission-impossiblecabledrop.jpg|link=Mission Impossible (film)|frame|Extreme data entry!]]
The [[Stock Parodies|commonly spoofed]] scene for which everyone remembers [[The Film of the Series]] of ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]'' is when [[Tom Cruise]] hacks a CIA computer while dangling horizontally from two cables in a room [[Laser Hallway|full of lasers]]. It was an homage to a similar scene in the 1964 film ''Topkapi''. Now a must whenever there's a spy episode in a show.
See also [[Fast Roping]].
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* The scene has been parodied countless times, and even [[Dead Horse Trope|continues to be]], by advertisers, particularly for dandruff shampoo, deodorant or muscle relaxant.
** As of early 2014, Progressive Insurance is dropping their spokesperson "Flo" into offices via cables to deliver product to customers.
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', in order to test the museum's security, Janine uses her Weezing's smoke to reveal the lasers then lowers herself with her Ariados's thread to steal the museum display.
▲== Anime & Manga ==
▲* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', in order to test the museum's security, Janine uses her Weezing's smoke to reveal the lasers then lowers herself with her Ariados's thread to steal the museum display.
== Film ==
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** And later parodied in ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]''.
* The ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' [[The Film of the Series|movie]] did it, too, with a sound-sensitive alarm.
* This trope predates ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]'', the original ''[[Pink Panther]]'' movie uses a variant.
* ''[[Topkapi]]'', as stated above.
* Inverted in ''[[Nine to Five|9 To 5]]'', where rather than anyone hanging from wires to ''avoid'' triggering a trap, the rebellious secretaries rig up a remote-control cable harness for their kidnapped boss, which will reel him up to the ceiling ''as'' a trap if he tries to escape.
* There's a variation of this in the ''[[Boondock Saints]]'', with the protagonists falling though the ceiling accidentally, getting tangled in their rope... and killing everyone in the room as they spin about upside down.
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' gives a [[Shout-Out]] to this early in the film.
* In ''[[Tangled]]'', this is how Flynn steals the crown at the start of the film.
* In ''[[Spice World]]'', Mel C is introduced doing a drop to a [[wikipedia:Subbuteo|Subbuteo]] table and making a half-field shot.
* Done by super-agent Finn McMissile in ''[[Cars 2]]''.
* Done ''without the cables'' in ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]] and the Order of the Phoenix'', when Harry and company infiltrate the Ministry of Magic's prophecy holding room towards the climax of the movie. Rather than being lowered, they're ''falling'' down a chasm and using their magic to stop themselves harmlessly above the floor in this fashion.
* ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol]]'' re-enacts the scene, but with magnets taking the place of the cable, and with a spinning fan blade in place of the lasers.
** For that matter, it's been paid homage in every Mission Impossible sequel to date.
== Literature ==
* Darktan in ''[[
== Live
* Half-parody in the first promos for the TV show ''[[Chuck]]'', in which Sarah would drop down successfully while Chuck would start spinning in place and get told to "Tense your abs!"
** Also played (relatively) straight in "Chuck vs. The Mask"
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* Used in episode six of the third season of ''[[Primeval]]'' when Danny Quinn is testing the security systems at the Anomaly Research Center.
* Parodied in season six of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' when Andrew drops down to steal a diamond, only to have Warren and Jonathan stroll into the museum without issue. Played straight when the Scoobies break into the Mayor's office in season three; Buffy is the one lowered down on the harness to steal the [[MacGuffin]]. When the alarms go off however, the pulley jams and Angel has to jump in and save her.
* In an episode of ''[[
* Parker's trademark maneuver on ''[[Leverage]]'' is to jump off the side of buildings and lower down on a cable, instead of doing this on the inside. She then goes in through the window. No one but Parker is crazy enough to do it willingly, though they are often forced to anyway.
* In the ''[[Father Ted]]'' Christmas Special, Father Todd Unctious uses one of these to attempt to steal Father Ted's Golden Cleric Award. It breaks partway through, leaving him hanging helplessly in full view of [[The Ditz|Father Dougal]], who fails to notice him anyway...
* Parodied in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIujtsgIyRw opening credits] of ''[[The Chaser's War on Everything]]''.
* During the video for
▲== Music Videos ==
▲* During the video for [[Lindsey Stirling (Music)|Lindsey Stirling]]'s performance of the ''Mission Impossible'' theme with [[The Piano Guys (Music)|The Piano Guys]], Stirling is dropped by a cable to change the sheet music being played by a pianist.
== Video Games ==
* Parodied in, of all places, ''[[Duke Nukem]] 3D: Atomic Edition''. Duke is breaking into the CIA and has to drop into a room modeled on this scene. Since Duke is very unsubtle, you just drop right in and shoot the <s>guards</s> mutant aliens who respond.
** Or use the jetpack to slowly lower yourself down. The room is worth taking a safe look at too, using this method, as they went to an impressive amount of detail for the reference - not only is there a knife stuck in the table, but there's a garbage can full of puke on the floor!
* The second ''[[Thief]]'' had a medieval-tech version, with ropes that could be attached to the ceiling beams and shimmied down. In the penultimate mission, it's the easiest<ref>if you don't count turning off the security, but that's no fun</ref> way to retrieve the masks, which are guarded by a pressure-sensitive floor with [[Deadly Gas]].
* ''[[Call of Duty]]: [[Modern Warfare]] 2'': Soap and {{spoiler|Price}} do this down a cliff face to stealthily kill two mooks.
** They actually do a varient of rappelling called "Australian Rappelling."
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Cinema Bums]]'' features a [https://web.archive.org/web/20130801110308/http://www.cinemabums.com/?p=174 strip] where Mindy does this to break into David Yates's bedroom to discuss a potential ''[[Doctor Who]]'' movie.▼
* In ''[[
▲* ''[[Cinema Bums]]'' features a [http://www.cinemabums.com/?p=174 strip] where Mindy does this to break into David Yates's bedroom to discuss a potential ''[[Doctor Who]]'' movie.
* Torg tests this out as one of their plans to infiltrate Ayleeorgnet in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. Owing to [[
▲* In ''[[College Roomies from Hell]]'', Roger does this (through the floor of one of the upstairs apartments) to get to a videotape in the girls' apartment. When Margaret catches him, she points out that loudly humming the ''Mission Impossible'' theme [[With Catlike Tread|isn't especially stealthy.]]
▲* Torg tests this out as one of their plans to infiltrate Ayleeorgnet in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. Owing to [[Unit_Confusion|miscalculating the length of the cables]], he knocks himself out. Note that it was to be called "Operation Look I'm Tom Cruise!"
** Given that the competition included "Operation Run Around Willy-Nilly"....
* In [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120227 one flashback scene] of ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Gil uses this to secretly modify the blueprints of Castle Wulfenbach.
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* Entrèe does it in an episode of ''[[Spliced]]'' to steal Joe's hat, apparently attaching himself to the ceiling with bubblegum.
* The [[Wallace and Gromit]] short ''The Wrong Trousers'' has a variant that predates the movie involving a robotic pair of trousers fitted with suction cups walking across a ceiling of a museum to steal a heavily protected diamond.
== Real Life ==
* [[Truth in Television]]; a 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110912012048/http://www.switched.com/2010/03/05/mission-impossible-style-best-buy-thieves-swipe-laptops-baffl/ theft] from a Best Buy store seems to have involved this trope.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Stock Parodies]]
[[Category:Espionage Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Falling, Dropping, and Plummeting]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission Impossible Cable Drop}}
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