The Mission Impossible franchise has been going strong for nearly thirty years, so it’s a bit surreal to see it apparently come to an end, with Tom Cruise hanging up the mantle as Ethan Hunt. To celebrate the final entry, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the film’s composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey join the show! Naturally, the three of us spend most of the interview talking about Mission: Impossible, including spending a year straight exclusively scoring the film, how score fits into the broader film making process in a project of this scale, the difficulty in scoring the two major set pieces, and how and when to utilize Lalo Schifrin’s iconic main theme.
The last point was a particularly interesting one to me, as I’ve seen quite a few people wondering about it as well given that they don’t quote the full theme often at all. Trust me, it’s all intentional and done for good reason!
I also want to point out how prevalent the theme of teamwork is in this interview. Naturally, it’s become a main thematic motif throughout the film series, with Cruise’s Ethan Hunt willing to essentially do anything possible to save his team (and, in turn, save the world). Would Max or Alfie hold onto a biplane as it speeds thousands of feet in the air? Not sure. But they will spend a lot of timing raising up their colleagues and team members. Something I can definitely get behind.
One note: Alfie’s voice is the first you’ll hear and Max provides the first longer answer.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is currently in theaters, and Max and Alfie’s score (as well as much of their other work) is available on all major platforms.
Have a listen to our conversation below or wherever you get your podcasts (including Spotify and Apple Podcasts). Enjoying these interviews? Show the love by subscribing and leaving a rating or review!
