Mission: Impossible (1996)
Animal Action

n the scene where Ethan blows up the aquarium in the restaurant, real and fake fish were used. The production company built the aquariums specifically for this scene and hired a company specializing in fish and aquariums to provide all the necessary materials and fish for the tanks. A fish specialist was on site twenty-four hours a day to monitor the fish and care for them. When the explosion occurred, the real fish were replaced with rubber fish. There is a scene where Ethan, along with some other underground agents, are seen breaking into CIA headquarters. They are trying to access the main computer. To do this, Ethan and another agent must crawl through the air ducts to the location of the computer room. Next, Ethan is lowered by a rope from the air-vent in the ceiling. While he is dangling in the air, the agent in the air duct notices a rat walking towards him. Fear of the rat is evident by the look on the mans’ face. A thud is heard and we see Ethan start to fall. We assume, that the agent momentarily let go of the rope to kill the rat. The rat is then seen presumably dead lying in the background. The scene was shot in cuts, using a real and a fake rat. For the scene of the rat in the air duct, the trainer merely placed the real rat on his mark for the shot. A fake rat was used when the rat is seen supposedly dead. The actual killing of the rat is never seen