The Mission Impossible franchise is an odd one, in that it is the only long-running cinematic franchise that actually gets better as it goes along. The Paramount Pictures-produced offspring of the popular Mission Impossible TV series running from 1966-1973 and revived briefly in the late 1980’s, the current run of movies serves as kind of an American-centric alternative to James Bond, while inspiring similar films such as the Jason Bourne series. Featuring everyone’s favorite Scientologist, Tom Cruise, as title character/essentially Superman Ethan Hunt and featuring a supporting cast including the fantastic Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, the films focus on a secret offshoot of the CIA performing, well, impossible missions to ostensibly keep the world safe.
The plots and effects grow in complexity as the series, which began in 1996, progresses. Not done yet, the final movie is due to be released in 2025, at which point this ranking will be updated!
I am certainly not asking anyone to, but if you are interested in buying physical copies, I humbly ask that you might consider doing it from this page; by purchasing via the links, I receive a small commission that will go towards maintaining this site in the long run. The first 6 movies can also be purchased as a box set here:
6 Movie PackageHere we go:
#7 – Mission Impossible III (2006)
Directed by: JJ Abrams
JJ Abrams’ big screen debut is not super memorable. The entire plot revolves around an unexplained McGuffin called the “Rabbit’s Foot” that has mass-destructive capabilities. Early helicopter chase-and-escape aside, the movie somehow manages to make a spy thriller kind of boring. In the grand scheme of things, the plot has little crossover to other movies. The villains? I’m impressed if you remember anything about them.
That being said, we have some positives: Simon Pegg’s Benji makes his debut here, and goes on to become the series’ funniest character. A random marriage for Ethan to Michelle Monaghan’s Julia pops up, and she would go on to become a recurring character. Laurence Fishburne excels as usual but is also wasted by only appearing in this one movie. Humor often lacks in these movies, but whereas the first two films are deadly serious, there are some genuinely funny moments here – just not enough to save it from the bottom.
#6 – Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Directed by: John Woo
Get ready for dramatic slow-mo’s! John Woo’s take on the series features the grooviest soundtrack (from Hans Zimmer of all people) and so many slow motion action sequences it felt really cheesy.
The plot, about a deadly, delayed-symptom virus called “Chimera” falling into the wrong hands, grabs the viewer well enough. The final battle stretches on for an eternity, however, and completely kills the momentum. The plot twists are highly predictable as well.
Thandiwe Newton’s Nyah is one of the series’ best characters: gorgeous, deadly, and well-rounded. I think it’s a crying shame she doesn’t get a recurring role going forward. Heck, she has a lot more chemistry with Ethan than Julia ever does; why doesn’t she get that role?!
#5 – Mission Impossible (1996)
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Time for some 90’s representation on this list. The OG film, chronologically taking place 6 years after the 80’s TV series ended, features a very young looking Cruise and effects that haven’t aged the best.
The film’s highlight comes as night falls over Prague, as a complicated action sequence plays out in the eerie fog. Once all the moving pieces in play are finally revealed at the climax, the scene makes for fascinating re-watching as the viewer now notices things not apparent on first watch. Hunt’s subsequent escape from a watery restaurant cooks as well.
The plot is simply too convoluted to work in a 2-hour frame, and I felt confusion more than anything upon first viewing.
#4 – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
Directed by: Brad Bird
There exists a MASSIVE chasm between the quality of the first three movies and the later four. But one had to finish 4th, and I give it to Ghost Protocol. Directed by Brad Bird of The Incredibles fame, the stunts here have an argument to still be the series’ most magical. Both the infiltration of the Kremlin, with all its smoke-and-mirrors, and the insane, mostly genuine, climbing of the Burj Khalifa remain epic feats of filmmaking.
The plot feels relevant too, considering everything going down in Russia at the moment.
Why only 4? It feels a lil’ bit unrealistic at times, even for a series featuring form-fitting, voice-altering face masks. Ethan walks away from so many hairy spots with barely a scratch it begins to get a little ridiculous at a certain point. Tarzan-swinging into an open window 120 stories off the ground, a crashed car rolling right over him, and falling 120 feet onto concrete in a car all come to mind.
Ethan shouting “Mission Accomplished!”, only for nothing to happen, was hilarious.
The movie also needs way more Luther than we got.
How sick was that final shot of Ethan disappearing into the fog though?
#3 – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Bonus points for that incredible moment where Benji almost gets caught playing Halo at work. We get some fantastic bureaucratic beef between Alec Baldwin’s Alan and Jeremy Renner’s William, too.
Best scene? The incredibly tense build-up to assassination of the Chancellor of Austria. All to pull a bait-and-switch and have him survive, and then be killed for real via car bomb. We get quite the mystery trying to decipher Ilsa’s (Rebecca Ferguson) motives, all leading up to kidnapping the British Prime Minister. The final showdown with Benji strapped to a bomb was excellent too.
I have this one at three because I don’t love the first part of Solomon Lane’s (Sean Harris) villain arc. He has a cool backstory, but for some reason I don’t find him all that interesting. Even in Fallout, there are better villains.
#2 – Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Slipping under the radar due to the Barbenheimer phenomenon, we have a certified banger in its own right here. Starting off with a ghost submarine getting sunk by an even larger specter, we the viewer are treated to 2.5 hours of balls-to-the-wall action. And it’s only half of a whole!
Get ready for some whiplash; so many different groups and motives are at play you may need to take notes to remember everything. Apart from the usual buildup towards a part two, this is the film’s biggest weakness. Those two things aside, everything else is positive.
Pegg’s Benji is in peak form here, providing much of the film’s laughs. I also got a kick out of the perfectly sad little “Damns!” uttered by both US agents tracking Hunt during the chase scenes in Venice. Speaking of which, what a scene! The music, dancing, lighting, and ambience are much better than the similar party sequence in Fallout; in fact, I am reminded by a similarly spooky scene in the Bond movie Skyfall, where Bond stalks an assassin in the Shanghai office building.
Self-aware AI is a hot-button topic these days. In film, it has been explored many times before, going back to at least 1984’s The Terminator. Despite not being groundbreaking in anyway, the treasure-hunt of sorts to find the access key is just plain fun.
What an incredible supporting cast! Paris (Pom Klementieff), the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), and Gabriel (Esai Morales) absolutely dominate their screen time. I get a kick out of Paris’ ridiculous outfit and sword she wears to the party scene, and her 11th-hour turn truly surprised me. Part Two should be fun!
A shoutout goes to the awesome version of the theme song featuring a marching band. Well played, Lorne Balfe!
#1 – Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Repeating a villain? A bit lazy. Rebranding his criminal organization? Cheesy. Everything else in this movie? Dope as hell.
The fun starts right away, as Ethan fails in his mission and jeopardizes world peace to save his friend. That moment alone is so deep and philosophical it would have made the Top 5 just in the opening 20 minutes. That 20 minutes also features an inspired use of Wolf Blitzer in mock CNN coverage to trick Dr. Nils Delbruuk (Kristoffer Joner) into giving the squad access to his phone.
While Henry Cavill’s Walker was an obvious villain, he is so slimy and funny in the role it doesn’t matter. The White Widow steals the show anytime she appears, and Alec Baldwin trying to fit in with the crew is fun while it lasts. Luther’s awesome wink to Ethan as he gets on the boat also needs a shout.
The movie earns its stripes in the last half hour. That helicopter chase, with some authentic stunts done by Cruise, rules. While nuclear weapons had been explored before in Ghost Protocol, combined with the purpose of the Apostles it feels fresh enough. The dramatic, how-did-they-do-that, three-way last second bomb-prevention stands out as a fantastic finale.
Oh man, I love the Mission Impossible franchise. Sometimes I feel like a used car salesman trying to promote it to other people. I’m not kidding, I have venmo’d friends to watch Mission Impossible. I truly think the series, especially Ghost Protocol and onward is substantially better than the James Bond franchise. Sure, I might be in the minority, but I think this series has much better action sequences, and while both franchises have plots that tend to be…impossible, the MI franchise is much more self-aware and fun. It is also refreshing that for the most part, all of these actions scenes are real. Sure, there are some touch-up CGI and editing. But for action movies of the past 20 years to have all action scenes completely computer generated, there is something about watching Tom Cruise do something incredible, and fully know that it is actually Tom Cruise doing what is on the big screen.
For the most part, I agree with your list. Here’s my quick list with a few comments:
#7: Mission Impossible 2: It’s really bad. The directing style feels so out of place with this series. Iconic image of an explosion of fire in the doorway, bright light shining through, white doves fly into the room, and Tom Cruise walks by in slow motion.
#6: Mission Impossible 3: This movie is the most frustrating. I actually think this movie could be great if directed by Chris McQuarrie (director of the new MI movies). Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s villain has a lot of potential. Explaining the “Rabbit’s Foot” would help. I think the pieces are there for a compelling movie, but JJ Abrams made a really boring movie.
*Large Gap*
#5: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: Like you said, the turning point of the franchise. #5 seems low for a 7 movie series, but that speaks more to the quality of the series. The Burj Khalifa scene is incredible. Simon Pegg is hilarious. Personally, my second favorite running shot of Tom Cruise in this series. The aerial shot of him sprinting in Dubai while the darkness of the sandstorm approaching is great.
#4: Mission Impossible: I am a total sucker for this film. I don’t think it’s good. I think it’s GREAT. The chaotic opening mission scene that goes awry really sets the tone for the mystery of the rest of the movie. Cruise’s meeting with Kittridge is fantastic. “You want to shake hands with the devil, that’s fine with me. I just want to make sure you do it in hell.” I also think breaking into the CIA scene is iconic and underrated. Future movies have unbelievable action scenes, but Cruise dangling in midair in complete silence with beads of sweat dripping from his face are absolutely thrilling.
#3?: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One: I don’t know where to place this yet. It’s not truly a standalone movie, but certainly great. I thought this movie had worse action sequences than the previous 3 MI movies, but I think the storyline of the self-aware AI was done extremely well, in a unique way, and very topical. Normally, I leave an MI movie feeling pumped up and blown away by the action, but I left this one pondering much more about AI’s impact in our current world today. Don’t get me wrong, Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle off a cliff is a sight to see.
*Please people, watch these movies. I’ll pay you*
#2: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation: I get goosebumps just THINKING about the opening scene. Hilarious banter with the non-Tom Cruise cast. Oh, the plane is about to get away? But where’s Tom Cruise? Cue Tom Cruise running in out of nowhere, hopping onto the side of the movie plane, more fun banter with Simon Pegg. One underrated character in the series? Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust. Total badass. Alec Baldwin and the team confronting the Prime Minister towards the end of the movie is a top 5 moment in the series for me.
#1: Mission Impossible: Fallout: Start to finish, you are watching one of the best action movies of the past few decades. The HALO jump scene is astonishing. Honestly, all this movie is. Wolf Blitzer at the beginning? Yes, please. Favorite part of the movie? Henry Cavill cocking his biceps. That’s right. He cocked his biceps getting them ready for a fight.
What a review! I was laughing out loud at some of these!