Ranking the Mission Impossible Films from Worst to Best
The “Mission Impossible” franchise is an interesting evolution in blockbuster filmmaking. The original entry was seen as an adequate adaptation of the famous tv series but it never laid the blueprint for future entries. People liked it but deemed too complex back then to be in the same mainstream caliber as, let’s say, James Bond. Yet, in the year 2000 Cruise captured the pop culture zeitgeist. Using John Woo’s slick style, a soundtrack filled by metal greats and a clever marketing campaign, “Mission Impossible 2“ was skyrocketed to the global box office delivering outrageous profit establishing “Mission Impossible” as a potential new contender for a spy actioner with both brains and brawns.
However, Cruise’s career took a deep dive due to infamous connections to Scientology, attacks on post-natal depression, bizarre divorce from Nicole Kidman and subsequent Katie Holmes marriage and his (dubious) happy Oprah interview that saw him jumping up and down on her couch among other things. Consequently, this type of behavior alienated movie goers and J.J. Abrams’ part 3 suffered in ticket sales despite its attempts to embrace a grittier style than its flashier and style-over-substance predecessor.
Having licked his wounds, Cruise took time for “Ghost Protocol” employing a different strategy. Handpicking animation veteran Brad Bird, “Ghost Protocol” converted the series into a more sophisticated vehicle towards the world of espionage focusing on a likeable protagonist portrayed attractively by Cruise and his passion for crazy stunts that have now become legendary in their own right. Besides Jackie Chan, no other actor has come close to perform such outrageous antics like Cruise in the West. And thus, the marketing appeal of the “Mission Impossible” franchise was cemented. “Watch one of the biggest stars on the planet perform extraordinary feats without CGI for your own entertainment” promotional campaigns shouted and remarkably, this tactic paid off.
As such, the rest of the series leaned heavily at this formula, each one bringing big bucks and critical acclaim culminating in the series sixth and seventh films respectively (“Fallout”, “Dead Reckoning: Part 1”). With not a truly bad motion picture under its belt, “Mission Impossible” remains a highly entertaining collection of flicks that avoid to insult your intelligence occasionally offering a thin layer of intellectualism across its expensive shooting schedules. Therefore, let’s rank them all from worst to best.
Critical and audience reception
Budget and Box Office
Most successful entry
Fallout (2018): 791 million dollars worldwide
Most expensive entry
Dead Reckoning: Part 1 (2023): $291 million dollars
Highest score in Rotten Tomatoes
Fallout (2018): 98%
Lowest score in Rotten Tomatoes
Mission Impossible 2 (2000): 56%
Highest IMDB score
Fallout (2018): 7.7
Lowest IMDB score
Mission Impossible 2 (2000): 6.1
Countries: USA (x5), UK (x3), Italy (x2), Germany (x2), UAE (x2), Australia, Spain, Vatican City, China, India, Russia, Hungary, Austria, Belarus, Morocco, France, Cuba, Yemen, Ukraine, Czech Republic
Cities: London (x3), Washington DC (x2), Berlin (x2), Rome (x2), Kiev, Prague, Langley, Sydney, Seville, Vatican City, Shanghai, Dubai, Mombai, Moscow, Budapest, Seattle, Vienna, Minsk, Casablanca, Oxford, Paris, Venice, Abu Dhabi, Havana
Landmarks: Eiffel Tower (x2), Burj Khalifa, Tower of London, Sydney Opera House, Arc de Triumph, Kremlin, Charles Bridge, Prague’s Old Town, Sydney Bridge, Sydney Tower, Seville’s Giralda, Seville’s Cathedral, St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s Square, Oriental Pearl Tower, Hungarian Parliament Building, St. Stephen’s Basilica, Picadilly Circus, London Eye, Capitol, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Washington Monument, Grand Palais, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Himalayas, St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s palace
7. Mission Impossible 3 (2006)
The weakest of the bunch, the box office associated with “Mission Impossible 3” suffered drastically after Tom Cruise’s infamous public behavior. Although J.J Abrams tries to bring his shaky-cam, lens flare style to the franchise, you can’t help but feel the influence of another agent (ie Jason Bourne) throughout the whole plot which is pretty banal. Philip Seymour Hoffman - extremely hot after his Oscar win in “Capote” a year earlier - is denigrated into an one dimensional villain who does not pose any cinematic threat considering Ethan Hunt’s large gallery of antagonists. The cast is ok and Abrams keeps it real although none of his action scenes wow anyone and despite a higher budget, the film feels less flashy than its predecessors under its mid 2000s “gritty” and “joyless” presentation. Despite some emotional touches, these are not enough to make this threequel truly stand out as a hearty blockbuster. It is not bad, it’s just not memorable enough.
Cruise level
✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨
Locations
🌴
Direction
🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗
Best moment: Someone might be executed which elevates the dramatic stakes considerably.
6. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
Directed by Brad Bird in his live action debut, “Ghost Protocol” finds Cruise on fine form after a five year “Mission Impossible” hiatus. Featuring one of the most famous stunts of all time - Cruise climbing the Burj Khalifa - it established the franchise’s formula of Cruise performing spectacular feats in famous locations within a tight story and a competent cast. Embracing more a James Bond mentality deprived of the British Spy swagger and sex appeal, “Ghost Protocol” has a blast with its settings and material. The antagonist - Michael Nyqvist - continues the tradition of not being overly menacing or imposing but perhaps there is method in the madness by having regular folks serving as antagonists. Newcomers like Jeremy Renner, Lea Seydoux and Paula Patton keep things fresh sharing great chemistry with Mr Cruise enjoying the perks which a blockbuster of this caliber offers.
Cruise level
✔️✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨
Locations
🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: Cruise climbing the Burj Khalifa. Breathtaking. The man is crazy.
5. Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
The sequel to the original was a proper representation of the slick style the early 2000s had. Leather jacket? Check. Slow motion? Check. Stylish shots deprived no substance? Check. Contemporary metal soundtrack? Check. “Mission Impossible 2” saw a Cruise-John Woo (the legendary Hong Kong action director) duo crafting a peculiar entry in the franchise. Why peculiar? After finding success with “Face/Off” (1997), Woo was given even less creative control (!) due to Cruise’s micromanaging. While there are flashes of his genius on display - a motorbike chase becomes a duel in the outskirts of Sydney, excellent car work, slo mo pigeons and some operatic bloodshed (emphasized by Hans Zimmer edgy and pompous score), there is simply too much emphasis on Cruiseness. Of course, to be able to hang from an cliff is impressive but the love story is anemic and Dougray Scott’s rogue agent - a dark alter ego of Ethan - is not given enough material to make him truly stand out.
Cruise level
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨😨
Intrigue
🫨
Locations
🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: The final 20 minutes is where the film really becomes a Woo production with impeccable stuntwork.
4. Mission Impossible (1996)
Brian De Palma was definitely a bizarre choice for a spy thriller. After all, people familiar with his name know more his character driven flicks as opposed to straightforward espionage genre entries, let alone TV adaptations. Yet, the auteur’s skills are proven appropriate to disorient the audience. While “Mission Impossible” becomes too complex for its own good, it manages to elevate itself from the hundreds of mediocre blockbusters which plagued the colorful decade of the 90s. Cruise is on top form as Ethan Hunt supported by a capable cast with the likes of Jean Reno, Jon Voight and (the stunning) Emmanuelle Beart trying to piece clues together and discover who is a mole responsible for the death of his team. Lacking flashy fighting scenes or nonsensical pyrotechnics, “Mission Impossible” is a thinking man’s movie benefitted by De Palma’s firm and paranoid direction. By far, it has the most intrigue in the whole series and three iconic moments that linger in memory.
Cruise level
✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨🫨🫨
Locations
🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: An iconic moment in its own right, the pop culture CIA breaking and entering.
3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
After finding its thematic context and blockbuster mojo in “Ghost Protocol”, it was time for the series to discover its right helmer. Enter director (and mostly writer) Christopher McQuarrie (“Way of the Gun“ (2000), “Jack Reacher“ (2012)) who managed to achieve the right balance of intrigue, action and humor injecting the franchise with new energy. “Mission Impossible” was now bolder and more ambitious emphasizing front and center reality based, exhilirating set pieces (a motorcycle chase in Morroco is fantastically shot), lush visual cues and engaging plots involving shadowy terrorist organizations (ie, Rogue Nation). Cruise remains the undeniable star embedding Hunt effortlessly with charisma leading a cast of old dogs and standout newcomers who steal the show; Rebecca Ferguson is superb, Sean Harris delivers as a capable antagonist unable to mince his words and Alec Baldwin has the time of his life as the CIA Director.
Cruise level
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨🫨🫨
Locations
🌴🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: Cruise hanging outside a freakin plane is the stuff of cinematic legends.
2. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)
“Dead Reckoning: Part 1” was unfortunately perhaps too ambitious. Falling into the trap of cliffhangerisms, McQuarrie’s third movie is well made and posh but makes no attempts to self contain itself as an isolated cinematic experience promising resolutions to the massive dramatic stakes a few years later. Any film that attempted this sort of feat suffered whether it involved Messiahs against machines (“The Matrix Revolutions” (2003)) or pirates (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest“ (2006)). Yet, the longest and most expensive “Mission Impossible” attempts to dissect the benefits and dangers of using AI in a better manner than most journalists do today offering amazing action (eg, Rome chase), a larger than life cast reuniting an almost 60 Cruise with all the usual suspects (eg, Ferguson, Kirby), gorgeous cinematography and a thrillingly bombastic score by Lorne Bafle.
Cruise level
✔️✔️✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨🫨🫨🫨
Locations
🌴🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: A chase in the narrow streets in Rome is among the best in cinema. Period.
1. Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
The zenith of the franchise, “Fallout” is “Mission Impossible” at its finest. It has spectacular stunts, sophisticated arenas for the conduct of shady dealings, an uber macho Henry Cavill (and that stache!) and McQuarrie’s direction galvanizing as much as he can the generous budget. Yet, “Fallout” explores Ethan’s character more putting him inside interesting dynamics amidst his own team against an overpowering foe (literally and metaphorically). While the twists are not necessarily the meat of the story, they work well. Lorne Bafle crafts a powerful score based on the iconic theme particularly, in moments featuring holy s**t stunts whether it is a halo jump, a visceral bathroom fight or Cruise playing around with helicopters in Kashmir. “Fallout” showcased being the sixth movie does not mean you are depraved of quality or innovation. When there is a will, there is always a way making “Fallout” easily one of the best action films of the decade.
Cruise level
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Stunts
😨😨😨😨😨
Intrigue
🫨🫨🫨🫨
Locations
🌴🌴🌴
Direction
🎥🎥🎥🎥
Set pieces
🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗
Best moment: Cruise. Helicopters. What could be more awesome than that?