With Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One arriving in theaters yesterday, you can check out our review of it by clicking here, we thought it would be fitting to do a dive into the seven Mission: Impossible movies and rank each movie from worst to best. The seven movies are: Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).
The series began in 1996 and is still going nearly 30 years later with an eighth film (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two) set to release at some point in the future but that is up in the air due to the strike in Hollywood. Here is every Mission: Impossible movie ranked:
7. Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Director: John Woo
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Dougray Scott (Sean Ambrose), Thandiwe Newton (Nyah Nordoff-Hall), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Richard Roxburgh (Hugh Stamp), John Polson (Billy Baird), Brendan Gleeson (John C. McCloy) and Rade Šerbedžija (Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich)
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4k UHD
The sequel to the original film in the series was directed by legendary movie director John Woo. The movie compared to all others in the series falls flat and does not feel like a Mission: Impossible movie, but more of a John Woo film with the extreme fight scenes and slow motion scenes. The plot centers around a bio-weapon known as Chimera. The film currently has an audience score of 42% and a critics score of 56% on Rotten Tomato. The positives from this film are the cinematography is top notch with Woo at the helm.
6. Mission: Impossible (1996)
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Jon Voight (Jim Phelps), Emmanuelle Béart (Claire Phelps), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Vanessa Redgrave (Max Mitsopolis), Henry Czerny (Eugene Kittredge), Jean Reno (Frank Krieger), Kristin Scott Thomas (Sarah Davies), Emilio Estevez (Jack Harmon)
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD
This was the original brought to the big screen for the first time by Brian De Palma, noted for movies such as Scarface, Wise Guys, Carlito’s Way and is based on the TV series of the same name that ran from 1966 through 1973 and was revived from 1988 through 1990. This film had the first of Cruise’s tough stunts with him doing wire work to break into a vault to steal a NOC list of agents. The first entry also brought us Cruise versus a helicopter on a bullet train. It was a little bit a of dark start to the series but solidified the franchise for being known for stunts going forward.
5. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Owen Davian), Michelle Monaghan (Julia Meade), Maggie Q (Zhen Lei), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Declan Gormley), Billy Crudup (John Musgrave), Keri Russel (Lindsey Farris), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Laurence Fishburne (Theodore Brassel).
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD
The J.J. Abrams led Mission: Impossible movie introduced us to series mainstay Benji Dunn (Pegg) and a really fantastic villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian. We also got Michelle Monaghan who would play a pivotal role as we move down the list of films and characters. It feels like with 3, the series shifted and added more humor and levity to the franchise. The character Hoffman plays also shifted the film as it made the enemies more of a personal thing to Ethan Hunt.
4. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Hayley Atwell (Grace), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Rebecca Ferguson (Ilsa Faust), Vanessa Kirby (White Widow – Alanna Mitsopolis), Esai Morales (Gabriel), Pom Klementieff (Paris), Henry Czerny (Eugene Kittridge), Shea Whigham (Jasper Briggs), Greg Tarzan Davis (Degas)
Available: In theaters now
Judging this film is like judging just half a movie as this is just part one of a two part saga within the Mission: Impossible franchise. The film has one hell of a stunt with Cruise doing it himself driving a motorcycle off a mountain and then parachuting down. The film has the personal aspect towards Ethan as others following 3 have included but it seems a bit clunky at times. I am excited to see the full movie in its entirety when Part Two is released.
3. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Jeremy Renner (William Brandt), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Paula Patton (Jane Carter), Michael Nyqvist (Kurt Hendricks), Vladimir Mashkov (Anatoly Sidorov), Léa Seydoux (Sabine Moreau)
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD
This movie took the stunts up a notch with Tom Cruise scaling the side of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, following by a chase in a sandstorm. This has all the things you want in an action adventure movie. It is definitely one of the movies that draws you in and is just fun to watch. The film also explains what happened with Ethan and Julia and gives Brandt closure. It also leads in the top two films in the series and a great storyline about the Syndicate.
2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Henry Cavill (August Walker/John Lark), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Rebecca Ferguson (Ilsa Faust), Sean Harris (Soloman Lane), Angela Bassett (Erika Sloane), Vanessa Kirby (White Widow – Alanna Mitsopolis), Michelle Monaghan (Julia Meade), Alec Baldwin (Alan Hunley), Wes Bentley (Erick)
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD
This could very well be sitting at the number 1 spot of the Mission: Impossible movie list. I do have it at number two for the reason that this is the second part of the Syndicate sub series and while it is exceptionally well done and has amazing stunts, Rogue Nation just felt more complete to me and built a great foundation for fallout to sit on. Henry Cavill was excellent in this film and I am sure everyone loves him reloading his arms during the bathroom fight scene. The final scene with all if the IMF in different locations and us seeing them all doing what they need to do was a great piece of cinema as well. Overall there really is no knocking this film!
1. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Jeremy Renner (William Brandt), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Rebecca Ferguson (Ilsa Faust), Sean Harris (Solomon lane), Alec Baldwin (Alan Hunley)
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD
This film in my opinion is the top dog in the Mission: Impossible movie list. The thread of the story flows through the movie very effortlessly. McQuarrie really put his stamp on the series with this film. The stunts are great, there is humor, you have double agents getting double crossed and more. Cruise and his ride alongs of Benji, Luther and Brandt are fantastic and Rebecca Ferguson gives the series the kick it very well needed. Sean Harris is a very evil villain and plays the role to perfection. As you watch the rest of the films, I guarantee that you will come back to this one and enjoy it even more.
Well this was our Mission: Impossible movie ranking. What do you think about our list? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on our Twitter account. As always stay tuned to Culture Splat for more content coming your way!
