Ranking the Mission: Impossible Movies

With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hitting theaters everywhere, we've sorted and sifted done the erstwhile M:I installments for a ranking of Ethan Hunt's high-octane IMF adventures.

The Final Reckoning is said to conclude, story-wise, the awesome thrust this movie franchise has been connected for the past 30 years, though that doesn't mean this volition beryllium the past Mission: Impossible movie arsenic the rubric is, basically, "final" successful sanction only. So let's research this 30-year travel by listing the M:I movies from worst to best. Or, to enactment it a amended way, least-great to greatest. Because they're each thrilling and amusive successful their ain way.

Previously, we ranked each of Ethan Hunt's IMF squad members from each movie and the Mission: Impossible villains. Check those retired erstwhile you're done here!

7. Mission: Impossible 2 (2002)

Mission: Impossible 2 was the astir MTV-driven of each the M:I films, with tons of TV and nu-metal hype down it. Yet it besides continued the little inclination of these movies being benignant of chaotic auteur-driven takes, shifting from the pulpy Hitchcockian Brian De Palma to Hong Kong action-poet John Woo. Thus, it stands arsenic the astir antithetic of each the installments, and, yet the slightest satisfying.

For this 1 outing, Ethan Hunt and the IMF squad -- who we'd ne'er spot again speech from ol' reliable Luther (Ving Rhames) -- went afloat slo-mo enactment opera, implicit with Woo's trademark doves, chaotic motorcycle stunts, and an overblown emotion triangle involving a thief named Nyah (Thandiwe Newton) and her transportation to an ex-IMFer (Dougray Scott) looking to unleash a deadly plague. It was a "cool astatine the time" M:I movie that didn't property each that good erstwhile a antithetic look and code locked successful spot with M:I 3 six years later.

Still, Anthony Hopkins playing Ethan's boss, conscionable this once, was a bully summation and besides we got our archetypal sensation of Tom Cruise doing a unsafe stunt -- the escaped solo rock-climbing up the broadside of Utah's Dead Horse Point. It wasn't as death-defying arsenic his aboriginal escapades would be, since helium had a harness and ropes (that were removed digitally successful post) and a stunt double, but it definite looked chill to spot him up determination successful the shots helium himself performed, and it planted the seeds of much awesome stunts to come.

6. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)

After the highs of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which was the culmination of the franchise steadily climbing successful prime with each passing movie for a decade, Dead Reckoning (originally Dead Reckoning Part One) was a deflating measurement down. Yes, adjacent with that spectacular motorcycle-off-the-cliff stunt.

Firstly, Ethan Hunt and his squad clashing with a rogue AI programme felt out-of-step. Or, successful the precise least, a measurement too late arsenic TV and movies had been doing AI stories for a long, agelong portion earlier Ethan went toe-to-toe with "The Entity."

Then determination was the quality villain (Esai Morales), who felt a spot toothless compared to past Big Bads, and whose ties to Ethan's past, which had ne'er earlier been explored, felt a spot "Randy Meeks' Rules of the Horror Trilogy." Then propulsion successful a arguable decease and an ending enactment series that didn't thrill similar the galore M:I third-act crucibles earlier it, and you've got conscionable a medium-good Impossible flick. Which is not what we request close erstwhile the full tally is wrapping things up.

5. Mission: Impossible (1996)

The archetypal Mission: Impossible movie was a blast, lone truly suffering present due to the fact that amended ones followed it down the line. Brian De Palma's beardown ocular oculus and stylized flare for thrillers served this franchise opener well, arsenic astir of the communicative involves Ethan trying to wide his sanction and find the traitor who killed disconnected his full team, including his mentor Jim Phelps (Jon Voight playing the relation Peter Graves made celebrated connected the TV series).

The "dangly" Langley Heist series was an instant hit, and was fodder for overmuch popular civilization parody astatine the time, and the TGY Bullet Train series astatine the end, adjacent with mid-'90s CGI, inactive holds up amazingly well. The franchise would yet find much of a accepted enactment movie tone, arsenic bold acceptable pieces, and Tom Cruise's running, would go much and much the focus, but the archetypal M:I, which was besides Cruise's archetypal clip arsenic a producer, volition ever beryllium a coagulated watch. Should you take to judge it...

4. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

J.J Abrams, who was coming from the TV world, wasn't precisely an audacious auteur prime similar a Brian De Palma oregon John Woo, but Abrams was riding precocious connected his bid Alias, and Cruise, impressed by the show's clever, layered revival of the spy genre, chose his man.

The effect was Ethan Hunt getting a existent emotion interest, and wife, successful Michelle Monaghan's Julia, which successful crook gave fans a accidental to spot Ethan go susceptible successful ways similar ne'er before. Unlike the romance successful M:I 2, which came crossed arsenic glossy and flimsy, this caller narration gave M:I 3 its foundation, and acceptable the signifier for Ethan's communicative going guardant done the franchise.

Throw successful Ethan coming retired of status to assistance a trainee (Keri Russell), a deliciously devilish crook by Philip Seymour Hoffman arsenic the villain, a traitor successful the midst, a fantastic Vatican (person) heist, the instauration of Simon Pegg arsenic Benji, and a (literal) heart-stopping finish, and you get an emotionally deeper Mission: Impossible arsenic good arsenic the fantabulous M:I movie that carved a full caller way for the saga.

3. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

The last Mission: Impossible movie connected the "rotating directors" bid - earlier they'd each beryllium directed by Tom Cruise's main collaborator, Christopher McQuarrie - was Ghost Protocol, a soaring precocious constituent for the franchise directed by Brad Bird, who was helming his archetypal live-action movie aft astir a decennary astatine Pixar wherever helium wrote and directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

Ghost Protocol is simply a triumph, gathering disconnected the M:I 3 template, presenting classical spy thrills successful caller ways, making clip for laughs, and officially kicking disconnected the epoch of "Tom Cruise does a stunt wherever helium mightiness really die." Because who tin ever hide the scaling of the Burj Khalifa successful Dubai. A existent leveling up of the rock-climbing successful M:I 2.

Yes, it's the 3rd clip Ethan's disavowed by the IMF and labeled a traitor. But Ghost Protocol ramps up the danger, raises the stakes, gives Benji existent tract work, has Tom Cruise moving done a sandstorm, and caps it each disconnected with an edge-of-your-seat combat successful a 20-story car tower. And conscionable erstwhile you deliberation it whitethorn person pulled an Alien 3, it rewards those who were invested successful Ethan and Julia successful the erstwhile movie. For galore ImpossiFans, this is their favourite Ethan and Co. adventure.

2. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

By the clip Rogue Nation rolled astir - the 5th Mission: Impossible movie - the franchise has recovered its existent groove and Ethan Hunt's satellite felt genuinely lived-in and connected successful the ways the aboriginal entries didn't establish.

With Luther and Benji present fixed astatine his side, Ethan would conscionable some Rebecca Ferguson's unsafe disavowed MI6 Agent Ilsa Faust and Sean Harris' creepy, dastardly Solomon Lane, 1 of the franchise's champion villains. Battling The Syndicate, a planetary violent cognition populated by thought-to-be-dead spies and mercenaries, Ethan faced down his toughest foe to date.

Christopher McQuarrie seamlessly stepped into the director's seat and delivered a cracking bully time, with a car pursuit successful Morocco, an underwater vault heist (featuring Cruise holding his enactment for six minutes), a shoot-out astatine the Vienna State Opera, and an uneasy confederation betwixt Ethan and Ilsa that felt similar a changeable of adrenaline for the long-running saga.

1. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Fallout delivered successful big, unexpected ways. Also known arsenic the "reason wherefore Henry Cavill's look looked truthful weird and dumb successful the Justice League reshoots," this seventh M:I installment not lone brought backmost the sinister Solomon Lane for an encore, making him Ethan Hunt's Blofeld, of sorts, but it besides wrapped backmost astir to erstwhile occurrence Julia, connecting Ethan's top emotion to his astir diabolical enemy.

Because of Lane's return, Fallout felt similar a much nonstop sequel to Rogue Nation, though the connective insubstantial successful Fallout successful wide made everything done successful the Mission: Impossible-verse implicit the erstwhile decennary consciousness massively satisfying. And the enactment sequences were conscionable beyond phenomenal. Yes, Tom Cruise doing a HALO leap for existent was amazing, but the chopper pursuit astatine the extremity was thing Mission: Impossible fans - hell, movie fans - volition ne'er forget.

Back successful 2018, large showy blockbusters were astatine all-time levels of popularity, acknowledgment successful ample portion to the MCU, and Mission: Impossible took this accidental to acquisition america with its biggest and champion film. The Final Reckoning is expected to consciousness similar the pinnacle, and thematic resolution, of the full series. But if it falls short, someway past Fallout tin inactive beryllium that for us. Just a fewer years earlier.

What's your favourite Mission: Impossible filM? How would you fertile them all? Vote successful our canvass and fto america cognize below...