All 7 ‘Mission: Impossible’ Movies, Ranked

Few modern-day action franchises have had the same longevity as the Mission: Impossible film series. While it began as a spy/thriller TV series that was first broadcast in the late 1960s, the name “Mission: Impossible” is now most associated with the blockbuster action series led by Tom Cruise. In the series, he plays Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt, who goes on a series of high-stakes adventures that involve preventing shadowy enemies from causing chaos on an international scale.

While the villains try (and fail) to rule the world, the films themselves have proven to be dominant forces at the global box office. As a series, it’s one of the most successful and profitable at the box office in recent memory, and its dominance continued with the release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in 2023, plus an upcoming eighth film in 2025. Mission: Impossible is among the most consistent and acclaimed modern action franchises; each of its films is innovative at worst and groundbreaking at best. It isn’t easy to declare what the best Mission: Impossible movie is. However, the task becomes less daunting when considering the action sequences, plot twists, performances, and even the score, and the best Mission: Impossible movie excels in all these departments.

7 ‘Mission: Impossible II’ (2000)

Director: John Woo

The only entry in the Mission: Impossible series that proves a little divisive is Mission: Impossible II. It’s easy to single it out as the weakest entry so far – that being said, it’s certainly not a terrible movie. It helped push the series further into a more action-focused approach compared to its spy-thriller-centered predecessor. The plot sees Ethan Hunt traveling around the world to stop an ex-IMF agent from unleashing a bioweapon that could claim countless lives.

It was directed by John Woo, a natural fit for the series, given his tendency to make action movies that are explosive, intense, and exciting. Both he and Tom Cruise don’t phone it in by any means, receiving considerable support from a stellar and scene-stealing Thandiwe Newton. However, Mission: Impossible II isn’t quite as engaging or consistent as the better entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise, despite Woo’s deliberately larger-than-life approach. It’s surprisingly underwhelming overall, especially considering the series and the director attached to it. Still, several funny and silly sequences inject it with life, preventing it from being a total dud.

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6 ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)

Director: Brian De Palma

The first entry in the Mission: Impossible film series isn’t among the very best, but it still makes for a strong start. Its story has a slightly smaller scale than the plots seen in later movies, but it’s nevertheless exciting and consistently entertaining. Its central premise sees Ethan Hunt framed by a mole within the CIA, which leads to him trying to prove his innocence while on the run, exposing the real villain in the process.

Mission: Impossible might feel a little quaint compared to what was to come, but that arguably also gives it a certain charm. The first entry feels more comparable to the stylish, character-driven thrillers from Brian De Palma‘s filmography than the increasingly explosive movies that came later. Mission: Impossible also benefits from De Palma’s trademark stylish and noir-ish approach. At its best, the first Mission: Impossible does indeed function like a very satisfying thriller; it’s intimate, tense, riveting, and hectic, with a decent number of enjoyable action setpieces. Yet, for those looking for the series’ trademark envelope-pushing sequences, Mission: Impossible might fall short.

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5 ‘Mission: Impossible III’ (2006)

Director: J. J. Abrams

Before directing one solid Star Wars film and then another, which was certainly less than great or even inspired, J.J. Abrams lent his flashy, lens-flare-heavy style to the Mission: Impossible series; the result was overall pretty good. Mission: Impossible III is frenetic and entertainingly chaotic, with the plot following Ethan Hunt working with a new team to take down a dangerous arms dealer named Owen Davian.

The action satisfies, and the story is decent, with Cruise accompanied by a solid supporting cast, including Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. However, Mission: Impossible III is elevated considerably by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose performance as the film’s antagonist steals the focus from right under Cruise’s nose. He makes Davian perhaps the most memorable villain in the Mission: Impossible movies so far, and it’s interesting to see Hoffman and Cruise on-screen together in a movie that couldn’t be more different from the other iconic film they co-starred in: Paul Thomas Anderson‘s 1999 psychological drama Magnolia.

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4 ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (2015)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

The fifth movie in the Mission Impossible series, 2015’s Rogue Nation, is an immensely satisfying action/adventure film. It’s ruthlessly efficient from a technical perspective, being well-paced and constructed throughout, and once again having a typically high-stakes plot. Here, Ethan Hunt and his team need to take on an organization called The Syndicate, seeing as it seems deadset on taking down IMF.

It sits in between two of the very best Mission: Impossible movies, and quality-wise, it’s just a little shy of equaling the pair. That being said, it’s still hard to fault, thanks to typically great action and the dedication of Tom Cruise when it comes to the over-the-top stunts he performs on-screen. Rogue Nation is not quite as gonzo or memorable as the series is at its very best, but it comes very close. More importantly, Rogue Nation introduces Rebecca Ferguson‘s Ilsa Faust, arguably the series’ best, most complex and alluring character and Ethan Hunt’s best companion.

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3 ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ (2011)

Director: Brad Bird

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol might’ve been the first time the series established itself as one that could be genuinely great rather than merely very good. This fourth movie in the franchise elevated things considerably with a story that saw Ethan Hunt and his team having to work independently of the government after being partially blamed for a particularly devastating terrorist attack.

There were certainly impressive stunts and action set pieces in the first three movies; however, Ghost Protocol really took things up a notch, becoming instrumental in turning the series into a wild, escalating action extravaganza. The entire Burj Khalifa sequence, in particular, is perhaps the most well-known in the Mission: Impossible series so far, which is saying something. Thankfully, the rest of the film is no slouch when it comes to delivering action and excitement, with Bird and an increasingly involved Cruise finding the right balance between awe-inspiring excitement and compelling narrative impact.

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2 ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

The sixth Mission: Impossible movie also happens to be one of the very best, partly thanks to its stellar use of the 2.5-hour runtime to deliver numerous high-quality action setpieces. Fallout is among the most dramatic and high-stakes of the series so far, with a comparable premise to Ghost Protocol: Ethan Hunt and his team find themselves blamed for something and need to work to prove they haven’t been compromised while dealing with more enemies that want to take them down.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a highlight of the Mission: Impossible series that ranks among the greatest action movies of the 2010s. The film benefits from an increasingly personal plot for Hunt and a spectacular villainous turn from Henry Cavill, whose August Walker is an instant icon. Fallout further cemented the franchise as one of the best of the 21st century so far and solidified Cruise’s reputation as the ultimate action star. Modern-day blockbusters don’t get much more entertaining or relentlessly action-packed than this, which makes it an essential watch for any viewer, regardless of whether they usually enjoy spy-themed movies.

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1 ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ (2023)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

For as impossibly good as Mission: Impossible – Fallout was, its follow-up, Dead Reckoning Part One, is somehow better. It takes the entire series to new and impressive heights while expertly setting up a follow-up to conclude things in what’s to be an undoubtedly explosive and exciting fashion. Even better, it does this without feeling unfinished or like a cliffhanger; Dead Recoking Part One feels largely complete, leaving just enough hanging to make viewers excited about what’s next.

Dead Reckoning Part One is the best Mission Impossible movie so far, feeling excellently paced and not like a 163-minute extravaganza. Dead Reckoning Part One also feels very timely, with the antagonist being a rogue AI program known as The Entity, leading to even more paranoia and distrust among the main characters. Each large-scale action scene is a little better than the last and builds up to an amazing and relentless final act that represents the action genre at its very best, ultimately needing to be seen to be believed.

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