With the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the Mission: Impossible series totals out at 8 movies, all led by Tom Cruise, who dares to go above and beyond with each passing entry. Mission: Impossible rivals the very best action and spy franchises, and with all Mission: Impossible movies now available to watch, it’s a perfect time to look at them all and see how they rank.
10 Best Spy Games To Play If You Like Mission: Impossible Movies, Ranked
Games like Alpha Protocol and Splinter Cell can give fans of Mission: Impossible the chance to feel like they're playing Ethan Hunt in a spy thriller.
With the Mission: Impossible franchise spanning 8 entries across 30 years, it’s time to rank these Tom Cruise blockbusters to see which movie boasts the best action, spectacle, and heart, and showcase the adventures of IMF agent Ethan Hunt and the impossible missions to die in the shadows for those who we know and for those we never meet.
8 Mission: Impossible 2
Action-Packed with Edge and Cheese
Mission: Impossible 2
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- May 24, 2000
- Runtime
- 123 Minutes
- Director
- John Woo
- Writers
- Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, Robert Towne, Bruce Geller
Mission: Impossible 2, unfortunately, but justly, scrutinized as a product of its own era, focusing on the popular tropes and signatures of early 2000s action with director John Woo’s style, which gives Mission: Impossible 2 a sharp edge and a cheesy bout of action. Mission: Impossible 2 takes things to the extreme, but in a somewhat ridiculous manner that it becomes hard to take it seriously, even with a series filled with MacGuffins and creatively silly tropes.
Mission: Impossible 2 suffers from a slow pace amidst the action, along with a villain that just doesn’t rank as a memorable threat to Ethan Hunt and his team, even if there are some standouts like the tense knife’s edge. Mission: Impossible 2 is more about the action than the characters, and its lack of ground and emotion is what brings it down.
7 Mission: Impossible
A Classic Spy Movie Within the Shadow of Larger Than Life Sequels
Mission: Impossible
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- May 22, 1996
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
- Director
- Brian De Palma
- Writers
- David Koepp, Robert Towne
The first launch of Tom Cruise’s action franchise magnum opus wouldn’t be as big and bold as future entries, and that’s okay. Mission: Impossible harks back to a simpler time, with a reinvention yet continuation of the 1960s TV series of the same name. Mission: Impossible doesn’t lack its share of intrigue and action, along with interesting characters to engage audiences decades later, but it’s hard not to compare the original Mission: Impossible movie to what’s come since, as each entry has been bigger and better in scope and emotion.
That’s not to say that Mission: Impossible is bad, as it’s still very enjoyable, and somewhat nostalgic to watch where it all started. Mission: Impossible is snazzy, and at times, intense and mature, providing a great watch for those in the mood for a spy-thriller without the immense spectacle and danger that awaits future entries.
6 Mission: Impossible 3
Intense Villain Chemistry Matures an Evolving Franchise
Mission: Impossible III
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- May 5, 2006
- Runtime
- 126 Minutes
- Director
- J.J. Abrams
- Writers
- Alex Kurtzman, J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci
An often underrated entry in the Mission: Impossible series is Mission: Impossible 3, a movie that attempts to modernise the series with actual edge and maturity without being overtly cheesy, and it works. Part of the reason Mission: Impossible 3 is as good as it is can be attributed to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays an intense and brutal villain that further enriches Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. When the two share a screen, it’s a classic nemesis dynamic that’s captivating to watch as a menacing tyrant clashes with a boy scout.
Even outside of the hero/villain dynamic of Hoffman and Cruise, Mission: Impossible 3 succeeds with action spectacle and spy extravaganza, never shying away from the fun aspects of thriller, yet never romanticizing the dangers that await the characters involved. Sure, it might be another MacGuffin story, but it works in all the right ways.
5 Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Giant Set Pieces Are Unforgettable in What Could Be a Finale
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- May 23, 2025
- Runtime
- 170 minutes
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Writers
- Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie
The potential finale to Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible series, and the most recent release, is one that might have fans conflicted. By all means, it’s an epic finale, and the stunts are immense in both scope and tension. However, where Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning falters is in its collision course with previous movies. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning does well enough to tie previous entries into its finale, but that comes at the cost of engagement, where the first half of the movie feels oddly out of place.
6 Lingering Questions We Have After The End Of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Is this really the end for Ethan Hunt and the IMF? Here's which questions persist after the end of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
The first half of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning falters somewhat in an attempt to get to the meat of the movie, but the real meat isn’t in the dialogue or the character emotion, but in the daring stunts that Tom Cruise gets up to. The entire submarine set piece is heart-pounding and intense, as is the plane chase, but there’s not much happening outside of these very intense and lengthy set pieces, and the conclusion will have fans hungry for more movies, making everything feel not-very-finale-like.
4 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
An Epic First Part to an Intense Thriller Ride
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 12, 2023
- Runtime
- 164 minutes
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Writers
- Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning tries something new as a first part movie to an epic finale, but that’s where some issues start to arise. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is still great – incredible, even, but it does have quite a lot going on, including a villain that might be too modern and sci-fi for a series that was mostly about fun spy gadgets and impossible missions, as Ethan Hunt must fight an AI (topical, right?)
Mission: Impossible - 6 Things Ethan Hunt Does Better Than James Bond
James Bond has nothing on Tom Cruise’s greatest character role: Ethan Hunt. Here's where he trumps over the English spy.
Even so, a mustache-twirling villainous equal to Ethan Hunt provides high stakes, especially when it presents fear otherwise unseen on Tom Cruise as he fights his way through action set piece after action set piece. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is a great watch, filled with the spectacle one has come to expect from the series, and so many set pieces are as memorable as the best from previous entries, which helps Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning shine even in its more somber moments.
3 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
A Perfect Balance of Intense Action and Humor
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- December 21, 2011
- Runtime
- 133 minutes
- Director
- Brad Bird
- Writers
- André Nemec
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol knows how to have fun without sacrificing tension and drama among the characters and story. It’s witty, action-packed, and a great ride for all on board. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol also gets bonus points for being Brad Bird’s first live-action movie, which is characterized by such style and pace to make for an immense thrill.
The excitement paves the way for the future of the series, as this is a Mission: Impossible entry that ticks all the boxes. From quirky character interactions, pulse-pounding stakes, gadget dilemmas, and extraordinary up-the-ante action.
2 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Gritty, Packed with Intrigue, and Integral to Future Movies
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 31, 2015
- Runtime
- 131 minutes
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Writers
- Christopher McQuarrie
A sequel that proves that Mission: Impossible constantly has life and vigor, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation delights with action and patient moments of character development and intensity. There’s an elevation of the series here, with a network known as the Syndicate that will truly flip the franchise on its head to provide non-stop and heart-pounding sequences where danger is at every turn.
Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise become a dream team in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and it’s clear this director and actor duo know it, since Christopher McQuarrie becomes the only director to return for not just the next installment, but the next 3. McQuarrie’s style and ideas are always fresh, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is just the beginning of a most intense adventure that engages in exciting yet unique tropes of spy, action, and thriller genres.
1 Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Extreme Tension, Action Set Pieces, and Chemistry Make the Perfect Mission
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 27, 2018
- Runtime
- 147 minutes
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Writers
- Christopher McQuarrie
Everything about Mission: Impossible – Fallout works in its favor to provide a thrilling and engaging experience from start to finish. If players aren’t hooked from the opening titles of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, then they’ve picked the wrong franchise to watch, because the ride just doesn’t stop from that point on. A daring and intense chase to stop nuclear fallout, Ethan Hunt’s mission is perhaps its boldest yet, with a perfect team and perfect action set pieces to tie this movie into a masterpiece.
With Henry Cavill playing an impatient and methodical arm-reloading agent with motives of his own, audiences are in for a real treat as Mission: Impossible – Fallout grips them in every scene, and proves how great Tom Cruise is at performing to deliver breathtaking experiences to global audiences.