tom cruise movies mission impossible

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How to Watch Mission: Impossible Movies In Order

If you want to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order and see Ethan Hunt get in his daily steps, fall from high up, take a deep breath, defy mask policy, catch a plane, and kick ass and chew bubblegum (he gets them from the IMF snack room), you can watch the movies as they released, no prequel plotting here.

Mission: Impossible (1998)
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Now, if you’re new to the series, do you actually need to watch all the Mission: Impossible movies in order? If you were a big fan of the original TV series , you’d probably give a bellowing NO, since the 1996 Mission: Impossible movie re-introduced the Jim Phelps hero role and then gave him a thoroughly impressive character assassination. But that’s just director Brian de Palma taking the piss out of the blockbuster and Tom Cruise taking the reins of the IP on his own terms.

So the first M:I movie is a perfectly good place to start if you’ve never seen the TV show, likely since it’s over 50 years old at this point. It’s also more of a spy thriller — all dense plotting and subdued action, but with an explosive set piece or two that would become the series’ trademark. There isn’t really an overarching story to Mission: Impossible until the latter-half of the franchise, but this movie does introduce support characters like hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames, who’s appeared in every movie) and then-IMF director Eugene Kittridge, who returns for Dead Reckoning .

Mission: Impossible 2 is the most skippable of the series, both in story and quality. Anyone who’s seen director John Woo’s Hong Kong stuff will likely find this one more palatable, believing that a man can fly and motorcycles can duel.

Cruise hand-picked J.J. Abrams to direct a soft reboot for Mission: Impossible III , which expands more of Hunt’s IMF team (including Simon Pegg’s Benji) and introduces Michelle Monaghan as Ethan’s fiancée Julia.

For the fourth Impossible , Ghost Protocol , Cruise made another unlikely choice for director: Brad Bird, making his live-action debut. This is where the series really establishes itself in the upper echelon of action filmmaking, and set the standard for death-defying practical stunts for each release.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97%

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 96%

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) 94%

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 93%

Mission: Impossible III (2006) 71%

Mission: Impossible (1996) 66%

Mission: Impossible II (2000) 56%

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong. Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong. Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Christopher McQuarrie
Bruce Geller
Henry Cavill
Ving Rhames
1.8K User reviews
438 Critic reviews
87 Metascore
25 wins & 41 nominations total

August Walker

Luther Stickell

Solomon Lane

Erika Sloane

The White Widow

Alan Hunley

Nils Debruuk

Wolf Blitzer

Rowdy Frenchman

(as Andrew Cazanave-Pin)

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

Trivia Tom Cruise trained for an entire year to perform the HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) stunt in this film.
Goofs While the specifications for the bomb were being revealed, an explosive yield of five megatons was mentioned. This would be impossible since a Plutonium core alone would only be capable of a fission reaction measured in kilotons of TNT. A second or even third stage involving a fusion reaction would be necessary to achieve an explosive yield in the multi-megaton range. This would require fuels such as lithium-6 deuteride and tritium and a much more complex design than what was shown in the movie.

Delivery Man : Fate whispers to the warrior.

Ethan Hunt : A storm is coming.

Delivery Man : And the warrior whispers back.

Ethan Hunt : I am the storm.

Crazy credits The opening credits sequence showed various scenes that foreshadowed the movie.
Alternate versions In India, the film has been certified UA (12+) by the Indian Censor Board with references to Kashmir being chopped off, resulting in some abrupt edits.
Connections Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Tom Cruise/Parker Posey/Jorja Smith (2018)
Soundtracks The Mission: Impossible Theme Written by Lalo Schifrin

User reviews 1.8K

pawanpunjabithewriter
Jul 26, 2023
How long is Mission: Impossible - Fallout? Powered by Alexa
Why didn't Jeremy Renner return for this film?
Who was the White Widows's mother "Max" that she mentioned during her speech?
What's the Rabbit's Foot?
July 27, 2018 (United States)
United States
Official Facebook
Official Instagram
Mission: Impossible VI
Preacher's Pulpit, Forsand, Norway (Helicopter crash scene)
Paramount Pictures
Skydance Media
TC Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$178,000,000 (estimated)
$220,159,104
$61,236,534
Jul 29, 2018
$791,658,205

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 27 minutes
Dolby Digital
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Surround 7.1
IMAX 6-Track
12-Track Digital Sound

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Mission: Impossible

Starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, the Mission: Impossible franchise turned the classic TV show into an action-packed film series with spectacular stunts.