For holding the title of best ongoing action movie franchise—a claim I’d make unequivocally—the Mission: Impossible series is fairly light on attractions. These movies contain little romance and no sex. Their plots are convoluted. Their villains are mostly unmemorable.
And yet, the action is so good that none of those pesky demerits matter. Over the course of seven movies and 28 years, Tom Cruise and a rotating cast of costars, directors, and locations have continually upped the action bar, and the latest installment, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One, only furthers that trend with the self-described “biggest stunt in cinema history.”
So let’s rank the best of those stunts, set pieces, capers, and heists. Here are the top 25 action scenes in the Mission: Impossible franchise. (Spoilers for Dead Reckoning Part One included.)
25. Free solo, Mission: Impossible 2
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Ethan Hunt’s first appearance of M:I 2 is a worthy start to this list because his rock climb is completely extraneous to the movie’s plot, yet compelling nonetheless. Cruise actually made this climb himself, of course—albeit with a safety cable—and these movies are better because Cruise not only does his own stunts, but constantly seeks more inventive and dangerous ways to pull them off.
24. Shanghai theft, Mission: Impossible III
In theory, this scene deserves credit for its twist on an action movie staple, as the camera cuts away from Cruise as he enters the skyscraper that contains the mysterious Rabbit’s Foot. But in practice, it’s a letdown to see Maggie Q reminisce about her childhood cat while Ethan completes his theft off-screen; then, after Hunt escapes in a hurry, the tension in the ensuing car chase is mostly about trying to find a working cellphone signal.
23. Chunnel crossing, Mission: Impossible
This isn’t totally the fault of a film released in 1996, but the helicopter-in-a-tunnel finale features the most dated visuals of any action scene in the franchise by far. The stakes are still dramatic, Ethan’s winning gum trick still clever, but watch this high-speed chase back-to-back with others in the series and it’s clearly a step behind its more modern, real-looking counterparts.
22. Motorcycle finale, Mission: Impossible 2
With apologies to fans of John Woo’s entry in the franchise, this is the last M:I 2 scene on the list. Woo’s particular shoot-’em-up action flair works in many movies, but not here, because the best Mission: Impossible scenes don’t rely on guns. That said, even an M:I 2 skeptic can appreciate how ridiculous it is for Ethan and his villainous double to participate in a veritable motorcycle joust, in which they leap off to bear-hug each other midair as their bikes crash and explode.
21. Mumbai car park clash, Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol
Some M:I enthusiasts consider Ghost Protocol the best film in the series. I don’t fault them, but I can’t get there because of how the film falls so far after peaking (both figuratively and literally) at the Burj Khalifa midway through. Compared to the movie’s earlier highs, the climax in Mumbai is fairly muted, as Ethan battles a forgetful villain rather than the combined might of Mother Nature and humanity’s hubris. At least he’s able to crack a premature “Mission … accomplished!” catchphrase after intentionally driving off a ledge to reach a nuclear briefcase before its countdown clock reaches zero.
20. Abu Dhabi airport meet-cute, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One
The first entry from the newest film brings instant chemistry between Ethan and Hayley Atwell’s pickpocket, Grace, as well as an entertaining B plot in which Benji solves riddles to avert a potential nuclear blast. The draw here is the sheer number of plates that the film successfully spins at once, as the cameras track Ethan, Grace, Benji, Luther, the villainous Gabriel, pursuing American agents, and more random targets as—in typical M:I fashion—an orderly plan descends into chaos.
19. Berlin breakout, Mission: Impossible III
There’s nothing special about the way this sequence starts; the explosion-aided breakout from a Berlin warehouse could have been plucked from just about any action franchise. But then Ethan and his rescuee, Lindsey (Keri Russell), board a helicopter, and the scene improves immensely. The enemies’ copter flies through flames! The two pilots duel through windmills! And then, just when the heroes think they’ve escaped, their jubilation turns sour as a bomb detonates inside Lindsey’s brain.
18. Vatican kidnapping, Mission: Impossible III
This delightful heist includes little pure action but plenty of other touches that define the M:I franchise: wonderful mask work, quick costume changes, and an impeccably choreographed, multi-vehicle escape plan that succeeds in ensnaring Philip Seymour Hoffman’s series-best villain.
Be forewarned if you plan to rewatch this scene, though: When Cruise ascends the wall to enter the Vatican in secret and, for no explicable reason, deadpans, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,” you might need to pause because you’re laughing so hard.
17. Bridge attack, Mission: Impossible III
M:I III doesn’t thrill in the same way as other entries in the series. Its action is mostly good, not great, hence the placement of its scenes near the bottom of this top-25 list; it’s elevated instead by PSH’s menace as arms dealer Owen Davian, which doesn’t translate as neatly to raw action. Davian’s breakout from IMF custody provides the movie’s best spectacle, though, as a series of faceless mercenaries wreck Ethan and friends and use a fun Cheez Whiz–looking gadget to bust through the wall of an armored car.
16. Venice duels, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One
Much as the newest movie’s climactic train scene—don’t worry, it ranks higher on this list—recalls Mission: Impossible’s finale, its nighttime traipse through Venice seems like a knowing callback to the first film’s opener in Prague. After what happened to his friends in Prague, and in Berlin, and in Venice, Ethan really needs to stop going outside in European cities at night.
15. Prague opening, Mission: Impossible
Speaking of the opener in Prague: Does this sequence even qualify for this list? It’s more than one scene, and its draw is more about tension and mood than action and adrenaline. Yet with Brian De Palma’s direction and the Czech nighttime mist, which casts an eerie tone over the proceedings, it sets a scintillating stage for the rest of Ethan’s IMF career and remains more compelling than many of the action scenes with bigger bombast that followed it. On balance, it deserves placement near the middle of this list.
14. Tom Cruise’s running, numerous
This entry is a cheat, allowing me to smuggle in many scenes from many different movies, all connected by Cruise’s desire to sprint on screen. There are so many to choose from: his race through Shanghai in M:I III, his sandstorm sprint in Ghost Protocol, his airport escape in Dead Reckoning Part One. But the highlight here is easily Cruise’s literally ankle-breaking rooftop pursuit of Henry Cavill’s John Lark in Fallout. “I’m jumping out a window!” he screams at Benji, giving him directions through an earpiece. Naturally.
13. Morocco motorcycle chase, Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation
Ethan’s pursuit of Ilsa Faust—with interruptions from Luther, Brandt, and a host of unnamed Syndicate redshirts—is a perfectly fine scene, but it’s not that spectacular when compared to a different motorcycle chase in the series.
12. Rome car chase, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One
The same goes for the franchise’s latest chase scene, which is weighed down a touch by comparisons to a different automotive chase that ranks higher on this list. Yet this sequence gets extra points for two humorous wrinkles: the handcuffs impairing Ethan and Grace, and Grace’s miserable driving skills. How many car chases have movie fans seen in which the calm, collected drivers execute skilled maneuvers to outwit their pursuers? Against all that movie history, it’s a fun twist to see Atwell—playing a civilian, not a superspy—panic and crash repeatedly.
11. Midair plane hang, Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation
The first four M:I movies each had a different director, who brought their own visions and styles to the series. But all the movies from Rogue Nation on have had frequent Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie at the helm, and the first scene in the first McQuarrie movie is emblematic of the daredevil adventures to come.
On the one hand, this is a short, sweet action scene, without the context or buildup that every entry in the top 10 enjoys. On the other hand, well, Cruise strapped himself to a plane traveling 260 miles per hour; if even he was, as he said later, “scared shitless,” the stunt was guaranteed to be worthwhile.
10. Underwater card switch, Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation
Somewhat surprisingly, given how many other places the franchise has traveled across seven movies, Rogue Nation’s second-act dive is the only M:I stunt to take place in water. (Even then, it’s in a man-made tank, not a natural body of water.) That distinction will likely change once Dead Reckoning Part Two arrives, as Ethan searches for a submarine lost on the ocean floor. Imagine what sorts of world records Cruise will pursue in preparation for that action, considering he held his breath for a then-record six minutes to film the Rogue Nation scene.
9. Kremlin caper, Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol
An elevated version of the Vatican heist, Ethan’s infiltration of the Kremlin offers similarly welcome beats, like costume changes and tech wizardry; the special screen device that allows Ethan and Benji to sneak toward the records room undetected is a marvel. Even better is the sense of humor in the scene, courtesy mainly of Benji in his first time in the field.
8. HALO jump, Mission: Impossible–Fallout
Here begins a lengthy run of Fallout scenes, because that film, to use a technical term, absolutely rules. I’ll spoil one statistic now: Fallout has four scenes that rank in the top eight on this list, while no other movie has more than one. Place those four in whatever order you want, but I’ll start with the HALO jump into a thunderstorm, which Cruise practiced more than 100 times to deliver the proper level of spectacle as Fallout’s action begins in force.
7. Paris chase, Mission: Impossible–Fallout
The franchise’s best chase sequence (on land, at least) unfolds over multiple stages, each deserving of applause, because no other chase has better used the geography of its host city to create a dramatic rhythm from start to end. Ethan first evades Paris police in a truck after tricking the White Widow’s men by audibling to a new plan to break Solomon Lane out of custody. Then, he flees the cops on a motorcycle, which includes a dazzling dash against the flow of traffic at the Arc de Triomphe. Finally, after a pause in which it seems the crew has succeeded in its mission, he races against Ilsa, who’s trying to kill Lane.
6. Bathroom fight, Mission: Impossible–Fallout
Cruise isn’t even the second-most impressive performer in this phenomenal fistfight—the most aggressive, violent, and brutal of any in the series. Cavill is magnificent, and magnificently physical, as secret traitor John Lark; his arm-cocking as he prepares to enter the fray is the most GIF-able moment of a tremendously entertaining film.
And Liang Yang, the stuntman who portrays Lark’s decoy, pulls off the rare feat of outshining stars in a fight, à la Sébastien Foucan, the real-life parkour pioneer who plays the bomb maker that James Bond chases at the beginning of Casino Royale. In Fallout, Yang displays a level of speed and panache while fighting one-on-two that elevates him far above the standard evil henchman. Only Ilsa’s timely arrival with a gun—which produces the stark visual contrast of a pool of red blood next to the bathroom’s white tile and walls—saves Ethan from dying at the hands of a more skilled combatant.
5. Kashmir climax, Mission: Impossible–Fallout
Fallout books two stages for its final action. In the medical camp, the action is only OK, as Ilsa and Benji spar with Lane while Luther and Julia, Ethan’s ex-wife, defuse a bomb. But in the skies above and beyond said medical camp, the action is extraordinary. In the span of 15 minutes, amid a countdown, Ethan shimmies up a rope to board a helicopter mid-flight, makes that climb again after falling the first time, takes control of the vehicle, learns how to fly it (which Cruise did in real life, of course), chases down John Lark’s helicopter, crashes both, bests Lark in hand-to-hand combat, prevents himself from plummeting to the bottom of a mountain, inches his way back to the ledge from which he’d fallen, and captures Lark’s remote detonator, all in time to prevent nuclear catastrophe.
4. Langley heist, Mission: Impossible
In this showstopper stunt from the first M:I movie, Cruise doesn’t climb as high or jump as far or hold his breath as long as he does in later installments. But is there any scene in the entire franchise that inspired more copycats than this one? Is there any more iconic image than a young Cruise dangling from a wire in the ceiling, hacking into a computer while preventing anything, even a single bead of sweat, from falling to the pressure-sensitive floor?
Nearly three decades later, this scene is still as tense as it was in 1996; the rat is scary every time! The Langley heist could easily rank as high as no. 2 on this list, if it got extra points for its legacy in the series at large.
3. Battle on the Orient Express, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One
If it included only the “biggest stunt in cinema history,” this climactic sequence would rank comfortably within the top 10. But at the point when Ethan initiates a BASE jump by riding his motorcycle off a cliff—that’s worth repeating: he initiates a BASE jump by riding his motorcycle off a cliff—the action isn’t even halfway over. Ethan and Gabriel still need to fist-and-knife-fight atop the train, even as it speeds through a tunnel. Ethan still needs to make another dangerous parachute jump. And Ethan and Grace still need to climb through falling train cars—in a slow-motion tumble over an exploded bridge—in the most gripping action of the newest M:I film.
Even in an oeuvre that prizes inventiveness, this ending is especially creative, with both the conception of Cruise’s cliff dive and the vertical train escape. The latter is almost like a video game, as Ethan and Grace face unique obstacles in each car—a grill that catches fire, a heavy piano—that require different acts of athleticism to navigate. I’ve seen Dead Reckoning Part One only once thus far, and this is the sequence I’m most eager to rewatch.
2. Opera assassination, Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation
In terms of pure stunt work, the Vienna State Opera scene doesn’t belong this high. But in terms of aesthetics, it’s a flat-out jaw-dropper. Ethan and Benji’s trip to the opera is the most beautiful action scene in the entire franchise, with a backdrop of stunning colors—Ilsa’s yellow dress!—and moody lighting and the tension-ratcheting soundtrack of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot. Many of the best M:I action scenes play with silence, but the buildup here—which seamlessly connects copious moving parts, with attention given to Ethan, Benji, Solomon, and three separate assassins—is all the more thrilling for its booming noise. (The opera also brings a built-in countdown, via a target note in its sheet music.)
All those design touches imbue the sequence with a sense of elegance that befits the opera. Even the presence of guns—which, you’ll note, don’t appear elsewhere at the very top of this list—can’t diminish it, because the flute rifle and the cinematography of Ilsa’s exaggerated sniper pose are visually captivating. The only way Cruise could top the splendor of this sequence is to, I don’t know, climb the tallest building in the world from the outside.
1. Burj Khalifa climb, Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol
I spent the last week rewatching the first six M:I movies, then watching Dead Reckoning Part One. The entire time, I was wondering if I’d find a reason to bump the Burj Khalifa stunt in Brad Bird’s film from the top spot on this list, where it slotted in my initial brainstorm. And the entire time, I couldn’t find a single reason.
Because Ethan doesn’t just need to climb up 11 stories of the tallest building in the world from the outside while contending with failing technology and an approaching sandstorm. He also needs to scramble back down—or, as he improvises when his cable isn’t long enough to reach, he needs to run along the side of the building, then launch himself out into the open air in a graceful arc that carries him to the window where his friends wait to catch him.
The action itself is breathtaking. The audacity to even attempt the stunt is stunning. And the camerawork and choreography are stomach-churning, with an initial, sweeping overhead shot that conveys the absurdity of Ethan’s—and Cruise’s—most daring set piece to date.
