REVIEW

Every Mission: Impossible Movie, Ranked

By Matt Oakes · October 18, 2026

For three decades, Tom Cruise has turned the Mission: Impossible franchise into the most reliable action series in Hollywood, and the one most likely to get its star killed. Across eight films, Ethan Hunt has dangled from a CIA ceiling, scaled the Burj Khalifa, clung to the side of a plane during takeoff, HALO-jumped into Paris and launched a motorcycle off a cliff, with Cruise doing the stunts himself.

The series is also a fascinating showcase for directors, from Brian De Palma’s paranoid 1996 original to John Woo, J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird and Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the final four, ending with The Final Reckoning (2025). Fallout sits at the top of my list, while M:I-2, the series’ most gloriously ridiculous entry, brings up the rear (and I still kind of love it). Here’s every Mission: Impossible movie, ranked.

Quick list:

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
Mission: Impossible II (2000)

8. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (2000)

Mission: Impossible II (2000) still
Is M:I-2 good? Not really. Is it gloriously, unapologetically John Woo? Absolutely. The plot is a flimsy Notorious riff and Dougray Scott’s villain barely registers, but every frame is soaked in Woo’s signatures: slow-motion doves, standoffs, a climactic motorcycle joust and Tom Cruise’s flowing hair whipping in the wind. It’s ridiculous and wildly over the top, but it’s unmistakably authored, a blockbuster with a real filmmaker’s fingerprints all over it. Dead last, and I still kind of love it.Rent or buy on Amazon

7. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING (2023)

Paramount quietly dropped the “Part One” from the title, and in hindsight it fits: Dead Reckoning plays like half of a movie. Its villain, a rogue artificial intelligence called the Entity, is the series’ silliest threat yet, an abstract menace that drives some genuinely odd character decisions. Worse, the marketing gave away its best set pieces, including Tom Cruise’s motorcycle leap off a cliff, so by the time they arrive, the thrill is already spent. Still slick and entertaining, but clunky in a way this franchise rarely is.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review

6. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING (2025)

Allegedly, the mission is over. You can see it in the weathered map that is Tom Cruise’s face. Feel it in his and frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie’s willingness to get a little saccharine and sentimental with this nearly 30-year-old property. It lingers in the final acknowledgments exchanged across the ragtag team, the old, the new, and the totally WTF. This is the end.

A fitting sendoff, Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning represents everything the mega-franchise has come to represent in its nearly thirty-year run. The over-the-top plotting and loose editorial prowess keeps its from scraping the best that the series had to offer but the towering practical stunts and genuine team camaraderie make this a mission well worth accepting.▶ Watch on Prime Video · Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review

5. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION (2015)

For the sake of honesty, I’ll report this: I loved 2011’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol too much. So much so that it earned a slot in my top ten that year. To this day, it’s my favorite of the series and an improbably rewatchable event film.

Though not the franchise’s top shelf entry, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation relies on a charmed, charming cast and thrilling set pieces to create a stirring (if forgettable) action adventure.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review

4. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996)

Brian De Palma’s original is the most purely suspenseful film in the series, a twisty, paranoid spy thriller from before the franchise became all about stunts. The CIA vault heist, with Tom Cruise dangling inches above the floor, is an all-time movie image, and the Channel Tunnel finale is gloriously over the top. Fans of the TV show hated what it did to Jim Phelps, but as a movie, it holds up beautifully.Rent or buy on Amazon

3. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006)

J.J. Abrams’ feature debut gives the franchise something it had been missing: a villain who genuinely terrifies. Philip Seymour Hoffman is chilling as arms dealer Owen Davian, and his cold-open interrogation sets a menacing tone the series hasn’t matched since. Abrams also grounds Ethan with a personal life (Michelle Monaghan as his wife, Julia), and the Vatican heist and Shanghai rooftop swing are pure blockbuster fun. The most underrated entry.Rent or buy on Amazon

2. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (2011)

Brad Bird’s live-action debut is where the franchise found its modern identity: Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as a death-defying stunt machine leading a team of wisecracking specialists. The Burj Khalifa climb remains one of the most jaw-dropping sequences ever put on an IMAX screen, Simon Pegg’s Benji finally gets room to shine, and blowing up the Kremlin in the first act sets the stakes sky high. A near-flawless popcorn movie.Rent or buy on Amazon

1. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT (2018)

The final guard of a dying age of superstar, Tom Cruise is the last action hero and never has his skill been in sharper focus. If the Mission: Impossible franchise has long been a stage for Cruise to display his considerable athleticism and unwavering charisma, Fallout is the movie equivalent of a coup de grâce; the jaw-dangling muscle work of American Ninja Warrior crossbred with the raw magnetism of a Bachelorette contestant.

‘Mission Impossible: Fallout is action movie heroin. Impossibly entertaining, grittier and more artful than its forebearers while still maintaining its smarmy roguish charms, Fallout is the result of mind-blowing technical merit underscored by well-earned emotional connection. Tom Cruise proves once and for all that he simply is not human.▶ Watch on Paramount+ · Rent or buy on Amazon · Read the full review

How to Watch the Mission: Impossible Movies in Order

Good news: release order is chronological order, so there’s no timeline to untangle. The early films work as standalones, while Christopher McQuarrie’s run (Rogue Nation onward) is far more serialized, and Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning form a single two-part story.

Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

FAQ

What is the best Mission: Impossible movie?

By my ranking, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) is the best, followed by Ghost Protocol (2011) and Mission: Impossible III (2006).

What is the worst Mission: Impossible movie?

Mission: Impossible II (2000) sits at the bottom of my ranking.

How many Mission: Impossible movies are there?

There are eight Mission: Impossible movies, from the 1996 original through The Final Reckoning (2025).

What order should I watch the Mission: Impossible movies in?

Release order is chronological order, starting with Mission: Impossible (1996). Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning form a two-part story, so watch them back to back.