Welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. As we inch closer to the summer movie season, the time of the year when all the big blockbuster movies are released, I decided to do the impossible. Since I hadn’t made a list yet in 2025 and to prepare for the release of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”, what better time to try and rank the first seven previous films of the franchise? Trying to do a re-watch was also a bit of an impossible task, but an enjoyable one at least. But before I begin, just in case you’ve missed one of these over the last 29 years, there aren’t a lot of plot details below, but there are still a few spoilers sprinkled in, so this is your warning ahead of time. So, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to read this list below of my rankings of the Mission: Impossible movies.
7. Mission: Impossible II (2000) – Starting us off from the bottom is the second M:I movie. Not only is this not going to be a surprise, but I’m sure this falls on the bottom of most people’s lists as well. Even though there are a few hardcore fans of this one, although I’m sure that is mostly tied to Director John Woo, who had a string of mainstream action flicks from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s. Even Woo’s big-budget sequel made quite a bit at the box office; it just didn’t do it for me with the way it was filmed, and the last one before the casting really stepped up.
6. Mission: Impossible III (2006) – This is a solid outing, and I don’t really have much bad to say about it. It just so happens that this franchise just kept getting better and better after this one, so in hindsight, it sort of got left behind. Philip Seymour Hoffman made for a great villain, and we got our first look at Benji (Simon Pegg), who would continue to be in every film after this. Also, who doesn’t like Michelle Monaghan as the love interest of Ethan Hunt?
5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) – With only a short cameo from both Ving Rhames as Luther and Monaghan as Julia was a downer. Adding in Jeremy Renner helped, but not until he joined the team full-time. But, for the fourth movie in, this is when they started going bigger on the stunts, and none of them bigger than Hunt climbing on the tallest building on Earth (at least according to Esquire). If watching him climb and almost fall doesn’t make your palms start to sweat, then you’re a better person than I am.
4. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) – Luther is back. Renner’s William Brandt is a full member of the team, and now we have Rebecca Ferguson as well? In my mind, I go back and forth between Rogue Nation and Ghost Protocol, but the refreshed cast and the doubling down on the stunts give this the edge. That bike chase scene through Morocco is thrilling, and Hunt actually grabbing hold of an airplane as it takes off- it doesn’t get much more exhilarating than that… at least until the next film in the franchise.
3. Mission: Impossible (1996) – Finally, here’s one that’s out of order. Even though this doesn’t match the level of stunts performed in Rogue Nation, it is the original that started it all, and the rest wouldn’t be here without it. Besides Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, this is also the first appearance of Rhames as Luther Stickell. Also, where would this franchise be if it weren’t for the dramatic scene where Hunt is hanging in the secure room, trying to keep quiet while stealing the NOC list?
2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) – Alright, I know it appears that I am just going in order, and I swear that I’m not. These movies really do just keep getting better and better as the franchise rolls on. Coming off the heels of Rogue Nation, I wasn’t sure what to expect here. But once again, they exceeded expectations. Along with Pegg and Rhames, Monaghan and Ferguson were also back to reprise their roles alongside Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris from the most recent outing. That, along with franchise newcomers Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby, was good enough, but once again, the stunts outshone everything else. The bike chase scene through town and the Halo jump out of the airplane… 100% pure fun and excitement.
1. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) – If you had told me back in 1996, after watching the first film, that the sixth sequel of this franchise would be sitting in my number one spot, I don’t know if I would have believed you. But here we are. Once again, it continues to get better as it ages. Just like the others I have discussed, it does so because of two big factors. The first is the cast. The big three (Cruise, Rhames, and Pegg) are back again, and even though we lose a couple, we are introduced to a few more newcomers like Grace (Hayley Atwell). The second one is, once again, the action and the stunts. That whole train sequence from the moment Hunt jumps on the bike, makes that insane jump to the train, and the train derailment is one of the best sequences of events in an action film that I’ve seen in years. All this, plus the higher stakes and thrilling ending to set up the next film, is why this one landed in the number one spot.
So, that’s it for my list of Mission: Impossible movies. What do you think? Does it match your list (if you have one)? Do you agree that the series keeps getting better as it gets older? Let me know in the comments what you think, and I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.
As a final treat, here is the trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning for your viewing pleasure:
