Over two decades in and the franchise based on an old 1960s TV show has turned to blockbuster gold.
And now with Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the sixth film in the series, hitting cinemas, just how does it fare in comparison to the others?
Well incredibly Cruise’s latest action thriller is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 98% positive reviews.
But does it come out on top in our worst to best ranking of the movies?
6. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Apart from a thrilling opening of harness-free rock climbing, John Woo’s sequel to the original film is just dull, dull, dull.
There’s nothing wrong with being serious, but the plot at least needs to be interesting.
To be fair the action does pick up in the finale with some quality motorbiking and a good ol’ beach fight, but not enough to make this an effort to watch.
5. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
JJ Abrams’ entry, and his directorial debut, saw the halfway point between the old, serious tone of the earlier films into the more fun and generally better outings that came later.
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman proved a dastardly villain, but the muddled nature of this film still wasn’t quite the Mission: Impossible we all know and love today.
4. Mission: Impossible (1996)
The original’s a funny one, but we don’t mean in terms of gags.
Brian De Palma created a Cold War-esque serious spy thriller with double crosses and twists all over the place.
Who could forget that original Impossible Mission – breaking into that room in the CIA – and not to mention the thrilling train tunnel ending.
3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Christopher McQuarrie’s first go and we’re right into the modern era of the film franchise.
Five movies in and it just shouldn’t be this good. Quality stunts and set pieces with a hark back to the more serious tone of the original, it’s no wonder Fallout built on Rogue Nation as a direct sequel.
2. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Ghost Protocol gave Pixar director Brad Bird his first shot at a live action film and boy did it pay off, marking reboot in quality for the series as a whole.
Fresh, fun and funny, this slightly lighter and cartoonish outing had some serious highlights.
Having only had a tiny part in the last outing, Simon Pegg’s Benji was introduced as a regular field agent, bringing the comic relief through the tech side of things.
But the most impressive aspect of the film has to be Cruise’s climbing – and running up and down – the tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Truly spectacular.
1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
It’s often easy to say that the latest of any on-going franchise is the best; from film and TV shows to video games.
But this movies really is something and deserves its five star review which you can read here.
In a nutshell Fallout is an improvement on all the previous films’ failings, drawing together all the best aspects of them; simultaneously giving off that classic vibe of the original while never being afraid to continually evolve.
No wonder it’s the best received film to date. Bring on Mission: Impossible 7.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is out now.