The Mission: Impossible franchise is beloved by many as one of the greatest action franchises, and it’s largely thanks to the insane stunts that Tom Cruise does in character as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. As the series has gone on, the stunts he has done have gotten crazier and crazier. The release of the newest film in the franchise got us thinking: what are the best Mission: Impossible stunts?
Be warned, this article contains mild spoilers for the Mission: Impossible franchise — including the now in theaters Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One — so proceed with this mission with caution… if you choose to accept it.
10. Ethan on “Holiday” | Mission: Impossible 2
The first time we see Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 2, he’s on vacation; but as one would expect, that vacation is anything but relaxing. Instead he’s free solo climbing the side of a cliff. While Cruise didn’t actually free solo in real life (he had a wire and harness that were removed in post), he still climbed that cliff side. It was essentially the beginning of Cruise’s commitment to doing seemingly inhuman — or dare we say… impossible — feats for this series, and that earns it a spot on this list. In fact, the only reason why it isn’t higher is that it doesn’t really serve any purpose in the plot, instead just being a way to show off Hunt’s coolness factor.
9. The Helicopter Chase | Mission: Impossible – Fallout
The Mission: Impossible franchise has plenty of great chase scenes — in cars, motorcycles, and even on foot — but perhaps the most spectacular chase scene in the franchise is the one in which Cruise is piloting a helicopter, chasing Henry Cavill’s villain in Fallout. If someone put this in the top spots of their list, it would be hard to blame them. It’s an awesome sequence, and Cruise et al. were truly insane for doing this. But we put it this low because it’s almost overshadowed by a lot of the other parts of the scene.
8. The Langley Heist | Mission: Impossible (1996)
The Langley heist in the first Mission: Impossible film is what many would call “an oldie, but a goodie.” Hunt has to break into the CIA headquarters to steal the film’s MacGuffin. Sure, it definitely doesn’t have the massive scale going for it of many of the death-defying set pieces in the later entries, but it’s still extremely well crafted and effective. Brian De Palma’s approach to the first film was more akin to a gritty thriller, and thus the “impossible” nature of this mission is not so much from feeling inhuman, but instead its sheer difficulty, and this scene gets that across very well. It also gave us what is probably the single most iconic Mission: Impossible image — Cruise dangling from a wire inches above the floor.
7. Skydiving Into a Thunderstorm | Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Okay, Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill didn’t really skydive into a thunderstorm for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, but if I didn’t tell you that, you absolutely would have believed it. Instead, this awesome scene was pulled off by having Cruise and the stunt crew skydive over the Abu Dhabi desert, with the Paris cityscape and the thunderstorms added through special effects. The CGI in this scene is convincingly and effectively used to accentuate the real-life stunt that Cruise is doing, creating an amazingly exciting scene in one of the most exciting entries in the franchise.
6. The Motorcycle BASE Jump | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
The stunt at the climax of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One — where Cruise does a motorcycle jump off a cliffside before pulling his parachute into a BASE jump — was teased by the marketing team as one of the craziest Mission: Impossible stunts he’s ever done. It’s hard not to admire the massive scale of this feat, especially considering that the film was shot in 2020 during the height of the COVID lockdown. Although it doesn’t quite make the top 5, it’s still undeniably impressive.
Also Read: Mission: Impossible Ranking, From Best to Worst
5. The Bathroom Fight | Mission: Impossible – Fallout
The bathroom fight in Mission: Impossible – Fallout isn’t the type of extreme stunt you would expect to be featured prominently on this list, but it still features some excellent stunt work from Cruise and the stunts team. It’s just such a fun, well-choreographed fight scene that it’s hard to ignore how awesome it is. Punches are thrown, sinks are broken, and — most importantly — fists are “cocked.” Even if it’s not one of the biggest stunt scenes in the franchise, it’s certainly one of the coolest.
4. The Opera Assassination | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
The assassination sequence at the Vienna State Opera in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is another scene on this list where it is editing and fight choreography more than the feat itself that earns its spot. Set against a performance of the iconic opera Turnadot, Ethan has to thwart a group of assassins from the Syndicate who are trying to assassinate the Austrian Chancellor. If you’re looking for a set piece that manages to maintain tension so well that you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the whole thing, there’s not a better one than this in the entire franchise.
3. The Underwater Heist | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Many of the later entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise seem like they want to one-up what has come before, and the underwater heist sequence in Rogue Nation is a perfect heightening of the Langley heist from the first film. Hunt has to dive into an underwater chamber — without oxygen tanks — and replace a hard drive so that his team can complete their part of the heist. What makes this scene so impressive is that Cruise trained with an expert diver so he would be able to hold his breath for three minutes to pull this stunt off. That’s real commitment.
2. The Burj Khalifa | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
There’s probably not a better example of a “How did he do that?!?” Mission: Impossible stunt in the franchise than when Cruise climbs the Burj Khalifa — the tallest building in the world — in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Of course, there were plenty of precautions in place to ensure that Cruise was as safe as possible. Still, the idea of climbing such a massive building is absolutely terrifying, and one of the most insanely cool things that Cruise has ever done for the franchise and in his career.
1. Hanging Onto a Plane | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
While the Burj Khalifa sequence is arguably the coolest thing that Cruise has ever done, the cold open of Rogue Nation — in which he hangs onto a plane that is taking off — is probably the riskiest and craziest thing he’s ever done. Part of what makes Rogue Nation stand out in the franchise is that it hits the ground running, having several extraordinary stunts in its first two acts alone instead of saving the best for last. Although this stunt is understandably short, it’s still the peak of the series’s insanity… so far.
With so many great stunts and action sequences, it’s clear that the Mission: Impossible series is one of the greatest action franchises of all time. What do you think are the best Mission: Impossible stunts? Did we get them right, or did we leave any out? Let us know in the comments below!
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