On the occasion of the recently released M:I 8, here’s my short, personal ranking of the series.
It’s worth mentioning that my enthusiasm for Thomas Cruise is definitely limited, but it did grow a little as I devoured the film series. Of course, I started as unbiased as possible with the first part and finished the big watch in the cinema with The Final Reckoning. Enough talk - let me get my garbage off my chest.
8. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
The weirdest part of the series - in which Tom Cruise clearly has the best hairstyle, though. Slo-mo shots of motorbikes and helicopters didn’t do anything for me at all, and the rest of the story is only a grey memory for me now. 2/5 stars
7. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)
Yep, that’s how it is. The latest part didn’t really convince me. The first half does hit, and I thought everything that happens underwater was great. From then on my attention dropped a lot, partly because of the long runtime, but mostly because of this unnecessary AI and its henchman Gabriel, who has gone rogue. Shame. 2.5/5 stars
6. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)
Better than its successor, but a clear step back compared to its predecessors. All in all, this whole Reckoning adventure felt a bit too inflated to me, in both part 7 and 8. The motorbike stunt and the opening were cool, Venice was super unexciting and the ending only so-so. 3/5 stars
5. Mission: Impossible (1996)
From here on it gets really worth watching. The starting signal for countless adventures. Still firmly rooted in the spy genre and much slower than the parts that followed, but nobody will claim that the introduction of the characters and the IMF wasn’t super exciting. Seeing the mask trick for the first time is something special. A successful start, especially considering what came right after. 3.5/5 stars
4. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Philip Seymour Hoffman. A villain like there was hardly ever again. Introducing Ethan Hunt’s marriage also made the whole thing much more exciting. The settings were great and everything felt a notch more serious and grounded. 3.5/5 stars
3. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
The fourth part, now directed by animation genius Brad Bird, opens the podium. What can you say - climbing the Burj Khalifa really is something. Benji Dunn was also properly introduced here for the first time, and the feeling of depending completely on this team made everything especially exciting. This part is just enormous fun to watch. 3.5/5 stars
2. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
For many maybe number one, for me just barely not. This film feels like a Nolan blockbuster. Everything got bigger and more intense here. For the first time a villain was carried over, and with Henry Cavill the cherry was put on top. A huge epic that really sweeps you along. I would have loved to see it in the cinema. 4/5 stars
1. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Biased. The Vienna State Opera? Great! Pretty much everything works in this film. Ilsa Faust is introduced, which does the films a lot of good, the Syndicate feels genuinely threatening and the team works better than ever before. For me personally it also beats Fallout because of its slightly more authentic, smaller-scale setting. Really scratching at the edge of a masterpiece. 4/5 stars
And that’s my ranking of the cult series done. Let’s see where Ethan ends up next, because that surely wasn’t everything.