Even when the series was more focused on espionage than over-the-top spectacle,Mission: Impossiblecould always be relied on if you wanted to see some good action. The film series, that is. The TV series of the same name that began airing in 1966 was a little more low-key, though not without some sequences that would’ve been exciting by the standards of television at the time.
The film series starringTom Cruise, on the other hand, eventually became known for spectacle, as well asCruise’s willingness to pull off daring stunts on screen. Some of those stunts are included in great action scenes, and the best action scene from every movie is what the following ranking intends to highlight. This approach does mean a few all-time great sequences can’t be counted. Like, the sixth movie has multiple scenes that would be in the top 10 best, but only one scene from it can be included here, when doing one scene per movie… sorry!
8’Mission: Impossible' (1996)
The heist at the CIA headquarters
There isn’t a ton of action in the firstMission: Impossiblemovie, but it is still thrilling, as you might expect fromsomething directed byBrian De Palma. The concluding action sequence hasn’t aged fantastically on an effects front, and the person writing this will admit they were too young to know how it might’ve looked in 1996 (maybe a little better?), but it is probably the biggest of the set pieces.
Still, if you want to count the famous heist sequence as an action scene, albeit a fairly subtle and restrained one more about tension than combat, then that’s the best “action” scene in the first movie. Ethanhanging from the cable is an understandably iconic image, and it’s impressive that such a sequence can milk so much tensionout of something that, on paper, is so straightforward.
Mission: Impossible
7’Mission: Impossible II' (2000)
The motorcycle chase and eventual “joust”
Even those who likeMission: Impossible IIwill probablyadmit it’s kind of a mess, but it can be a fun mess if you approach it with the right frame of mind. It kind of amps up melodrama with something of a love triangle going on, all the while emphasizing action more and having a plot that revolves around a now-villainous IMF agent who has his hands on a deadly genetically modified disease.
Mission: Impossible II has plenty of slow motion, overly dramatic camerawork, and a sense of everything being heightened.
It is,for better or worse, extremelyJohn Woo, and that means there’s plenty of slow motion, overly dramatic camerawork, and a sense of everything being heightened. This isdemonstrated inMission: Impossible II’s best action scene, which involves a motorcycle chase that eventually becomes a motorcycle duel, with Ethan and the main villain driving at each other and leaping off their bikes in midair, colliding together and then getting into a fistfight. It is indeed as ridiculous as that description probably makes it sound.
Mission: Impossible 2
6’Mission: Impossible III' (2006)
Sprinting through Shanghai to save Julia
Maintaining an emphasis on action while also feeling a little more grounded than the second movie,Mission: Impossible IIIwas probably an overall step in the right direction for the series,even if it’s not quite top-tier stuff. It was, admittedly, also significant for being the firstMission: Impossiblemovie with a lot of Ethan running, and it’s his running that’s at the forefront of the film’s most exciting sequence.
Ethan basically has to sprint through Shanghai to save his fiancée, andTom Cruise really goes for it, especially in one long take seen from a distance that really looks like he could collide with anyone or anything at any point. It’s energetic and is probably the bestrunning sequence in any one of these movies, which is saying quite a lot.
Mission: Impossible III
5’Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' (2011)
Climbing up (and then running down) the Burj Khalifa
Hey, here’s the good stuff.Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocolmarks the first timeMission: Impossibledropped the numbers from its titles,and also perhaps was the first movie where Tom Cruise’s stunts were really hyped up. Specifically, this movie is best remembered for having the Burj Khalifa sequence, and that one’s considered the best in the film for good reason.
It deserves its iconic status within the overall series, butMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocoldoes also have a good one-on-one fight scene in the climax, and the early parts of the movie also contain strong action sequences (like the opening jailbreak and everything involving the Kremlin break-in). But Tom Cruise climbing up and then running down the Burj Khalifawithout using a stunt double? It’s hard to top that, honestly.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
4’Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation' (2015)
The motorcycle chase in Morocco
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nationkeeps the momentum going, and begins with a bang by having its biggest stunt come right near the start. Ethan runs down a plane as it’s taking off, and then holds onto the outside of it while it does indeed take off, but it’s brief enough not to fully feel like a big action sequence. It’s still hugely impressive, though, and so worthy of an honorable mention here.
Butthe motorcycle chase is the movie’s peak, action-wise, thanks to it being much longer and more than just one really striking shot. The sense of speed here is honestly wild, and the way the chase sequence just keeps on going and going is great. If there was still any doubt that theMission: Impossibleseries wasn’t one of the bestas far as 21st-century blockbuster cinema goes, then scenes like this one would’ve well and truly laid to rest such a concern.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
3’Mission: Impossible – Fallout' (2018)
Ethan Hunt and August Walker fighting the decoy John Lark
It’s likely most fans of theMission: Impossibleseries would point toFalloutas the high point of the bunch, and the fact that action is considerably strong in both quality and quantity has a lot to do with that. This movie has Ethan Hunt doing a spectacular HALO jump, running full speed through London, and getting into a jaw-dropping helicopter chase followed by a fight to the death on the edge of a cliff.
But it’sMission: Impossible – Fallout’s most simple action sequence that’s its best: a fight scene early on whereEthan and August Walker (a mustachioed Henry Cavill) take on a particularly skilled fighter who’s a decoy of the target they’re after. It’s hard-hitting in a way that rivals even thegreatest of martial arts/hand-to-hand combat-focused movies, and also can’t be discussed without mentioning that part where Cavill reloads his fists. Classic.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Climbing through the carriages of a falling train
Attempting to topMission: Impossible – Falloutwhen it comes tostaging massive and impressive action sequences, and coming relatively close,Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoningprobably feels the biggest of anyMission: Impossiblemovie. Of course, sometimes the intimate action works just as well, but the grandness ofDead Reckoningis cool if you’re okay with the long runtime and everything.
It does give you quite a lot of bang for your buck, though, especially once you get past the first half-hour or so. It ends with a huge sequence involving a train, the best part of which sees Ethan and Grace (Hayley Atwell) climbing their way through the carriages of said train as it slowly topples, carriage by carriage, off a recently destroyed bridge.It’s bombastic and over-the-top, but it feels suitably wild for an action movie with such ambition as far as scope is concerned.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
1’Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' (2025)
The midair biplane chase and fight sequence
So, withMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the biggest complaint was regarding how long stretches of the movie passed by with little action, and even counting smaller scenes as action sequences, you do ultimately get seven. Some pass by in a flash, and seven doesn’t feel like a ton when the runtime is the closest to three hours of any movie in the series.
But at leastMission: Impossible – The Final Reckoninghad thatwhole biplane chase and fight as its climax, kind of doing whatMission: Impossible – Fallouthad previously done with helicopters.If the series does conclude here, then the biplane sequence was an impressive one to close things out on, especially for a series that was ultimately so focused on stunts, but it’s a shame that most of therest of the movie wasn’t a little stronger.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
NEXT:Every Mission: Impossible Movie, Ranked by How Much Tom Cruise Runs
