Impossible’ Ranked From Worst to Best

It’s been almost 30 years since Tom Cruise first played secret agent Ethan Hunt in 1996’s Mission: Impossible. For a film based on a long-dead television show, the M:I franchise has shown remarkable staying power — and so has Cruise. To put it into perspective, consider this: In the 30 years after the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, four different men played James Bond and the fifth was about to make his debut. By the time three decades had passed, the first Bond, Sean Connery, had long since retired as the character; that was around the time he played Indiana Jones’ bumbling father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

Almost 30 years later, Tom Cruise is still playing Ethan Hunt, in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.

READ MORE: All the Outdated Technology in the First Mission: Impossible

The Final Reckoning subtitle strongly suggests this eighth Mission will conclude the franchise. Tom Cruise himself has said he wants to keep playing Ethan Hunt until he’s 80. Either way, The Final Reckoning makes for a perfect time to take stock of 30-year history of the series as a whole. The franchise has evolved quite a bit from a twisty spy thriller, to an operatic bullet ballet, to a dramedy about a spy trying to achieve the proper work-life balance, then totally shifting again into a showcase for incredible practical special effects and stunts.

As a result, comparing Mission: Impossibles is a bit like comparing apples and oranges that happened to look like Tom Cruise and enjoy hanging off the sides of airplanes. Nonetheless, I did my best to rank the entire franchise from the worst to the best.