The Mission Impossible series of movies has been out for 29 years, and therefore, a list of Top 5 Mission Impossible movies from best to worst is ideal to come out. Following Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt as we see him go through some of the toughest missions, stunts, and dealing with his own ghosts just to save the world. With Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning due to release in theaters on May 23th, 2025, let’s take a look at Top 5 Mission Impossible movies ranked from best to worst: movies leading up to the final mission.
Top 5 Mission Impossible Movies
1. Mission Impossible 3- MI:3
Mission Impossible 3 focuses on a retired Ethan Hunt, who has retired from being a field agent to settle down with his fiancé Julia. He is pulled back in to action by Director of Operations John Musgrave, played by Billy Crudup, on a special mission to rescue one of his protégés, Lindsay Farris, played by Keri Russell who is captured by arms dealer Owen Davian. After rescuing Lindsay, an explosive pellet that was implanted in her head goes off and kills her, turning Ethan’s mission into one of revenge.
This film is at the top of my list because it puts Ethan in a situation where he has to fight for the life he has made for himself while saving the world from the Davian. This also introduces us to Simon Pegg’s character, Benji, who has become the right hand and friend of Cruise’s Hunt in the series and brings something fresh to it. This is also a big break for its director, JJ. Abrams, this being his first big feature film as a director under Bad Robot Production company. Definitely the best film in the list of Top 5 Mission Impossible movies from best to worst.
2. Mission Impossible
The movie to kick off the series is honestly one of the best. This film was a reboot of sorts of the 1966 television show and its sequel series from 1988, which originally followed the character of Dan Briggs, played by actor Steven Hill, who leads the MI team in the first season of the series and then Jim Phelps, played by actor Peter Graves who leads the team for the rest of the series and then 1988 series.
The movie picks up eight years after the ’88 series ended, with Phelps being played now by Jon Voight, leading his new team on a mission to Prague to stop a rouge agent from stealing a list of agents who are undercover. Probably the high-ranked film in the Top 5 Mission Impossible movies from best to worst.
Things go wrong though when Phelps and his team are taken down and the only one left is Hunt who is framed for their murders. Tom Cruise shines in this movie so much that it kicked off and brought back a franchise no one had thought about for years. The stunts in it are okay and not as big as the other one but still they bring something to the series of films. This also is a pass of the baton for this series as the focus goes from Phelps to Hunt.
3. Mission Impossible 2- MI:2
Now, before you say anything, this movie is on my list for one reason and one reason only, and that is it was directed by the legendary John Woo, director of such classics as Face/Off, Broken Arrow, and his 2023 Christmas movie, Silent Night. The artist’s choice of how he shot the film makes this one stand out due to the fact he use slow and fast motion combined with the action scenes. Woo is in his element with this one as he and Cruise tackle Hunt’s 2nd outing with a vengeance! This would hold somewhere in the middle in the Top 5 Mission Impossible movies.
In this installment of the MI series, Hunt must team up with a thief, played by Thandiwe Newton, to get a hold of the altered disease called the Chimera held by an IMF agent, played by Dougray Scott. This movie gave us some of the best shots of the series and action scenes, with the intro of the movie and car chase scenes being the stand-outs of the whole film. The look of the film is one of a kind in the series and is worth the watch at least once before deep diving into the other films. That being said this movie probably one of the weakest of the series with it still finding its footing.
4. Mission Impossible: Fallout- MI-5
Mission Impossible: Fallout is probably one of the most controversial movies of the series. Fallout is set two years after the events of MI Rogue Nation, where we follow Hunt and his team on a mission to stop Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris, from setting up a nuclear event. We also get to explore more of Hunt’s emotions and why he went back to the life of an MI agent. Now, this one is probably most famous because of Henry Cavill, who played Superman in the DCEU movies.
Re-shoots for the Justice League movie we’re set to go, but the only issue was the studio for Mission Impossible Fallout didn’t want Cavil to shave his mustache, which led to them CGI in a fake mouth onto Cavill’s Superman. This is not one of the strongest films in the series, but it’s still entertaining. Thus, it makes the list of Top 5 Mission Impossible movies from best to worst.
5. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The ghost protocol is in effect for this film and kind of feels like a spiritual sequel to the original. In this installment, Hunt and his team must go without resources or backup to clear their name after a bombing of the Kremlin caused the IMF to be shut down. This film feels like Tom Cruise was starting to push the limits of what he could do as an actor as far as stunts. Hunt, as a character, is put to the test as a rogue agent in a litter of rogue agents, especially since one of his team is out to get revenge for her dead lover.
That is why this film makes the cut for the Top 5 Mission Impossible movies from best to worst.
This film also gives you some of the best visuals of Tom Cruise running through a Dubai city away from a sandstorm, climbing the side of a building, and an intense fight scene in a parking garage. It’s also nice to see the team go and work without the resources they are normally used to. The weakest part of the movie is probably Jane Carter, played by Paula Patton, who is given a typical revenge arc. The other weak point is William Brandt played by Jeremy Renner, who could have done much more as character instead of having him just play the side man.
There are more moments and stunts to see out of the Mission Impossible series but how it ends, we’ll just have to find out when Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning comes to theaters, May 23th 2025.
