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Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99View Best Netflix Movies Best movies on Disney Plus Movie Release Dates Best Netflix Shows Recommended reading Mission Impossible Movies The Mission: Impossible movies, ranked from best to worst Action Movies Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more news Mission Impossible Movies New trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a giant love letter to the franchise and Tom Cruise's action star career Action Movies Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror" Action Movies Tom Cruise completes yet another slew of death-defying stunts in new Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning trailer shown behind closed doors Star Wars Movies How to watch the Star Wars movies in order (release and chronological) Sci-Fi Movies How to watch the Transformers movies in order (release date and chronological) Entertainment Action Movies Mission Impossible Movies Mission: Impossible How to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order Tom Beasley 19 May 2025 Here's the best way to watch all the Mission: Impossible movies in order before The Final Reckoning hits the big screen. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Paramount) Mission: Impossible movies in release order How to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in chronological order Tom Cruise has heavily implied that he's saying goodbye to Ethan Hunt this year, which makes it a great time to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order. After all, that gives you three decades worth of stunts, spycraft, and people peeling off super-realistic face masks to enjoy. Tom Cruise has a death wish the size of the Burj Khalifa and, frankly, we all have to thank him for that. When it comes to organizing the best Mission: Impossible movies in this series, it ought to be easy. After all, the franchise unfolds in chronological order, with no prequels or time jumps to deal with. However, there's a bit of inconvenience in the fact that most of the movies – especially in the more recent years of the franchise – aren't numbered at all. It's a good job, then, that we've put together a comprehensive guide to all eight movies in the franchise so that you can make sure you keep your viewing in the right order. With a new movie on the way in Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning, there has never been a better excuse to dive back into the murky, complex world of the IMF. Or alternatively, you might just want to watch Tom Cruise as he dangles from various modes of transport. Either way, here's how to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order. You may like The Mission: Impossible movies, ranked from best to worst Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more news New trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a giant love letter to the franchise and Tom Cruise's action star career How to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in release order (Image credit: Paramount) Below is a bullet point list of all the Mission: Impossible movies in release order: Mission: Impossible (1996) Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) Mission: Impossible III (2006) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) How to watch the Mission: Impossible movies in chronological order Below are detailed descriptions of all the Mission: Impossible movies in chronological order. We've made sure to break down how each film sets up the Mission: Impossible timeline, so you have as much information as possible before going into your next watch-through. 1. Mission: Impossible (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Brian De Palma Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Back in the 1990s, Tom Cruise had a much more varied filmography than he does these days, but action has always been a part of his oeuvre. That's how he came to be the star of a kinetic reboot of a TV show from the 1960s, packed to the brim with shadowy spycraft and more plot than exists in any of the Christopher McQuarrie films put together. This movie introduces us to Ethan Hunt as a competent agent in the Impossible Missions Force who finds himself accused of being the mole responsible for attempting to leak a valuable list of undercover operatives. He must race against time to expose the true mole and clear his name. Director Brian De Palma – of Scarface and Carrie fame – certainly knows his way around an action scene and, despite not being as elaborate and splashy as what would come later, the sequence in which Hunt infiltrates the CIA headquarters is as tense and thrilling as anything the franchise has ever produced. 2. Mission: Impossible 2 (Image credit: Paramount) Director: John Woo John Woo thought he was making a James Bond movie. That's the problem. Mission: Impossible 2 teams up Ethan and Thandiwe Newton's thief to take on rogue IMF agent Dougray Scott, who wants to use a biological weapon to kickstart a global pandemic. Every beat of the story structure is Bond, right up until the romance of the ending. And, to be fair, it probably felt like quite a good time to be trying to outdo Bond, given the limping final years of the Pierce Brosnan era. Mission: Impossible 2 is certainly a better James Bond movie than Die Another Day – and it doesn't have a dire Madonna theme tune either. There's a lot of silly fun to be had in Mission: Impossible 2, but it's a visually messy and narratively strange film that feels alien to the energy and identity that this franchise would grow to have in later years. Read our Mission: Impossible 2 review 3. Mission: Impossible III (Image credit: Paramount) Director: JJ Abrams It's strange to think that David Fincher was once in line to direct the third Mission: Impossible movie. In the end, though, the early development period was troubled, and Fincher fell by the wayside. In the end, it was JJ Abrams who stepped into the director's chair, and it took a sizable pay cut from Tom Cruise to rescue the project from sliding into development hell. Really, it's just as well Cruise did take the hit, because Mission: Impossible III stands as a very strong installment in the series. Much of the credit has to go to the almighty Philip Seymour Hoffman, who delivers a remarkable performance as the villain Owen Davian. He's an arms dealer on the hunt for a biological weapon called the Rabbit's Foot. Hoffman is utterly chilling as Davian, and the movie has added stakes thanks to the addition of Michelle Monaghan as Hunt’s fiancée, who knows nothing about the IMF. This gives the franchise a more personal and character-focused side than had been present in the previous films. The stage was set for the series to take its next leap. Read our Mission: Impossible 3 review Mission: Impossible III Watch at Paramount+ 4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Brad Bird This is arguably where the Mission: Impossible franchise as we know it today really kicked into high gear. Ghost Protocol is the movie in which Tom Cruise scaled the outside of the Burj Khalifa – the world's tallest building – and cemented himself as the most fearless action man in all of Hollywood. The plot once again sees Ethan battling outside the system, with the IMF officially shut down by the US government after taking the blame for a bombing at the Kremlin. But that small wrinkle doesn't stop Ethan from pursuing a dangerous terrorist whose goal is to initiate nuclear war between the USA and Russia. Ghost Protocol is one of the best action movies in the franchise, helped by Pixar director Brad Bird bringing some much-needed levity to the table. Everyone in the cast was hitting their stride at just the right time, and the plot actually made more sense than usual. And did we mention that Tom Cruise climbed the tallest building in the world? Just wanted to make sure. Read our Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol review 5. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Christopher McQuarrie During the production of Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise brought his Valkyrie screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie on to the set to help with rewrites. By the time that the next Mission movie came along, Cruise and McQuarrie had become firm friends and frequent collaborators, making McQ – as he likes to be called – the logical choice to take up the reins of the IMF. He hasn’t let them go ever since. Further to the events of the last movie, the CIA gets control of the IMF – though Ethan continues to work on his own. He's on the trail of a shadowy organization called The Syndicate, which is made up of rogue agents from various intelligence agencies under the guidance of whispering madman Solomon Lane – played by Sean Harris. This doesn't feel quite as much of a step forward as Ghost Protocol, but it was certainly a great debut effort for McQuarrie, who would go on to become the first director to helm multiple Mission: Impossible adventures. Rogue Nation also introduces the mercurial MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, played brilliantly by Rebecca Ferguson. Read our Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation review 6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Christopher McQuarrie Best known as "the one where Henry Cavill reloads his arms", this is – until The Final Reckoning at least – arguably the definitive movie of the McQuarrie era. It's a big, muscular blockbuster that brings back a lot of characters from the history of the franchise, while again pitting Ethan against the system, as he often is in the best movies of this series. Fallout delivers truly jaw-dropping action sequences and provides one of the most memorable Mission villains in Cavill's CIA operative Walker. The final act of the film is as thrilling as Mission has ever been, culminating in a cliff face confrontation shot in the beautiful environs of New Zealand. Paramount shelled out a lot of cash to make Fallout, not least because Cruise smashed up his ankle during a stunt early in production. But they were rewarded with the highest-grossing film in the history of the franchise, amassing nearly $800m at the global box office. Read our Mission: Impossible - Fallout review 7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Christopher McQuarrie For a long time, all we knew about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning was that it was going to feature Tom Cruise soaring off a cliff on the back of a motorbike. Billed as "the biggest stunt in cinema history", this incredible bit of death-defying Cruise chaos was more than enough to get long-time fans of the franchise excited for this installment, delayed and retooled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie follows Ethan and his IMF pals as they try to prevent an incredibly powerful AI known as The Entity from falling into the hands of Gabriel – a villain with ties to Ethan's past. Naturally, though, the actual machinations of the plot are small fry in comparison to the stunts, whether it's that bike jump or the finale set in the tumbling carriages of a runaway train. Dead Reckoning struggled a little at the box office in a summer dominated by Barbenheimer, sparking a decision by Paramount to rebrand the subsequent film as a standalone sequel rather than a second part of the Dead Reckoning story. But that's not to say that Dead Reckoning is anything other than another winner of an action movie. Read our Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One review 8. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Image credit: Paramount) Director: Christopher McQuarrie That brings us right through to today and the concluding part of the series – or so we've been led to believe. Though anybody who's a fan of horror movies and has lived through the likes of The Final Destination, and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday – none of which marked the end of their franchises – will know that definitive titling is not necessarily a guarantee of truth. Despite the title departing from the Dead Reckoning name, the narrative does follow on from where we were before. The Entity is still in play, and Gabriel still looms, though we are, of course, more interested in watching Cruise dangle from the side of a plane in motion. These movies are smart enough to understand that nobody is particularly following the story. It's not clear whether this will actually mark Cruise's farewell to the character of Ethan Hunt, but it's certainly being sold as something like IMF: Endgame. After the best part of 30 years, could it be time for Cruise to hang up his boots? If we know him at all, he'll be hanging them upside down and on fire. We'd never have him any other way. Read our Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review Looking for more how to watch guides? Check out our pages on how to watch all the Marvel movies in order and how to watch James Bond in order. See more Movies Features Tom Beasley Contributor Tom is a freelance film critic and entertainment journalist with bylines at Yahoo, The Guardian, Polygon, The Ringer, and many more. He loves horror movies, musicals, and pro wrestling—but not usually at the same time. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. The Mission: Impossible movies, ranked from best to worst Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more news New trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a giant love letter to the franchise and Tom Cruise's action star career Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror" Tom Cruise completes yet another slew of death-defying stunts in new Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning trailer shown behind closed doors How to watch the Star Wars movies in order (release and chronological) Latest in Mission Impossible Movies Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning's first reactions are as big and bold as Tom Cruise's stunts: "Kind of a beautiful chaotic mess" After studying them for 40 years, Tom Cruise says Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning features an underwater scene "unlike any other" New trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a giant love letter to the franchise and Tom Cruise's action star career Tom Cruise risked suffocation in the most "challenging" and "terrifying" Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning stunt Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning trailer sees Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt embark on his most dangerous mission yet Mission: Impossible 8 director says the latest movie features "the most difficult thing we've ever done" – and it's got the perfect first reaction from an early screening: "I almost had a heart attack" Latest in Features Superman: The enigmatic villain The Hammer of Boravia explained I spent my first few hours with the RTX 5060 playing Doom: The Dark Ages, and it feels pretty slick for under $300 American Psycho and Hereditary stars' new comedy is a perfect satire of documentary-making gone wrong Final Destination Bloodlines gives horror icon Tony Todd the goodbye he deserves with a perfect send-off for William Bludworth It took me 35 hours to discover Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's overworld map, but it only highlights my biggest problem with the game's dungeons I became Oblivion Remastered's greatest gladiator by playing dirty - and bringing every single opponent down to my level GAME REVIEWS MOVIE REVIEWS Elden Ring: The Board Game - Realm of the Grafted King review: "A disappointing experience" Dune: Imperium - Bloodlines review: "Make it a default part of your games" Doom: The Dark Ages review: "Some may appreciate the greater focus on close-quarters, but others will find themselves nostalgic for the simple joys of double jumps" Empyreal review: "This looter slasher's often beautiful, hand-designed levels and robust challenge kept pulling me back to go one more round" Revenge of the Savage Planet review: "An underrated sci-fi platformer gets a beautiful third-person sequel, but I'm left cold by shallow busywork and an over-reliance on toilet humor" Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror" Final Destination Bloodlines Review: "Meticulous murderous mayhem" Thunderbolts review: "Makes good on the promise of a new start for the MCU" A Minecraft Movie Review: "Jack Black's irrepressible star turn helps elevate this video game adaptation" The Electric State review: "Although this may be their most visually stunning movie yet, it looks like the Russos are yet to find their footing outside of the MCU" Doctor Who season 2, episode 6 spoiler review: 'The Interstellar Song Contest' is "a blast and sets the stage for a thrilling season finale" Doctor Who season 2, episode 5 spoiler review: 'The Story & The Engine' is "one of the most original and ambitious episodes this show has produced in years" Doctor Who season 2, episode 4 spoiler review: 'Lucky Day' has a "genuinely surprising" mid-episode reveal The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 review: "Almost 350 episodes into this franchise, it's nice to know it can still surprise us" Doctor Who season 2, episode 3 spoiler review: 'The Well' is a "ruthlessly gripping" installment that challenges Belinda GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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