Mission: Impossible (1996) is one of those films I thought I’d watched long ago. However, when I sat down to see it at the weekend, I realised I may have thought I’d seen it, when all I’d experienced many times over the years was the image of Tom Cruise at the end of a wire in the film’s most iconic scene.

It’s no wonder the Mission: Impossible Franchise has 7 more films after the first 1996 instalment starring Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jon Voight and Emmanuelle Béart. It is an impressive action/thriller after all. One that follows Ethan Hunt (Cruise), an American agent falsely suspected of disloyalty. Naturally, Hunt immediately gets to work to expose the real traitorous entity.

In addition to that X factor that Cruise, especially, and his talented castmates bring to the film – Vanessa Redgrave being a particular highlight, the stunts and action in director Brian De Palma’s Mission: Impossible are the most memorable events of the movie. the kind of feats that have no doubt inspired many action/thriller filmmakers to raise their game. 

Truth be told, I took a break from the Mission: Impossible franchise after Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2015), because I didn’t fully love that instalment.

Now, however, I’m ready to get back into it again. I’m picking it up from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). I hear that part 2 (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) is worth it, and I’d hate to miss out.

How big of an M:I fan are you? I hear that spinoffs and sequels may come without Cruise in the lead role. Whoever gets the part will surely have plenty to live up to.

Happy Film Loving, 

G