Every Mission: Impossible Movie Ranked Worst To Best

The first film in the series shouldn't really have worked, and yet thanks to its intrepid cast and all-time great director, it still holds up as an engrossing spy thriller almost three decades after its release. Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible turned Cruise into an action star, and set in motion a slew of sequels that have rarely matched it.

With a twisty opening that dares to kill off the entirety of Hunt's A-list IMF team, the first Mission: Impossible is expertly choreographed and economically plotted, with De Palma opting for more intimate tension than large set pieces and big explosions to get the pulse racing (until the last act, that is).

The Mission: Impossible series has rarely been more exciting than it was when Hunt quietly infiltrated the FBI with a rag-time team and zipwire, and never so visually iconic. It would continue to get bigger and bolder from here, but the truth is the first film nailed it right out of the gate.