How to Watch the 'Mission: Impossible' Movies in Order Now That 'The Final Reckoning' Is Out
Unlike some other franchises, the release order is the chronological order.
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Ethan Hunt has climbed the Burj Khalifa. He's jumped out of planes — multiple times. He's blown up the Vatican, blown up the Kremlin (sort of) and stopped the world from being blown up. For his final stand, what in the world will be possibly have to do?
The answer comes in the form of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, which is currently in theaters. For fans who need a refresh on the franchise before they go see it, now is the time to re-watch the Mission: Impossible movies in order. Those who can't keep their Rogue Nations straight from their Ghost Protocols (and can't guess at the order based on the changing lengths of Tom Cruise's hair), bookmark this page, so you'll always have the Mission: Impossible order at the ready.
The good news is that the order of release is also the order of the events within the movie, so you don't have to untangle a thorny timeline: The release order is the chronological order. The better news is that they're easy to find on streaming services. All the previous Mission: Impossible movies are available on Paramount+, as well as rental service like Prime Video and Apple TV. Watch them at home — from the comfort of the couch, where there's no heights — and get ready to feel the adrenaline.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
There's a mole at the Impossible Mission Force, and Ethan Hunt has to team up with other disavowed IMF agents to keep more of his co-workers from getting killed. This movie is known for its depiction of a break-in scene at the CIA headquarters in Langely — that's the one where Hunt has to dangle from the ceiling without touching the floor — which spawned a thousand homages.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Superstar action director John Woo takes up where director Brian De Palma let off. This movie plays like a slick, action-filled gloss on the Alfred Hitchock film Notorious; Hunt has to recruit a professional thief, played by Thandie Newton, to help extract information from her ex-boyfriend, who has control of a biological weapon.
Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)
After the events of the second film, Hunt gets to settle down with a wife and just live out the rest of his years having a normal life. Well ... until an arms dealer, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, starts going after Hunt's protégés and family, and Hunt has to stop at nothing to bring him down. This one is directed by J.J. Abrams before he jumped to the Star Trek/Star Wars franchises.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles, makes his live-action debut with this one — and basically treats Tom Cruise like an invulnerable Mr. Incredible, making him do everything from climbing the exterior of the Burj Kalifa to fist-fighting in an automated parking garage while cars are being flung at him. At least he has the help of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), two returning characters who will become the core of his team from this movie on out.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie comes in for the fifth film in the franchise, and he's the one who will see it through from here to the end of Dead Reckoning Part Two. McQuarrie, like the rest of the series, is known for intricate, high-suspense sequences, like the one in this film that has Hunt and his team squaring off with former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust — quietly — behind-the-scenes at the Vienna opera.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
The previous Mission: Impossible film sets the series up for a one-two punch of an ending. The bad guys that the IMF has been outfoxing for the past two films have become a terrorist organization known as the Apostles, and Hunt's team needs to recover the plutonium they've acquired.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One finds Ethan Hunt doing what he does best — jumping off of cliffs, fighting on top of trains, doing some high-performance driving on tiny European streets — all in the name of fighting an enemy called The Entity. The regular cast is joined by new members like Hayley Atwell (of Agent Carter fame) and Pom Klementieff (aka Mantis in The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and Shea Whigham (of the Fast and Furious movies).
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
With The Entity now fully in his sights, Ethan Hunt goes on one last globe-trotting mission in order to save the world. This one rewards a series re-watch, as it makes reference to some of the older entries in fun and unique ways.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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