top fifteen mission moments
By Lyall Carter
To celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible - Fallout we at Movie Army thought we would throw together our Top Fifteen Mission Moments.
Over the last twenty two years (yes, the Mission franchise has been around that long!) Mr. Cruise and friends have thrilled us with death defying stunts, heart pounding action, and tricked us with their special IMF masks. Lots and lots of masks.
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Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2, Mission: Impossible 3, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation are available on newly released special edition 4K HD with Blu-ray from all good 4K HD providers.
escape from the fish tank (M:I, 1996)
langley heist (M:I, 1996)
After being set up as the fall guy, Ethan Hunt must escape a restaurant crawling with IMF operatives to clear his name. Throwing some explosive chewing gum (everyone should carry some around for emergency situations) at a fish tank, Ethan uses the chaotic explosion to make a watery escape into the night.
If there ever was a scene that typifies Mission it has to be this one right here. Needing to steal a list of CIA operatives (it's complicated), Hunt and his team break into Langley but cannot touch the floor or make noise over certain decibels. A mouse, sweat droplets, and a falling knife all captured in classic DePalma slow mo, make for a complete heart-in-your-mouth scene.
train chase (M:I, 1996)
At the end of Mission: Impossible, Ethan must deliver the list of CIA operatives to the mysterious Max and thus expose the IMF mole and clear his name. What transpires is nothing short of thrilling: a train roof top chase, helicopters flying through train tunnels, and an exploding helicopter's rotor blade inches away from cutting Hunt's throat.
atrium dive (M:I 2, 2000)
In view of the Sydney Harbour bridge, Ethan must break into a pharmaceutical facility to, surprise surprise, save the world. But to do this, Hunt must leap out of a helicopter and into an atrium with the massive louvers opening at the very last minute. Phew!!!
mask reveal (M:I 2, 2000)
double Phillip (M:i 3, 2006)
When Ethan is brought hands tied to the baddies near the end of Mission: Impossible 2, it looks like the game is up. When Sean Ambrose, the chief baddie, asks why Ethan isn't talking, Stamp, who captured Ethan, tells Ambrose it's because he broke Hunt's jaw. After shooting Ethan several times, Ambrose notices that one of his fingers is bandaged. Ambrose pulls at Hunt's face to reveal that it isn't Hunt but as masked Stamp. Wow. Best use of the IMF mask - ever!
Upon learning that international arms dealer Owen Davian will be attending a function at the Vatican. Hunt and his team plan to kidnap him to interrogate him about the rabbits foot, a mysteriously deadly device.
What ensues is spy film gold, as the IMF team use multiple disguises, grapples, secret tunnels, an explosion, and a mask to get their guy. And the audience gets to see double Phillip Seymour Hoffman which is a very, very good thing.
on the bridge (M:I 3, 2006)
shanghai base jump (M:i 3, 2006)
While transporting a captured Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, the convoy comes under heavy fire. Cue Ethan getting blown into the side of vehicles, shooting down a drone, and jumping over a big explosion induced hole in the bridge. Just brilliant.
After learning that the Rabbit's Foot is in Shanghai, Ethan and his team plan to steal it. But the only way past the guards is to sling - jump between some skyscrapers which leads to a nail biting scene with Ethan flinging himself from building to building, coming to a stop right before plunging to his death.
kremlin kaputt (M:I ghost protocol, 2011)
The hunt for the mysterious Colbat who has some stolen nuclear launch codes in his possession leads Ethan and his team to the Kremlin. There Hunt and Benji have to impersonate Russian army officers, use a tricky projector screen to mask their Kremlin infiltration, and run for their lives as Cobalt sets off an explosion which decimates the Kremlin.
cat fight (M:I ghost protocol, 2011)
After being captured by IMF agents at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, terrorist Moreau (the fighter on the right) is brought to the team's roof where Benji is told to keep guard of her. However Moreau manages to knock Benji out while he is distracted and Agent Carter (fighter on the left) engages Moreau in a fist fight with the two using everything from ornamental pots to corkscrews as weapons. The fight ends when a swift kick from Carter sends Moreau out of a broken window to her death.
Burj Khalifa Climb (M:I ghost protocol, 2011)
hanging around (M:I rogue nation, 2015)
To pull off their operation, the IMF team have to access a server which can only be accessed from outside the building. Easy enough right? Not at all. The server is on the 130th floor of the Burj Khalifa - not only the highest building in Dubai but the world. So the IMF team cut a hole in one of the windows and Hunt heads out with goggles and adhesive gloves the only thing to help him in his quest. An approaching sandstorm and adhesive gloves that are running out of charge all lend to an extremely thrilling sequence.
At the beginning of Rogue Nation the IMF team are attempting to hack an airplane to retrieve a package of nerve gas. Unable to hack the plane before it lifts off, Hunt jumps onto the plane, holding on to it as takes off into the air. Benji eventually hacks the airplane and opens the door, allowing Hunt to bounce on in, attach a parachute and himself to the package and escape.
a night at the opera (M:I rogue nation, 2015)
Believing that the Austrian Chancellor is going to be assassinated at the opera in Vienna, an on the run Ethan Hunt enlists Benji to help him stop it. Multiple assassins, a bass flute gun, with the action building to a crescendo along with the music of Nessun Dorma. You know. The opera song Paul Potts sung. Absolutely brilliant.
taurus torture (M:I rogue nation, 2015)
Ethan has three minutes. Two and a half to change the security profile. Thirty seconds to escape through the surface hatch. Easy right? Sure. He has to do it in a taurus completely underwater. If he fails Benji dies. What unfolds is a nerve wrecking sequence made more palpable by the knowledge that Tom Cruise had to train to hold his breath for six minutes, SIX MINUTES, to complete the stunt. Extraordinary.
casablanca chase (M:I rogue nation, 2015)
Ethan and Benji pursue Ilsa Faust through the streets of Casablanca to retrieve the secret file she has stolen. Cars screech around impossible tight corners, motor cycle riders are thrown from their bikes at great speed, all punctuated by hilarious comments from Benji. One of the best chase sequences in the Mission franchise to date.
