7 Best Mission: Impossible Sequences
2. The Langley Heist – Mission: Impossible (1996)
As audacious and complex as the set pieces have become, sometimes there’s no beating the classics.
If Rogue Nation’s 3-part heist is a cookie dough ice cream doused with sprinkles, then the CIA break-in from Brian De Palma’s first Mission: Impossible is old-school Vanilla: dependable, simple and timeless.
So embedded into popular culture that even those yet to watch an M:I film will instantly recognise the iconic image of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt descending on wires to hack into the CIA network and obtain a list of covert operatives, this scene has become so famous that it has even been paid homage to in everything from ‘The Simpsons’ to Shrek 2.
It’s iconic for a reason: De Palma’s thriller stylings carry over ingeniously into this spy movie and help to emblazon the film firmly into cinema history.
1. The Burj Khalifa – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Undeniably the magnum opus of the Mission: Impossible franchise, this crowning set piece took everything built to that point and launched it into the stratosphere with one of the most gloriously constructed action sequences of the last few decades.
All taking place on or in Dubai’s iconic World’s Tallest Skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, Ethan and the team (disavowed and in pursuit of nuclear launch codes) devise a plan to stage two simultaneous meetings to once again save the world. The logic is occasionally hazy, but when it’s this fun, does it really matter?
Blending both the heist and action elements of the series, the sequence sees Tom Cruise climbing and rapidly descending the world’s tallest building (filmed entirely for real on IMAX cameras), a face-off between Paula Patton and Léa Seydoux, and a sandstorm car chase climax.
Though complex in nature, it’s all engineered and sequenced to perfection by director Brad Bird (The Incredibles), who masterfully applied his style from animation to live-action and, with it, changed the Mission: Impossible series forever.
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Written by Matthew Dudding
Which moments from the Mission: Impossible franchise have you most enjoyed? Do any other sequences blow your socks off quite as effectively as the ones listed here? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow @thefilmagazine across Facebook and Twitter to keep up with more insightful movie lists.
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