What is the definitive Mission Impossible Freedom ranking?

In light of Final Reckoning many Mission Impossible franchise fans have been ranking the nearly perfect franchise. It’s agreed by all that none of the Mission Impossible movies are actually bad. All of them are good and so good it’s hard to really pick the best ones. 

While there have been many great rankings by the many filmy influencers out there including The Escape Pod Podcast and Kit Lazer who are some favorites to check out, here is the true definitive Freedom ranking by the Conservative Critic: 

(What are the criteria of a Freedom ranking you ask? Its a vibe. Think eagles soaring. George Washington in sunglasses. Think fireworks for no reason. Think a USA chant breaking out at a professional spotting event) 

8. Mission Impossible II

MI 2 is the red headed step child of the Mission Impossible franchise. Following the success of Mission Impossible, it’s clear the producers thought they needed to be sexier to sell the movie. To go more of a “James Bond” pathway. The movie is lowest on the Freedom ranking because the stakes end up being really low after Thandie Newton actually saves the world and then Ethan Hunt has to just save her. It plays out in a fun way and is a worthy watch but at the end of the day: Thandie (character name was Nyah) had the situation in hand.

7. Mission Impossible III

This is my most controversial slotting. People love the performances in this movie, particularly that of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as do I. Again, none of these are bad movies. They’re all great movies. Mission Impossible III is a great movie. But from a Freedom ranking perspective, MI 3 is lacking in motivation. The whole thing is very interpersonal. It doesn’t make for a bad movie but the scale and motivation is pretty small potatoes and frankly even though it all works out, Ethan kind of screws over the whole world for his wife. Romantic. But not high on the Freedom rank.

6. Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning 

Great summer movie. Everyone needs to go out and see it. The end of the second act and the third act are phenomenal and perfect action sequences. Its a bit slow to get started and it relies a little too much on dialogue to get viewers where they need to be. That being said it is very [USA chant] and a satisfying conclusion to the ‘Reckoning’ duo. 

5. Mission Impossible 

The original Mission Impossible holds up so well. Even some of the technology being used in the 1996 movie is still pretty cutting edge in 2025. Eyeglasses with cameras and computers in them, for example, haven’t been able to successfully come to market yet in 2025. We are just now learning that the silicon masks used throughout the franchise are based in reality and the CIA absolutely was using those until only very recently. The care in which the movie was made and how it against all odds holds up to a viewer in 2025 is why Mission Impossible beats the lower half of the Freedom ranking. Additionally, the plot as to how Ethan Hunt is recruited is very believably deep state. 

4. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 

MI: Ghost Protocol is where the franchise really starts to tip its hand about how iconic and lasting it can be. The sand storm scene is really everything. Tom Cruise’s flat out run during that scene exhausts me to look at and makes for an unlikely ‘stunt’ of sorts and is visually disorienting for audiences making such a powerful pursuit and fight scene. Plus you have the incredible climb on the glass windows with the tension of the malfunctioning gloves and you have Jeremy Renner as a ‘buddy cop’ to Tom Cruise and it just really works. 

3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

The Rebecca Ferguson era of Mission Impossible is without question the peak era of Mission Impossible. Ferguson’s Ilsa begins as a sort of ‘femme fatale’ trope but morphs into a truly successful foil/companion to Cruise’s Hunt. Ilsa turned up the temperature on the franchise without question. She was the pessimistic counterpoint to Hunt’s eternal optimism but she is brought over to his side time after time. She is tough but it’s not giving ‘girl power’ in that obnoxious way that sometimes films do. Beyond the addition of Ilsa – Rogue Nation understood the scale on which Ethan Hunt could be performing. The anti is well upped. The shoot out at the Opera, the six minute underwater vault scene shot without cuts, the grandeur of opposing entire nations including his own. It was everything the franchise could be. It is not a coincidence that all of the best Mission Impossible films are directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie (and Ghost Protocol was partially rewritten by him). 

2. Mission Impossible: Fallout 

This was a difficult decision. Fallout and Dead Reckoning are basically tied as perfect movies. No notes on either. 10/10. Fallout will take the number 2 slot for one reason and it’s that I thought the Christ metaphor in Dead Reckoning was surprising and extremely well done. However, Fallout is unimpeachable. Henry Cavill is *chefs kiss* as the burly Americana baddie and the helicopter fight scene is probably the coolest thing that’s ever been in a movie if not for another Tom Cruise movie (Maverick). There were also some pretty significant surprises and twists and turns in Fallout that make it one of the more enjoyable movies of the last decade. The locational diversity alone makes for such a dynamic story. It’s an incredible film and many viewers have it as their number 1.

1.MIssion Impossible: Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning is a special movie because it was coming off the absolute peak of Fallout and it somehow manages to meet and maybe slightly exceed the hype. Opening the film with Ilsa in an eye patch desert shootout is beyond. The movie starts high and stays high the entire film. The airport scene with the introduction of Haley Atwell is phenomenal not only in the introduction but also it’s just a beautifully done segment including the high anxiety sequences with Benji. The villain is modern and real and ominous in a way that is so tangible to audiences. The way the movie pits a super high tech villain against old fashioned ideas like trains, swords and old world architecture is artistry on another level entirely for the action film genre. There is so much right with this movie I don’t think I could pick a favorite scene but it’s probably the sword fighting on the bridges in Venice. And then the Christ metaphor actually crept up and took me by surprises as it was done so subtly at first and then became obvious at the conclusion. Gripping from start to finish. Absolute perfection.