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The "Mission: Impossible" films began in 1996 when Brian De Palma helmed the first movie, which was based on the television series of the same name. The project starred Tom Cruise as Imf agent Ethan Hunt, and wit as a huge success. Now, the franchise is still thriving nearly 30 years later. Each movie features Hunt taking on outrageous assignments to save the world, and he's battled many industrious villains along the way.

The eighth installment, "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," received a mixed review from /Film, and it could mark the franchise's end for Cruise. In the 2025 feature, Hunt continues to fight against The Entity, an all-knowing and self-aware AI that's set on world domination. While The Entity is technically the most powerful villain Ethan has faced, it's not necessarily the best. Each installment has multiple bad guys, and some are more memorable than others. From former Imf agents to arms dealers,...

Tom Cruise has earned a reputation for being one of the most daring Hollywood stars, especially for performing extreme stunts through the action spy film series, Mission: Impossible. His commitment to executing some of the most breathtaking stunts in cinematic history has become a hallmark of the franchise.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II | Credit: Paramount Pictures

However, some of these scenes appear excessively improbable, with luck continually favoring Hunt and allowing him to escape from life-threatening situations. Following are six such incidents where the brilliant Imf agent should have met his end, but against all odds, he managed to survive each time.

Fish Tank Explosion in Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise is renowned for his daring stunts, and the first Mission: Impossible film featured several intense sequences, including a high-speed train chase and a memorable fish tank explosion. The latter revolves around Ethan Hunt confronting Imf director Eugene Kittridge.

He...

Tom Cruise reveals which stunt from the Mission: Impossible franchise terrified his mother. Cruise has starred as Imf agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series since 1996 and, over the years, has pulled off increasingly bold and daring stunts. Some of his most dangerous and famous feats include climbing the Burg Khalifa in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and hanging off the side of a plane in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth film in the series that was released in 2015.

During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Cruise revealed that the plane stunt from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation terrified his late mother, Mary Lee South, who passed away in 2017.

The Mission: Impossible star recalled showing his mother the stunt in which he hung off the side of an A400 aircraft, and she was understandably terrified by the feat and worried for her son's safety. Read what...