Mission Impossible: Top 10 Chase Scenes, Ranked

Tom Cruise is the king of stunts and chase scenes, a fact he has reaffirmed again and again in the Mission Impossible franchise. His character, Ethan Hunt, has been in enough dangerous situations to leave anyone wanting permanent retirement. But he keeps going, simply because it’s what Cruise loves to do.

In all eight movies in the franchise, Ethan has found himself being chased by baddies or having to chase them on numerous occasions. Whether it’s on foot, in a car, on a motorcycle, in a plane, or in a train, Ethan gets moving. The missions are always deemed impossible but the IMF agent always completes them.

10 The Cat And Mouse Game With Nyah (Mission Impossible 2)

The second installment, helmed by John Woo, is quite polarizing but it has its memorable scenes. One of those is a chase scene between Hunt and Nyah, a former professional thief who joins the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) as a spy tasked with extracting information from rogue IMF-operative-turned-terrorist, Sean Ambrose.

After she tries to steal a man’s collar, Ethan follows her to try and recruit her, Instead, Naya pulls shim a cat and mouse game that involves their cars spinning. Things almost turn tragic when Nyah nearly falls off the cliff. After the rigorous attempt at recruitment, Naya finally agrees to join the IMF… and to be Ethan’s lover too.

9 The Escape From The Syndicate (Rogue Nation)

Early in the movie, Ethan visits an IMF station in London which is disguised as a music store. There, a new mission is delivered to him which involves tracking an organization known as the Syndicate. There is a twist as it turns out the deliverers of the mission are actually the Syndicate.

Ethan is captured and tied to a pole, where he is tortured. Luckily, Syndicate operative Faust helps him escape. First, a brilliant fight scene ensues before Ethan runs away through the corridors, with Syndicate operatives after him. But they’re not just following him, they are sending hundreds of bullets his way, courtesy of their automatic rifles. Ethan eventually manages to block them by shutting a door.

8 Rescuing Lindsey (Mission Impossible 3)

Ethan is tasked with rescuing his protégé, Lindsey Farris, who has been captured by the arms dealer, Owen Davian. He and his team extract her and flee using a helicopter as they are pursued by Davian’s men in another helicopter. The helicopters maneuver through windmills as the one carrying the baddies fires missiles.

Ethan soon learns that an explosive charge has been placed inside Lindsey’s head. He tries to disarm it but the charge detonates, killing Lindsey. All that hard work for nothing.

7 Ethan Catches A Plane (Rogue Nation)

There is no dangerous stunt that Ethan (or Tom Cruise) won’t attempt. He reminds us of this fact at the beginning of the 2015 movie. The IMF agent and his team find themselves in Belarus where there are trying to get their hands on a package containing radioactive VX nerve gas that is about to be transported to Damascus via an A400M plane.

As the plane is moving on the runway, preparing itself for takeoff, Ethna sprints after it like a man possessed and jumps onto the wing. The plane finally takes off with Ethan still hanging by the wing because Benji is having a hard time hacking into the plane’s system to open the door.

6 Ethan Chases Hendrix Into A Sandstorm (Ghost Protocol)

It happens rarely but Ethan ends up being the loser here. When the antagonist Hendrix grabs a briefcase full of nuclear codes and flees into the streets of Dubai, Ethan runs after him. The only problem is that visibility is low since a sandstorm is fast approaching.

Luckily, Ethan put a tracker on the briefcase, so he doesn’t lose him quickly. Hendrix steals a car and crashes into Ethan before fleeing again. He finally jumps onto the back of a truck and says adios to the IMF agent, leaving him frustrated after all the huffing and sweating.

5 Morocco Motorcycle Chase (Rogue Nation)

The wavy Casablanca highway used in this chase scene is easily one of the most beautiful locales in the franchise. What triggers the chase? Ilsa assists Ethan in breaking into the Syndicate base in Morocco, where they retrieve a special ledger. To everyone’s surprise, Ilsa knocks Benji out and flees on a motorcycle.

Ethan hopes onto his bike too and what follows is an epic chase along the highway. The IMF agent rides like he is at the Grand Prix, overtaking everything that’s in front of him. Despite his effort, Ilsa still escapes. Fortunately for Ethan and his team, Dunn had made a digital box copy of the file.

4 Train Chase (Mission Impossible I)

How Ethan manages to breathe during this scene is a mystery. He is on top of a train and the wind is blowing with enough force to carry him away. But he holds on because he needs to catch Jim, who has been revealed to be the bad guy, with Claire assisting him.

The antagonist Krieger, who is piloting a helicopter, attempts to pick up Jim from atop the train. Unfortunately for him, Ethan ties the tether onto the train. With the train approaching a tunnel and Krieger’s chopper tied to it, the villain has a big problem. As expected, the chase doesn’t end well for him.

3 Sydney Mayhem (Mission Impossible 2)

This scene involves everything, from helicopters to motorcycles to cars. And Ethan sure looks cool in his jacket and shades during the mayhem.

First, the agent runs out of Biocyte laboratories, where a helicopter is waiting for him. But before he can board it, the men pursuing him show up guns blazing, forcing the helicopter to leave. Other men then pursue Ethan with motorcycles, but he shoots them off their bikes and grabs one. He then gets moving, firing, and riding at the same time.

2 Paris Motorcycle Chase (Fallout)

The chase scene through the busy streets of Paris is breathtaking because it involves Ethan being hunted down by three different parties: the French police, Ilsa, and the White Widow’s forces. With riding skills better than SAMCRO members, he manages to evade them all.

What triggers the lengthy chase through several streets is the fact that Ethan has just escaped with the White Widow. He does this after impersonating Lark, the antagonist and high-ranking member of the CIA’s Special Activities Division. The police, meanwhile, just want him for not following the law.

1 Kashmir Helicopter Pursuit (Fallout)

During the final showdown in Kashmir, Lane activates a bomb, giving Lark 15 minutes to get away from the blast radius via a chopper. Ethan arrives just as Lark is taking off. He grabs a second chopper and pursues the villain.

A couple of intense moments follow as Ethan attempts to bring down Lark by dropping his chopper’s load on top of that belonging to the antagonist. Lark grabs a machine gun and starts shooting at Ethan until he runs out of bullets. Ethan then rams Lark out of the sky and the two crash into a mountain. Slightly injured, both men go on to fight for the detonator, while struggling to not fall to their deaths.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1222 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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