When U.S. secret agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) loses his whole team in a bungled mission, he finds himself framed and on the run. In a race against time to foil a sinister international plot and clear his name, Hunt enlists a ragtag ensemble of operatives, launching a series of daring heists, and uncovering a conspiracy threatening the international order.
The plot of Brian De Palma’s original Mission: Impossible may sound exactly like every other Mission: Impossible film. But despite launching one of the most wildly successful film series in movie history, no one has managed to recapture the suspense, playfulness and sheer sense of fun of De Palma’s original film.
Utilising a stacked cast of A-List stars, an almost nonsensical plot, and every camera trick in the book, Mission: Impossible created several iconic moments – not least the infamous trapeze-wire descent into a CIA vault – that show off De Palma’s total mastery of the suspenseful set piece. Responsible for launching the modern ‘action man’ phase of Tom Cruise’s career, for those in the know, the original Mission remains the best.