The 30-Year Evolution of Mission: Impossible Stunts

Of all the reasons to watch the Mission: Impossible movies, more than the exotic locales or high-tech macguffins, watching Tom Cruise risk life and limb doing progressively crazier and more death-defying stunts has to be number one. After 8 films in the franchise across 4 decades, there’s really not even a second place. But it’s easy to forget the relatively humble beginnings of Ethan Hunt’s big screen adventures as not-quite-an-action-star Tom Cruise gradually became more determined to single-handedly change the course of cinematic spectacle. So here, for the next 100 minutes or so, let’s take some time to study the 30-year evolution of the Impossible stunts Tom Cruise and a legion of filmmakers, riggers and practical effects wizards brought to life for the Mission: Impossible franchise.