Daytripper

Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Daytripper

I think "Ghost Protocol" is the best. Followed by "III", the first film and then "II" (by a long mile). "II" was not only the worst in the series. But just a terrible movie in general. I love the first a lot. But in terms of action, "III" and "Ghost Protocol" took it to a whole new level.

JumpCutz

Didn't really care that much for any of them, but the latest one would be the one I'd recommend.

II is embarrassingly bad.

gp1086

The third was my favorite largely due to Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose portrayal of the villain, Owen Davian, is excellent. The original and the Ghost Protocol are probably tied for second place. The second installment I cannot remember too much since I only saw it once in theaters. I remember enjoying it, but not as much as the others.

mdc3000

I voted for III - it is pure fun from start to finish, with great pacing and good villain. I think the action of Ghost Protocol tops it, but overall I still prefer III...but by a narrow margin.

fumanstan

I enjoy the first one the best. The actual mystery in the plot was the most interesting to me out of all of them. Followed by 3, then 4, and 2. I've enjoyed them all, even #2.

tommyp007

1
3
2

Ranger

1
4
3
2

All are entertaining.

TheMovieman

4
1
3
2

I still immensely enjoyed the first one, however.

Pizza the Hutt

1)




2)




3)



4)

Boba Fett

IV.

The only thing III holds over IV is the best villain of the series, but it's still a solid film. II is Woo parodying himself, possibly sub-consciously and I is a good thriller, but a bit bloated.

Pizza the Hutt

The dialogue is also sharper than GP's and it's the darkest of the series. Cruise and Monaghan also have nice chemistry, as do the team overall.

No doubt, which wouldn't bother me so much if the film weren't titled Mission Impossible. Watching it again recently, it's pretty fun in places especially the OTT final half-hour, but its nearly non-existent resemblance to M:I hurts it as well as the mundane Thandie Newton nonsense. She and Cruise are simply terrible together, their first scene where they meet is flat-out preposterous even by this series' standards. Never heard of "Love at First Car Crash".

I needed a much stronger ending to bring it all home, that entire train sequence was a serious misstep, but it's got set-pieces and stylish suspense that De Palma can do in his sleep. Terrific Elfman score as well, my fave of the series with Hans Zimmer's botched metal-guitar wankery from MI:2 being the worst.

Boba Fett

The movie is actually story wise a sloppy remake/reimagining of NOTORIOUS.

RocShemp

Overall, I found IV the most entertaining. I liked the team dynamics and the action sequences. I also liked that they tried a couple of cons like in the TV series.

III had a better villain, however, and I like how tongue-in-cheek a lot of the dialogue was without ever becoming cheesy/campy.

I tried to look/feel like the series (with the score and the intitial setup) but took a piss over everything that was Mission Impossible by turning a conman series into an action vehicle. I still enjoy it a great deal but it only superficially resembles the source material. At least the Langley infiltration was great, if not an actual con.

II is just crap. I probably would have hated it less if it weren't called Mission Impossible but the whole thing plays out like someone hastily re-wrote a script from an aborted Metal Gear Solid adaptation (ditching the walking tank but keeping the antagonist doppleganger and placing more focus on the virus). It's just poorly written drivel.

Bandit03

III
IV
I
II

They're all fun films

Cardiac161

III - Great villain and there seems to be a constant state of urgency throughout the film, with more personal stake to Ethan Hunt. Nice to see the IMF team actually act as a team.
IV - Incredibly entertaining as the plot, generic as it seems, propels the film like a non-stop rocket with the IMF team being more coherent.
I - Great paranoia work by Brian De Palma, marred only by revealing the mystery before the climax of the film. The intrusion to acquire the "NOC" list in the CIA HQ is already considered a classic scene.
II - Woo went so over the top considering Robert Towne (overrated writer) admittedly came up with a plot surrounding the action scenes. Not good.

RocShemp

In all fairness, the same is true of I. De Palma and Cruise rejected all the drafts so they began shooting without a script. De Palma came up with action sequences he wanted to shoot and had his writers come up with the scenarios for them while on the set.

Groucho

2, 4, 3

As far as I'm concerned the first movie doesn't exist since it shit so much on the original series.

Ash Ketchum

I loved John Woo's take on the franchise. I even saw it twice in theaters. I thought Dougray Scott made a plausible, understandable villain. He was an interesting and in some ways sympathetic antagonist. I enjoyed the Cruise/Newton relationship and thought the scene where she had to get the digital card out of Scott's camera, sneak it to Cruise, who then had to copy it and get it back to her was very clever and suspenseful. I prefer scenes like that to the over-the-top action scenes. (But then no one does over-the-top action scenes better than Woo.) It's Woo's next best Hollywood film after FACE/OFF. Too bad he hasn't done anything nearly as good in Hollywood in the twelve years since. RED CLIFF, made in and by China, was pretty good, though.

Geofferson

4
3
2
1

islandclaws

III was my fav. Typical plotline, but Hoffman was a great villain and I liked the direction.

I haven't seen I in ages, but I remember being incredibly confused by the plot. I didn't even make it through II since what I did see was terrible. GP was fun, probably my second fav, but the absurdity of much of it made me grimace at times. The Burj Dubai sequences are some of the best in the series, though.

superdeluxe

III was my favorite because the villian was awesome. IV was also great.

Honestly I'm trying to remember a time when there were 4 movies and the last 2 are considered the best of the series.

III
IV
I
II

DVD Josh

1
4
3
Any other movie
2

fumanstan

The Fast and Furious series might be going that route

DJariya

III
Ghost Protocol
II
I

I was my least favorite because the plot was so confusing and I hated that they shit on the Jim Phelps character.