Movies like Mission: Impossible strike a gratifying balance between expertly staged action and blinding star power, highlighting both elements prominently without detracting from either. Tom Cruise not only embodies the charms that viewers across the world expect from a Hollywood leading man, but he also raises the stakes of the stunts in each new film in the series.

Even though it sometimes seems like there aren't many films that can equal the Mission: Impossible franchise's commitment to excellence and innovation, there are a number of films of a similar nature that are currently streaming on Netflix and other services.

With the release of the upcoming Mission: Impossible sequel, Dead Reckoning Part One, in the summer of 2023, interest in the spy series is at an all-time high, and its position in the crowded genre is about to change once more. Action movie lovers may enjoy all the thrills and surprises from the franchise's best moments in the best movies like Mission: Impossible, but they can also learn about the historical progression of the Mission: Impossible films by showcasing its primary rivals and influences.

Goldeneye, the 17th James Bond film in Eon Productions' ongoing series, was released just six months prior to the first Mission: Impossible. It served as Pierce Brosnan's debut as Agent 007. It continues to be regarded as one of the best James Bond films overall and as Brosnan's best performance in the franchise, according to IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

Brosnan's Bond demonstrated that the classic franchise had more than enough life left in it to compete with modern thrillers like quest: Impossible while on a quest to stop a megalomaniacal former colleague with a destructive satellite weapon. Fans of Cruise's action in the Mission: Impossible films will undoubtedly like the opening scene's breath-taking plunge down a real-life dam.

This endearing version of the Rat Pack classic of the same name has George Clooney and Brad Pitt as the heads of a star-studded crew of professional thieves. The new Ocean's Eleven, which Steven Soderbergh directed, improved upon the original in many ways and even launched its own franchise.

Ocean's Eleven is a classic comedic caper in many aspects, but it's also a magnificent and sophisticated crime thriller in many others. It's more of a comedy than an action film like Mission: Impossible. This exquisite narrative of an eclectic crew of gifted criminals who scheme to rob a major Las Vegas casino will delight fans of the heist scenes in the Mission: Impossible films.

Based on a comic book series, the film’s name is actually an acronym which stands for Retired, Extremely Dangerous. Bruce Willis plays former CIA Black Ops agent Frank Moses in the film. The story centers on his life of boredom before an assassination squad arrives to take his life. This brings back the old legend, who then unearths a plot resembling how the CIA is portrayed: a vast conspiracy and a cover-up involving the Vice President. Despite the director's best efforts to keep the movie firmly within the action-comedy genre of movies, Frank teams up with an unusual group of old friends and even a KGB contemporary and survives the plot. However, the movie goes on to illustrate the far reach and savagery of the CIA.

Tenet clearly addresses the realm of espionage, albeit with a distinctive sci-fi twist, unlike Christopher Nolan's Batman films and his high-concept heist film Inception, which both had many spy movie characteristics. The movie portrays a federal spy who joins a clandestine squad of spies to halt a complex scheme to end the planet by means of time travel.

For fans of the relatively uncomplicated Mission: Impossible films, the plot may sound a touch too cerebral, but Nolan focuses on creating the most expansive and satisfying cinematic experience imaginable. Fans of the realism of the Mission: Impossible films will recognize the depth of Nolan's dedication to capturing big concepts in-camera, and the intricate storyline is just one aspect of that experience.

The Sum of All Fears, one of several adaptations of a popular Tom Clancy book featuring the author's most well-known creation, Jack Ryan, has Ben Affleck as the heroic CIA analyst in the title role. In this high-stakes spy thriller, Affleck's Ryan must act quickly to prevent a neo-fascist terrorist organization from igniting a war between Russia and the United States.

Even though Affleck didn't play Ryan for more than one film, like the majority of actors who have played the part, he stands out among a cast that also includes Chris Pine and Harrison Ford. The central idea of the story is comparable to that of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, but Clancy's protagonists choose a much more subdued and diplomatic approach to resolving their differences. Tense negotiations are also interspersed with bursts of the kind of explosive action that is appropriate for a story with such high stakes.

Paul Devereaux, also known as the November Man, is a proficient CIA assassin and is played by Pierce Brosnan. For one more assignment, he is called back into service from retirement. The final operation turns out to be the most bizarre one, pushing the experienced operative to the limit. It concerns a war criminal from Cech who is seeking the Russian presidency. Mason, an old protege of Devereaux's, and Alexa, another assassin, confront him. He cannot, however, safeguard the asset he was ordered to guard while keeping himself safe. However, this motivates him to investigate further, and he finds a CIA conspiracy to sway world affairs by pressuring Russia to join NATO in opposition to the Middle East. A thrilling movie, this speaks to CIA’s interference in global politics now and again.

In this suspenseful thriller, Angelina Jolie portrays a highly trained CIA agent who is thought to be a Russian sleeper agent. With its stronger Cold War premise, Salt is a little more chilly and ruthless than a spy film like Mission: Impossible, but Jolie is one of the few Hollywood icons who can equal Cruise's star power in the role of Ethan Hunt.

It's interesting to note that Angelina Jolie ended up playing the major part that was originally written for Tom Cruise (via NBC). Will the two actors ever compete in Cruise's Mission: Impossible series given how easily Jolie transitions into the character of an unstoppable superspy?

The Mission: Impossible movies have never attempted to compete in any way with the James Bond movies, despite the fact that they are fundamentally spy movies, and have instead established their own subgenre. On the other hand, the Jason Bourne films have encouraged comparisons between their lethal federal agent and 007, not only surviving but even flourishing and rivaling the James Bond series at various points.

The most recent entry in the genre takes many of the best aspects from Matt Damon's original stint as the role and brings them into an even more contemporary setting, even if the entire series of films should be of great interest to a film fan looking for the best movies like Mission: Impossible. The simply titled Jason Bourne features the titular amnesiac assassin who is lured out of hiding once more and is forced to confront long-hidden elements of his past when he faces a new wave of highly-trained assassins who have been ordered to murder him.

This Ridley Scott-produced movie has Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, and Mark Strong in the lead roles. The movie centers on an effort by the CIA and Jordanian intelligence to apprehend a terrorist named Al-Saleem. The agent on the ground is Ferris (DiCaprio), and Hoffman is his boss (Crowe). The movie depicts CIA meddling in the Middle East, but it also highlights the necessity of such meddling in particular regions because the capture of these terrorists has an impact on world events because the movie also depicts a simultaneous bombing plot in London. One of the better movies depicting the agency's involvement in nations where they have no right being there, this one features a great cast and excellent acting.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was adapted from a well-liked spy series that first aired in the 1960s, much like the Mission: Impossible films, but this reboot chose to go the less-typical path and kept with the original time period. The plot, nevertheless, centers on a small team's search for a fugitive nuclear scientist who is being used to create a bomb for a fascist organization, so in that sense, it may fit nicely into the Mission: Impossible series.

Each scene in the movie features so many of director Guy Ritchie's signature witticisms that it quickly develops its own distinct identity. In Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Henry Cavill, the film's star, displays many of the attributes that make him a great James Bond, and Ritchie's dialogue's rhythmic pace blends seamlessly with the scene.

Not every CIA employee has someone's blood on their hands. There are fine people at the agency who will defend their pals. This is best illustrated in the Robert Redford and Brad Pitt-starring movie. The aging officer Muir, played by Redford, recruited Bishop (Pitt). While the US and China are close to signing a trade agreement, Bishop manages to get himself arrested while attempting to save a British citizen. The Chinese government has demanded that they claim Bishop as their own in order to save his life, and the US government would rather see the agreement go through than risk it.

He defends his old friend and ultimately saves him by risking his own safety when Muir is introduced as a justification for them to denounce Bishop. This excellent movie, which is about genuinely decent CIA employees, shows that not all CIA-related movies are based on hoaxes.

Even while some of Daniel Craig's Bond films garnered better reviews than others, the actor had a good time as 007 overall, with Skyfall undoubtedly being a career high. The picture met monumentally high expectations and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the enduring Bond movie series from Eon Productions.

Bond pursues a suitably colorful antagonist over a globetrotting adventure that features some of the most breathtaking scenery in the genre, but the battle choreography and stunts also rival those of the Mission: Impossible franchise in terms of intensity. Skyfall demonstrates how much 007 had learnt from the success of the Jason Bourne and Mission: Impossible movies, but it also upholds the tradition of the Bond franchise.

Tom Cruise has starred in the Jack Reacher movies and has more than one successful action movie franchise to his credit. The first film in the series, which is based on the book One Shot, has the titular detective in the heart of a case involving multiple murders, causing him to get interested in a dangerous criminal gang that operates in secret.

Cruise did a fantastic job portraying a hardened criminal who understands how to take down a gang of men with his bare hands, despite the fact that he notoriously looked considerably different from how Reacher is depicted in the original novels. Christopher McQuarrie, who took over as the first mainstay director of the Mission: Impossible franchise from Rogue Nationonwards, wrote and directed the action in Jack Reacher, which is as brutal and bare-knuckle as the Mission: Impossible films ever get, if not more so.

In Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron plays a spy who is on the prowl for a list of double agents in late 1980s Berlin. The film is an adaptation of the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City. Mission: Impossible fans won't want for diversity in action scenes, but Theron's ferocity in the film's various battle scenes easily makes it stand out as one of the best contemporary action films like John Wick.

Atomic Blonde tackles all the major action movie setups, from the car pursuit to the shoot-out, and gives them its own special twist. The late Cold War style of the movie will appeal greatly to fans of the more stylized parts of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

The most slick and authentic heist film ever made is this one. The events of Heat are based on Chuk Adams' escapades as a former Chicago police officer. Robert De Niro's character, Neil McCauley, steals 1.6 million in bearer bonds from an armored car, but Waingro kills the security personnel in the process. Al Pacino's character, LAPD lieutenant Vincent Hanna, begins to look into the theft and tries to apprehend the group, but McCauley is the mastermind and Hanna is the one tasked with predicting his next move. It is powerful, well-acted, and nearly flawless on all counts.

This is one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest thrillers, a great take on a guy on the run after being misidentified. A man who is being hounded by numerous people decides to take matters into his own hands and begins looking into the man who looks like him. This superbly written suspense thriller features an excellent cast and an equally captivating tale about a spy who doesn't exist! In this classy spy thriller, Hitchcock deftly built a plot around the idea of a "Macguffin."

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