Random Things You Didn't Know About 'Mission: Impossible' Films (23 items)

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  (#1) It Took Some Last-Minute Ingenuity From Tom Cruise To Get The Iconic Drop-Down Harness Scene To Work

  While filming the famous scene in which Tom Cruise drops from the ceiling and hovers inches above the ground, Cruise's head kept hitting the floor until he got the idea to put coins in his shoes for balance.
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  (#2) One Of The 'Mission: Impossible' Films Doesn't Feature Even A Single Shootout Or Gunfight

  The first movie is the only Mission: Impossible film that doesn't feature any shootouts or gunfights. Ethan Hunt never even fires a gun in the first film.
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  (#3) Tom Cruise Actually Climbed The Tallest Building In The World

  Tom Cruise really performed the sequence where Ethan Hunt scales the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower, without the use of a stunt double. The Burj Khalifa tower is the tallest man-made structure in the world.
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  (#4) Tom Cruise Began To Really Push The Envelope With His Stunts In 'Mission: Impossible II'

  For the "knife-in-the-eye" scene, Tom Cruise insisted that a real knife be used. 
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  (#5) Tom Cruise And Ving Rhames Are The Only Actors Who Appear In Every Single 'Mission: Impossible' Film

  Only Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames have been featured in every Mission: Impossible film, while Simon Pegg and Michelle Monaghan are the only actors (besides Cruise and Rhames) to reprise their roles from Mission: Impossible III. Cruise, Rhames, Pegg, and now Renner (who debuted in Ghost Protocol) reprised their roles in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.
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  (#6) Each Of The 'Mission: Impossible' Films Features Someone Suspended On A Cable To Infiltrate A Location

  Mission: Impossible has a very specific series trademark. In every single film, someone is suspended by a cable while breaking into a location.

   
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  (#7) Tom Cruise Was Actually Hanging From The Outside Of A Plane For 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation'

  Tom Cruise preformed the sequence in which Ethan Hunt climbs on the outside of a flying airplane without the use of special effects or a stunt double. 
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  (#8) Emilio Estevez's Role In 'Mission: Impossible' Was Intentional Stunt Casting

  Emilio Estevez was cast in the role of Jack Harmon to shock the audience when he perished early in the film. 

   
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  (#9) As Of April 2013, 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' Is Tom Cruise's Highest-Grossing Film

  The film made $695 million at the box office worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing installment in the franchise. It also surpassed War of the Worlds to become Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film.
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  (#10) There's An Inside Joke In 'Mission: Impossible II' About How Complicated The First 'Mission: Impossible' Film Was

  Luther Stickell's line, "It's that simple, huh?" after hearing Ethan Hunt's explanation of what he thinks "Chimera" is, was a joke about Mission: Impossible, which was criticized for having an overly complicated plot.
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  (#11) 'Mission: Impossible II' Was Written Around The Action Sequences, Not The Plot

  According to Robert Towne, much of his script was written around action scenes that director John Woo told him he wanted to able to direct in the movie. That, and the fact the film was cut almost in half (the original run time was too long), explains some of the gaping plot holes.
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  (#12) 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' Is The First Film In Which Someone Actually Lights The Iconic Dynamite

  Ghost Protocol is the only film of the series where the lighting of a fuse is part of the opening sequence instead of being used as a separation between scenes.
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  (#13) Yes, That Was Actually Tom Cruise On The Cliff In 'Mission: Impossible II'

  The famous rock climbing sequence was filmed at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Tom Cruise was on cables which were then digitally removed. 
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  (#14) The 'Mission Impossible III' Team Hired Bikini Models And Fake Nuns As A Decoy Second Unit

  As production could do nothing about inquisitive crowds watching them while they were filming in Italy, they actually set up a phony second unit a little farther away, hired several girls in bikinis and several older women dressed as nuns, and pretended to be filming takes for the film, while the main unit got on with their business, largely undisturbed.
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  (#15) 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' Is Part Of A Huge Year For Spy Movies

  Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is being released in the same year as many other big spy espionage films including Spy (a comedy with Jason Statham and Jude Law), Spectre (2015's James Bond installment), Kingsman: Secret Service (an action-comedy), and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (another series-turned-movie).
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  (#16) 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' Takes Place Immediately After The Events Of 'Ghost Protocol'

  The film jumps in directly from the previous film, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, which ends with Ethan prepping his team to investigate the Syndicate, a mysterious, antagonistic organization.
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  (#17) Metallica's 'I Disappear' Was A First For The Band

  Mission: Impossible II was the first movie for which Metallica ever agreed to write a song.
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  (#18) Ang Lee Was In Talks To Direct 'Mission: Impossible III'

  Ang Lee was initially considered to direct Mission: Impossible III.
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  (#19) In 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' There's A Clever Nod To '99 Red Balloons'

  Agent Carter releases a red balloon, with a camera attached to its knot, to drop a device within the outer walls of the Kremlin Palace. As the plot deals with Russian nuclear weapons, this is a nod to the '80s German pop song "99 Luftballons," in which a flurry of red balloons pushes a trigger-happy general to launch several nukes and incite World War III.
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  (#20) Dunhill Lighters Are A Red Herring Throughout The Franchise

  For example, in Ghost Protocol, Ethan Hunt sets up a meeting with a Russian arms dealer over the phone, using a Dunhill lighter as the signal. This may be a clue that the meet isn't everything it first appears to be, as Jim Phelps used a Dunhill lighter in Mission: Impossible. After the climax, the audience learns that Hunt intended for the arms dealer to rat him out to the Russians all along, so they would believe the actual plot.
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  (#21) 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' Ties Into The Pixar Universe

  In all Pixar and associated films, they hide "A113" (the classroom in which the original Pixar animators originally met) somewhere in a scene. In Ghost Protocol (directed by Brad Bird, who also did Ratatouille and The Incredibles), Hanaway's class ring has the number on it. It also serves as Ethan Hunt's code number.
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  (#22) A Different Kind Of Bomb

  There have been several bombs and explosive devices featured throughout the Mission: Impossible franchise but August Walker, Henry Cavill's character gives the series it's first "f-bomb."
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  (#23) 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' Is The First One To Use A Villain From A Past Film

  Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is the first Mission: Impossible villain to appear in two of the films.

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