- This article is about the Mission: Impossible franchise. See next-to-impossible destinations for places difficult to visit.
For decades, the Mission: Impossible film series has been one of the most action-packed and exciting media franchises, rivaled only by the James Bond films among the world's best spy thrillers. The American films, loosely based on the television series of the same name, take place all around the world and even beyond it. To follow the Tom Cruise The Mission: Impossible films will send a viewer to every continent across eight movies. Travelers who want to capture some of the action will come across historic landmarks, breathtaking desolation, and a globe-hopping trip to remember.
| “ | As always, should you or any of your Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck. | ” |
The main filming locations of the Mission Impossible film series
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Mission: Impossible (1996)
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The initial Mission: Impossible film starts in the Czech Republic, with a job gone wrong that takes hero Ethan Hunt to London and back home to the CIA headquarters to uncover a mole in his agency. In addition to the real-world locations and the fictional sets, a thrilling train scene from the climax of the film was shot along the Glasgow South Western Line, so while you are in England, you may wish to head north and take the rails from Kilmarnock to Glasgow. If you have an extra few thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, the last scene mentions an upcoming mission in Aruba.
- 1 County Hall, Belvedere Rd, ☏ +44 871 663 2501.
- 2 Anchor Bankside, Belvedere Rd, ☏ +44 20 7407-1577.
- 3 Charles Bridge (Karlův Most).
- 4 National Museum (Národní muzeum).
- 5 Wenceslas Square.
- 6 Liechtenstein Palace Ledeburk, Malostranské nám. 258/13, 118 00 Malá Strana, ☏ +420 605 025 559.
- 7 Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí). Sadly, the explosive scene set at a restaurant surrounded by large aquariums was filmed on set, but the exterior shots surrounding it were in the Old Town Square. On the plus side, you are less likely to be drowned by 32,000 pounds (15,000 kg) of water.
- 10 Old CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia. Commit cyber-espionage at your own expense and see the Wikimedia Foundation terms of service for use of these materials to perform treason.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
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The second M:I installment starts and ends with a vacation: the former off with a gorgeous and expansive view of our hero free solo climbing in America and playing a seductive game of cat-and-mouse with a thief in Spain before spending time in rural and urban Australia. Australian settings were used as stand-ins for Seville. The ending suggests getting lost while on a holiday, which could be a fun way to pass a few days in Spain.
- 11 Dead Horse Point State Park, Belvedere Rd, ☏ +44 871 663 2501.
Additionally, a plane crashes in the scenic Rocky Mountains, which are convenient to travel to from Dead Horse, but try to stay in one piece.
- 12 Boora Point. The road where the motorcycle chase was filmed. If you hop on a bike, make sure to wear a helmet and dress for the slide, not the ride.
- 13 Bare Island fort.
- 15 Governor Phillip Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, ☏ +61 2 9240 1601.
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
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The third installment begins in a domestic scene set somewhere in the United States before setting off on a rescue mission in Berlin, infiltration of Vatican City, and a violent chase in northern Jiaxing and Shanghai.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
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After a brief killing in Budapest, global war is risked when the Kremlin is rocked by a mammoth explosion. IMF agents must follow a nuclear weapon to Dubai's Burj Khalifa and Mumbai, with some last-minute heroics to save American lives in San Francisco and a brief reunion in Seattle. Additional shooting happened on Vancouver soundstages and exteriors in Bangalore and Chennai. The team discusses an upcoming mission in Kandahar at the end; go there at your own risk.
- 16 Burj Khalifa, 1 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd - Downtown Dubai - Dubai - United Arab Emirates, ☏ +971 4 8888888, fax: +971 4 366 1600, info@atthetop.ae. Secret agent Ethan Hunt scaled the side of this building with physics-defying gadgetry. You may want to just take the elevator somewhere up to your room among the 160 storeys in the tallest building on Earth.
- 17 Transamerica Pyramid, 600 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94111. After seeing the impending Burj Khalifa, this American pyramid is maybe not quite as impressive, but is still an iconic building in an iconic skyline. See if you can spot the chunk that was knocked out by a nuclear missile.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
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A rival spy agency fights our heroes across Casablanca, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, Langley/Washington, D.C., London and Oxfordshire, Minsk, Paris, and Vienna. While filming in Cuba was not possible and some scenes shot in Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, anyone looking for the authentic shooting locations will have a global trek ahead of them.
- 18 Piggy's Salads & Sandwiches, 1 Air St, London W1J 0AB, United Kingdom. Ethan Hunt briefly discusses John Coltrane at fictional record store The Vinyl Offer. This location is actually a sandwich shop today, but you could probably still talk about jazz with someone there.
- 19 Havana, Havana Port. For any completions out there, a brief drone shot shows Havana's shores. You may want to go to the Havana Port as a proxy, where you can see a variety of historic buildings, enjoy the Punta Talanquera park, eat in Chinatown, or maybe squat in a dingy room like in the film.
- 20 Eiffel Tower, Av. Gustave Eiffel, 75007 Paris, France, ☏ +33 892701239. A team of spooks hunting Ethan Hunt think he is in Havana still, but he's long since fled to another barren room not far from the more enchanting Eiffel Tower.
- 21 Vienna State Opera, Opernring 2, 1010 Wien, Austria, ☏ +43 1514442250. A dramatic change of pace from the underground network of safe houses, you can catch some culture at the premiere opera house in Vienna and may rub elbows with a head of state or an assassin.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
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Nihilist terrorist Solomon Lane is looking to wreak havoc around the world, so the IMF must return to familiar locations Berlin, London, and Paris, but they also head to Belfast and rural Kashmir (the latter location could not be filmed, so Queenstown substituted). The finale features a death-defying plane chase filmed in New Zealand and Norway's Rogaland.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One (2023)
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In a story too big to be contained in one film, a malevolent artificial intelligence traverses cyberspace and our human protagonists must travel through Abu Dhabi, the Swiss Alps, Amsterdam, Rome and Venice, Washington, D.C., and an undisclosed location in Saudi Arabia near Yemen, with an additional scene taking place in the most remote M:I location yet: the Arctic Circle. As before, the Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden site and some surrounding English villages in Surrey and the town of Levisham serve for some of the European locations and the Grand Central, Birmingham also supplemented shots of the Abu Dhabi airport, alongside Møre og Romsdal and a bridge in rural Poland's Lower Silesia that showcase the train explosion set piece.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
[edit]Originally entitled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part Two, this direct sequel is planned for a 2025 release, with shooting locations overlapping the last installment, as well as Malta and South Africa.
See also
[edit]- Spies and secrets for real-life espionage
- James Bond tourism for another spy film franchise