Mission: Impossible III

"The mission begins."

2006 2h 6m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

73%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 7,898🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes●66Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 424,323

AdventureActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who's as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear – including the woman Hunt loves.

“The mission begins.”

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Cast

Tom Cruise
Ethan Hunt
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Owen Davian
Ving Rhames
Luther
Billy Crudup
Musgrave
Michelle Monaghan
Julia
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Declan
Keri Russell
Lindsey Farris
Maggie Q
Zhen

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman
Languages: German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Czech, Cantonese
Countries: United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$150M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 6 languages: German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Czech, Cantonese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Mission: Impossible Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

330+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by J.J. Abrams, shot by Dan Mindel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

J.J. Abrams directs. Dan Mindel behind the camera. Michael Giacchino scores. Maryann Brandon cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Czech, Cantonese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$150M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 6 languages: German, English, Italian, Mandarin, Czech, Cantonese.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
5Part of the "Mission: Impossible Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6330+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by J.J. Abrams, shot by Dan Mindel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Maryann Brandon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Tom Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ving Rhames carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The mission begins.".
12IMDB entry: tt0317919 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 44 themes, including "mask", "mission", "berlin, germany", "central intelligence agency (cia)".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dan Mindel
Original score: Michael Giacchino
Editing: Maryann Brandon
Production design: Scott Chambliss
Costume design: Colleen Atwood
Makeup / hair: Warren Hanneman
VFX supervisor: Roger Guyett
Sound: Alan Rankin
Stunt coordinator: Vic Armstrong
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $150,000,000
Box office: $398,479,497
Return: 266% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 66/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 424,323 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

7 wins & 14 nominations total

Part of

Mission: Impossible Collection

Mission: Impossible is a series of a secret agent thriller films based on the popular 1966–73 television series. They chronicle the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) under the leadership of agent Ethan Hunt.

Also by

J.J. Abrams

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2016-08-16
★ 4/10
I would say it is the strongest entry of the first three Mission: Impossible films (the only ones I've seen to date). Even a decade later, it's strengths are still that which the franchise has always been known for, and its weakness are much the same. Much more akin plot-wise to the first film, M:I:III has the one advantage over its predecessors that it's villain is much stronger than any we have seen before. Though arguably not the primary antagonist, Seymour-Hoffman (RIP) is actually pretty terrifying as international arms dealer, Owen Davian. That said, while this third entry is certainly the most engaging thus far, it still had me checking my watch before the end of the movie, so I can hardly give it a glowing review. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
CinemaSerf2022-07-01
★ 6/10
Despite the introduction of the always annoying Simon Pegg, this is an huge improvement on the last instalment. It sees the now retired, loved-up "Ethan" (Tom Cruise) coaxed out of retirement to deal with the menacing arms dealer "Davian" (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has just bumped off one of the IMF's finest as he tries to offload the devilishly toxic "rabbit's foot" - a weapon with devastating potential. The initial part of the operation goes smoothly enough, but when his prey escapes his clutches, "Ethan" soon realises that he is going to be used to obtain the weapon - else his girlfriend "Julia" (Michelle Monaghan) is going to be toast. PSH is a super baddie here, very much in the less is more school of menace, but not afraid to get a bit brutal when called for. The story itself is all pretty routine, there isn't much jeopardy throughout, but the action scenes are more natural and less choreographed than last time out, and PSH also does add quite a lot of extra gravitas to the proceedings. It also features one of the more assured performance from the usually wooden as a tree Jonathan Rhys Meyers with Ving Rhames having a more substantial, and quite entertaining, role too. I'm not sure what anyone can really do about the inevitability of the conclusion - we just know these films are going to keep on coming, but this one from the established writing team of Kurtzman and Orci keeps moving well with plenty of gadgets, body morphing and action to pass the two hour mark comfortably.
The Movie Mob2023-01-02
★ 9/10
Mission: Impossible 3 gives the franchise something more than explosions and cool gadgets. It gives the series heart and family. Mission: Impossible 3 carried the heavy burden of trying to ground the fantastical world of Mission Impossible with its insane stunts and extraordinary gadgets after the franchise took it all a little too far in MI2. JJ Abrams took the reins, simplified the plot to Ethan Hunt’s struggle to rescue his fiancée, and filled the cast with excellent talents like Michelle Monaghan, Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg, and more. While the stunts and gadgets that define the franchise were still in the film, they were not the focus. Instead, MI3 concentrated on developing Hunt’s character and his struggle to protect his loved ones from his work. This movie frequently finds itself at the bottom of the Mission: Impossible rankings, but I think it’s one of the best in the series and gave the franchise the heart and direction it needed to become the box office behemoth it is today.