From villain monologues to Tom Cruise stunts, some interesting Mission Impossible scenes were cut from the final movies and never made it to theaters.

While Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise has treated audiences to some of the most daring and impressive filmmaking ever seen, there are also quite a few scenes that didn’t make the final cut. Considering Cruise’s reputation as a workhorse and someone always willing to go the extra mile, it comes as no surprise that Paramount Pictures would have to exercise restraint when choosing what stays and what goes. Nevertheless, there are plenty of intense and subtle scenes from the Mission: Impossible franchise that audiences should know about.

Seemingly a man with no fear, Cruise has made it a point to perform at least one crazy stunt in each Mission: Impossible movie, thus giving audiences something to always look forward to. However, given the nature of ensuring movies aren’t too long, graphic, or confusing, some of the A-lister’s hard work does not make the final cut. From Mission: Impossible to Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, the Mission: Impossible franchise has cut some great scenes.

10 Luther and Benji Banter Cut From Mission: Impossible – Fallout

As seen near the end of the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, tech experts Luther and Benji are seen joking with each other in a somewhat meta manner regarding the circumstances of the movie’s mission. The scene is small, but it adds some much-appreciated levity to the franchise’s usual tense atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was cut from the final movie because it didn’t suit the movie’s more dire tone.

9 Mission: Impossible – Fallout Cuts Walker’s Monologue

Despite only appearing in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Henry Cavill’s Walker was one of the more welcomed additions to the franchise. His character was dangerous and mysterious, and he constantly kept Ethan – and the audience, on their toes whenever on screen. To further characterize the relatively mute Walker, he was originally meant to deliver a monologue that was cut due to poor reception from test audiences.

8 Mission: Impossible 1’s Unused Love Triangle

Mission: Impossible director Brian De Palma confirmed around the time of the movie’s release that there were plans to make Ethan Hunt and Claire Phelps an item. However, the shot love scene was eventually cut as it interfered with the movie’s tone and pacing. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, De Palma summed the issues up with the scene by saying, There was a love scene on the train after they recruit, but it wasn’t essential. De Palma’s intuition fortunately spared the audience a pointless scene in an otherwise stellar movie.

7 Mission: Impossible II’s Cut Action Scenes

Famed Hong Kong action director John Woo seemed like a perfect fit for the second installment in Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise, as he is best known for his masterful direction of tense and exciting action sequences. However, concerned that his sensibilities wouldn’t mesh well with the Motion Picture Association of America’s, thus resulting in heavy cuts to the filmmaker’s work. One of Mission: Impossible II‘s most notable examples occurs during the climactic fight between Ethan and Sean Ambrose. Most would probably assume the scene in question revolves around the film’s heart-stopping knife-to-the-eye scene, but they’d assume incorrectly.

According to the DVD extras for the UK home release, a scene involving Hunt catching a boot to the face from Ambrose was deemed too violent, thus resulting in much of the fight scene being edited considerably. Woo expressed his frustrations with Paramount in the DVD commentary by claiming that the “whole movie is about love and not about violence.” Irrespective of the excessive cuts, Mission: Impossible II was still a success and helped keep the series alive.

6 Mission: Impossible III’s Unfaithful Partners

Even though David Fincher’s Mission: Impossible III never came to fruition, J. J. Abrams’ 2006 action spy movie performed critically and commercially upon release. Known as one of the more subdued entries in the franchise, much of Mission: Impossible III‘s tension comes from the secrets kept between characters both on the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) and their opposition. Hunt and John Musgrave discuss the resulting fallout of a botched mission resulting in former IMF agent Lindsey’s death. During the discussion, Musgrave reveals he and Lindsey were together before her death, and Ethan promises to make things right.

The scene itself isn’t bad as it offers a little extra depth to the story by showing the emotional turmoil that results from failed missions. However, it slows the action down in a scene that ultimately consists of Cruise and Billy Crudup standing in front of one another mourning at the park. Even with the movie receiving praise for punching up the dynamics in the agents’ personal lives, this cut scene went on a tad too long.

5 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’s Scrapped Original Beginning

Directed by Brad Bird, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol featured some of the franchise’s most impressive and daring stunts. After a five-year break, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol treated audiences to some of Hunt’s greatest displays of bravery resulting in a familiar yet fresh take on the franchise. However, as revealed in the director’s commentary, the movie underwent a lot of rewrites to help it achieve its goal.

Among the changes were the movie’s introduction which originally saw Leonid Lisenker, the movie’s antagonist, rehearsing his plans to what appeared to be a large audience before it’s revealed he’s talking to himself in the mirror. While the original plan might have been to convey to audiences how committed Leonid was to his goal, it ultimately feels like a drawn-out scene lacking any substantial payoff. The movie’s decision to start with Hunt breaking out of a Moscow prison was more effective as it better set the tone.

4 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’s Cut 10 Minute Cold Open

Considered one of the best Mission: Impossible movies, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation received glowing reviews upon release and grossed nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $150 million. While Cruise’s airplane stunt ranks fairly high among the series, the movie almost had a completely different tone according to writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. According to the director, the original intro would have consisted of Benji putting on an Alec Baldwin disguise and berating Cruise for ten minutes.

Speaking with Movie-Censorship.com, McQuarrie further explains, We loved it, and it was a big laugh, it was great. [But] all of the elements that made the scene work were also things that led the audience down a path that they didn’t want to go and confused them with information they didn’t need. The original idea sounds wild, but it’s understandable why McQuarrie elected to go for a different approach as the Mission: Impossible movies are known for their action and clever writing more than their comedy.

3 Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s Cut Trailer Scenes

2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout was teased with one of the strongest trailers for a movie in recent memory. Filled with the usual suspense and action one would come to expect from the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout took things to the next level with nearly every scene including high-octane action in one form or another. However, this would be the very reason why McQuarrie would make the tough decision of cutting many of the tense scenes seen in the trailer out of the finished movie.

Speaking with Digital Spy McQuarrie exclaimed that the movie was tested four times before its theatrical release and that the issues they were having with it resulted from too much action in the movie. While this might sound odd to some, it makes sense as audiences can become fatigued from non-stop action scene after the other. While the image of Hunt seemingly about to crash a helicopter into a bus still looks awesome, the decision to exclude it from the finished product worked out for the best.

2 Mission: Impossible Fallout’s Cut Grand Palais Scene

In yet another scene featured in the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Hunt is seen hanging from a thin cable inside the beautiful Gran Palais building. While the scene is hair-raising and the scenery of the Grand Palais breathtaking, it was ultimately cut by McQuarrie because it didn’t add much value to the overall movie. Audiences certainly expect to see what Cruise does next in each installment, but McQuarrie’s decision to treat the movies as more than just mindless spectacle relying on stunts is largely what has sustained its popularity through the years.

1 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’s Big Lesson

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is a standout movie in the entry as it took the IMF all around the world and once again topped itself regarding its action and scope. As is typically the case with filmmaking, one of the hardest decisions typically boils down to what scenes stay and what scenes go. A train stunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning was cut even though the cast risked their lives to perform it, but according to McQuarrie, it just didn’t look right on the screen.

Speaking with FandomWire.com, he explained that even though the stunt was very, very risky, it ended up on the cutting room floor. What’s unfortunate is the actors involved risked their lives shooting the scene with and without rigs and harnesses. Even though everyone involved no doubt worked incredibly hard on the scene, it didn’t perform well with test audiences thus leading to its exclusion. McQuarrie’s intuition and Cruise’s trust in his vision have led to some of the greatest moments that did make it into the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Sources: Various (see above).