Mission: Impossible’s wire heist is still the most iconic stunt in franchise history

After eight Mission: Impossible films featuring dozens of jaw-dropping action scenes, the harrowing wire heist from the first film remains the most iconic sequence in the entire franchise. In it, Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must infiltrate a CIA computer kept in a room-sized vault with an extremely sensitive security system — touch the floor, make a sound, or even raise the temperature of the room and alarms will sound. Hunt enters the room suspended on a wire through a vent in the ceiling. While he begins the download successfully, Hunt has to be careful not to get caught by analyst William Donloe (Rolf Saxon) who is in and out of the room due to a stomach illness.