Here’s how you know the “Mission: Impossible” movies are great: They were only made because the TV series “Mission: Impossible” was a gigantic, award-winning hit, and now hardly anyone even remembers ...

For almost 30 years, Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” has supplied moviegoers with the most consistent and thrilling spy-themed adventures of any Hollywood franchise outside of the James Bond films.

Even when the series was more focused on espionage than over-the-top spectacle, Mission: Impossible could always be relied on if you wanted to see some good action. The film series, that is. The TV ...