Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible (1996) is an American spy thriller directed by Brian De Palma and based on the television series created by Bruce Geller. Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force who becomes the prime suspect after an operation in Prague ends with the apparent deaths of his colleagues. The film also stars Jon Voight as Jim Phelps, Emmanuelle Béart as Claire Phelps, Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge, Jean Reno as Franz Krieger, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell and Vanessa Redgrave as the mysterious arms dealer Max. Released in May 1996, it became a major commercial success and launched one of Hollywood’s longest-running action franchises.

Mission: Impossible was filmed between March and August 1995, primarily in Prague and England, with additional railway filming in Scotland and establishing footage in the United States. Prague provided the historic streets, bridges and buildings for the film’s opening operation, while London was used for much of the second half. Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire supplied major interior sets and the elaborate train sequences, with additional production work at Barrandov Studios in Prague. Several important settings were assembled from multiple locations, including the American embassy in Prague, Max’s headquarters and the CIA headquarters in Virginia.

The opening Prague scene was filmed on Platnéřská Street, close to the Vltava River and the present-day Four Seasons Hotel. Jim Phelps, played by Jon Voight, walks along the cobbled street carrying a briefcase as the film establishes its Czech setting. Prague Castle is visible across the river, rising above the buildings on the opposite bank. The street leads towards a small riverside area where the IMF team has established its safe house. The entrance and exterior surroundings were photographed on location, while the safe-house interiors were recreated at Pinewood Studios. Parts of Platnéřská were altered during flood-protection work following the devastating Prague floods of 2002, changing the street level and some of its riverside features.

The opening mission takes place at a reception inside the fictional American embassy. The impressive entrance hall and grand staircase were filmed at the National Museum at the upper end of Wenceslas Square. The enormous Neo-Renaissance building was designed by Josef Schulz and completed in 1891. Its central staircase, marble columns and richly decorated halls provided the setting for the reception, where Ethan Hunt and Sarah Davies, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, monitor the guests while the other IMF agents carry out their assignments. The filmmakers used the actual museum interior, rather than the American embassy, and its monumental staircase is clearly visible during the scenes involving the reception guests.

The embassy exterior was filmed at Liechtenstein Palace on Kampa Island, on the western bank of the Vltava. The Baroque building stands beside the river, overlooking the Old Town and Charles Bridge. The palace’s northern entrance appears when Ethan and Sarah leave the reception and continue their operation outside. The same doorway is used by other characters during the sequence, including the man carrying the stolen information. The production combined the palace exterior with the National Museum interior to create a single fictional embassy, despite the buildings being located in completely different parts of Prague. The palace has historic associations with the House of Liechtenstein and is now used by the Czech government.

Kampa Island and the surrounding riverside streets were used extensively during the failed mission. Sarah is attacked beside a wooden gate along the riverbank north of Liechtenstein Palace, while Ethan later climbs over the same gate as he attempts to escape. The cobbled paths, stone embankment and views across the Vltava remain recognisable. Another sequence takes place on Na Kampě, where the IMF team’s vehicle explodes after the operation is compromised. The filmmakers used the actual street for the explosion, with the surrounding buildings and trees visible in the background. The area was scheduled for redevelopment at the time, making it possible to stage the effects with fewer restrictions than would normally apply to such a historic setting.

Charles Bridge provides one of the most memorable locations in the film’s opening section. Jim Phelps is shown crossing the medieval stone bridge before apparently being shot and falling into the Vltava. Construction of the bridge began in 1357 under King Charles IV, and it connects Prague’s Old Town with the Malá Strana district. Its distinctive Baroque statues, stone parapets and views towards Prague Castle appear prominently during the sequence. The filmmakers combined footage from the actual bridge with controlled stunt photography for the shooting and fall. The final plunge into the river was performed by a stuntman, while close-up material was completed separately.

The double staircase connecting Charles Bridge with Na Kampě was used when Ethan runs towards the bridge after hearing the gunshot. He races up the stone steps, which divide into two flights leading towards the bridge above. The location is easily recognisable from the arrangement of the stairs, decorative iron railings and stone walls. The sequence cuts between Ethan climbing the steps, Phelps on the bridge and the explosion on the street below, although the locations are close enough that the movements appear geographically convincing. The staircase remains largely unchanged.

Another Prague location appears when Ethan contacts Kittridge by telephone after the mission. The riverside scene was filmed near the former Malá Strana waterworks, close to Jirásek Bridge. A temporary telephone booth was installed beside the embankment for the scene, with steps leading towards the water and a distinctive willow tree visible behind it. After the conversation, Ethan returns towards the safe house along the river, entering an archway and climbing the steps near Platnéřská Street. The production used the real riverside surroundings but arranged the camera angles and editing to create the impression of a more extensive journey through the city.

Old Town Square, one of Prague’s most famous public spaces, provides the setting for Ethan’s meeting with Kittridge at the fictional Akvarium restaurant. The square is surrounded by historic buildings, including the Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn, the Baroque Church of St. Nicholas and the Old Town Hall. Ethan approaches the restaurant with St. Nicholas Church visible behind him. However, the glass-fronted restaurant itself was constructed as a studio set rather than filmed inside an existing Prague establishment.

The restaurant sequence ends when Ethan detonates an explosive device that destroys the enormous aquariums surrounding the dining room. The studio set contained several large water tanks, and the explosion required carefully controlled practical effects. The shot of Ethan escaping through the shattered restaurant window was filmed on the set, while the continuation of his escape was photographed in the real Old Town Square. For the exterior footage, the production released approximately 10,000 litres of water across the square as Cruise ran away. The base of the Jan Hus Memorial and the Church of St. Nicholas are visible during the scene. There is consequently no real Akvarium restaurant to locate in the square, although the surrounding streets and buildings remain recognisable.

Ethan’s next meeting in Prague begins on Na Příkopě, one of the city’s main shopping streets. He has been instructed to stand near the intersection with Nekázanka Street, where a man sitting on a bench offers him a light. The brief encounter leads to Ethan being blindfolded and taken to meet Max. The bench was installed specifically for filming and was removed afterwards. The intersection itself remains recognisable from the surrounding commercial buildings and the narrow opening of Nekázanka Street.

Max’s headquarters was created from two separate historic Prague buildings. The interior scenes were filmed at the former Grand Hotel Evropa at 25 Wenceslas Square, an elaborate Art Nouveau hotel whose present façade dates from the early twentieth century. Its grand staircase and richly decorated rooms appear when Ethan meets Max, who attempts to examine the computer disc he has brought her. The same interior is used when CIA agents subsequently enter the building and search the rooms. The hotel closed for a lengthy restoration in 2013 and reopened in October 2024 as W Prague. Much of its historic Art Nouveau decoration was restored during the renovation.

The exterior of Max’s headquarters was filmed at the Municipal House, or Obecní dům, beside the Powder Tower on Náměstí Republiky. Completed in 1912, the Municipal House is one of Prague’s most important Art Nouveau buildings and contains concert halls, restaurants and richly decorated public rooms. Its entrance on U Prašné brány appears when CIA agents arrive outside Max’s building in a white van. A guard watches their arrival from a balcony overlooking the street, while another shot shows the connecting walkway between the Municipal House and the neighbouring Powder Tower.

The same walkway is used when Ethan and Max escape before the CIA agents reach them. They cross the elevated passage beside the Gothic Powder Tower, a former city gate originally constructed in the fifteenth century. The sequence then cuts to Hybernská Street, where they drive away in a Mercedes with the tower visible behind them. Although the interior scenes were filmed at Hotel Evropa, the editing connects them with the Municipal House and the surrounding streets, creating the appearance of one large building. The exterior locations remain largely recognisable, although the hotel interior has undergone extensive restoration.

The story later moves to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where Ethan’s team attempts to steal a classified list of undercover agents. Establishing footage shows the actual CIA headquarters complex, but the principal interior scenes were filmed in England. The former County Hall on London’s South Bank, beside Westminster Bridge, was used to represent parts of the American intelligence headquarters. Opened in 1922, the large Edwardian building served as the headquarters of London County Council and later the Greater London Council until 1986. Its imposing corridors and institutional interiors provided a suitable setting for the fictional CIA facility.

The famous computer-vault sequence was filmed on a specially constructed set at Pinewood Studios. The filmmakers built the secure room with its white floor, lighting panels, computer equipment and overhead ventilation system, allowing Ethan to be lowered from the ceiling without touching the ground. The set was designed to accommodate a complicated arrangement of cables and camera equipment while making the room appear completely inaccessible. Cruise performed the suspended scenes himself, reportedly placing coins in his shoes to help balance his body after repeatedly touching the floor during rehearsals. The sequence also required a separate ventilation-duct set for the scenes involving Krieger and the rat. Although the action supposedly takes place inside CIA headquarters in Virginia, the elaborate interiors were constructed entirely for filming.

The London section uses the area around Liverpool Street Station extensively. Ethan and Krieger establish a temporary safe house above the entrance to Liverpool Street Underground station, near the junction of Liverpool Street and Old Broad Street. The exterior is visible when Ethan leaves the building and crosses the street towards the main railway station. Claire watches from an upstairs window as he walks below. The surrounding buildings and Underground entrance were photographed on location, although the safe-house interiors were constructed separately.

Liverpool Street Station itself appears when Ethan goes inside to make a telephone call and arrange a meeting. He passes through the concourse and approaches a row of public telephones beneath the large station clock. The sequence includes views of the ticket barriers, escalators and departure boards as the characters move through the station. The former telephone area was subsequently remodelled, with the telephones removed and cash machines installed. The station has also undergone several major renovations since the film was made.

The meeting between Ethan and Jim Phelps takes place inside the station at the former Ponti’s Café. Opened in 1992, the café occupied an elevated position overlooking part of the concourse, close to the main passenger circulation areas. Ethan sits with Phelps, whom he had believed to be dead, while the two discuss the events in Prague. The restaurant’s interior was dressed for filming, and the surrounding station structure is visible during the scene. Ponti’s later closed, and the area has since been altered as part of the station’s redevelopment.

Tower Bridge appears prominently when Kittridge and his colleagues arrive in London by helicopter. The aircraft approaches the Thames with the bridge visible in the background before landing on a temporary helipad in a former car park near the South Bank. The location was close to the area now occupied by Potters Fields Park, immediately west of Tower Bridge. The bridge itself was completed in 1894 and remains one of London’s best-known Victorian engineering landmarks. Its distinctive towers and suspension elements provide an unmistakable London setting for the arrival of the CIA team.

The film’s elaborate railway climax was created using a combination of genuine railway locations in Scotland, full-sized studio sets and early computer-generated imagery. Although the scene supposedly takes place aboard a French TGV travelling from London towards the Channel Tunnel, much of the actual landscape footage was filmed along the Glasgow South Western Line in southern Scotland. Sections between New Cumnock, Dumfries and Annan were used because their long, relatively straight stretches of railway made it possible to film moving trains from helicopters. The production photographed conventional British railway equipment, including Class 33 diesel locomotives and a four-car electric multiple-unit trailer set, and later replaced the train digitally with a French high-speed train.

The Ballochmyle Viaduct in East Ayrshire also appears during the railway sequence. The enormous stone railway bridge crosses the River Ayr valley and was completed in 1848 as part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway. Its long series of arches provided a spectacular elevated setting for the passing train. The surrounding Scottish countryside was incorporated into the supposed French railway landscape, with digital effects used to create the impression of a high-speed international route.

Most of the action involving Ethan and Phelps fighting on the roof of the train was filmed at Pinewood Studios. A full-sized section of the train, approximately 65 feet long, was constructed on a soundstage against blue screens. The actors performed their movements on the stationary structure while a powerful wind machine, originally developed for parachute training, blasted them with air travelling at approximately 140 miles per hour. The equipment created the appearance of a train moving at enormous speed, while the surrounding landscape was added digitally using the Scottish railway footage. Industrial Light & Magic also created computer-generated versions of the train and helicopter for the wider shots.

The Channel Tunnel itself was not used for the final helicopter chase. The filmmakers constructed miniature tunnel sections and created digital environments to represent the railway beneath the English Channel. A combination of miniature models, computer-generated helicopters and the full-sized train set was used for the sequence in which Krieger’s helicopter enters the tunnel behind the train. The real Channel Tunnel consists of separate railway bores, unlike the single large tunnel depicted in the film. The climax is therefore an entirely constructed environment, with the Scottish railway footage providing much of its real-world geographical background.

The film’s final London location is the Anchor Bankside pub at 34 Park Street in Southwark, beside the River Thames. Ethan and Luther Stickell sit together outside the pub, enjoying a drink after the events aboard the train. The scene was filmed on the riverside terrace, with the Thames and the buildings on the opposite bank visible behind them. The exterior entrance on Bank End also appears during the sequence. The Anchor is one of London’s historic riverside pubs, with an establishment on the site dating back several centuries. The present building incorporates elements from different periods and stands close to the former Bankside theatres associated with Shakespeare’s London. It remains a working pub, and its outdoor terrace is still recognisable from the film.

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