Why petrolheads must watch 'Mission Impossible: Fallout'

The Mission: Impossible franchise has transformed into more than just a spy thriller. No longer stranded in the shadow of 007, Tom Cruise’s devotion to on-screen stunts has crafted an action-packed film series with more than just moody shots of pouting dignitaries on wet cobbled streets.

A keen petrolhead, Cruise has enjoyed more creative freedom with each M:I film outing, and the car action has been ramped up to adrenaline-pumping heights. We had a fierce Porsche vs Audi TT battle in MI:2, Land Rovers smashing through Tokyo in Mission:Impossible III and all manner of jaw-dropping motorbike stunts.

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Since then, BMW has clearly revelled in association with such an admired franchise, supplying no end of luxury saloons for Ethan Hunt and his team to abuse through some of the world’s most exotic locations. The most amazing aspect is that CGI largely takes a back seat, Cruise undertaking the majority of onscreen driving.

The latest incarnation of M:I has pushed the boat out. While previous films took modern cars to the edge of destruction, for M:I Fallout BMW provided a classic 5-series E28 M5. If you can’t bear harm coming to a modern classic, best look away now.

Pounding the streets of Paris in a bid to escape from a motorbike-riding assassin, Ethan Hunt and his hostage career through tight thoroughfares and Parisian traffic, punching the rev needle well beyond the redline. The exhaust note highlights an engine very much on the limit.

We won’t spoil the chase, but the classic BMW takes no end of exploitation. Drifts, J-turns and tyre-burning gearchanges lead into floorpan-bashing manoeuvres – sideways – down steep concrete steps, but not before an already tense motorcycle pursuit through locations familiar to fans of Ronin and The Bourne Identity.

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By the time the film narrative moves on from Paris’ iconic roads, you haven’t had a chance to breathe. The techniques used to capture Tom Cruise’s classic BMW mayhem put you right beside him. You feel every corner and wince with each obstacle and scrape of bodywork. It’s immense. Catch it in 3D and you’ll probably break a sweat.

There’s further action for those of an old Land Rover persuasion. The production team has included Land Rovers in the roster ever since the third film, usually playing a minor yet important role. In the previous movie, a 110 was piloted by Jeremy Rener and Ving Rhames, saving Simon Pegg’s character from instant death in the process.

It’s no different this time around. Almost written in as an excuse to play with Solihull’s finest, Cruise drives round Kashmir in the film’s finale seeking out a set of nuclear bombs. Employed to break down barriers en route to a helicopter, we doubt Tom’s cinematic smile was hard to force.

Besides the above and some showcasing of BMW’s current product line, there’s further delights in store, most of which involves work with trucks you wouldn’t have imagined possible. We would heartily recommend splashing out for a cinema ticket to gain the full experience – but you’ll need to be quick. Fallout won’t be in cinemas for much longer…