“Take a Look Around” wasn’t just another Limp Bizkit single — it was a global crossover moment. Released in May 2000 as the lead song for Mission: Impossible II, it catapulted the band from MTV dominance to full-blown Hollywood legitimacy. This was Limp Bizkit at the height of their powers: a rock band scoring one of the biggest action films in the world, with Tom Cruise himself signing off on the collaboration.
The song was built around a bold idea — reworking Lalo Schifrin’s iconic “Mission: Impossible” theme into a nu-metal anthem. It shouldn’t have worked, but somehow it did. Wes Borland’s reinterpretation of the 5/4 spy riff, heavy with distortion and swagger, gave the track instant identity. DJ Lethal and John Otto filled in the rhythmic gaps, turning Schifrin’s cinematic tension into a head-nodding groove, while Sam Rivers’ bassline carried the whole thing with a sense of controlled menace.
Then there’s Fred Durst. His lyrics in “Take a Look Around” are pure attitude — a mix of paranoia, defiance, and self-awareness. He’s no longer just shouting at the world; he’s commenting on his place in it.
“Limp Bizkit is rockin’ the set
It’s like Russian Roulette, when you’re placin’ your bet
So don’t be upset when you’re broke and you’re done
‘Cause I’ma be the one ’til I jet (I’ma be the one ’til I jet) “
“Take a Look Around” was also a sonic bridge. While Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water wouldn’t arrive for several more months, this track introduced the polished, cinematic production style that would define that record. It blended the sharp edges of Significant Other with something bigger and more theatrical — a sign that Limp Bizkit were no longer just a band, but a full-scale cultural product.
The music video, directed by Durst himself, doubled down on the Mission: Impossible aesthetic. The band appear as rogue agents infiltrating a corporate building, cutting between high-octane action scenes and performance shots drenched in blue light. It was over the top, self-aware, and pure early-2000s spectacle — perfectly timed for MTV’s golden age of blockbuster videos.
Commercially, the song was a phenomenon. “Take a Look Around” hit No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, reached the Top 10 across Europe and Australia, and earned the band one of their biggest international hits. In the US, where the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack was heavily marketed, it became a rock-radio staple and helped the film’s album go platinum. The track even earned Limp Bizkit a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song in 2001 — a rare nod of industry recognition for a band the press loved to hate.
Critics were divided, of course. Some called it gimmicky, others hailed it as one of the smartest uses of a film theme in modern rock. But there’s no denying its cultural impact. It gave Limp Bizkit an air of legitimacy beyond MTV and TRL — proof they could translate their chaotic energy into something cinematic and universally recognisable.
More than two decades later, “Take a Look Around” still feels huge. It’s a time capsule of the moment when rock and pop culture fully collided, when a nu-metal band could headline a soundtrack for a Tom Cruise blockbuster and somehow make it work. It’s bombastic, ridiculous, and completely self-aware — everything Limp Bizkit represented at their peak.
When the song transitions back into that warped “Mission: Impossible” riff for its final chorus, it’s not just clever arrangement — it’s a statement. Limp Bizkit weren’t content being a soundtrack to rebellion; they wanted to be the soundtrack to the world. And for a while, they were.
