Tom Cruise is the action man of the century. His passion for his craft is praiseworthy, and it reflects through each of his movies. He gives himself to his projects, ensuring that viewers will receive a cinema experience like no other.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that there are few others, or no others, who can do what Cruise does. He's never one to shy away from facing danger; seeing him leaping across rooftops and sprinting from explosions is a natural sight by now. Watching Cruise is always a blast, but sometimes his stunt work has to be viewed from behind our hands.
Hanging Onto The Plane – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
At some point, you would think Cruise would be eager to take a backseat in stunt work. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is neither the time nor place for the star to kick his feet up and relax because yes, that is genuinely him clinging on to the side of a plane as it genuinely takes off. What can we say? Missing your flight is a nightmare.
Watching this scene feels like a ‘how did I get here’ moment for Cruise, but he perseveres through the wind and hangs on for dear life – not to mention he is dressed impeccably for the occasion. In a featurette about the film, the leading man admitted that he lost sleep prior to performing the stunt, which we can’t really blame him for. Nerves are at an all-time high for audiences seeing the sequence for the first time; despite knowing that Cruise is harnessed in, and safety procedures were (presumably) triple checked, Rogue Nation still manages to hold our hearts in our throats.
The Underwater Vault Heist – Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
Anything sort of stunt-related to water comes with its risks. It’s pretty dangerous in hindsight; if protocols aren’t followed, things could end disastrously (potentially fatal); Cruise takes on the challenge like a champ, practicing methods of training which would allow him to carry out this stunt underwater with little support.
While audiences might be used to seeing Cruise soaring and gliding his way through the sky – whether in an aircraft, suspended by wires, or gripping onto various barriers – he is equally adept at stunt work in water it seems. When Ethan has to infiltrate yet another vault, he is pulled beneath the surface and nearly drowns. Of course, this is Ethan Hunt, and it will take a lot more than gallons of water to wipe him out. Throughout his training, Cruise adapted to being able to hold his breath for a mighty six minutes. This is a risky move even for veteran divers; though Cruise clearly doesn’t let fear stand in his way.
Scaling The Burj Khalifa – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
It might be one of the tallest buildings in the world at approximately 2,722 feet, but Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is no match for this Hollywood superstar. If there is any doubt about Cruise’s ability to actually scale the skyscraper, it’s quickly eliminated with close-up shots.
Ethan Hunt seems to enjoy making life difficult for himself. In order to evade security and hack a server, the team opt to have Ethan clamber his way up a building. Cruise has a hankering when it comes to performing his own stunts; climbing up the Burj Khalifa not only proved to be highly dangerous, but also went on to become a controversial career move within the franchise and Cruise’s entire filmography. Initially refused permission by Ghost Protocol’s insurance team, Cruise flew solo and sourced his own company to give him the go ahead. Dangerous it may be, yet Cruise pulls it off beautifully. Plus, the end result is pretty damn cool.
The Knife – M:I-2 (2000)
How could this sequel top the energy of its predecessor? By having a knife drop down an inch from its leading star’s eyeball is clearly the right answer. That’s right, Tom Cruise is the mastermind behind this cringe-worthy shot enough to make you squirm in anguish over what could have led to a disturbing aftermath.
Cruise takes stunt work to the extreme. He doesn’t appear to be afraid to face danger – or a blade to the eye in this case. The actor even uses a real knife in the scene, which heightens the risk of injury, but excels in creating a truly nerve-wracking environment for both film crew and viewers.
The Helicopter – Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
Considering the amount of daredevil strategies Cruise has put himself through over the years, it’s a wonder that he’s come out relatively unscathed every single time. Although, during filming for the sixth Mission Impossible installment, it became well documented that Cruise had sustained a broken ankle while jumping from building to building – caught on camera and all. Even with said injury, however, Cruise powers through and impressively delivers edge-of-your seat suspense.
It’s hard to narrow down which of Cruise’s action-packed stunts is the coolest – mostly because Cruise is probably the coolest guy in Hollywood and so by default, anything he does is awesome. In this scene, we watch as Cruise dangles onto a rope attached to a helicopter mid-flight before jumping into the pilot’s seat. Usually, we’re already impressed by the sheer core strength used by Cruise to pull himself up the rope, but he then goes on to fly the helicopter by himself. His dedication to his work is commendable, particularly down to the fact that he underwent flight training and received his pilot certificate so that he could hit this milestone.
Free Falling – The Mummy (2017)
The 2017 reboot of The Mummy was hit with less-than-favorable reviews. Cruise, on the other hand, rises above every expectation. When a plane in the picture is attacked by ravenous birds, the aircraft loses all function and goes into free fall mode, throwing around the passengers as it plummets to the ground.
Cruise’s active role in the stunt work just adds to its authenticity. The idea behind the scene itself is possibly more terrifying than anything from a horror movie; Cruise and his co-star Annabelle Wallis are literally bouncing around the interior while under zero gravity. One thing's for sure: working with Cruise means full practical participation.
Infiltrating the CIA – Mission Impossible (1996)
Besides it famous theme tune, the most iconic part of the Mission Impossible franchise is arguably Ethan’s daring attempt to infiltrate the CIA Headquarters. To clear his name, Ethan must retrieve the NOC list and is willing to stop at nothing to recover the document – even if it means dangling from the ceiling.
Ethan - and effectively Cruise - is suspended out of the overhead vent and has to avoid setting off any alarms in place; even the tiniest unprovoked action puts the whole at risk. This is tension done well as various hurdles are thrown at Ethan such as beads of sweat, a pesky rat, and Krieger’s (Jean Reno) butterfingers which cause Ethan to drop mere centimeters from the floor. It is the scene that makes the film, eliminating all sounds except Cruise’s breaths of exertion. After seeing this moment, it becomes a question of how far the actor will go to secure a shot, establishing Cruise as the action man through and through.
The Halo Jump – Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
Despite the production-halting injury Cruise endured earlier throughout filming, jumping between buildings isn’t exactly the most daunting – or life-threatening – act shown in Fallout. He scaled a building at over 2,000 feet, but this Halo jump makes the Burj Khalifa look like child’s play, with Cruise diving out of a plane at 25,000 feet.
His co-star and fellow action man Henry Cavill steps away for a stunt double to fill his boots, whereas Cruise once again puts himself right on the path of adrenaline. The Halo jump – which is a high altitude, low opening jump – is extremely exhilarating and perilous, and this is not lost on viewers. In fact, Cruise is the first actor in the history of film and television to have partaken in the jump. With the Mission Impossible films, you never know what you’re in for, though it’s almost a guarantee to be a one-of-a-kind intoxicating joyride.