Tom Cruise does his own stunts in Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One which doesn't come as a surprise to fans since he pretty much always does.
This time, though, some of those stunts really could have killed him. In fact, one particular stunt in the movie is being called the "biggest stunt in cinema history."
True Tom fans know just how dedicated he really is to his craft, always wanting to get it right. He trains relentlessly for those stunt moments and (so far) has nailed them. Sometimes, he does get hurt, but that hasn't stopped him from doing it again.
Here's a look back at Cruise''s best stunt moments:
1. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
While Cruise's adventure of free-climbing cliffs in Utah may seem to lack safety precautions, they did make sure he was perfectly okay. In the scene, he was wearing a harness that was edited out in post production.
Even though that harness was there to help mitigate any mishaps, one wrong move paired with one malfunction could have sent him tumbling.
2. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
The original Mission: Impossible had its own special charm. Plus, fans hadn't yet been desensitised to all the craziness of Cruise's stunts. At the time, this scene seemed very wild for movie watchers, since they didn't know just how much bigger the stunts would get over the years.
In the movie, Ethan Hunt hangs over a pressurised door. Hanging like this may seem basic now, but at the time the real challenge was being absolutely silent for 10 minutes.
3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
In order to handle an insane stunt in Rogue Nation, Cruise had to really train. He worked with a professional free-diver to get his lung capacity up. In the movie, his character is breaking into an underwater vault which only takes three minutes.
Cruise practiced and got his record time up to sic minutes. The scene was filmed in one take.
4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
In another climbing stunt, Cruise had to scale Dubai's Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world. In the movie, he's using adhesive gloves. Obviously in real life, that's not exactly what was going on. There was rigging and harnesses involved in the endeavour.
They had a stunt double on hand, but in true Cruise fashion, he was only used for testing. Fear wasn't the most difficult part for Cruise. In fact, he said the stunt was "fun."
According to the Express Tribune, he said: "It took a while to figure out how to not come at the building head first."
5. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
TMZ reported that Cruise could be a little bit injured when they released photos of him jumping between two buildings. The stunt actually went wrong when he hit a roof instead of sticking a landing, shattering his leg. Most people would stop after that, but Cruise kept going.
He said on The Graham Norton Show: "I knew instantly my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again so just got up and carried on with the take."
6. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan Hunt holds onto a plane for his life as it takes off into the air. So, you may think that is all CGI and fake, but Cruise really did it. There were so many factors to take into consideration and the team behind the movie did their best to prevent disaster. Airbus was even skeptical about letting Cruise do it.
He later told Yahoo! Movies: "The things we were all very concerned about were particles on the runway and bird strikes."
They also had to consider the danger that the wind would have on Cruise's eyes. If not properly taken care of, his eyes could be affected for life. So, the crew gave him "sclera" contacts that helped protect them.
7. Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
In his latest film, Cruise had a fight scene on top of a moving train. While traveling 60 mph, Cruise had to focus up to fight an enemy. Right when the train is about to hit a quarry, he makes his big escape. Cruise's character survives, but the train does end up being driven off of a cliff.
8. Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Cruise's biggest stunt in his long history of adrenaline really took things to new heights. He had to drive a motorbike off a cliff. In order to prepare, he he had to practice every day. He would do 30 jumps on a bike, daily. Eventually, he was doing 50ft jump across a course. A key element of the practice was making sure that it would also look good on camera, so he learned how to work angles correctly for cameras. Surprisingly, sky diving training was also necessary. He did the stunt 6 times.
9. Mission: Impossible (1996)
Since it's unusual for actors in Hollywood to do their own stunts, the directors were certainly shocked when Cruise decided he was up for this challenge.
In the first Mission: Impossible movie, he had to dodge a wave of glass, water, and fish. The giant fish taken exploding, somehow, left him perfectly okay except for a twisted ankle. To understand how dangerous this was, though: his co-stuntman, a professional, did end up with an injury. A piece of glass cut him in his leg.
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