As the Mission Impossible movies have gotten bigger, so too has star Tom Cruise's desire for danger. While many action stars slow down a little as they hit middle age, 56-year-old Cruise has gone the other way, pushing his body for the sake of our entertainment in ways that would terrify many actors half his age.
The sixth movie in the series, Mission Impossible: Fallout, has arrived in theaters and reviews have suggested that it's the most spectacular entry to date. That's certainly translated to early success, as the opening weekend's US box office set a franchise record.
Some of Cruise's Fallout stuntwork was notorious long before Fallout had even finished shooting, with an on-set accident causing the star to break his ankle and production to shut down for several months with a costly delay. Behind-the-scenes promotional videos have teased some of the movie's other amazing action sequences, such as the terrifying-sounding HALO jump, showing that the movie's marketers know that Cruise's willingness to risk his life is now a big selling point for the series.
The previous five movies all feature some incredible moments--from climbing onto planes and being thrown around by explosions to getting way too close to knives and cliff edges. So as we get ready to marvel at Cruise's latest batch of movie-set madness, here's a look back at the wildest stunts from the series so far.
Despite Cruise's age, Fallout is unlikely to be the last entry in the series. It reportedly opened with a strong Thursday night in the US, racking up $6 million (up from the $4 million earned by Rogue Nation), and expectations for the full opening weekend are high. Forecasts suggest it will top $50 million in the US, potentially even cracking the $57.8 million record set by Mission Impossible 2.
10. Mission Impossible – Train Chase
Back in 1996, Cruise--or perhaps his agent--wasn't prepared to go to quite the same lengths to endanger his life, and there's a good chance in 2018 that Tom would've spent the climax of the first movie actually strapped to the top of the Eurostar train. But although the stunt was mostly achieved through greenscreen, a powerful wind machine was set up to blast 140mph winds at Tom as he clings to the speeding train.
9. Mission Impossible 2 – Knife Fight
It's not the biggest stunt in the second Mission Impossible movie, but in some ways it's the hardest to watch. In the final confrontation with bad guy Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott), Cruise, of course, insisted that real knives were used. There's a moment where Ambrose gets his blade scarily close to Hunt's eye, in extreme close-up. To get the dramatic effect, the blade was attached to a retractable cord that was measured precisely to stop just before it hit Cruise's eye. An inch further and it would've plunged straight into Tom's eyeball.
8. Mission Impossible – Hanging Around
Sometimes a great stunt doesn't involve running, jumping, and swimming. Sometimes it just involves staying very still under very difficult conditions. For the iconic scene in which Ethan Hunt hangs upside down in the vault while attempting to break into Langley in the first movie, Cruise was suspended 40 feet from the ceiling, maintaining incredible control over his body to remain absolutely still while he taps away at the computer.
7. Mission Impossible III – Bridge Blast
During the bridge confrontation towards the end end of MI3, a missile smashes into the ground, causing an explosion that sends Cruise flying several feet into the side of a car. In any "normal" film this shot would've been performed by a stuntman in long shot, before cutting to a final close-up of Tom. But of course we get to see the whole thing in one spectacular take. The car was padded, but man, it looks painful.
6. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – Bike Chase
Rogue Nation is packed with so many great stunts that this bike chase is sometimes forgotten, but it still a stunningly dangerous sequence. Ethan races after Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) in order to get some stolen files back, skidding around the alarming bends of the Marrakech Highway in Morocco, while also trying to evade the henchmen on his trail. And of course, Cruise ensures that we know it's him performing these alarming high-speed stunts by refraining from wearing a helmet for the entire sequence.
5. Mission Impossible – Exploding tank
The first Mission Impossible fully established Cruise as an action movie star. Although the set pieces are a little more modest than in later movies, there are still some great moments that show that the star was very willing to put himself in danger. During a tense standoff, Ethan Hunt uses some detonating gum to blow up a huge fish tank that surrounds the actors, causing 16 tons of water to explode, right next to the star. A huge wave of water crashes through the room, as Cruise sprints just ahead. Director Brian De Palma was reportedly reluctant to let Cruise perform the stunt, on account of the risk from both the glass and sheer volume of water. But an earlier take with a stuntman didn't look any good, so Cruise went ahead and did it himself.
4. Mission Impossible 2 – Rock Climbing
It was MI2 that truly established the franchise's--and its star's--dedication to the dangerous. The movie opens with a sequence in which Cruise scales the cliffs of Dead Horse Point in Utah. While the actor was wearing a safety harness that was later removed digitally, it's still 100% Tom up there, jumping between rocks with no safety net below him. From that stunt on, there was no going back.
3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – Taking Off
Like the Bond movies, the Mission Impossible franchise is known for its spectacular opening sequences. At the start of Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt clings to the side of a plane as it takes off. Cruise performed the stunt four times over the space of two days, and subsequently provided some alarming details about it. "While we were going down the runway, we were worried about bird strikes," he said. "Any kind of particle that the propellers could pick up, any kind of stone. I remember I got hit by a stone that was so tiny, you cannot believe it. I thought it broke my rib. Luckily it went to my vest, and not my hands or my face, or it would have penetrated and gone right through." Ow.
2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – Dubai So High
It's not all running, jumping, and nearly drowning. Cruise also seemingly lacks a fear of heights, even when scaling the world's tallest building. In Ghost Protocol, Ethan Hunt is seen on the side of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, 2,722 feet above the ground. And as the behind-the-scenes footage reveals, it's 100% Tom--swinging, climbing, and clambering around the outside of the building, as the camera crew circle him in a helicopter.
1. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – Water Lunatic
Given that Rogue Nation starts with the Cruiser hanging off the side of an airplane as it takes off, you'd be forgiven thinking that the movie had peaked early in terms of life-endangering stunt work. But you're be wrong. An hour later, Ethan Hunt attempts to crack open an underwater safe, a sequence that took two weeks to film and required Cruise to not only act underwater but also reportedly hold his breath for up to six minutes at a time. Tom's physical training took months, as he trained alongside a freediving expert and taught his mind to believe "that you don't have to take a breath."
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