13 of Tom Cruise’s Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts

Within the first installment within the Mission: Unattainable franchise in 1996, Cruise reportedly by no means swapped out for a stuntman in a single specific scene involving an aquarium. Within the sequence, Ethan Hunt, who would turn into certainly one of Cruise’s most well-known characters, deliberately blows up a large aquarium that stretches the size from the ground to the ceiling to assist get away rapidly. The explosive was so highly effective that one other individual was despatched flying by means of a glass panel, whereas Cruise went working with 16 gallons of water following proper behind him.

In 2000’s Mission: Unattainable II, Cruise confirmed no indicators of plans to cease testing his limits. Within the opening scene of the John Woo-directed movie, the actor might be seen climbing and hanging off big rocks on the facet of a cliff. Throughout filming, Cruise reportedly had solely a security cable to assist soften any impression, which led to Woo actively sweating all through the whole sequence due to how harmful it was.

In 1986’s Prime Gun, Cruise started looking for the joys of doing his personal stunts. However the scene when Maverick (Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) are ejected from the jet and parachute into the water (resulting in his co-pilot’s loss of life) almost didn’t go as deliberate. Prime Gun‘s Barry Tubb informed the New York Publish on the movie’s twenty fifth anniversary that “Cruise got here as near dying as anyone on a set I’ve ever seen.” Throughout filming, when Cruise was lifting up Goose’s physique from the ocean, Cruise really started to sink resulting from water build up in his parachute. In line with Tubb, Cruise would have drowned if it was not caught early sufficient to get him out.

On the time of filming Prime Gun, it was additionally reported {that a} veteran fighter pilot died while shooting aerial footage for the film.

In 2003’s The Final Samurai, Cruise as soon as once more almost prevented a tragic accident whereas doing his personal stunts. Whereas filming a struggle sequence between Nathan Algren (Cruise) and Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada), the 2 had been driving on what had been really mechanical horses, wherein one was purported to cease transferring earlier than Sanada takes a swing at Cruise with an actual samurai sword. However the horse didn’t cease, and Cruise reportedly got here inside an inch of the sword earlier than Sanada was capable of pull again, avoiding contact with Cruise.

“Tom’s neck was proper in entrance of me, and I attempted to cease swinging my sword, however it was onerous to regulate with one hand,” Sanada previously told the Daily Mail. “The movie crew watching from the facet all screamed as a result of they thought Tom’s head would fly off.”

At this level, on-set accidents are nothing new to Cruise, and the identical goes for an incident whereas filming an motion scene with Jamie Foxx for 2004’s Collateral. Throughout an interview at the time, Foxx thought he almost killed his co-star when he smashed into Cruise’s Mercedes-Benz throughout a chase sequence. “I hit the gasoline, the cab goes straight head on into [Cruise’s] Mercedes, and the Mercedes lifts off the bottom and goes off the set,” he defined. Cruise added that though he was OK, he was tossed across the automotive. “I used to be hitting the roof,” he stated. “I used to be down on the bottom.”

While filming 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt confirmed to Conan O’Brien on Conan at the time that Cruise “really does everything and wants to do everything” when it comes to doing stunts. But she revealed that during one scene, his luck was tested once again. The actress said in one action sequence when she was driving and Cruise was in the passenger seat, the stunt coordinator tasked her with driving really fast down a road and then taking a sharp turn. She noted that the first take went well, but during the second, she took a turn too late and “drove us into a tree and I almost killed Tom Cruise.” Thankfully, Cruise was OK, and Blunt added that he was actually laughing afterward.

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird said watching Cruise take on death-defying stunts is “just another day at work” for the film’s crewmembers. Specifically for the 2011 movie, the actor scaled Dubai’s 163-floor Burj Khalifa. In behind-the-scenes footage, Cruise can be seen climbing, swinging and running up and down the building, with only a wire keeping him from falling.

In 2015’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Cruise decided to take his intense stunts to the sky. In the film, the actor can be seen dangling on the outside of an Airbus 400 as it takes off. Robert Elswit, director of photography, told The Hollywood Reporter at the time what went into making the stunt a reality while keeping Cruise safe.

“Tom was in a full body harness and he’s cabled and wired to the plane through [its] door. Contained in the plane was an aluminum truss that was fastidiously bolted to the airplane, which held the wires that went by means of the door, which held Tom,” the cinematographer stated of the security measures. “He was additionally sporting particular contact lenses to guard his eyes. If something hit him at these speeds, it might be actually dangerous. They had been very cautious about cleansing the runway so there have been no rocks. And we took off in sure climate situations; there have been no birds. And he’s type of protected by the way in which the air strikes over the wing.”

Within the Christopher McQuarrie-directed movie, Cruise went from doing stunts within the sky to doing them underwater. For the stated sequence in Mission: Unattainable — Rogue Nation, the actor really needed to bear coaching to have the ability to maintain his breath underwater for six minutes. For comparability, skilled divers maintain their breath for anyplace between 4 and 7 minutes, according to the American Physiological Society, however even that may be very harmful and will trigger mind injury. Though Cruise scared crewmembers just a few instances by testing his limits underwater, ultimately, he efficiently accomplished the mission.

“It’s one thing I’ve at all times wished to do,” Cruise stated throughout an interview with USA Today on the time. “We’re underwater and we’re doing breath-holds of 6 to 6-1/2 minutes. So I used to be doing all my coaching with the opposite stuff (on-set). It was very taxing stuff.”

Whereas filming a constructing leap scene in 2018’s Mission: Unattainable – Fallout, Cruise really received damage, which shut down manufacturing for six weeks whereas he recovered. Throughout an look on The Graham Norton Show, the actor not solely detailed precisely what went improper however shared a video of the second he broke his ankle in the course of the stunt.

Within the scene, whereas hooked up to 2 security wires, Cruise’s character is supposed to leap from one high-rise to a different when chasing Henry Cavill’s character. Though he was meant to overlook the touchdown and hit the facet of the wall, his foot really slipped and bent upwards on impression. The actor famous that he “knew immediately it was damaged.” Cruise additionally revealed that his ankle was nonetheless therapeutic whereas he was on the press tour for the movie.

Within the seventh movie within the Mission: Unattainable franchise, Tom Cruise reveals that he has no plans to cease doing death-defying stunts anytime quickly. For Mission: Unattainable — Useless Reckoning Half One, the actor discovered do what director Christopher McQuarrie known as “one of the vital harmful sports activities on the planet.” Pace-flying, which is analogous to paragliding, combines components of parachute swooping to permit folks to fly at excessive speeds down mountainsides whereas sustaining near the slope. And Cruise did simply that for one of many scenes within the newest installment of the motion franchise. McQuarrie even famous that when Cruise was “flying very near rocks,” the filming crew was in “absolute terror” behind the cameras. 

For Mission: Unattainable 7, Tom Cruise stated he received to do a stunt that he had wished to do “since I was a bit child.” And that stunt was driving a bike off a cliff and parachuting all the way down to security. Director Christopher McQuarrie defined that there have been many components wanted to really make it occur, in addition to years of several types of coaching. As soon as Cruise felt like he was comfy with every facet of the stunt, that’s when the crew constructed the movie’s closing ramp on a cliff in Norway. A crewmember added that Cruise did a complete of six takes of one of many “greatest stunts in cinema historical past.” 

For the ultimate installment within the Mission: Unattainable franchise, Cruise actually went out with a bang, finishing certainly one of his most troublesome stunts thus far. In The Ultimate Reckoning, the actor might be seen dangling from an upside-down airplane throughout one of many sequences. A behind-the-scenes clip of the scene additionally notes how bodily demanding the stunt was for Cruise. “You possibly can’t think about how bodily punishing it was for Tom to be on the wing,” a voice says within the video. “The wind distorts your imaginative and prescient. It’s nearly unimaginable to breathe.”