Franchises are a delicate thing. Filmmakers are daunted with the task of creating a character capable of capturing audiences as well as developing action sequences that will blow away people’s expectations. The hope is that one film will leave enough of a lasting impression on the masses to lead to a sequel and to another and maybe even another. In this case, we look at the Mission: Impossible action franchise, which at the time of this post has released its sixth entry into the series.
What’s the secret to the franchise’s success? One is the arsenal of legendary and visionary filmmakers that the series has used. The other is the series’ star, Tom Cruise, who plays IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. Cruise, who is a cultural phenomenon, has quite a reputation in Hollywood. The man, who has seemingly made a deal with the devil, possesses two qualities: his gift of looking twenty years younger than he is and his vow to push himself to the limit for his fans. Cruise often insists on performing his own stunt work and amplifies each sequence to the max, ensuring that audiences will know that the stunt is undoubtedly authentic and that painstaking blood and sweat were put into the work. Not many actors today can be credited in that aspect like Tom Cruise. That is the reason Mission: Impossible is still firing on all cylinders twenty-two years later.
To celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, we’ll take a look back through the franchise to identify Cruise’s most daring and bone-breaking stunts. Ranging from either Hard, Preposterous and (Near) Impossible we look at big stunts Cruise did himself and decided how hard these moments were to pull off. To be clear, every stunt on this list is insane, and I am in no way saying these are easy considering I once scraped my knee falling from a skateboard. I haven’t been outside since. Send help.
1. Gum and a Fish Tank
The Film: Mission: Impossible (1996)
The Scene: Ethan Hunt, having just lost his entire IMF taskforce, meets with a fellow agent in a Prague restaurant only to discover that everything he thought he knew is false. Realizing what danger he truly is in, Hunt must make a quick escape armed only with a special piece of gum. He throws the gum on a glass fish tank, causing an explosion and releasing tons of water to flood the restaurant.
The Stunt: Escaping a room filling up with water.
The Verdict: Hard – Not only does Cruise face the challenging task of outrunning 16 tons of water, but his timing had to be perfect for the shots to work. Cruise walked away with a hurt ankle. The scene is an impressive display of director Brian De Palma’s talent for building tension and an impressive execution of angles and coordination. You clearly see Cruise’s effort to simultaneously nail the scene and not get swept away from the tidal wave of water and glass.
2. The Missile that sent Ethan Cruisin’
The Film: Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)
The Scene: Having just captured the films big bad Owen Davion (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Hunt and his IMF squad are en route back to their headquarters. That is, until Davion’s task force leads an all-out assault on a commuter bridge. Davion is taken back by the baddies, but not before a cool scene where Ethan Hunt must outrun an incoming missile. The missile explodes behind him causing Hunt’s body to get flung into a car.
The Stunt: Running in a full sprint and getting pulled into a vehicle.
The Verdict: Hard – Yes, this is one of the more controlled stunts Cruise does in this series. Still, doing multiple performances in one take requires a blend of dedication, focus, and skill. Even though Cruise is strapped for the stunt, he still must allow his body to give with the wires and take the hit into the car. By doing that, he captures a more realistic trauma from a missile strike, because ya know, missiles, man.
3. Keep an Eye on the Knife
The Film: Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
The Scene: In the climactic final fight, Ethan Hunt is facing off against the film’s villain, played by Dougray Scott. They exchange a few stylish blows in a match that Ethan is poised to win, that is, until Scott pulls a knife. Within seconds Ethan is on the ground fending off a knife that is just a quarter of an inch away from his right eye.
The Stunt: In a last minute addition, Cruise decided to add the knife struggle into the fight. Going against director John Woo’s decision, they used a real knife and anchored the weapon on a cable that left just a quarter of an inch gap between the pointed edge and Cruise’s cornea. Had Cruise felt the need to flinch or move it would have been a huge cost to the actor.
The Verdict: Hard – Sure, Tom Cruise is in a stationary position for the stunt along with the fact that the knife was attached to a cable, but there’s always room for error. Kudos to Cruise for taking the risk of using a real knife.
4. Just a Sunday Stroll Rock Climb
The Film: Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
The Scene: Ethan Hunt has grown since the first film. He has different views on the world. He doesn’t trust anybody except his wonderfully conditioned hair. So, when we meet him again years later, he’s blowing off steam attempting to get away from it all by rock climbing with no gear. Talk about living on the edge.
The Stunt: Tom Cruise, climbing The Dead Horse Point Cliffs, 2,000 feet up with no safety net.
The Verdict: Preposterous – Again, he has no safety net outside of a cable holding him onto the rock. It was a scene that Cruise insisted on doing himself. Director John Woo and the studio originally planned on using a stunt double, but in the end, the double was never used. What makes this opening stunt more insane are the moment Cruise is clearly seen holding onto the mountain with one hand and the moment when he jumps 15 feet from one rock to another. To think that I need a safety harness to walk up my steps at home. Thanks for making me hate myself, Tom Cruise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0KzvD-0rx0
5. Your Friendly Neighborhood Ethan Hunt
The Film: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
The Scene: Ethan Hunt and company have taken an assignment that happens to take place in the famous Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest man-made structure. As it turns out, the best way to gain the intel needed requires Ethan Hunt to go building scaling.
The Stunt: Tom Cruise once again pushing himself to the limit by actually dangling 1,700 feet in the air harnessed with nothing more than a piano-wire sized cable.
The Verdict: Preposterous – This stunt and scene are absolutely bonkers. The strong appeal isn’t only the caution in performing it, but the level of commitment required. Cruise spent 200 hours preparing for the stunt. Mix in the fact that Cruise performs a four-story free fall as well as running along the glass of the building, called an “Australian rappel”. Part of the hazards of being up that high include the random crosswinds that flare up at those heights as well as the dizzying effect of performing stunts like running and jumping. So, yeah, Cruise is superhuman.
6. The World’s Best Wingman
The Film: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
The Scene: In the film’s opening act, Hunt and Company are retrieving something. Cue Ethan Hunt taking the initiative by first jumping onto the wing of the moving aircraft, which causes him to slide alongside the Airbus until he grabs on to the side door. He waits for Benji (Simon Pegg) to open the door as the plane takes off.
The Stunt: Tom Cruise hanging off of an A400 Airbus traveling 160 mph.
The Verdict: (Near) Impossible – That’s it, folks, we have reached the Impossible territory of the Mission: Impossible series. Let’s just say impossible one more time. Impossible. Okay, moving forward. So, this scene and stunt, to me, was an honest-to-god reason to see the film in the first place. And it does not disappoint. Here are the facts. You got Mr. Hunt dangling on a plane going take-off speed. Even though an aircraft is relatively safe to travel in on the inside, there’s still plenty of concerns while riding on the wing like a crazed madman, unpredictable concerns such as birds and especially particles getting kicked up into the propeller, which in fact happened to Cruise when a rock hit him in the rib causing a break. If anything more serious were to happen, Cruise would have been helpless until the plane landed. Oh, and by the way, Cruise performed the stunt eight times.
7. H.A.L.O. my Sunshine
The Film: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (In Theaters July 27th)
The Scene: Not much is known regarding the story as this article is written. But if I was a betting man, I’d say this scene involves Tom Cruise, air, trying to make the worlds biggest splash in a swimming pool.
The Stunt: Cruise takes his passion to a new extreme by performing a H.A.L.O. jump.
The Verdict: (Near) Impossible – This is the most extreme stunt the series (or any) has done so far. Tom Cruise is the first actor to perform a H.A.L.O. jump on camera. Otherwise know as a High Altitude Low Open jump. While it may not raise your eyebrows at first glance, here’s what went into this in order for it to get on screen. Cruise had to prepare by both a wind simulator as well as 100 test jumps before the real thing. Before even preparing to jump, you have to inhale oxygen for twenty minutes before decompression. Production had to make a helmet to protect Cruise against Hypoxia, a deficiency in oxygen causing internal and tissue damage. Then, once the aircraft reaches 25,000 feet, Cruise and the camera crew make the jump going upwards of 200 mph until the parachute is deployed at 2,000 feet in the air. All of this had to be done while Cruise and the camera kept the distance of just 3 feet apart without bumping into each other at all. In regards to capturing the shot, director Christopher McQuarrie had just a 3 to 4-minute window to get the shots needed as it gave the perfect light. Masterful.
As the series goes on, I will be excited to add to this list. Stay tuned for Mission: Impossible 7 where Ethan Hunt lands on the sun.
Until then, catch Mission: Impossible – Fallout in theaters NOW
