Entertainment
A Look Back at Tom Cruise’s Wildest Stunts in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ Movies
Tom Cruise stunts ranked: from Burj Khalifa climb to plane takeoff and cliff jump, the Mission: Impossible star’s most dangerous, real-life action moments revealed.
Tom Cruise, 63, boldly took on these spectacular stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies.
Mission: Impossible
In the first film, from 1996, his gracefully choreographed, much-imitated ceiling drop — just think of the core strength required! — set the tone for the franchise.
Mission: Impossible 2
Sure, the 2000 fight scene between villain Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) and Tom’s Ethan Hunt doesn’t look nearly as difficult as his other stunts. But did you know the action star insisted the blade, which stopped just a hair from his eye, be real?
Mission: Impossible III
Nope, that’s not CGI. The actor cracked two ribs when he was flung against a car as other vehicles exploded behind him in this 2006 movie.
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
Using three thin safety wires, he climbed the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa, in 2011.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” he said in a behind-the-scenes video of his motorcycle jump off a cliff in 2023. “I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid.”
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation
Yeah, he jumped onto a plane and held on as it took off for the 2015 sequel. Even more impressive? He held his breath for six minutes for the underwater scene.
Mission: Impossible — Fallout
“I’m sprinting as hard as I can, and I hit the side of the wall,” Tom said on The Graham Norton Show of this 2018 stunt, per Yahoo Entertainment. “I knew instantly [my ankle] was broken.” And yet he finished filming the scene.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
No big deal: For the latest installment, out last year, Tom hung off of a biplane while it spun 8,000 feet in the air.
