The Great Escape: Esai Morales and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Payback of the Dead. Part One” By: Christian Black
Even if you' If you've been hiding in the jungle on a Pacific island for decades, you probably know three facts about Tom Cruise. First, it's short. Secondly, he is a Scientologist… And thirdly, the maniac always – always – does his own tricks.
His latest film is Mission: Impossible. Paying for Death, Part One is in theaters now. And during the press tour, the 61-year-old star said she hoped to continue acting in them until she was 80, like Harrison Ford, whose latest Indiana Jones movie just hit the screens.
But while Ford can occasionally be seen as a helicopter rescue pilot, Cruise's ambition to be an action hero on and off screen is unmatched. In real life, he rescued a family from a burning boat, saved a young child from a stampede at a movie premiere, and used his private jet to send a critically injured crew member to the hospital. He is also known for sending £101 exclusive chocolate and coconut cakes every Christmas to close friends and family (and the various journalists who ask for them). Oh, and once he ate two chicken tikka masala in a row. Truly, man is made of a different material.
Anyway, here's a rundown of all the times he proved he was no mere mortal — and danced with death in the name of art.
“Mission Impossible. Paying for Death Part One (2023)
Cruise's latest film has some amazing action scenes, including a brawl on top of a moving train speeding at 60 miles per hour. For this scene, which also includes our character escaping a train that crashes into a quarry, the film crew built a replica of a 60-ton vintage train and then knocked it off a cliff. Like much of the film, it was filmed in the UK; in this case at the Darlton Quarry in Derbyshire.
The adrenaline rush of the film was when Cruz drove his motorcycle off a cliff in Norway, making a BASE jump. Billed as «the biggest stunt in movie history,» the effort (and expense) that went into making it right — as opposed to an elaborate snuff film for one of the highest paid actors in the world — was extraordinary.
Cruise's training took over a year and included intensive training for skydiving. At one point, Cruz was doing 30 jumps a day, for a total of over 500. His driving practice was just as grueling, pushing himself to 70-foot jumps on his bike, completing 13,000 jumps in preparation. He also worked on improving camera angles and posture by repeatedly jumping into a quarry full of cardboard boxes attached to a tether. Regarding the stunt itself, he remarked, «The only two things that can go wrong are serious injury and death.»
On that day, Cruz failed the jump six times so that the team had enough footage. Of course he did.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
In his films, Cruz drove cars, piloted planes, rode bicycles and raced horseback in full samurai gear. But it turns out there is a limit even for Tom Cruise. And that limitation is flying a $67.4 million Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet in the name of entertainment. So no: despite rumors, the Top Gun: Maverick cast was actually not allowed to fly fighter jets in last year's Top Gun movie.
But they made it most of the way, enduring a three-month intensive flight boot camp before filming. During this grueling regimen, they spent up to four hours a day in the cockpit, experiencing the same g-forces depicted in the film when US Navy stunt pilots performed high-tech maneuvers such as flying in mirror formation. They have gone from twin-rotor trainers to real F/A-18 fighter jets generously provided by the US Navy for just $11,000 an hour. So those wry smirks when they suffer shock overdrives are completely unspoofed.
F/A-18 cockpit cruise Credit: Paramount Pictures via AP
Cruz may have experienced more in the original Top Gun. In this film, the training was a little less graduated — as you know, the stuntmen wanted to bring the beefy young heroes down a notch, so they twisted them with the express purpose of crushing their heads on their knees. Gs and make them vomit. Charming.
Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)
While filming an episode of Mission: Impossible 6 in London, TMZ cameras captured Cruz attempting to jump between two buildings, but crashed into the edge of a roof instead. He was then seen trying to finish the scene, but was filmed as having a severe limp.
As seen in the gruesome footage Cruz later showed on The Graham Norton Show, Cruz broke his ankle during the impact, bending his leg backward so that it nearly touched his leg.
“I was chasing Henry and should have hit the wall and rolled over, but the mistake was that my foot hit the wall,” he explained. “I knew immediately that my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again, so I just got up and went on with the take. I said, «It's broken. This is a wrapper. Take me to the hospital,» and then everyone got on the phone and arranged a vacation.»
TMZ later reported that Cruz had already tried and failed this stunt at least once, proving that one 55- a one year old man can only defy gravity before it strikes back.
The Mummy (2017)
It wouldn't be a Tom Cruise press tour without the happy anecdote about a star being almost beheaded, or being thrown from an exploding plane onto a motorcycle, or something similar outlandish.
So, in 2017 Cruz showed up. on The Graham Norton Show to tell the story of the iconic action scene in The Mummy, in which he and his co-star Annabelle Wallis were thrown into the cockpit of an airplane in zero gravity.
«I had to convince the studio to let me do it, and Annabelle and I had to do that scene 64 times,» he told The Graham Norton Show.
between takes. You couldn't train for this. It usually takes months to prepare tricks, but we just did it. It was wild and I can't believe the studio actually let me do it!»
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)
The most extreme stunt in the fifth Mission: Impossible movie is Cruise's Ethan Hunt. burst into an Airbus A400M as the huge military transport plane begins taxiing down the runway before taking off with the super agent holding onto it with his fingertips.
Cruz was strapped to the plane with seat belts. To keep his eyes open during the scene, the film crew used «sclera» contact lenses that completely covered both of them, protecting them from foreign particles and harsh air.
Airbus was initially reluctant to let the stars perform the stunt, and it took some persuasion before they agreed to it. «We were all very concerned about runway particles and bird strikes,» Cruz told Yahoo Movies. /> In the air: Tom Cruise grabbed the side of the plane. Photo: Beau Bridges
“We spent days clearing the nearby grass of any birds and they cleaned the runway as best they could. My stunt coordinator would poke me if he was told about bird strikes. The pilot had to make sure that there was nothing in the air that could affect me in any way.”
In the end, the scene was filmed eight times. “I fly military planes [vintage military aircraft], I fly aerobatic planes, but it was fucking exciting and exhilarating,” Cruz said. “Arenalin went through the roof! As this thing came down the runway it was all there to keep my legs down, then it went up and my body hit the side. I thought, «Wow, that's cool.»
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)
Ever a dedicated pro, the most disturbing scene in Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation has Ethan Hunt infiltrating an underwater security vault with bated breath for three minutes. Cruz had been eager to film the episode for some time, training with a professional freediver to learn how to hold his breath for six minutes.
“The training I had to go through for this was pretty intense,” Cruz said. «I've done a lot of underwater scenes, but I've never done one [like this] that would make the audience lean forward and provoke an internal reaction.»
The trick is that this episode was filmed in one take, prompting viewers to hold their breath along with Cruz. And think with burning lungs about what a person will go to in the name of our entertainment.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
While filming a car chase, Cruz was «nearly killed» by his co-star Emily Blunt. When they acted out the scene for the second time, Blunt had to make a sharp right turn at high speed.
«Suddenly, as I approach the right turn, I hear him yelling 'Brake, brake, brake.' … Oh my God! Oh my God! Brake the car! Stop the car!” she recalls.
«When I first heard him say 'Brake', it went through my head, 'Oh, shut up,' you know? Like I know more about stunt driving than Tom Cruise!
Fortunately, in the end, they paid attention to her. And both stars lived to see another promotional tour.
Jack Reacher (2012)
In 2012, Cruise told American talk show host Jimmy Fallon how he injured his leg after repeatedly kicking another man in the crotch while filming the spy thriller Jack Reacher. .
After shooting a few takes, what was initially not a very pleasant experience for the actor – “the first 10 times it was like “Yeah!”, – Cruz told Fallon, – became painful for him. “After about 50 times my foot was swollen… I had to unfasten my shoes all the time.”
Rob Alonzo, stunt coordinator, said Cruz is “better than most stuntmen. He is an incredible driver, an incredible fighter and a stuntman. He flies planes, he can ride horses, he rides motorcycles, so any director would be happy to have a guy like that, because they can keep the camera on him all the time, and it's more fun.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
During the filming of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Cruise insisted on climbing Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which at 2,723 feet is the tallest building in the world. In the film's most memorable action sequence, Cruise's Ethan Hunt climbs a building wearing sticky gloves, then descends a makeshift rope through an open window.
In this last installment, the actor struggled with crosswinds and crashed into the building repeatedly: «It took a while to figure out how not to go head first into the building,» he said. Although Cruz did have a body double, it was only used to check the rigging (Cruise wore a harness that was digitally edited in post-production).
To pull off the stunt, the crew was forced to look for an insurance company after the first insurance company they used refused to cover Cruz's bout on top of the Burj.
Valkyrie (2008)
In 2008's Valkyrie, Cruz played amputee Nazi war hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who unsuccessfully planned to assassinate Hitler. Although the actor emerged unharmed during filming, 11 extras were injured on set when they were thrown from a truck.
The side of the car came off while filming a night scene in Berlin, where part of the city was cordoned off and turned into a power base for the Third Reich.
Accomplice (2004)
Another day, another near-death experience at the hands of a co-star. During the filming of Michael Mann's Pledge, Jamie Foxx had to crash into Cruz's Mercedes, but he misjudged the speed. Cruise's car flew off the set.
«I hit the roof,» said Cruz. «I was lying on the ground.»
“They were so worried that I killed my man,” Fox said. «Can you imagine all this money spinning in the back seat?»
The Last Samurai (2003)
The Last Samurai included 8 months of training for the then 41-year-old Cruz, including horseback riding and all sorts of martial arts. “I’ve shot action scenes before,” Cruz told the Daily Mail, “but it was vastly different from anything I’ve ever seen… There were over 70 points of contact where you could potentially lose an eye, an ear. or your nose.»
The actor came closest to death when the mechanical horses used in some of the scenes broke down. While filming a fight scene with co-star Hiroyuki Sanada, the horses had to stop as the two actors brandished their blades. «He was coming towards me and then all of a sudden his horse hit me and his sword was an inch from my neck.» behead a Hollywood star. «I just managed to stop my sword within an inch of his neck,» Sanada said. “It was so hard. I was covered in sweat! My God! But Tom never blinked! It was the most important moment, the most dangerous moment. After that, I never hit him and he never hit me.”
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
In the opening scene of this 2000 sequel, Cruise's Ethan Hunt is again presented to the audience clambering over the rocks at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Cruz made the entire climb, except for the moment when his character slides off the cliff. He was winched in and out, and the harness he wore for safety was removed in post-production.
Director John Woo said he was too scared to look through the viewfinder while filming scenes , fearing that his star might slip 2,000 feet and die. However, Cruz could not be persuaded to drop the stunt and even tore his shoulder while jumping over a rock in pursuit of the perfect shot.
Mission Impossible (1996)
The first Mission: Impossible film set the tone for everything that followed. Here, apart from the famous rope breaking scene, the most memorable stunt was the one in which the giant aquariums exploded, bringing with them a tidal wave of glass.
Cruise performed the stunt himself, to the dismay of director Brian De Palma and Cruise's production partner Paula Wagner. Fortunately, he escaped with only an ankle injury. Even more unfortunate for one of the stuntmen, as a piece of glass cut his leg.
Far Far Away (1992)
For his role in the 1992 immigration drama Far Far Away, Cruz had to play a rival in the world of boxing. “I took some pictures,” Cruz said. «The stuntmen didn't want to hurt me, but it had to look real.»
“I screamed,” said Nicole Kidman, who played one of the main roles in the film. “I saw the bruises on his body and I said you better tell Ron [Howard, director] what's going on. But [Tom] is pretty tough.»
After the release, Cruz received more criticism from critics, especially for his damn almost incomprehensible Irish accent.
Days of Thunder (1990)
Cruz came up with the idea for this Nascar racing drama, having been introduced to the sport by Paul Newman when the two of them were filming The Color of Money. Of course Cruz drove himself and was praised by real racers for his control over stock cars.
Cruise in Days of Thunder. Photo: Moviestore Collection Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo
However, there was one instance where he lost control of his car. After turning left, he attempted to turn right, causing the car to go off the track. Although Cruz wasn't badly hurt, the $100,000 camera attached to his car was smashed.
Top Gun (1986)
While filming the climactic post-accident scene in which Cruise's character holds Goose's lifeless body in the ocean , the actor's parachute began to fill with water without his knowledge.
Fortunately, the diver noticed the swelling and tore the parachute apart seconds before he could drag Cruz into the depths. «Cruise was as close to death as anyone on set I've ever seen,» said Barry Tubb, who played the Wolfman in the film.
Unfortunately, Top Gun aerial operator Art Scholl was not so lucky. Scholl's biplane went out of control as he filmed scenes meant to show Maverick's point of view as his plane plunges into the sea; he crashed and died instantly. There was a touching tribute to him in The Top Gun: Maverick.
Mission Impossible: Deadly Reckoning. Part One is in theaters
Which of Tom Cruise's stunts do you think is the most impressive? Let us know about it in the comments
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