Tom Cruise isn't your typical Hollywood actor. He's a full-throttle, adrenaline-fueled action icon who has completely redefined what it means to be a movie star. In an industry where most actors lean heavily on stunt doubles to handle the risky stuff, Cruise insists on doing the death-defying, edge-of-your-seat stunts himself.
Whether he's scaling the tallest building on the planet or literally hanging off the side of a plane, no one else brings the same type of realism and authenticity to stunt work that Cruise does every time he steps onto a movie set. Here's a breakdown of the 10 wildest Tom Cruise stunts, ranked by epicness.
The HALO Jump – Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
In Mission: Impossible – Fallout,, Ethan Hunt is back with his IMF team, trying to stop a nuclear catastrophe while dealing with espionage and betrayal. But the movie's tension hits a new high when Cruise performs a HALO jump from 25,000 feet. HALO stands for High Altitude Low Opening, meaning Cruise leapt out of a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in near-freezing conditions, plummeted for a long freefall (at speeds of 200 to 220 mph from 25,000 to 30,000 ft) and opened his parachute just in time to land safely. To nail this sequence perfectly, Cruise had to repeat the jump 106 times.
Breaking His Ankle Mid-Stunt – Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Cruise also broke his ankle when he literally collided with a wall in Fallout but refused to stop. Instead, he kept running, fighting through the pain while the cameras rolled. That raw, gritty determination ended up in the final cut, and the audience feels every step and stumble because it was real. The physical and mental stamina that must have demanded is a clear indication of how Cruise is willing to risk everything for that visceral, real-deal adrenaline shot. Did I mention that he only told the crew he was hurt after the scene was complete?
Helicopter Chase – Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Cruise trained to pilot a helicopter for Fallout in 12 days and spent around 18 months preparing for the stunt, which is already impressive. But then he performed some very nifty maneuvers during a mountain chase. Cruise was also adamant about having Ethan climb a rope up to the Airbus BK17 helicopter, despite the director finding the concept uninteresting. The scene captures the frantic pace of the mission and the danger Ethan constantly faces while pushing the actor's flying skills to the limit. It's rare for a star to master a vehicle this complex for a movie, let alone pull off stunts that involve real risk.
Climbing the Burj Khalifa – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol throws Ethan Hunt into a global crisis after the IMF is blamed for bombing the Kremlin. With his team disowned and no official government support, Hunt races to stop a nuclear disaster while operating undercover in Dubai's ultramodern skyline. The movie's defining moment is when Cruise scales the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, in a stunt that looks unreal. Using no CGI, Cruise literally climbs the glass facade hundreds of feet in the air, running and hanging on the building with only harnesses and rigs for safety. His dedication inspired some of the film’s other actors to take on the stunt themselves.
Holding Onto a Plane Mid-Flight – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
In Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt is tasked with dismantling the Syndicate, a covert rogue terrorist organization with global reach. The stakes are high, and so are the thrills. Cruise performs a heart-stopping stunt where he clings to the side of an Airbus A400M Atlas transport plane as it accelerates down the runway and takes off. No green screens or doubles. Cruise actually held on for dear life in the freezing wind and, at times, was suspended over 5,000 feet in the air. Production only had two days to get the perfect shot which required the plane to take off and land eight times.
Six-Minute Breath Hold – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Rogue Nation amps up the spy thriller tension when Hunt infiltrates a secure underwater facility. For authenticity, Cruise trained to hold his breath for three minutes, the entire length of the continuous underwater shot, without any cuts or trickery. This meant hours of practice with free divers and oxygen techniques since most of us struggle holding our breath for 30 seconds. If that was not mind-blowing enough, stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood said that Cruise actually held his breath for just over six minutes. This stunt is not only a feat of physical endurance but a testament to everything Cruise stands for when it comes to stunt work.
Motorcycle BASE Jump – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One sees Ethan Hunt facing new threats and shifting alliances while trying to secure a powerful weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. Cruise cranked up the intensity with a motorcycle BASE jump that is death-defying and cinematically poetic at the same time. He rides a bike off a mountain cliff and then BASE jumping onto a moving train. Cruise and the team took two months to prepare for the stunt which also included the actor speeding off the cliff, dismounting, and parachuting into a valley. The motorcycle part was filmed in real-time with no CGI.
Cliff Free Climb – Mission: Impossible II (2000)
In Mission: Impossible II, , Ethan Hunt faces off against a rogue agent who is threatening the world with a deadly virus from spreading. The movie also features Cruise free-climbing a near-vertical cliff with only a single safety rope to keep him from falling. Without a green screen or safety net in sight, Cruise physically scaled the rock, gripping tiny handholds hundreds of feet above the ground. He also injured his shoulder while jumping from one section of the cliff to another.
Knife-to-the-Eyeball Scene – Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Still in Mission: Impossible II, the stakes get higher in a brutal fight which sees Ethan face off against a merciless assassin. One edge-of-your-seat moment shows a knife blade inches from Cruise's eye. This wasn't created with CGI or fancy camera work. Cruise insisted on performing the scene himself. The knife was hooked up to a cable that was set to stop a quarter of an inch from Cruise's actual eyeball. He asked everyone to ensure that full strength was put down on the knife so that the whole thing looked as real as possible.
Fighter Jet Training – Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
In Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise reprises his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a legendary pilot tasked with training a new generation of elite naval aviators while confronting his past. Cruise didn't just pretend to fly jets. He trained to fly real F/A-18 jets. While Cruise did get some from real Navy pilots in the front seat of the craft this time, the physical toll still was immense. One F/A-18F had to be fitted with special cameras to capture shots of him in the back seat. The actor also designed a three-month "boot camp" so that his co-stars could get used to aerobatics and high g-forces, while building the spatial awareness needed to operate the cameras.
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