RANKED: Tom Cruise's 10 greatest Mission: Impossible stunts

With every new Mission: Impossible movie that gets released, you can rest assured that there will be at least one death-defying stunt performed by adrenaline junkie Tom Cruise.

Clearly, the A-lister is out to better everything he has done previously, seemingly immune to the ravages of age that catch up to the rest of us.

Miljoenen streamingaccounts gelekt: waarom je nú je wachtwoorden moet aanpassen

Thursday 12 June 2025, 12:16

Casino scenes they don’t show in the movies

Wednesday 23 April 2025, 10:06

But, why does Cruise feel the need to try and continually outdo himself?

"I just know what we try to do with these films, and actually all of my movies," he told Collider.

"You know, I remember as an audience member, which I am first and foremost, and as a filmmaker, I make my movies for audiences, but I like a wide range of cinema, so I’ve always wanted to challenge myself in a wide range of genres and styles to understand each one. I’d go into it and study each one as I was making it and test my abilities.

"As a producer, in terms of how I produce the film, how I can better prepare my cast, my crew for the adventure that we’re embarking on. So those are the things that I think about. I’m constantly challenging myself. I’m both a student every single day, I’m constantly studying, and also a teacher because I’m constantly having to kind of work with people to go, 'This is movies for me and for us,' and to also bring their voices into our film."

So, with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One set to be released worldwide this July, MovieMeter is looking back at the greatest stunts in the history of the franchise.

10 - The Garage Fight (Ghost Protocol)

The climactic scene sees Cruise in an automated car park in India frantically trying to grab a coveted briefcase, as robotic arms lift and move the vehicles around. The scene culminates with Cruise driving an SUV 70 feet down to the floor below in order to press the magic button and abort the nuclear bomb.

Watch it here.

9 - The Highway Attack (MI3)

Just when Ethan Hunt and the IMF think they have Philip Seymour Hoffman's villainous Owen Davian in custody in an armoured truck, the police convoy is suddenly attacked by a helicopter and a flurry of drones. Cruise literally jumps into action here as he is forced to leap across a chasm on the highway in order to get his weapon. At one point the blast from a nearby bomb sends him hurtling into a stationary car.

Watch it here.

8 - The Helicopter Chase (Fallout)

It is commonplace in movie car chases for the pursuer to try and ram the person getting away in order to stop them. But, in Fallout, we see the same thing happen with helicopters. With turncoat Agent Walker fleeing with the detonator to a nuclear bomb, Hunt must catch him before it is too late, which results in an outrageous cat-and-mouse pursuit over snowy, mountainous terrain.

Watch it here.

7 - The Motorcycle Chase (Fallout)

After successfully kidnapping Solomon Lane, and saving the lives of many police officers in the process, Hunt must make his escape through the streets of Paris. Luckily for him, there is a handy motorcycle nearby - his favourite. Cruise is an expert on two wheels and so did all of the driving through the crazy traffic in and around the Arc de Triomphe, experiencing some bloody near misses with oncoming cars.

Watch it here.

6 - The Helicopter Chase (Mission: Impossible)

Jean Reno's duplicitous character can fly his helicopter anywhere - including through a train tunnel in England in one of the first truly stunning box office stunts. The explosion flies Cruise through the air and onto the front of the train, with the copter blades coming to a pause inches from his throat.

Watch it here.

5 - Climbing Dead Horse Point (MI2)

Arguably the stunt that put Cruise on the map as a true adrenaline junkie, Hunt is actually on holiday for this one, climbing Dead Horse Point in Utah. Watch any vignette about this stunt and you will see that, although Cruise did have safety wires, his climbing was pretty much flawless enough that nobody had to intervene, even when he struck the famous 'Christ Pose' by spreading out his arms and facing away from the mountain. Remember - this was Ethan on holiday.

Watch it here.

4 - Hanging Off the Plane (Rogue Nation)

Cruise gained so much publicity for the number one stunt on our list that he had to try and outdo himself for Rogue Nation. So, he decided it would be appropriate to hang on to the side of a plane as it took off into mid-air. In terms of sheer craziness, this might be number one.

Watch it here.

3 - The Langley Break-in (Mission: Impossible)

The break-in to the CIA facility at Langley set the standard for MI showing us stunts we'd never seen before. An elaborate break-in to steal a list of agents involves a ceiling descent, with Cruise creating the iconic star-shaped pose as he tries to avoid touching the alarmed floor. It's tense rather than bombastic, but it remains nail-biting even on multiple watches. Remains the most iconic scene in the history of Mission: Impossible.

Watch it here.

2 - The Motorbike Leap Off the Cliff (Dead Reckoning)

Even before the release of Dead Reckoning Part One, several stunt vignettes went viral including Cruise doing a motorcycle jump off a cliff before opening a parachute to drop to safety. Safety in inverted commas, of course. In fact, it has since been revealed that this was the very first scene filmed on the movie. The reason? Cruise figured that if he died doing the stunt, there wasn't a whole movie to ruin...

Watch it here.

1 - Scaling the Burj Khalifa (Ghost Protocol)

A scene that was made to be watched in IMAX, Cruise proceeds to climb the world's tallest building on the outside using sticky gloves that, inevitably, start to malfunction. Queue him running along the side of the glass building with rope in hand before making a death-defying leap through an open window to safety.

Watch it here.