Tom Cruise is widely celebrated for leveling up his death-defying stunts with each Mission Impossible installment. The film series is renowned for featuring the most significant action sequences in pop culture, all thanks to Cruise’s fearlessness. According to director John Woo, all of it started when the Vanilla Sky actor begged him to perform a dangerous stunt in Mission Impossible 2.
Mission Impossible 2 is often considered the weakest in the film series for its plot. However, the movie became extremely memorable to the fans for its iconic rock-climbing scene. John Woo claimed that three stunt doubles were excellent climbers but the action icon was hell-bent on doing it on his own.
Tom Cruise changed the tone of Mission Impossible film series with the second part
The opening scene of Mission Impossible 2 featured Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt climbing a rock ledge with his bare hands. It had badassery written all over it as the actor was supported by nothing but a cable. Although the film was not well-received, the iconic opening established Cruise as the God of Action.
Recently, speaking with The New York Times, John Woo said that he was strongly against the War of the Worlds actor doing the stunt on his own. The cliff was over 2,000 feet high and filming it without expert support was dealing with the Devil. Nonetheless, the actor tearfully begged Woo to grant him his desire.
We did a scene when he’s climbing on a 2,000-foot-high cliff. We have three stunt doubles, they’re all great climbers. I said, ‘OK, from this side jump over to the other side, only one cable.’ He said, ‘No, no, let me do it.’ I said, ‘Why? No, it’s too dangerous. There are no protections. What if you made a mistake?’ ‘No, John, believe me, I can do it.’ He’s begging me and he’s got tears.
Despite helming several renowned action flicks, John Woo was scared (via Entertainment Weekly) to see Tom Cruise performing such a stunt. The Oscar-nominated actor wanted to maintain the authenticity and was concerned that the audience would understand if a stunt double was used to film the scene.
Mission Impossible 2 not only elevated Cruise’s stardom but also changed the landscape of action flicks forever. It started the popular trend of MI movies to feature death-defying stunts. From scaling Burj Khalifa to chasing a helicopter, holding his breath for six and a half minutes underwater, and driving a motorcycle off a cliff, MI 2 made way for these iconic scenes in the series.
Tom Cruise still looks forward to up his action game
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One surprised the fans when Tom Cruise jumped off a cliff on a motorcycle in a brilliantly choreographed sequence. After all that happened in this film series, the fans were wondering what can the makers plan next for the sequel.
Surprisingly, the 62-year-old has taken up a more challenging step as he was spotted hanging midair from a yellow Stearman biplane (see New York Post). He may also have a mid-air fight sequence against Esai Morales. Previously, Tom Cruise has already chased Henry Cavill‘s helicopter in Fallout. It will be interesting to see how many more surprises are waiting for us in the untitled eighth Mission Impossible part.
While the action set pieces are extremely dangerous, Tom Cruise’s constant effort to push his physical limits has been inspirational for many. It not only made him popular but allowed each film in the MI series to be unique and present something fresh to the audience.
Initially, it was reported that the eighth part may give a send-off to Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. If that’s the case, we may expect to see something magnificent planned for the farewell of one of the greatest action stars of this era.
Mission Impossible 8 will hit the theaters on May 23, 2025, while all the past installments can be streamed on Paramount+.
