For Tom Cruise, who’s been sprinting through cinema both literally and figuratively since the 1980s, age is clearly just a number. Now 62, the actor continues to defy not only gravity and logic but also the very boundaries of what an action star can achieve. While many of his contemporaries are easing into retirement or shifting gears, Cruise is doing the opposite—pushing harder, going faster, and challenging age itself. With the latest installment of the Mission: Impossible saga, The Final Reckoning, the multiple Oscar-nominated actor is once again commanding attention with his mind-bending agility, relentless speed, and unwavering dedication to his craft.
At the recent New York City premiere of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Cruise boldly declared, “I will never stop” making films, driven by a relentless desire to challenge himself and captivate audiences. “I actually said I’m going to make movies into my 80s; actually, I’m going to make them into my 100s,” he revealed. “I will never stop doing action, I will never stop doing drama, comedy films — I’m excited.”
Although this eighth installment is billed as Tom Cruise’s “final” outing as Ethan Hunt, he made it clear that he’s far from done performing his own stunts. Looking ahead, he has an impressive slate of projects lined up, including potential sequels like Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and Edge of Tomorrow, a film with acclaimed director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and even ambitious plans to shoot a movie in space.
A Legacy of Daring Stunts
Tom Cruise’s unwavering commitment to performing his own stunts has become nothing short of legendary—a defining hallmark of his decades-long career. Time and again, he’s taken on some of the most physically demanding and high-risk feats ever captured on film, often without the safety net of a stunt double. As he explained during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, “I feel that [when] acting you’re bringing everything, you know, physically and emotionally, to a character in a story. And I’m able to do it [stunts], and I’ve trained for 30 years doing things like this that it allows us to put cameras in places where you normally are not able to.”
So, in anticipation of what’s being billed as Tom Cruise’s final outing as Ethan Hunt, we’ve curated a list of the most jaw-dropping, gravity-defying, and flat-out unforgettable stunts he’s ever performed in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Check out the most unforgettable stunts by Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible franchise…
#1. HALO Jump in ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’ (2018)
In one of the most jaw-dropping feats in cinematic history, Tom Cruise took action filmmaking to new heights—literally—with a high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) skydive from a staggering 25,000 feet. Defying both gravity and common sense, Cruise performed the intense maneuver 106 times to capture the perfect shot—all while recovering from a broken ankle sustained earlier in filming. The sequence, featured in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, set a new benchmark for the genre and made Cruise the first actor to ever complete a HALO jump on camera. It’s not just a stunt—it’s a cinematic milestone.
#2. Climbing the Burj Khalifa in ‘Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol’ (2011)
In one of the most iconic sequences of his career, Tom Cruise scaled Dubai’s Burj Khalifa—the tallest building in the world—climbing over 130 floors at a dizzying height of 518 meters. The jaw-clenching scene, featured in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, captured Cruise as he ran, swung, and clung to the glass façade with only suction gloves and a wire keeping him tethered to safety. For most, this would be a hard no. For Cruise? “Just another day at work,” quipped director Brad Bird. The sequence didn’t just test the limits of physical endurance—it redefined what audiences could expect from action cinema.
#3. Hanging from a Plane in ‘Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation’ (2015)
One of the most death-defying stunts in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) saw Tom Cruise strapped to the side of an Airbus A400M as it roared down the runway and lifted off—yes, really. Clinging to the aircraft’s exterior, Cruise endured 160 mph winds while soaring at an altitude of 1,000 feet. The scene, which was shot at speeds approaching 1,000 knots, wasn’t green screen or CGI magic—it was Cruise, once again pushing the envelope of what’s physically possible. It’s a jaw-dropping testament to his relentless pursuit of realism and his refusal to fake it when it comes to action.
#4. BASE Jumping Off a Cliff in ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning’ (2023)
Perhaps one of his most audacious stunts to date, Cruise rode a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway before seamlessly transitioning into a BASE jump—a move that blurred the line between adrenaline and insanity. To prepare, the actor reportedly completed over 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps, highlighting the staggering level of training and precision involved. Notably, Cruise didn’t settle for just one take; according to a crew member, he executed the sequence six times, reinforcing why it’s often hailed as one of the biggest stunts in cinema history.
The Final Reckoning: A Culmination of a Storied Franchise
After nearly 30 years of heart-pounding thrills and gravity-defying stunts, Tom Cruise is preparing to make his final turn as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the franchise’s eighth and climactic installment. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show, Cruise offered a glimpse behind the scenes of one of the film’s most intense moments—an extended underwater sequence in which Hunt infiltrates a submarine.
“A lot of times I cannot see because of the reflection of the light,” Cruise explained. “So, I would go in kind of blind, spend a lot of time on the set figuring out [the movement] as we’re figuring out the shots. Then, when I’m doing it, I have a hard time.” He also revealed the physical toll of the shoot, noting that the specialized suit, once soaked, gains an additional 125 pounds. “So the kind of workouts and things I have to do just to prepare for these things—it’s years of development,” he said. “And yeah, I’m producing it, so it’s also that kind of thing.”
The Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning Cast
The Final Reckoning, billed as the epic conclusion to the Mission: Impossible saga, sees the return of franchise favorites like Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg, while introducing fresh faces such as Tramell Tillman and Hannah Waddingham. Picking up where Dead Reckoning left off, the story follows Hunt on a high-stakes mission to stop a rogue A.I. cyberweapon by recovering its source code from a sunken Russian submarine.
The film is slated to hit theaters on May 23, 2025.
Featured image: @tomcruise/Instagram
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