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Watch Tom Cruise complete ‘biggest stunt in cinema history’ with death-defying jump

Tom Cruise is soaring to new heights.

The legendary actor appears in a new video from the making of the upcoming “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” that gives fans an “extended behind the scenes look at the biggest stunt in cinema history ,” according to Paramount Pictures’ description of the clip on YouTube.

The video, which runs more than nine minutes long, opens with a breathtaking overhead view of a mountain in Hellesylt, Norway, with Cruise explaining that he will ride a motorcycle off of a cliff that turns into a base jump.

“I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid,” he says.

Director Christopher McQuarrie says Cruise helped facilitate the stunt by getting together a team of experts in various fields to make sure it goes off without a hitch.

There are clips of Cruise skydiving and riding a motorcycle on a motorcross track built specifically for the stunt, while viewers learn how different models were constructed to properly gauge the angle Cruise would be diving off the bike. There was even a GPS chip to keep track of all of his jumps and gather a wide range of data, including how the wind would affect each jump.

“I have to get so good at this that there’s just no way that I miss my marks,” he says.

Tom Cruise had a long road to pulling off this amazing stunt.

“You train and drill every little aspect over and over and over and over again,” he adds while we see clips of him diving and riding his motorcycle.

And Cruise apparently did just that, performing more than 500 dives and 13,000 jumps on the motorcycle.

Around the 7-minute mark, Cruise takes off on the motorcycle, driving off a ramp and then pulling a parachute to the ground below in a mind-blowing effort.

“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” McQuarrie says.

You can see for yourself how the stunt looks on the big screen when “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” opens in theaters July 2023.

Drew Weisholtz is a reporter for TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, nostalgia and trending stories. He has seen every episode of “Saved by the Bell” at least 50 times, longs to perfect the crane kick from “The Karate Kid” and performs stand-up comedy, while also cheering on the New York Yankees and New York Giants. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is the married father of two kids who believe he is ridiculous.

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How mission: impossible 7's motorcycle cliff jump was filmed.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning  continues the franchise's trend of outlandish, unbelievable stunts with a motorcycle cliff jump involving Tom Cruise, but how did the cast and crew film the scene? The previous entry,  Mission: Impossible - Fallout , had Cruise learning to perform a HALO jump in camera and how to fly a helicopter for its over-the-top stunts. Previous Mission: Impossible  movies saw Cruise clinging to the side of a plane as it took off, or running down the side of the world's tallest building, proving his immense dedication to his craft.

Therefore, with  Mission: Impossible   7 , fans of the franchise were left wondering how Cruise and  director Christopher McQuarrie would top the already amazing stunts performed in the series thus far. With the added caveat of the next two  Mission: Impossible films being a two-parter, a first for the franchise, speculation began on not just the stunts and action details but what the story would entail as well. However, the trailer for  Mission: Impossible 7  provides some insight into the next big stunt: a motorcycle jump off a sickeningly high cliff.

Related:  Mission: Impossible 7 Can Pay Off A Cut Ethan & Ilsa Scene & Plot Point

As with all of Tom Cruise's productions, his dedication to authentic, in-camera stunts came into play here. He and the rest of the crew had to do an immense amount of preparation for the stunt, performing it six different times in their strive for greatness. Tom Cruise, a regular for dangerous stunts , trained heavily during pre-production to prepare for the jump. His preparation included doing over 13,000 motocross jumps and over 500 skydives. Given Cruise's previous action experiences involving all manner of different vehicles, one would excuse him for under preparing. However, with Cruise doing over 30 helicopter dives each day during pre-production in order to prepare for the base jump section of the fall, it's clear this wasn't the case and he remained as committed as ever. The feat involved Cruise riding the motorcycle off a cliff, before transitioning into a free fall and base jumping with a parachute. In order to achieve this, and make sure it didn't go horribly wrong, the crew of  Mission: Impossible 7  (meaningfully titled  Dead Reckoning )  digitally tracked each of the practice runs using a GPS attached to Cruise's back. Different variables, such as the wind, were tracked accordingly so the crew could figure out the best way to shoot the jump, and also so they could keep Cruise from any potential harm.

Due to the intense nature, and potential danger, of the stunt, it was filmed during the very first day of principal photography. Cruise outlined some of the ways the stunt could have gone wrong (via  Empire ):

“If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp... The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem, because I didn’t want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone. Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the bike. I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike. If I do, that’s not going to end well.”

Luckily, this  dangerous Mission: Impossible 7  motorcycle stunt went off without a hitch. Cruise's intense preparation and training, as well as the professionalism of the rest of the cast and crew saw that the day went smoothly, capturing the franchise's latest death-defying sequence without any major issues. Tom Cruise put his dangerous motorcycle jumps to the test, driving off the Norweigan mountaintop on which the sequence was filmed, with camera-mounted drones and helicopters catching the fall and base jump all on the first day of shooting.

If Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie have proven anything on  Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , Fallout,  and now  Dead Reckoning , it's that their eye for breathtaking stunts hasn't faltered. Whether this motorcycle jump will be the main stunt of the film, or if the duo has anything else hidden up their sleeves remains to be seen. However, if this one sequence is anything to go by, it proves that  Mission: Impossible 7   will be another stellar entry in one of cinema's greatest modern action franchises .

Next:  Mission: Impossible 8's Cruise Sendoff Explains Returning Character Mystery

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Tom Cruise did that motorcycle stunt in ‘Mission: Impossible’ on Day 1 — here’s why

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More than half a year before the release of the upcoming movie “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” Paramount Pictures made sure audiences got to see Tom Cruise once again risking his life.

Cruise’s mind-blowing stunts have become a signature of “ Mission: Impossible ” films, each one seemingly topping the next. The key stunt in the franchise’s seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff, dismounting and parachuting into a Norwegian valley. With the drop of its behind-the-scenes footage in December , the studio billed it as “the biggest stunt in cinema history.”

Though the moment has already been watched on YouTube more than 13 million times, and 30 million more times in the film’s trailers, it’s among the film’s most anticipated scenes. After all, we still don’t know how the stunt fits within the plot — What could be so dire that agent Ethan Hunt must jump off a cliff?

A split image: left, Tom Cruise wears a blue blazer and pants with a white collared shirt as he poses for a photo; right, Janet Jackson wears an all-black jumpsuit as she accepts an award

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Tom Cruise geeked out at ‘Mission: Impossible’ premiere over ‘goddess’ Janet Jackson

Tom Cruise expressed his love for Janet Jackson at the ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ world premiere in Rome.

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While answers won’t come until the movie’s theatrical release July 12, we now know that the risky stunt was the first thing Cruise did on Day 1 of filming, which began in 2020. And it was all about risk assessment.

In a recent interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Cruise said they started with the scene, in part, to allow the cast and crew to see whether he would be able to star in the $290-million film. After all, he could either get injured or die — or both.

“Well, we know we’re either going to continue with the film or not,” Cruise said, letting out a laugh. “Let’s know Day 1, what is gonna happen: Do we all continue, or is it a major re-run?”

Cruise added that he wanted to make sure his mind was clear enough to focus solely on the stunt.

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“You have to be razor sharp for something like that; I don’t want to drop that and shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else,” Cruise said. “You don’t want to be waking up in the middle of the night, ‘It’s still, I still, I still,’ and it has that effect.”

Cruise is no stranger to aerial stunts with a high probability of death. The “Top Gun” actor said preparing for the recent stunt “was years of planning,” a culmination of all the training he’s done with motorcycles, cars and aerobatics.

In the franchise’s last film, “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (2018), Cruise jumped into a helicopter in midflight , taking the controls to chase another helicopter. In the same movie, he parachuted from a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from 25,000 feet, close to five miles up, becoming “the first actor” to do so in a major motion picture, according to Paramount (most skydiving attempts occur at 10,000 feet).

In 2011 for “ Ghost Protocol ,” the “Jerry McGuire” actor climbed along the exposed walls of the world’s largest building, the Burj Khalifa of Dubai. And in 2015 for “Rogue Nation,” Cruise hung off the side of an Airbus A400M Atlas as it was taking off, a stunt that veteran stunt coordinator and frequent Cruise collaborator Wade Eastwood called “a stressful experience.”

tom cruise stunt off cliff

The recent motorcycle stunt, which Cruise had apparently repeated six times, was no exception. Though the film’s computer-generated images make Cruise appear to be jumping off the rocky surface of the cliff, the scene required a large ramp to be built.

While Cruise is seen atop the motorcycle in the behind-the-scenes video, accelerating off the ramp, a helicopter and drone fly overhead to gather footage. The film’s crew, including director Christopher McQuarrie, are huddled in a nearby tent, faces glued to a set of monitors. After he abandons the bike and hangs in the open air, Cruise releases his parachute and the crew erupts in cheers.

“The only thing you have to avoid when doing a stunt like this are serious injury or death,” Eastwood, who has managed stunts for the last three “Mission Impossible” films, said in the BTS video. “You’re falling. If you don’t get a clean exit from the bike and you get tangled up with it, if you don’t open your parachute, you’re not gonna make it.”

Review: Tom Cruise returns, crazy stunts and all, in ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’

See Tom run. See Tom jump.

July 13, 2018

The scene wasn’t the only stressful one to shoot: Cruise said he also worried about a car chase that involved him handcuffed to a small car, steering with one hand while drifting along the cobblestone streets of Rome, with his co-star Hayley Atwell in the passenger seat.

“It’s plenty of challenges,” Cruise said with a wide grin, laughing once again.

“Dead Reckoning” had its world premiere Sunday at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome with Cruise and other cast members, including Atwell and Vanessa Kirby , in attendance. “Part Two” is expected to be released in June 2024. Filming wrapped in September for what has been rumored to be Cruise’s final appearance in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

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Tom Cruise explains that death-defying Mission: Impossible 7 stunt captured in an amazing photo

The actor says riding a motorcycle off a cliff was one of the riskiest stunts of his career.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

tom cruise stunt off cliff

This time last year, the much-anticipated seventh Mission: Impossible film was stuck in a production pause as the world reckoned with the COVID-19 pandemic . But now it's 2021, people are getting vaccinated, and film sets have strict health protocols in place. So Tom Cruise is talking about Mission: Impossible 7 as a movie that's going to come out in the near future, which means viewers will soon get to see the superstar actor perform death-defying action stunts.

Cruise always does his own stunts on the Mission: Impossible films, and each installment in the franchise tries to outdo its predecessor. Set photos have already previewed what looks to be one of the actor's most thrilling feats yet: Riding a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff. In a new interview with Empire , Cruise explained why this jump was "the single most dangerous thing he'd ever done." Check out the photo of it below and you'll get an idea of the risk.

"If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp," Cruise said. "The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem, because I didn't want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone. Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn't know what was going to happen with the bike. I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don't want to get tangled in the bike. If I do, that's not going to end well."

Thankfully, all's well that ends well. Cruise is still in one piece, and he still loves this stuff. As he recently said on The Graham Norton Show , Cruise has even been told sometimes to stop smiling while performing his stunts because it ruins takes.

Mission: Impossible 7 is currently set to hit theaters on May 27, 2022, and will start streaming on Paramount+ some time after that.

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Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible 7

Tom Cruise is choosing to accept a new high-stakes mission in some wild behind-the-scenes footage from “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” The featurette shows the action star and his team preparing for a stunt years in the making, where he will jump a motorcycle off a cliff and turn it into a BASE jump. Just a normal day at work!

“This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” Cruise says.

“Dead Reckoning” is the seventh installment of the spy thriller franchise, which stars Cruise as Ethan Hunt, a special agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF).

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Back in May, a teaser trailer revealed a series of death-defying stunts and action sequences in the film, including a sniper battle during a desert storm, multiple car chases and a tease of this stunt.

“Dead Reckoning Part One” is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who previously helmed the franchise’s fifth and sixth installments — 2015’s “Rogue Nation” and 2018’s “Fallout.” The film is produced by Cruise, McQuarrie, J.J. Abrams, David Ellison and Jake Meyers, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is scheduled to premiere in theaters July 14, 2023. Watch the new stunt footage below.

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Tom Cruise Rides His Motorcycle Off a Cliff in Action-Packed 'Mission: Impossible 7' Trailer

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters July 12.

Tom Cruise undertakes some of his most daring stunts yet in his latest action movie.

On Wednesday, Paramount Pictures released the trailer for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One , showcasing Cruise's Ethan Hunt as he embarks on his latest mission.

Footage from the trailer previews Hunt's clash with a villain played by Esai Morales during another globe-trotting adventure that threatens the entire Impossible Missions Force team.

The trailer teases Cruise and Morales' fight on top of a moving train, as well as a full look at Cruise's now-famous cliff jump from a motorbike stunt as Ving Rhames ' character Luther warns Hunt not to value saving the rest of the team higher than completing their mission.

"I don't accept that," Hunt says in response to the warning, as the trailer ends with him jumping from a destroyed train car before its falls to a body of water below.

In the new movie — the seventh in the Mission: Impossible franchise and its first entry since 2018 — Hunt and his team are tasked with tracking down "a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands," an official synopsis for the film reads promising, "a deadly race around the globe" throughout the movie.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most," the synopsis adds.

Aside from Cruise, Rhames and Morales, the latest Mission: Impossible movie features a large ensemble cast including Hayley Atwell , Simon Pegg , Rebecca Ferguson , Vanessa Kirby , Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes , Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma and Rob Delaney.

The movie is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, a longtime collaborator of Cruise's who directed the previous two Mission: Impossible films and wrote Top Gun: Maverick . McQuarrie, 54, is also making the upcoming sequel Dead Reckoning Part Two , expected to release in 2024.

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‘Mission: Impossible 7’: Tom Cruise Drove a Bike Off a Cliff 6 Times to Nail Shot

CinemaCon 2021: The action star did a year of motocross and base jump training for one insane stunt

tom cruise

When Paramount is about to release a “Mission: Impossible” film, Tom Cruise usually shows up at CinemaCon to show off behind-the-scenes footage of his latest insane stunts. Though he wasn’t in Las Vegas, Paramount did show off what Cruise has spent the pandemic doing: riding a motorcyle off a giant cliff in Norway. Cruise did a year of base jump and motocross training for the stunt, with director Christopher McQuarrie building a track just for him to get the hang of the bike. “I have to get so good at this that there’s no way I will miss my marks,” he said. “Don’t be careful, be confident!” McQuarrie and his team then had Cruise jump the bike off a cliff into a foam pit while testing state-of-the-art drones that weren’t even around when “Mission: Impossible: Fallout” was filmed. CGI and telemetry was used constantly to get a sense of how far Cruise would fly off the motorcyle to make sure the camera was set up just right. And then, when it came time to go to the massive cliff to film the scene, Cruise performed the death-defying stunt six times, having to memorize how fast to launch the bike and at what point in his descent into the rocky cliffside to deploy his chute. If it isn’t clear yet, Cruise will do anything for his craft.

tom cruise mission impossible

Cruise returns to the film for more death-defying stunts, as does director Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the last two films in the franchise and is already at work on “Mission: Impossible 8.” He’s joined by a returning cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Simon Pegg and Angela Bassett, but newcomers to the franchise include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and Cary Elwes.

Anticipation is high after the release of 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” which was by far the best reviewed movie in the long-running action series and was also the highest grossing movie of the bunch, earning $791.6 million worldwide.

It’s also been a long time coming for “MI7,” which started filming before the COVID-19 pandemic way back in March 2020 and managed to continue despite some delays and a now infamous rant from Cruise about the crew members being lax on COVID-19 safety protocols.

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Tom Cruise says 'Mission: Impossible 7' motorcycle stunt was shot on the first day of production so everyone knew if they could keep going or if it needed a 'major rewrite'

  • Tom Cruise said the motorcycle stunt was done on the first day of shooting so everyone knew how to go forward.
  • "Do we all continue or is it a major rewrite?" he told Entertainment Tonight.
  • The director told Empire that doing it early also let production figure out how to use the stunt in the plot.

Insider Today

Tom Cruise says there's a simple explanation for why his thrilling stunt of driving a motorcycle off a cliff was completed on the very first day of production on "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1" — there would need to be a major change to the story if it wasn't successful.

"We know either we will continue with the film or we're not. Let's know day one!" Cruise told "Entertainment Tonight" (at the 2:00 mark). "Let us know day one what is going to happen: Do we all continue or is it a major rewrite?"

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"I was training and I was ready," Cruise continued. "You have to be razor sharp when you're doing something like that. It was very important as we were prepping the film that it was actually the first thing. I don't want to drop that and go shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else. Everyone was prepped. Let's just get it done."

The stunt is the latest thrilling moment in the "M:I" franchise that has seen Cruise do everything from hang onto the side of a plane as it takes off to perform a HALO jump with a broken ankle.

Though those stunts were all extremely dangerous for Cruise to pull off, this one might be the most death-defying to date for the superstar.

The stunt has Cruise driving a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway. Then in mid-air, he disposes of the bike and free-falls until he opens his parachute.

To train for it, Cruise did 500 skydives and over 13,000 motocross jumps. And that wasn't just so Cruise had the skill and comfort to pull off the stunt; the training also made it possible for director Christopher McQuarrie and his crew to map out camera angles to capture it. 

McQuarrie recently told Empire a stunt like this has to be done at the start of production because then plot points can be written into the movie as to why Cruise's character Ethan Hunt jumped off the cliff in the first place.

"Doing that on day one gave us all the time in the world to understand why he was doing what he was doing," McQuarrie said. "If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you'd never find it, simply because it's such a living, breathing thing."

Cruise ended up doing the stunt six times on the first day of shooting. That meant a lot of cleanup.

Insider has learned from a source close to production that after each jump, a team at ground level in Norway was responsible for recovering and disposing of all the broken pieces of motorcycle that shattered on impact before the next jump was attempted.

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Tom Cruise performed his most dangerous stunt yet — riding a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jumping

'Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning’ Featurette Teases the “Biggest Stunt in Cinema History”

Tom Cruise once again proves that nothing is too much for Ethan Hunt.

What happens when Tom Cruise jumps off a cliff in Norway. No, that's not a setup for a joke, it's one of the notoriously dedicated action star's most dangerous stunts in the long-awaited upcoming Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One . Paramount Pictures has just released a new behind-the-scenes featurette taking a look at the making of one of Cruise's most daring stunts to date. The new stunt was created for the long-awaited film, which is set to be released to theaters on July 14, 2023.

The featurette starts with an ominous overhead shot rolling over a cliff in Hellesylt, Norway. A long ramp curls up over the rocky edge, looking over a deep plummet. "This is far and away the most dangerous thing we have ever attempted," Cruise says in voice-over. Cruise then goes on to detail the exact set-up of the stunt, and that this particular scenario has been in the works for several years. The stunt is complex, involving a motorcycle chase over a cliff, which then terminates in a jump. All of this is to happen over some of the most dangerous and beautiful terrain on earth.

The featurette then rolls into the signature Mission: Impossible theme and the process of bringing about this dangerous but thrilling new stunt is revealed. And it looks like Cruise has taken the driver's seat when it comes to stunt coordination. The film's director, Christopher McQuarrie , noted that Cruise was responsible for bringing together the experts needed to pull off such a high-risk act.

'Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning' Director Christopher McQuarrie Shares a High-Flying Behind the Scene Image

The featurette does not shy away from Cruise's dedication to his stunt work. From gauging his motorcycle's speed by ear to flying over quarries filled with cardboard with nothing but a wire to keep him aloft, it's clear that Cruise's dedication is more than just talk. "It all comes down to one thing," Cruise says, "the audience." And the audience will soon be able to see the fruit of the film crew's labor, as the new film will finally be coming to theaters four years after it was originally announced.

Cruise, of course, stars in the new film. And he is again joined by costars Simon Pegg and Vanessa Kirby among others. Filming for the movie was complicated not just by elaborate stunt work, but also by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it looks like even with all of those extenuating circumstances, Cruise and his crew have managed to do the (mission) impossible.

Check out the featurette below:

tom cruise stunt off cliff

There Will Never be Another Tom Cruise, And His First Response After Suffering an Injury That Would Take Months Away From Any Actor Shows It

F amously known for his Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise is a name synonymous with dedication, perseverance, and an unwavering passion for his craft. Apart from his riveting performance, the actor is often known for engaging in death-defying stunts while filming. Thereafter, one particular incident and injury took the internet by storm and proved why Cruise is irreplaceable.

Recently, a story has resurfaced that showcased Tom Cruise’s unrelenting commitment to filmmaking while shooting Mission: Impossible – Fallout . Despite suffering a severe injury during one of his stunts, Cruise’s immediate response after the incident seemingly proved why no other actor can ever replace the Top Gun star.

Tom Cruise Suffered a Severe Injury While Filming

Often engaging in dangerous actions and stunts on his own, Tom Cruise has been through several accidents and injuries while filming his popular action flicks like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun . However, one incident in particular not only stunned fans but even left industry professionals in shock.

“He’s not stuck to one thing”: Henry Cavill Wants to Work With Tom Cruise Again After $792M Mission: Impossible – Fallout

A video resurfaced from the time when Tom Cruise was filming a stunt for Mission: Impossible – Fallout and suffered a severe injury via Presidents of Physical Media . During the scene, Cruise was seen jumping from one building to another , when he failed to anticipate the distance and ended up banging his knee and feet against the wall.

I looked down – I crawled over the wall just to get past camera. Because I knew this was the take . Cruise stated.

Filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie recalled how Tom Cruise had broken his ankle during the on-set accident. However, considering that it was a crucial scene in the movie, the actor apparently refused to succumb to the pain and completed the stunt for the camera person to capture.

He knew he had broken his ankle. But the first thing he did was turn to the camera operators and say ‘did you get that?’. McQuarrie shared.

Although the accident seemed severe enough for any other actor to get sidelined for months, Cruise just showcased his commitment to the role. Therefore, while McQuarrie’s comments on the scene marked the actor’s unwavering commitment, it also proved why Cruise is an irreplaceable asset in Hollywood.

Actors Who Can Match with Tom Cruise’s Intensity in Stunts

The abovementioned stunt from Mission: Impossible – Fallout isn’t the only iconic action sequence that Tom Cruise has delivered through his long-standing career. Shocking his colleagues and fans with his unyielding spirit and passion for stunts, Cruise showcased his fearless and adventurous spirit while scaling the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

“We’ll just shut our movie down”: Mission: Impossible – Fallout Director Demanded $3 Million if Henry Cavill Shaved His Mustache for Justice League

Further, as per Film Companion , in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Tom Cruise performed the jaw-dropping stunt of clinging to the side of a plane, and later on set the record of holding breath underwater for an astonishing 6 minutes in the 2015 movie. Over the years, Cruise has not only showcased his unparalleled devotion to filmmaking but even left fans bewildered with his iconic and unparalleled legacy.

Although Tom Cruise has proved to be an irreplaceable asset in Hollywood, for performing his stunts on his own and overcoming hurdles, we believe there are a few other stars who could match the actor’s intensity. Right on top of the list comes Jackie Chan who is known for his iconic stunts, much like Cruise.

Often appearing in action flicks and delivering flawless performances, Chan could undoubtedly be the greatest competitor for Cruise. Similarly, there’s also Harrison Ford who delivered some of the most eye-popping action scenes in Indiana Jones movies, who could rub shoulders with Cruise for matching his level of intensity in stunts.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is available on Prime Video. 

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible- Fallout | Paramount Pictures

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Tom cruise shows off ripped bod on spanish beach amid new film talks, tom cruise hits beach in spain ripped bod steals show.

Tom Cruise is looking damn good at 61 ... showing off his buff bod on a beach during a break from his hectic filming schedule, and possibly discussing even more flicks while there.

The movie star -- sporting navy swim shorts -- was radiating while living it up at Majorca's Formentor beach in Spain over the weekend ... showing off his chiseled physique as he got in the water and enjoyed a little R&R amid his very busy life.

Earlier that same day ... Tom was seen fully clothed ... sporting a grey top, shorts, and fedora as he hopped onboard a sailboat with filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu -- likely chatting about his role in AGI's upcoming film, for which they're teaming up.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it from the looks of these pics -- the man's in great shape, just like back in his early movie star days, when his toned physique was frequently on display, like in 1986's "Top Gun." Frankly, we doubt if he's ever NOT been totally shredded.

Back in the day, his youth might have explained his tip-top shape -- but nowadays ... you could argue Tom's love for shooting his own action-packed stunts are keeping him toned and fit. We're sure he's hitting the gym too ... 'cause yeah, the homeboy is straight-up yoked.

Like we said ... Tom's on a bit of a break right now -- in recent weeks, Tom's been filming adrenaline-pumping scenes for the 8th 'Mission Impossible' movie, so he's enjoying some much-deserved time off.

Feast your eyes, people ... Tom's still got it.

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Mission: Impossible Movies in Order: Your Streaming Cruise Through the M:I Franchise

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tom cruise stunt off cliff

Official JustWatch writer

It was a hit TV series in the 1960s and 1980s, but now when you hear the name Mission: Impossible - or that propulsive Lalo Schifrin theme tune - you can only think of Tom Cruise as Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt. The franchise has slowly taken over Cruise’s film career, becoming a byword for the actor’s own incredible stunt work. Find out where to watch every Mission: Impossible movie in chronological order with our streaming guide, below.

It starts with Mission: Impossible , which announces that it is not just a cash-in revival of an old favourite in the opening minutes by re-introducing and then immediately killing off the character of Jim Phelps, a remnant of the TV show. Ethan Hunt is then established as a super-capable field agent, with Ving Rhames appearing as faithful computer hacker sidekick Luther Stickell.

Mission: Impossible II sees Hunt team up with a professional thief played by Thandiwe Newton, the pair of them travelling to Australia to stop a rogue agent releasing a deadly genetically modified virus. In Mission: Impossible III , the great Philip Seymour Hoffman is an arms dealer who almost gets the better of Hunt, in a film that introduces cast regular Michelle Monaghan as Ethan’s fiancée Julia.

By this point, Tom Cruise has already dangled off a cliff, run from thousands of gallons of coursing water, and had the point of a knife held millimetres from his open eye, all of these stunts filmed without doubles and with minimal special effects. In Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol , the stakes are raised further as he climbs the outside of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in a film that also introduces core cast member Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation marks the moment when M:I becomes a more coherent franchise - this and all the subsequent films are directed by Chris McQuarrie, working closely with the real boss of the series, Tom Cruise. Before that, the films were helmed by directors who were well established in their own right: Brian de Palma, John Woo, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird.

The stunts only get more epic. In Rogue Nation there’s a fantastic motorbike chase, an unbelievable opening scene featuring Cruise hanging off the side of a plane as it takes off, and a genuinely perilous sequence where the actor is filmed underwater for an extended period and is clearly holding his breath for real.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout has a tough act to follow, but it trumps Rogue Nation with a one-take skydive, a fabulous helicopter chase and a notorious rooftop leap, during which you can clearly see the moment where Cruise breaks his ankle. Not wishing to waste a set-up that took weeks to plan, Cruise got up and ran out of shot, thus completing a usable take, before seeking medical treatment.

That brings us to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One , where the big stunt is perhaps the greatest of Cruise’s career, in terms of the amount of planning required and the level of risk involved: he rides a motorbike straight off a cliff. That movie’s upcoming sequel has a lot to live up to - and if you’ve not seen all the Mission: Impossible movies, you’ve got a lot of heart-pounding action to get through.

Find out where to stream it all with our list.

Netflix

Mission: Impossible

IMDB

When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the No. 1 suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

Paramount Plus

Mission: Impossible II

With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.

Mission: Impossible III

Mission: Impossible III

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who is as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear -- including the woman Hunt loves.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organization committed to destroying the IMF.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill his original briefing, the CIA begin to question his loyalty and his motives. The IMF team find themselves in a race against time, hunted by assassins while trying to prevent a global catastrophe.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the world's fate at stake and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan must consider that nothing can matter more than his mission—not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Sky Go

Mission: Impossible 8

The eighth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

IMAGES

  1. Watch Tom Cruise motorbike off a cliff in ridiculous MI7 stunt

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  2. Tom Cruise's most dangerous stunt yet

    tom cruise stunt off cliff

  3. New 'Mission: Impossible' Video Captures Tom Cruise Attempting a Death

    tom cruise stunt off cliff

  4. MI: 7 stuns fans with jaw-dropping motorcycle cliff jump by Tom Cruise

    tom cruise stunt off cliff

  5. Tom Cruise rides a bike off a cliff in "Biggest Stunt in Cinema History

    tom cruise stunt off cliff

  6. Tom Cruise Actually Rode a Motorcycle off a Cliff for a Mission

    tom cruise stunt off cliff

VIDEO

  1. Tom Cruise and his stunt double are hilarious

  2. Can't believe this Tom Cruise stunt was done for real #missionimpossible #tomcruise #stunts #shorts

  3. The Tom Cruise stunt that looked TOO real? #missionimpossible #movies #stunts #tomcruise #shorts

  4. Tom Cruise Speaks On His Insane Motorcycle Jump Stunt At The Mission Impossible Movie Premiere In LA

  5. Tom Cruise talks about jumping off the cliff #tomcruise #stunt #bike #story #shorts

  6. Tom Cruise's Insane Motorcycle Cliff Jump Stunt: A Thrilling Highlight in 'Mission: Impossible 7'

COMMENTS

  1. How Tom Cruise Performed Wild Stunt in 'Mission: Impossible 7'

    Cruise drove a motorbike off a cliff, flew off the bike, and parachuted to the ground in the film's most dangerous stunt. The stunt took 500 hours of skydiving training and 13,000 motorbike jumps to perfect.

  2. Tom Cruise just performed his most dangerous stunt yet

    Tom Cruise performed the most dangerous stunt of his career for the \"Mission: Impossible\" film series, shooting in Norway. He had to drive a motorcycle off a ramp, launch into the air and parachute to the bottom, after years of training and planning.

  3. Tom Cruise Completes 'Mission: Impossible' Stunt Riding Motorcyle Off A

    Tom Cruise had a long road to pulling off this amazing stunt. Paramount Pictures via YouTube. "You train and drill every little aspect over and over and over and over again," he adds while we ...

  4. How Mission: Impossible 7's Motorcycle Cliff Jump Was Filmed

    However, the trailer for Mission: Impossible 7 provides some insight into the next big stunt: a motorcycle jump off a sickeningly high cliff. Related: Mission: Impossible 7 Can Pay Off A Cut Ethan & Ilsa Scene & Plot Point. As with all of Tom Cruise's productions, his dedication to authentic, in-camera stunts came into play here.

  5. Tom Cruise and his 'Mission: Impossible' motorcycle stunt

    The key stunt in the franchise's seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff, dismounting and parachuting into a Norwegian valley.

  6. Watch Tom Cruise ride a motorcycle off a cliff for dangerous

    Watch the behind-the-scenes video of Cruise's daring stunt, which he calls \"the biggest stunt in cinema history.\" Learn how he prepared, practiced, and performed the feat six times for the action sequel.

  7. Tom Cruise Explains 'Mission Impossible 7' Motorcycle Stunt on Day One

    The stunt, billed as the most death-defying one of Cruise's acting career thus far, finds Cruise riding a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff and then parachuting to safety while in free fall.

  8. Tom Cruise Explains Why Mission: Impossible 7 Stunt Was the Most

    Tom Cruise breaks down the most dangerous stunt of his career that he performed for the sequel Mission: Impossible 7. ... flying off a cliff, and then immediately pulling a parachute to safely ...

  9. Tom Cruise explains death-defying Mission: Impossible 7 stunt

    Tom Cruise explains that death-defying. Mission: Impossible 7. stunt captured in an amazing photo. The actor says riding a motorcycle off a cliff was one of the riskiest stunts of his career. This ...

  10. Watch Tom Cruise Risk Death to Perform 'Mission: Impossible 7' Stunt

    The film is produced by Cruise, McQuarrie, J.J. Abrams, David Ellison and Jake Meyers, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" is scheduled to ...

  11. Tom Cruise Rides Motorcycle Off Cliff in Mission: Impossible 7 Trailer

    Published on May 17, 2023 11:30AM EDT. Tom Cruise undertakes some of his most daring stunts yet in his latest action movie. On Wednesday, Paramount Pictures released the trailer for Mission ...

  12. 'Mission: Impossible 7': Tom Cruise Drove a Bike Off a Cliff 6 Times to

    August 26, 2021 @ 10:35 AM. When Paramount is about to release a "Mission: Impossible" film, Tom Cruise usually shows up at CinemaCon to show off behind-the-scenes footage of his latest insane ...

  13. Tom Cruise Does Motorcycle Jump For 'Mission: Impossible 7'

    Production on "Mission: Impossible 7" has resumed, and new video shows star Tom Cruise launching himself off a cliff on a motorcycle before a parachute glide...

  14. Watch Tom Cruise ride a motorcycle off a cliff and parachute to safety

    For the latest instalment in the Mission Impossible series, Tom Cruise has performed the "biggest stunt in cinema history" by riding a motorcycle off a cliff...

  15. 'Mission: Impossible 7': Tom Cruise on Why Motorcycle Stunt ...

    The stunt has Cruise driving a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway. Then in mid-air, he disposes of the bike and free-falls until he opens his parachute. To train for it, Cruise did 500 skydives and ...

  16. Tom Cruise performed his most dangerous stunt yet

    Shot in Norway, the stunt required Cruise to ride a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jump — something he said he's wanted to do since he was a kid. Tom Cruise has performed another daring stunt ...

  17. Mission: Impossible

    Watch an extended behind the scenes look at the biggest stunt in cinema history. Watch Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One on Digital TODAY: http:/...

  18. Mission: Impossible 7 Featurette Teases the Biggest Stunt in ...

    What happens when Tom Cruise jumps off a cliff in Norway. No, that's not a setup for a joke, it's one of the notoriously dedicated action star's most dangerous stunts in the long-awaited upcoming ...

  19. Watch Tom Cruise ride a motorcycle off a cliff and parachute to safety

    In what has been described as the "biggest stunt in cinema history", new footage of Hollywood star Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting to safety has been released to the world.

  20. Mission: Impossible

    Watch an extended behind the scenes look at the biggest stunt in cinema history. Experience #MissionImpossible- Dead Reckoning is in IMAX theatres July 2023.

  21. Tom Cruise Suffered a Severe Injury While Filming

    A video resurfaced from the time when Tom Cruise was filming a stunt for Mission: Impossible - Fallout and suffered a severe injury via Presidents of Physical Media.During the scene, Cruise was ...

  22. Tom Cruise Shows Off Ripped Bod On Spanish Beach Amid New Film Talks

    Island Time Launch Gallery. Tom Cruise is looking damn good at 61 ... showing off his buff bod on a beach during a break from his hectic filming schedule, and possibly discussing even more flicks ...

  23. Watch Tom Cruise Risk Death for CRAZIEST Mission: Impossible Stunt Ever

    Tom Cruise is giving fans a brand-new look at how he pulled off his craziest stunt yet, jumping off a cliff on a motorcycle for the upcoming "Mission: Imposs...

  24. How to Stream the Mission: Impossible Movies in Order

    By this point, Tom Cruise has already dangled off a cliff, run from thousands of gallons of coursing water, and had the point of a knife held millimetres from his open eye, all of these stunts filmed without doubles and with minimal special effects. ... Dead Reckoning Part One, where the big stunt is perhaps the greatest of Cruise's career ...

  25. Watch Tom Cruise attempt the 'biggest stunt in cinema history'

    Hollywood star Tom Cruise has performed the "biggest stunt in cinema history" by riding a motorcycle off a cliff and parachute to safety while shooting for t...

  26. Tom Cruise cliff climbing scene |Mission Impossible : 2

    •• This Stunt was done by Tom Cruise himself. Director John Woo told him that it can be done by a stuntman , But Tom disagreed and said he will do it himself...