Tom Cruise has spoken out about how his most dangerous stunt to date, filmed for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, in which he wing-walked along the side of an airplane going 145 miles per hour.
The stunt eventually led to Cruise passing out whilst hanging onto the side of this plane, with the result being so tense it has left fans saying they ‘want to vomit’.
Cruise and the Mission: Impossible films have always been known for the movie star’s ever-increasing desire to bring the most death-defying stunts to the big screen.
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In the past, this has led to him hanging off the side of the Burj Khalifa, hanging onto the side of cargo planes as they take off, and ride a motorcycle off the side of a cliff before jumping off and parachuting.
His newest stunt in the eighth film in the franchise, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is by far the most terrifying, both seemingly to film and for fans to watch.
Speaking about the film at a Cannes TikTok creator workshop, the Tropic Thunder star spoke to Reece Feldman (via Variety).
Discussing the stunts, he said: “I’m a human being on that airplane — it was violent. It was so violent on that airplane.”
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He said this was due to the amount of ‘air force’ coming over the wings of the plane.
The film’s director, Christopher McQuarrie, was far less casual about the stunt than Cruise was, however.
He described the stunt in terrifying detail, saying: “There was no radio so I had to fly up in a helicopter (to direct him) step onto the skid and do hand signals while he was on the wing of the biplane.
“When you leave the cockpit its wind over 140mph from the propellor. You are breathing but not actually getting oxygen.”
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McQuarrie then described how they would use a stopwatch for every minute that Cruise was on the plane and that he only had 12 minutes due to the fatigue that resulted from the wind and lack of oxygen.
He went on to add: “We got to 12 minutes and I would lean out and make the cut sign and he would make camera rolling gesture.
‘There was more than one moment where he was so physically exhausted he could not get back up off the wing, and we could not tell if he was conscious or not. We had agreed not to cut until he made the sign.”
Cruise also spoke about this in an interview with Empire, stating that at multiple points filming, he had actually 'passed out' and been 'unable to get back into the cockpit'.
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"When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen." he said.
The film, much rumoured to be the last in the franchise, has been met with predominantly positive reviews.
One fan taking to X to discuss the film said: “I love mission impossible, but that sh*t actually makes me sick with anxiety. Was boutta throw up in the cinema lmaoo. THE FINAL RECKONING HAD ME STRESSED.”
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is in cinemas now worldwide.
Topics: Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible, Film, Celebrity, TV and Film
Michael Slavin