Tom Cruise repeated 'biggest stunt in movie history' six times as he wasn’t happy with minor detail

When it comes to Hollywood actors doing their own stunts, Tom Cruise is a legend.

The 60-year-old movie star continues to defy the odds after over thirty years in the industry, and he's still a perfectionist at heart.

Cruise's latest movie, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, will see the Top Gun star take on his most dangerous stunt yet.

In his latest adventure, Cruise rode a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway.

Sounds scary enough, right?

Paramount

Well, being the professional he is, Cruise repeated the stunt an eye-watering six times just to get it right.

The crux of the stunt is that Cruise's character Ethan Hunt will ride a motorbike off a very tall cliff before base-jumping his way to safety.

No stunt doubles were used in the making of the scene, meaning that Cruise's career would be coming to a very sudden end if his parachute didn't deploy, with a behind-the-scenes video showing all the planning that goes into such a scene.

To prepare for the knee-shaking stunt, Cruise completed over 500 skydives and 13,000 motorcycle jumps.

In the clip, the crew can be seen watching in anticipation as the Jerry Maguire actor races the motorbike up the ramp and into the canyon.

Paramount

Fortunately for Cruise - and the future of the Mission Impossible franchise - he nails the stunt and is able to return for a second take.

Cruise insists on attempting the jump five more times as he believes he can hold onto the bike a little bit longer before it plummets thousands of feet.

Most people fear death, but death fears Tom Cruise.

Fans were impressed with Cruise's commitment to the role and praised him online.

One admirer wrote: "Tom Cruise is the greatest movie star in history PERIOD. No one else has achieved what's done and somehow Tom never seems to age a day. It's amazing."

Another fan gushed: "He should deserve every award out there. The amount of work he puts in is just incredible. What a LEGEND!", while another added: "The fact that Tom Cruise is sixty years old and he’s attempting what could be the single most dangerous stunt in all of film history just proves that he’s got nerves of steel. He did a literal Mission Impossible move."

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One will hit cinemas on July 12.

Topics: Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible, TV and Film

Ben Thompson