Impossible Missions, Impossible Stunts

Impossible Missions, Impossible Stunts…

         BY IAN TAN

            …not if you’re Tom Cruise. With a penchant for always wanting to perform his own spine-tingling stunts, the 53-year-old actor has consistently upped his game as one of Hollywood’s greatest action stars ever, if not, the greatest. From narrowly escaping an exploding fish tank just inches away from him to hanging off the exterior of a plane as it takes off, the guy’s practically Superman.

            In conjunction with the release of the fifth Mission: Impossible movie now playing in cinemas and IMAX, let’s cruise (pun intended) through my top 5 favourite Mission: Impossible stunts.

5. Knife To The Eye – Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Okay, this may not be as trail-blazing as some of the other stunts in the series, but it remains on my number 5 spot for the mere fact that that was actually a real, razor sharp knife just about a centimeter away from Tom Cruise’s eyeball. For safety purposes, the knife was attached to a cable measured to stop just before it could hit Cruise’s right eye. But even then, any closer and we’d have to say goodbye to Tom Cruise and future Mission: Impossible movies.

4. Hanging On A Wire – Mission: Impossible (1996)

Probably the most memorable and referenced stunt in the entire franchise, the lab infiltration scene where IMF Agent Ethan Hunt hangs from a wire literally an inch away from an auto-alarmed floor remains a staple of the franchise, with every Mission: Impossible movie after this one having Cruise hang from a wire in some way or another. That man must have had some real muscle cramps by the time director Brian de Palma yelled, “Cut!”

3. Rock-Climbing in Utah – Mission: Impossible II

The opening of M:I:II sees Ethan Hunt climbing a cliff at Utah’s Dead Horse Point with no harness, no gloves, no nothing. Of course he was strapped to some wires in real life, but thanks to the magic of digital special effects, the wires are nowhere to be seen in the movie. What made the scene even more impressive was the fact that Ethan was risking his life several thousand feet in air just for some holiday fun. Some vacation.

2. Scaling the Burj Khalifa – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Asking an actor worth $470 million in net worth to scale the tallest building in the world sounds like quite the risk, but Cruise being the committed actor he is, insisted that he’d do the entire stunt without a double. In the film, he scales the Burj using some nifty sticky gloves, but in reality he’s strapped on a harness while acting. Still, you’re 2,722 feet above the ground. That takes some serious acting skills, not to mention bravery!

1. Dangling On The Edge of a Plane – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

No clip for this one. You’ll have to experience it yourself on the big screen!

As is the trend with the Mission: Impossible films, the stunts keep getting bigger and riskier with each consecutive film, and in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, they take it up a notch by dangling Tom Cruise on the edge of a plane as it’s taking off and when it’s already taken off! You’d be hard pressed to find anyone not blown away (pun intended again) by this insane stunt, especially when seen on an IMAX screen!

Now that you’ve got a dose of my Top 5 favourite stunts from the Mission: Impossible movies, buckle up for one heck of a ride with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation showing in cinemas and IMAX now!

Get your tickets to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation : The IMAX Experience here! - http://tgv.com.my/movies/mission-impossible-rogue-nation-HO00004375