Christopher McQuarrie has promised a groundbreaking new stunt. The franchise competes with itself as each movie is full of more death-defying stunts than the last, and nobody could be more on board with it than Tom Cruise.
The actor has become known for his jaw-dropping stunt work, and the Mission: Impossible series is his vessel to seemingly carry out some kind of death wish. While stunt coordinators are on the set at all times to make sure the stunts are as safe as possible, that doesn't mean that they aren't still dangerous.
Mission: Impossible (1996) - Exploding Fish Tank
While the big appeal of the Mission: Impossible franchise today is the ambitious stunt work, that wasn't one of the series' trademarks when the original was released in 1996. However, there are still a couple of jaw-dropping sequences in what is a relatively small-scale espionage crime drama.
Though many would be quick to point out the Langley heist where Ethan (Cruise) drops into a control room and is pulled back when he's just inches from hitting the floor, there's a less memorable stunt that's much more dangerous. Midway through the film, a giant fish tank explodes, and the amount of water involved in the stunt is enough to terrify even James Cameron. Cruise has even mentioned that the stunt wasn't well planned (via Cinema Blend), and he was surprisingly hesitant when it came to shooting it.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) - The Knife Fight
Mission: Impossible 2 is the most critically panned of the M: I series, and one of the many reasons why is because of the lack of high-octane action sequences outside of the rock climbing and the token motorbike chase. However, there's one moment that lasts for just a couple of shots where the edge of a knife comes dangerously close to Cruise's eye. And for many, choosing between that and rock climbing without a harness would come down to the flip of a coin.
However, while the extreme close-up of the knife just millimeters from Cruise's open eye is enough to make anyone squirm, Daniel Day-Lewis beat Cruise at his own stunt game in 2002's Gangs of New York. As Day-Lewis often takes method acting to extremes, he got one eye covered with prosthetic glass to capture the look of a glass eye, and he even learned how to tap on it with the edge of a knife, which can be seen in the 2002 film.
Mission: Impossible III (2006) - The Missile Hit
Mission: Impossible III is the most grounded and gritty movie of the franchise, even more than the original film, meaning that there aren't many death-defying stunts in the release.
But the 2006 movie does feature one wirework stunt that looks as if it could have seriously injured Cruise if it wasn't pulled off perfectly. A Missile hits a bridge that Ethan's standing on, which sends him flying across the bridge and hitting a car. While Cruise might have been attached to some wires that were digitally removed, it still looks like it hurt.
Mission: Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol (2011) - The Burj Khalifa Climb
Mission: Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol marked the first time that the franchise tried to one-up every previous stunt, and it was the first clear sign that Cruise was seemingly in competition with himself and that he may or may not have a death wish. Along with the typical spitting, Motorbike chases, and fight scenes, director Brad Bird had Cruise running through sandstorms and, above all else, scaling the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper on Earth.
However, it wasn't just Cruise who was committed to the stunt, as none of the actors had stunt doubles during the Burj Khalifa stunt. Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, and Simon Pegg all followed Cruise's lead as they hung out of the tallest building in the world.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Taking A Dive
Rogue Nation. Any movie with a water-based stunt will always trump any other stunt when it comes to the danger level, even in a movie where Cruise hangs off the edge of a plane as it takes flight.
As with any element, water is so unpredictable, and stunt coordinators have to prepare for anything. In the 2015 movie, Hunt dives into what is essentially a high-tech security system, as he must replace a computer chip in an underwater safe. According to Business Insider, Cruise spent months training for it, spent two weeks shooting it, and managed to hold his breath for six minutes, and that was after jumping off a 120-foot-high ledge.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Clearing The London Gap
Mission: Impossible - Fallout is essentially 2.5 hours that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats and seriously concerned for Cruise. The film has more exciting stunts than every other Mission: Impossible film combined, including a HALO jump, a helicopter chase, speeding through oncoming traffic in Paris, and hanging off a cliff in Norway. However, while those stunts have Cruise hundreds of feet above the ground, it's a simple jump that was the most dangerous Fallout stunt.
In the final act of the movie, Cruise has to jump between two buildings in London, and the gap is relatively short (for Cruise, that is), but it seriously injured the actor. Cruise crashed into the side of one of the buildings, which led to the production of the sixth movie being paused for months until he recovered (via Sky).
