SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is all about stuntman Cruise

Jul 27, 2018, 7:10 AM | Updated: 7:42 am

YouTube video

The Mission: Impossible franchise long ago stole the best stunts mantle from the likes of James Bond and Jason Bourne. In the sixth edition, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” it’s once again the stunts that are getting all the attention. Oh, along with Tom Cruise, of course.

In fact, the stunts and Cruise are so intertwined they’re practically synonomous. Not only is Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt involved in every important action set piece, Cruise the actor is doing most of those stunts himself.

If the press notes are to be believed, the 56-year-old Cruise is the first actor to ever undertake a on camera. HALO stands for High Altitude, Low Opening, meaning a jump out of a C-17 at 25,000 feet, falling at a rate of 200 miles per hour, and not opening the parachute until within 2,000 feet of the ground. Cruise took over 100 jumps to get this sequence right for the movie. You can get a behind-the-scenes look at the jump .

Cruise also learned how to fly a helicopter for the movie’s most hair-raising stunt, a chopper chase in which a solo-piloting Cruise nosedives repeatedly and lives to tell the tale.

Other outstanding stunts include a high-speed motorcycle chase through the streets of Paris, sans helmet of course, and a rooftop race in London involving jumping from building to building to building. (It was one of those jumps that broke Cruise’s ankle and shut down filming for a couple months.)

These stunts are indeed spectacular, but I’m not convinced they’re better because Cruise took so many risks. It does add to the lore and the lure of the film, I suppose, but it doesn’t make it a better movie. Or necessarily, a better stunt. Still, the stunts are the reason to see this film, especially in a theater.

I’m spending so much time on the stunts because that’s what distinguishes the Mission Impossible films from all the other action flicks. Otherwise, “Fallout” is just another doomsday plot about a crazy bad guy with nuclear weapons who needs to be stopped.

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it. I wonder, did you ever choose not to?

“The end you always feared is coming, and the blood will be on your hands. The fallout of all your good intentions.”

The film does benefit from the return of so many cast members from “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.” Not only is the MI crew of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames back, but also their boss, Alec Baldwin, Cruise’s love interest Rebecca Ferguson, and that same crazy bad guy quote above, Sean Harris. Newcomers Henry Cavill as a CIA assassin, Angela Bassett as Cavill’s boss, and Vanessa Kirby as a deadly weapons dealer round out a uniformly excellent cast.

But nobody cares how good the supporting cast is. It’s all about Tom Cruise the stuntman, and deservedly so.

Associated Press

Minnesota shooting suspect had dozens of potential targets, prosecutors say

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing one Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another in what prosecutors have described as a meticulously planned attack, had dozens of apparent targets, including officials in at least three other states. Vance Boelter allegedly made it to the homes of two other legislators on the night of the attacks, […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Oil prices rise and US futures fall as Israel warns residents of Iran’s capital to evacuate

BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices resumed their upward climb and U.S. futures were lower early Tuesday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in Iran’s capital Tehran. Asian shares were mixed. The evacuation warning was for a part of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million, that houses the country’s state TV and […]

5 hours ago

Brian Armstrong, left, Co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, and Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and...

Associated Press

Senate expected to pass crypto bill without addressing Trump’s investments

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to approve legislation Tuesday that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, the first of what is expected to be a wave of crypto legislation from Congress that the industry hopes will bolster its legitimacy and reassure consumers. The fast-moving legislation, which will be sent to […]

5 hours ago

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he attends a family photo session during the G7 Summit, in ...

Associated Press

Trump is at a moment of choosing as Israel looks for more US help crushing Iran’s nuclear program

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump in about eight hours Monday went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team. He […]

6 hours ago

Police tape blocks off the home of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, Sunday, June 15, 2025, in ...

Associated Press

40 hours of violence and fear as gunman stalks Minnesota politicians

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Violence and fear swept through towns in an arc around Minneapolis for more than 40 hours over the weekend as a man seemingly intent on sowing political devastation killed one Minnesota state lawmaker and left another bleeding from nine bullet wounds. The attacks sparked the largest manhunt in Minnesota history, with heavily […]

6 hours ago

FILE - Shannon Taylor, attorney for Henrico County Commonwealth, exits the Albemarle County Circuit...

Associated Press

Virginia Democrats set to pick nominees in closely watched 2025 primaries

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats are set on Tuesday to pick their nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general, rounding out the statewide ticket and setting the stage for a bellwether election later this year. Most of the nominees slated to be at the top of the November ticket have already been picked, and […]

6 hours ago

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is all about stuntman Cruise