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All Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer

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From his teen idol days in the early ’80s to his status as a marquee-lighting leading man today, Tom Cruise has consistently done it all for decades — he’s completed impossible missions, learned about Wapner time in Rain Man , driven the highway to the danger zone in Top Gun , and done wonders for Bob Seger’s royalty statements in Risky Business , to offer just a few examples. Mr. Cruise is one of the few honest-to-goodness film stars left in the Hollywood firmament, so whether you’re a hardcore fan or just interested in a refresher course on his filmography, we’re here to take a fond look back at a truly impressive career and rank all Tom Cruise movies.

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97%

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Top Gun: Maverick (2022) 96%

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 96%

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Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) 94%

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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 93%

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Risky Business (1983) 92%

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Edge of Tomorrow (2014) 91%

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Minority Report (2002) 89%

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Rain Man (1988) 88%

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The Color of Money (1986) 88%

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Collateral (2004) 86%

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Born on the Fourth of July (1989) 84%

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American Made (2017) 85%

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A Few Good Men (1992) 84%

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Jerry Maguire (1996) 84%

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Magnolia (1999) 82%

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Tropic Thunder (2008) 82%

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Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 76%

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The Firm (1993) 76%

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War of the Worlds (2005) 76%

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Mission: Impossible III (2006) 71%

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The Outsiders (1983) 70%

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Taps (1981) 68%

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Mission: Impossible (1996) 66%

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The Last Samurai (2003) 66%

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Interview With the Vampire (1994) 63%

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Jack Reacher (2012) 63%

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All the Right Moves (1983) 61%

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Valkyrie (2008) 62%

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Top Gun (1986) 57%

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Mission: Impossible II (2000) 56%

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Oblivion (2013) 54%

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Knight and Day (2010) 52%

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Far and Away (1992) 50%

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Rock of Ages (2012) 42%

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Vanilla Sky (2001) 43%

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Legend (1985) 42%

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) 38%

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Days of Thunder (1990) 38%

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Lions for Lambs (2007) 27%

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Losin' It (1982) 18%

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The Mummy (2017) 15%

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Cocktail (1988) 9%

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Every Tom Cruise Movie Performance, Ranked

cruise tom movies

No one better than Tom Cruise exemplifies the breed of megastars who dawned during the 1980s, felt like gods during the 1990s, and are now a curious class of their own in the twilight of the traditional stardom they represent. Since the early ’80s, Cruise steadily and successfully carved out a career fueled by his boyish megawatt smile, a practiced brand of charisma, and an interest in physically throwing himself into his roles with dangerous gusto. His work has run the gamut. He’s swaggered through dramas, romantic comedies, heaps of science fiction, and most often, action films — including his latest, Mission: Impossible — Fallout . In honor of the actor’s latest big-screen spectacle, we revisited and ranked all of Cruise’s performances in order to interrogate why he’s remained such a fixture in the public imagination all these years.

42. Rock of Ages (2012)

The worst thing a star can do is refuse to grow. Cruise has had performances that reached high yet fell short, but in his turn as rock star Stacee Jaxx, he’s never been more unengaging or laughable. Jaxx illustrates the reasons for many of Cruise’s recent duds: a lack of self-awareness, a refusal to adapt as he’s grown older, an element of humorlessness. Watching Cruise shirtless-singing to ’80s metal hits like “Pour Some Sugar on Me” tips into self-parody. It’s a train wreck of a performance that lacks any of the charm necessary to not come across as an unintentional joke, making this Cruise role hard to forget for all the wrong reasons.

41. The Mummy (2017)

No matter how miscalculated his moves, Tom Cruise isn’t usually the kind of actor you’d ever call listless. He’s known for that manic energy and sheer force of will that marks so much of his work. But in The Mummy, playing Sergeant Nick Morton — a military man who unintentionally unearths the tomb of Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), who haunts him after choosing him to be the vessel for the god Set for some damn reason — Cruise is drained of any energy. He leaves no distinct impression; the part feels like it could be played by anyone and no one in particular. It doesn’t help that the film is more or less terrible, but sometimes Cruise can rise above that. Not this time: His performance comes up empty.

40. Endless Love (1981)

Cruise’s first big-screen appearance is a brief role in this 1981 romantic drama about a bunch of teenagers in the Chicago suburbs. It has none of the vitality to hint at the star Cruise would become later in the decade. (Also, 19-year old Cruise has a surprisingly high-pitched, annoying voice.)

39. Losin ’ It (1983)

Losin’ It is one of a string of films that pockmarked the decade that brought Cruise to prominence. They are failures to be sure, but forgettable enough to not rank lower. This charmless teen comedy, hinging on a group of friends trying to lose their virginities, marks Cruise’s first starring role, one that’s unfortunately saddled by dullness. There’s not enough appeal here to make this more than a masochistic exercise for Tom Cruise completists.

38. Cocktail (1988)

For some, Cocktail is a beloved albeit thoroughly ridiculous testament to the cinematic excesses of the 1980s. To others (including myself), it’s a testament to how easily Cruise can read as loathsome and smarmy rather than buoyantly alluring. The film focuses on Brian Flanagan (Cruise), a student who turns to bartending to make ends meet. Cruise is energetic to a manic degree (which doesn’t always work in his favor), producing a vibe that repels rather than seduces.

37. Legend (1985)

I have a bit of a soft spot for this Ridley Scott–helmed dark fable, one of Cruise’s only forays into fantasy territory. But it’s hard to ignore how miscast he is as the adventurous, dashing young man saving his beloved from the Lord of Darkness (an unrecognizable and amazing Tim Curry). He’s a bit lost and even seems perpetually confused in this muddled story, unable to create the gravitational pull he’d go on to prove capable of elsewhere.

36. Knight and Day (2010)

Knight and Day reteams Cameron Diaz with Cruise in a markedly different film than their first collaboration, Vanilla Sky. This spy/romantic romp should play to Cruise’s strengths, but there’s something severely miscalculated about his performance as Roy Miller, an oddball superspy on the run who ropes Cameron Diaz’s everywoman into his mission against her will. What’s supposed to be played as eccentric ends up falling into an uncomfortable territory that kills any sense of romance or intrigue. This role, more than any other he’s played, shows how easy it is for the hypercapable, badass superspy character to tip into asshole/know-it-all territory, more eye-roll-worthy than charming.

35. Lions for Lambs (2007)

Tom Cruise seems tailor-made for the role of a Republican senator pointedly trying to cajole and enchant a liberal-minded journalist (Meryl Streep) in order to get positive coverage for a new initiative in this muddled Iraq War drama. But he lacks the slipperiness and conviction necessary to elevate the dialogue, and the movie suffers for it, coming across as a well-intentioned morality play with little heft.

34. Far and Away (1992)

It is often said about actors of Cruise’s stature that they are merely stars that play themselves again and again. It’s an argument I disagree with for a number of reasons. In Far and Away, the tepid 1992 romantic drama directed by Ron Howard, it’s clear Cruise purposefully working against that notion — but in all the wrong ways. He adopts a shaky Irish accent in order to play a boxer/immigrant who joins Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) in America looking for a better life. Cruise gives it his all.

But he’s an actor best suited for our times, coming across as uncomfortable in period dressing. His energy and style is far too modern to pull this off completely, although his chemistry with Kidman remains a bright spot in an otherwise drab entry.

33. Days of Thunder (1990)

I can see how Days of Thunder seemed like a good idea, as it reteams Cruise with Top Gun director Tony Scott. And Cruise, as a race-car driver trying to make a name for himself, does have nice rapports with co-stars Robert Duvall and Nicole Kidman. But it isn’t enough to craft a strong emotional center to what is an ultimately bland performance.

32. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

This misguided, tonally confused sequel is an example of a decent Tom Cruise performance dragged down by the lackluster film that surrounds him. Cruise is highly dedicated as the titular character, going at it with a scrappiness and sense of focus that’s fun to watch. Unfortunately, he’s burdened by a makeshift family story line (which includes Cobie Smulder as a wrongfully framed colleague and a teenager who may be Reacher’s daughter?) as he goes on the run. Cruise admirably nails the action-oriented scenes, but when he’s called to sell the emotional reality of his predicament (particularly with his maybe-daughter character) he fails to deliver.

31. The Last Samurai (2003)

Cruise is widely considered one of the last stars in today’s Hollywood ecosystem whose sheer force of personality and high-wattage smile is a brand unto itself. But not even he has enough confidence to distract from how ill-formed this bloated epic is, or how ill-suited he is to lead it. Cruise himself doesn’t seem convinced in his portrayal of the bitter, alcoholic war veteran who travels to Japan and finds himself fighting alongside the rebellion he was originally tasked to help quell. This is just more fuel for my belief that something about Cruise’s energy is all wrong for period pieces (except for one example that comes later) — especially a 19th-century period piece set in Japan. Co-star Ken Watanabe provides the authenticity and complexity that Cruise lacks, leading him to steal the film entirely.

30. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

After the success of the first outing, the franchise moves into vastly different territory, thanks to Hong Kong action legend John Woo and screenwriter Robert Towne doing a  very obvious riff on Hitchcock’s Notorious and, more broadly, operatic action films that rely on a lot of slow-motion. These qualities are important to understanding what doesn’t work about Cruise’s performance as he’s asked to handle clashing tones and earnest romance, leaving him out of his depth. A part of me actually enjoys his chemistry with leading lady Thandie Newton, who plays an amoral thief. Unfortunately, Cruise sometimes tips into skeezy territory, and his best action work relies on a sort of simpleness that Mission: Impossible 2 seems allergic to. Despite his considerable efforts, Cruise often gets lost in the movie’s bombast.

29. The Firm (1993)

I’ve seen The Firm several times, but not much of it, including Tom Cruise’s starring performance, sticks with me. It’s a capably structured legal thriller but not much else. Cruise seems disconnected from the story, lacking the right mix of raw-nerved paranoia and intensity to rise above the admittedly lacking narrative. Mark this as another solid but otherwise uneventful performance.

28. The Outsiders (1983)

With a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s beloved classic, Cruise turns in a solid if not altogether memorable turn, dimmed a bit by the presence of his more fascinating co-stars, including a magnetic Patrick Swayze.

27. All the Right Moves (1983)

As a football player hell-bent on leaving his dead-end small town with a scholarship, Cruise provides the kind of tender and heartfelt performance the film calls far. He convincingly communicates the intensity and grandeur that comes with high-school sports, in which every win or loss feels like a harbinger for rest of your life.

26. Valkyrie (2008)

Cruise was far from the best choice to play doomed German army officer Claus von Stauffenberg, who aims to assassinate Adolf Hitler and undermine the Nazi Party with his dedicated crew of peers. But he actually finds a nice rhythm as the stakes for his character escalate, even if he doesn’t bring the kind of electricity needed to stand out from the film’s ensemble.

25. Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

After the critical failure of Mission: Impossible 2, the franchise course-corrected; any sort of emotional arc would play a distant second to Cruise’s interest in difficult stuntwork. Good: The franchise is pure thrill-ride cotton candy. Still, not all thrill rides are created equal. Cruise’s return as superspy Ethan Hunt has its pleasures, yes; a particular highlight is watching Cruise work with Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, an undercover MI6 agent with steely intensity. The primary joy of Rogue Nation , however, is in watching Cruise pivot from one action scene to another, running with a peerless frenzy. It’s fun one, if a bit weightless.

24. Vanilla Sky (2001)

Cruise’s work in Cameron Crowe’s trippy, messy psychological thriller is best described as an admirable failure. He plays David Aames, a rich and powerful publisher whose romantic cruelty has disastrous results when a former paramour (an unhinged Cameron Diaz) drives their car off a bridge. Post-accident Ames is disfigured and plagued by visions that question the nature of his reality. Unsurprisingly, Cruise is able to play up Aames’s narcissistic and exacting qualities, but as the film ventures into more confusing, less emotionally well-thought out territory, he loses hold of the character.

23. Taps (1981)

Taps was only Tom Cruise’s second performance on the big screen , but it already shows the nascent version of a character type he’d later perfect: a man who’s determined to the point of psychosis. Cruise plays Cadet Captain David Shawn, a rigid young man whose youthful aggression becomes sinister when his fellow military students decide to take over their school in hopes of saving it from closing. He proves to be the perfect foil for the conflicted Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer (Sean Penn) and more thoughtful lead Cadet Major Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton). Cruise’s performance lacks the fine-tuning he’d demonstrate down the line, but it is an impressive early turn that nearly dominates the entire film and proves his star presence.

22. Jack Reacher (2012)

What makes a truly good action film? I’m talking about the bare-bones qualities of an action film that forgoes the fantasy or horror gleam that many modern examples have these days. I’ve thought about this question a lot, especially while watching Tom Cruise in his first appearance as the titular Jack Reacher, a bruising U.S. Army military police corps officer with no fixed address. Cruise is notably completely wrong if you’re looking for a direct adaptation of the Lee Childs hero. His fights are more brutal and occur in closer range. His humor veers from dry to downright caustic. He’s a bit darker-edged than the typical lead Cruise tends to adopt. And while there are moments when Cruise doesn’t quite nail the tone — or the blunt, vaguely offensive jokes (like the clip above demonstrates) — this performance still holds many delights.

21. American Made (2017)

American Made is a confused film, unsure whether it wants to be a glossy Hollywood anti-hero romp or a grimy 1970s crime flick. Tom Cruise’s leading performance as Barry Seal — a perpetually sweat-drenched hot-shot TWA pilot turned gun/drug runner for the American government and narcotics smuggler for the Medellín cartel — reflects that confusion. It isn’t a wholly terrible performance. Cruise is engaging, carrying a blend of cocksure bravado and befuddlement at the sheer ridiculousness of the situations he finds himself in. American Made feels like an throwback to Cruise’s well-worn playbook; it’s particularly in line with his work in Top Gun. It’s mostly fun, though Cruise does lose points for trying (and failing) to pull off a Baton Rouge accent that can be best described as Generic Southern Accent That Doesn’t Really Exist™.

20. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

Ghost Protocol sees the MI franchise eschew even the semblance of reality. It’s full-on cartoonish, bombastic action, and it’s clear Cruise is having a ball with the increasingly inventive dilemmas his superspy is forced into. Ethan Hunt is a bit more world-weary here than he’s been before (can you blame him?), but the film never gets dour thanks to Cruise’s great chemistry with castmates Simon Pegg and Paula Patton.

19. Tropic Thunder (2008)

To survive at Cruise’s level of stardom, you have to understand how the business works. That veteran insider knowledge goes to great use in his small but uproarious turn in Tropic Thunder. He’s nearly unrecognizable as studio exec Les Grossman, who makes venomous, expletive-laden insults an art form. But Cruise’s approach to the character is the chilling undercurrent he lends Grossman. Just look at the dead-eyed glare he gives Matthew McConaughey when he calmly explains how to use an actor’s death to his own advantage. It’s rare but refreshing to see Cruise cut loose and be a little less concerned about endearing himself to the audience.

18. Oblivion (2013)

At first blush, Oblivion looks to embody some of the more noxious issues that mark a lot of recent Cruise work: a sterile action film with a science-fiction sheen; thin emotional through lines; Cruise paired with actresses notably younger than he is . Thankfully, Oblivion proves to be a fascinating, if uneven, study on the nature of loss, much of which is thanks to Cruise’s turn as a futuristic repairman in Earth’s devastated future — a role that gives him the opportunity to stretch a bit more than he’s had to lately.

17. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Edge of Tomorrow adds new wrinkles to the typically hypercompetent military figure he’s played elsewhere. This time he’s an official with no combat training thrust into a messy war with an alien species — and he dies nearly immediately when he hits the battlefield. He ends up reliving his final day again and again, dying in creative ways each time. In truth, the movie’s true badass is a curt Emily Blunt as Sergeant Rita Vrataski, who whips him into shape, creating a fun tension between the two. But it’s exhilarating to watch Cruise lean into the physical humor and meld together the various personae that have come to define his career as a leading man.

16. A Few Good Men (1992)

Legal dramas — particularly those written by the likes of Aaron Sorkin — can be tricky pursuits for actors, requiring a verbal dexterity that can easily overpower them. But Cruise is excellent here, conveying an ease and gravitas as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, who must work a thorny case when a Marine is murdered and a cover-up ensues. Cruise more than holds his own against the bluster of Jack Nicholson, an actor who can easily dominate whatever scene he’s in. But by the end of the film Cruise has a confidence and steadfast demeanor that proves to be a fascinating, subtle transformation.

15. The Color of Money (1986)

In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio , when discussing this Martin Scorsese–helmed sequel to The Hustler, Cruise described co-star Paul Newman as an idol. It’s clear here that Cruise is learning from Newman’s trademark ease and depth as an actor, rising to the challenge the movie asks of him. Cruise has played plenty of young, talented hot shots early in his career, but his work as Vincent Lauria is particularly noteworthy for the exuberance he carries, and how wonderfully he plays off the weary Newman.

14. Risky Business (1983)

In her excellent essay collection This Is Running for Your Life, Michelle Orange wrote, “True movie stars are born twice.” She’s right. There is, of course, the first story of how their stardom happened. The second birth is when they do something fans can’t forget, moments that became singed into the cultural consciousness. Cruise has produced a handful of them, but one of the most important happens here , when he dances to “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Bob Seger. Risky Business helped launch Cruise’s stardom, and it’s no wonder why.

13. Jerry Maguire (1996)

Tom Cruise has not appeared in many romantic comedies, and for good reason. Not many modern rom-coms could play toward his strengths — that practiced allure, the charming opportunism behind his easy-but-calculated smile, and the distinct impression that he’s holding something back. All of these qualities are used to great effect in this Cameron Crowe rom-com/sports drama, which gives Cruise some of his most iconic lines. But most importantly, it gives him a venue to chart a fascinating progression from a self-obsessed sports manager with shadings of a classic fuckboy to a man who reckons sincerely with his more loathsome instincts.

12. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

The third installment of what’s now Cruise’s signature franchise sees Ethan Hunt retired from fieldwork, training new recruits, and eventually squaring off with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who relishes and dominates every scene he’s in. The story line involving Michelle Monaghan as Hunt’s kept-in-the-dark fiancée has some well-worn beats, but Cruise is still an absolute pleasure to watch. The film’s otherwise excellent team dynamics allow him to expand his repertoire within the franchise, showing off some wry humor and even a surprising tenderness opposite Keri Russell.

11. Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

During its short time thus far in theaters, Mission:Impossible — Fallout has proven to be an action master class, marrying ridiculous plot turns with astounding set pieces. Cruise matches the bravura of the film around him with gusto. He throws himself headlong into his outrageous stunts — one of which led to an injury, which brings up a host of questions about how his career can continue in this manner. But Cruise is a blast to watch as he navigates confusion and double crosses, his performance dented only by the requirement of traditional romance (although his scenes with Michelle Monaghan bristle with an intriguing awkwardness). He shares the glory here with some great supporting cast, most notably Henry Cavill’s surprisingly effective turn as a bruiser with slippery loyalty and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa, the gimlet-eyed agent turned quasi–love interest.

10. Rain Man (1988)

While Cruise is obviously adept at providing the presence and physical dexterity action films require, his skills as an actor really shine through in drama films of this caliber. Rain Man gives Cruise the chance to stretch his abilities without resting on his typical charms. The entire film depends on his ability to capably communicate his character’s tricky arc: Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, an unscrupulous and cunning yuppie who finds out that most of his estranged father’s estate is being given to an older brother he didn’t know about (Dustin Hoffman in an Oscar-winning role). As the two brothers travel across the country, Cruise delivers a genuinely touching portrayal of a man shedding his abrasive, self-centered nature to become a protective, tenderhearted brother. He has rarely felt so vulnerable onscreen.

9. Top Gun (1986)

Maverick is the quintessential cocksure, determined, highly skilled leading character that Cruise has spent a career perfecting. For many people, Top Gun is synonymous with the actor — it’s the first image they think of when they think of Tom Cruise. And while the film, directed by Tony Scott, exemplifies some of the worst aspects of Reagan-era America, Cruise himself isn’t dragged down by this one bit. It’s easy to see why this performance has left such an impact on the pop-culture imagination. His physical bravado, confidence, and joyfulness cast a spell.

8. Mission: Impossible (1996)

It’s easy to believe that Tom Cruise The Action Star has always been with us. But Mission: Impossible is when he became the real-life action figure we know him as today. And what a doozy it is. Helmed by Brian de Palma, in the film Cruise effortlessly toggles between espionage-thriller mood and impactful physicality. The movie perfectly demonstrates how smoothly Cruise can shift between tones when he needs to — just look at the infamous Pentagon break-in sequence, where he blends sweaty anxiety with light humor and, on top of all that, the action-movie tension needed to make it all work.

7. Minority Report (2002)

Minority Report is a sleek, absorbing science-fiction yarn that manages to turn a Philip K. Dick story into an expressive blockbuster action film. But Tom Cruise’s performance as John Anderton, an on-the-run detective in a futuristic world in which people can be arrested for crimes before they’ve even committed them, pushes the dark social commentary and exhilarating nature of the story to new heights. As Anderton, Cruise marries the best of his genre-film talents into one impressively gripping performance. There’s a haunted quality to his Anderton, the kind of man who carries his past wounds with him. Cruise proves to be extremely potent as a neo-noir lead.

6. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

This adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic (played by Cruise) is an emotional gauntlet for the actor — and it requires a dramatic physical transformation too. I’ve lamented Cruise’s work in period pieces, but he works well in this film’s ’60s and ’70s settings. One of Cruise’s specialties is to dissect the American myth, and he gets ample opportunity to do so here as he charts Kovic’s transformation from a fresh-faced soldier to an emotionally wounded, paralyzed, war-protesting vet. A mirror opposite of the more traditional military leads Cruise tends to play, his performance here is arresting, raw, and powerful.

5. War of the Worlds (2005)

Cruise is not exactly the first actor you’d expect to play an Everyman like Ray Ferrier, the longshoreman at the heart of Steven Spielberg’s 2005 sci-fi epic . But he brings gravity and heart to the central dynamic of the film — Ferrier’s desire not to be a failure as a father, and the all-consuming goal to protect his children from the alien havoc decimating the world. It’s an excellent, absorbing, humane performance that sees Cruise’s typical mania soften into a heartwarming dedication to save his family.

4. Magnolia (1999)

Few modern actors understand the mask-like quality of celebrity better than Tom Cruise, who interrogates these ideas with aplomb in Magnolia. Has Cruise ever been more utterly disturbing or strangely entrancing than as self-help guru and living embodiment of toxic masculinity Frank T.J. Mackey? Cruise only plays a supporting role here, but he’s what the viewer is drawn to most; he embodies modern masculinity’s most noxious qualities. And when all that bravado is threatened by the mere mention of his family, the way Cruise communicates the damaged vulnerability lurking beneath the surface is a marvel.

3. Collateral (2004)

In a Black Book interview, director Mary Harron shared that actor Christian Bale found inspiration for American Psycho ’s obsessive serial killer Patrick Bateman in Tom Cruise. “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.” It’s for precisely this reason why Cruise never feels like a truly capable romantic lead: There’s something practiced, even unnatural about his charisma, like a mask being worn. Most directors miss out on this quality, but Michael Mann capitalized on it. Cruise delivers one of his most assured and complex performances as Vincent, a hit man who ropes in an unsuspecting cabdriver played by Jamie Foxx. Cruise’s charisma is finally used as a weapon, not a lure.

2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Dr. Bill Hartford is an unlikely part for Cruise. He’s humiliated, confused, and frequently out of his depth in Stanley Kubrick’s odd erotic drama Eyes Wide Shut. But it proves to be one of Cruise’s richest and most complex performances as he navigates a strange milieu of sexual desire. The tension between him and then-wife Nicole Kidman, playing his movie wife Alice Hartford, along with Cruise’s utter lack of an equilibrium make this as much about sexuality as it is about the trials and tribulations we endure to find any sense of happiness.

1. Interview With the Vampire (1994)

Lestat, the preening and egotistical creation by Gothic novelist Anne Rice, is the photo negative of a typical Tom Cruise role — at least that’s how he seems at first. He doesn’t run or channel manic energy or do stunt work; he saunters and stalks with the coolly focused energy of a wolf. He’s languid and frightening, lupine and menacing. But Lestat does share one trait that snakes its way through Cruise’s greatest work: bold narcissism. Interview With the Vampire allows Cruise to lean into that. It lets Cruise be something he’s rarely been — archly humorous, disturbingly erotic, truly dangerous. It’s wondrous watching him turn from sincere to brutal as he plays off the cheerfully cruel Kirsten Dunst and the solemn Brad Pitt.

More importantly, this is one of the rare performances in which Cruise utterly cuts loose and experiments beyond the usual archetypes he’s grown accustomed to. It isn’t a perfect performance — it’s better than that. Beguiling and malevolently anti-charismatic, Cruise has never been more fun to watch.

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Tom Cruise

Highest Rated: 97% Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Lowest Rated: 9% Cocktail (1988)

Birthday: Jul 3, 1962

Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA

Tom Cruise rose quickly to become one of the best-known American actors in the world. Born in Syracuse, New York, he moved around throughout his childhood, including a period in Canada. After graduating from high school in New Jersey, he moved first to New York and then to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He made his film debut in the Brooke Shields vehicle "Endless Love" (1981). His next role as an aggressive military cadet opposite Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn in "Taps" (1981) caught people's attention. He joined another group of young stars, including Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe, in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of the S.E. Hinton novel "The Outsiders" (1983). His starring role as schoolboy-turned-pimp Joel in "Risky Business" broke him as one of Hollywood's newest celebrities. The long shoot schedule of Ridley Scott's fantasy epic "Legend" (1985) briefly took him out of the public eye, but he bounced back with one of the iconic roles of the 1980s. Playing Navy fighter pilot Maverick in Tony Scott's "Top Gun" (1986) turned Cruise into a superstar. He began branching into roles with more heft at the same time when he joined Paul Newman for "The Color of Money" (1986). He continued in that vein during the next several years, working with high profile directors and co-stars in prestige projects. He partnered with Dustin Hoffman for "Rain Man" (1988), Oliver Stone for "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), and Jack Nicholson for "A Few Good Men" (1993), the first two of which were Oscar-winners for Best Picture. The actor picked up his first Academy Award nomination for "Born on the Fourth of July." While it didn't garner the same level of critical acclaim, his role as Anne Rice's vampire Lestat opposite a young Brad Pitt in "Interview with a Vampire" (1994) became as well-remembered as any of the actor's roles. His 11-year marriage to Nicole Kidman saw the couple partner on three films including Ron Howard's "Far and Away" (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999). By the '90s, he had his pick of roles and began mixing in big-budget populist fare like "Mission: Impossible" (1996), based on the '60s television show of the same name. His role as secret agent Ethan Hunt proved popular enough for a series of sequels that would extend for more than two decades. Cruise also notched a second Oscar nomination for his role as a sports agent gaining a conscious in Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" (1996). He worked with another rising filmmaker when he played motivational speaker Frank Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" (1999), a role that earned him another Academy Award nomination. After the turn of the century, Cruise bounced between effects-heavy fare like "Minority Report" (2002) and "War of the Worlds" (2005) to dramas such as "Lions for Lambs" (2007) with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. He also proved himself willing to puncture his own inflated image, with comedic cameos in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002) and "Tropic Thunder" (2008), and his musical turn in "Rock of Ages" (2012). He similarly adopted a self-effacing posture when fans began noticing that there was a scene of the actor running in nearly all his films. Over the years, he found himself a magnet for the tabloids thanks to his close ties to the Church of Scientology and his celebrity marriages to Kidman and Katie Holmes. Cruise added another action franchise to his resume when he jumped into the role of Lee Child's literary tough guy "Jack Reacher" (2012). He would reprise the role in "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016). After starring in the big-budget reboot of "The Mummy" (2017) and the drama "American Made" (2017), he returned to the role that once cemented his superstar status. More than 20 years after the original, Cruise climbed back into the cockpit to revive Maverick for a sequel to his 1986 hit "Top Gun: Maverick" (2020).

Highest rated movies

Filmography.

The 10 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

He can be our wingman any time..

Matt Fowler Avatar

Ever since exploding onto the scene in the 1980s, Tom Cruise has remained one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. His personal life was once constant tabloid fodder, but in theaters Cruise always managed to keep us entertained. Whether he's shooting down Russian MIGs, running from or toward danger, or just being handsome and charming, Cruise rarely disappoints.

We figured the time had come to take a look at Cruise's prolific career and pick out his best films. From early efforts like Rain Man to '90s classics like A Few Good Men to more recent favorites such as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Edge of Tomorrow, these are the movies any self-respecting Tom Cruise fan needs to see.

In the interest of keeping this Tom Cruise Top 10 lean and mean we've decided to only pick the best film from franchise s - the one that best represents Cruise's strengths as an actor.

Top 10 Tom Cruise Movies

cruise tom movies

10. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: Hulu, Max

One of Tom Cruise's best action movies -- with a name that got overtaken by the tagline, so that the home/digital release has this as Live. Die. Repeat.: Edge of Tomorrow -- takes the classic Cruise formula of "a***hole who gets humbled and redeemed" and cranked it up to 11, having his cowardly Major William Cage die countless deaths as he Groundhog Day's his way through a last-ditch battle against an alien invasion. With the help of a soldier who previously had his reset-the-day power, played by Emily Blunt, Cage transforms from meek to mighty, becoming a super solider who can not only act like a one man army but also crack the mystery of the alien horde's one weakness. Edge of Tomorrow, from director Doug Limon, is a thrilling, creative, and funny take on the time loop genre, with Cruise at his best.

Read our review of Edge of Tomorrow .

9. Minority Report (2002)

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: Paramount+

Philip K. Dick was nothing if not a prolific science fiction writer. It's no surprise that so many of his short stories and novels have been fodder for movie adaptations over the years. But Minority Report stands out as one of the few that stuck close to the source material. Even the title stayed the same, which is more than we can say for films like Total Recall and Blade Runner.

In this futuristic sci-fi tale, Cruise plays John Anderton, the chief of a new police division called Precrime. Using a trio of psychically-inclined mutants called Precogs, Precrime is able to arrest criminals before they commit crimes. But when Anderton finds his name is next on the list, he's forced to go rogue and attempt to clear his name before he winds up committing murder.

It's a great premise that allowed for plenty of suspenseful action and scenes of Cruise running, which was becoming more and more his shtick by that point. The biggest change Minority Report made to the source material was in giving viewers a more youthful, attractive protagonist, and we didn't hear anyone complaining about that particular edit. Under Steven Spielberg's direction, Minority Report offered a thoughtful, eye-catching look at the future that was probably more precog than we'd like to believe.

8. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: Prime Video, Paramount+

It's pretty rare for a franchise to maintain its quality by the time it reaches the fourth installment. Heck, a lot of franchises fall apart once the first sequel hits and it becomes a franchise in the first place. T he Mission: Impossible series is the rare exception. Most fans would agree that the third and fourth films are the best in the series. We're inclined to put the fourth on top, but there's certainly a case to be made for M:I III as well.

Ghost Protocol upped the ante by putting Cruise's Ethan Hunt and his fellow IMF agents on the wrong side of the law. There was a new sense of desperation to their mission as they worked both to save the day and clear their names in the wake of a terrorist attack on the Kremlin. Ghost Protocol boats some of the finest action sequences in the history of the franchise, including Hunt's death-defying climb up a skyscraper in Dubai. Cruise has a habit of throwing himself into his action roles and performing many of his own stunts. That devotion/insanity really elevated Ghost Protocol. The movie also proved that director Brad Bird has a knack for live-action films as well as animated ones. It's little wonder he's on just about everyone's short list to direct a Star Wars movie.

Read our review of Mission: Impossible .

7. Magnolia (1999)

cruise tom movies

It's rare to see a Tom Cruise movie where the actor isn't front and center the entire time. But Cruise tried something a little different when he joined the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 drama Magnolia . Here, Cruise was one of nine main characters whose stories intertwined in the sort of complex narrative Anderson does so well. Cruise played Frank T.J. Mackey, a handsome but slightly sleazy pitchman for an infomercial about getting laid. It was a much more successful foray into the realm of sex and perversion than Cruise's previous role in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

Between the ensemble cast and much-maligned three-hour run-time, Magnolia struggled to find an audience at theaters. But as with pretty much every P.T. Anderson film, it had no trouble with critics. In terms of Cruise's role specifically, many likened it to the revitalizing change of pace John Travolta found when he starred in Pulp Fiction. Every so often we need a reminder that Cruise can break the mold, and Magnolia certainly proved that much.

6. Collateral (2004)

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: Paramount+, Hoopla

Cruise has pretty much earned his doctorate in playing attractive, charming leading men at this point. We imagine sometimes even the most hardcore Cruise fans want to see the actor break the mold and play the bad guy for a change. Collateral wasn't the first time Cruise switched to the dark side, but it is his most memorable effort.

That's not to say the usual Cruise charm wasn't still dialed up to 11 for this movie. Collateral paired Cruise with Jamie Foxx. The latter played, Max, a humble LA cab driver with dreams of moving up in the world. The former played, Vincent, a dapper but ruthless hitman who enlisted the reluctant Max as his driver for a busy night of executions. Collateral showcased director Michael Mann's same strong visual style and love for the LA cityscape that was so apparent in Heat two decades earlier. And Cruise and Foxx enjoyed an intense dynamic as the night wore on and Max's situation became increasingly desperate. Maybe Cruise didn't veer as far from his usual self as he could have in this role, but it was still fun to see his dangerous, unhinged side slip through.

5. Rain Man (1988)

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: Paramount+, MGM+, Fubo

Throughout the '80s, Cruise had developed a reputation for starring in comedies and action films, always playing similar shades of the same charming, attractive, capable leading man. But in 1989, Rain Man came along and finally established that Cruise had potential as a dramatic actor too.

Cruise's character was actually a pretty big jerk in the early scenes of this movie. Here, Cruise played Charlie Babbitt, a flashy car dealer who mistreats just about everybody in his life. But after discovering the autistic brother he never knew (played by Dustin Hoffman in perhaps his most iconic performance), Charlie begins a journey of personal growth and maturation. Though Charlie initially tries to exploit his brother's superhuman memory and math skills for profit, he grows to care deeply for Raymond. From there, the movie explores the ethical dilemma of Raymond's situation. Is it better for Charlie to care for his brother and provide him with a real family, or return him to the mental institution where he's lived much of his adult life?

Hoffman was perhaps the more visible actor in this project, but it was really Charlie's story in the end. Cruise brought just the right blend of charm, arrogance, and emotional range to the plate, and he nailed the role.

4. A Few Good Men (1992)

cruise tom movies

Where to Watch: AMC+

Like a number of Tom Cruise movies, A Few Good Men has that one iconic scene that everybody knows, even if they've never actually watched the entire thing. In this case it's the climactic courtroom showdown between Cruise and Jack Nicholson, where the latter insists, "You can't handle the truth!"

In this movie (which writer Aaron Sorkin adapted from his stage play), Cruise plays a hotshot J.A.G. attorney named Daniel Kaffee. Kaffee is paired with the overzealous investigator JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) to defend two Marines accused of murdering a fellow Corpsman, one who had apparently been prepared to blow the whistle on an international incident at Guantanamo Bay. Pulling the strings of the increasingly dark conspiracy behind the killing is the virulent Colonel Nathan Jessup (Nicholson).

Elements of Cruise's usual leading man persona were still in full force with this role. Kaffee was very much the arrogant young hotshot who cared more for closing cases than seeking real justice. But the complicated courtroom drama and the Odd Couple dynamic between Kaffee and Galloway in this movie allowed his character to grow and Cruise to flex his dramatic muscle.

3. Jerry Maguire (1996)

cruise tom movies

"Show me the money!"

"You had me at hello."

There certainly isn't a more quotable Tom Cruise movie than Jerry Maguire . In this slightly odd combination of romantic comedy and sports drama, Cruise plays the title character, a professional sports agent who suddenly develops a conscience about the often amoral practices of his industry. It's a move that's good for his self-esteem and bad for his career. But over the course of the movie, Maguire finds new hope thanks to a single mother he falls in love with (Renee Zellweger) and an NFL star (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who may hold the key to putting his career back on track.

Cruise didn't veer that far from the norm in this role, but Jerry Maguire was a movie that suited his on-screen charisma and handsome looks well. The movie was arguably the peak of Gooding Jr's career, netting him an Oscar win and paving the way for such choice fare as Snow Dogs and Daddy Day Care.

2. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

cruise tom movies

Oliver Stone has made a number of questionable directing choices in recent years, but his career was at its height when he filmed his trilogy of films focused on the Vietnam War. Born on the Fourth of July is the second entry in this series, following 1986's Platoon and preceding 1993's Heaven & Earth. In this project, Cruise was tapped to play Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran whose autobiography served as the basis for the script. The movie traces Kovic's painful transition from idealistic young American to embattled soldier to wheelchair-bound anti-war activist.

More than any other movie in the '80s, this was the project that truly established Cruise's potential as an actor. Early on, Kovic is exactly the sort of handsome, charming character we expect from Cruise. But as Kovic becomes increasingly scarred by his experiences (physically and psychologically), we see Cruise tap into his darker side and present a much more tortured protagonist. Even 25 years later, this stands as one of his finest performances. The only reason he didn't walk home with an Oscar that year was because he was up against the juggernaut that is Daniel Day-Lewis.

1. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

cruise tom movies

In a previous incarnation of this list, 1986's Top Gun was in the number one spot. Well, in keeping with our rule of only including one movie from a franchise on the list -- the best entry from that franchise -- the top spot goes to Maverick now. There might be a touch of "recency bias" here, sure (though the list has films from all eras), Top Gun: Maverick is miraculous decades-later sequel that not only bests the original but thanks to its incredible legs in theaters wound up being Tom Cruise's top-grossing movie of all time, earning 1.5 billion worldwide. Everything has evolved here, from story to stunts to Cruise's acting chops. Maverick is emotional, entertaining, and stands as the perfect encapsulation of Cruise's career.

Read our review of Top Gun: Maverick .

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN .

In This Article

A Few Good Men

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A movie so bad, it was the first and last entry in Universal’s planned monster movie cinematic universe.

Rock of Ages

Performance, Rock concert, Concert, Performing arts, Event, Stage, Public event, Music venue, Metal, Musician,

Amazon Hulu

In this extremely unfortunate musical about ‘80s hair metal, Tom Cruise plays a karaoke version of a rock and roll god named Stacee Jaxx.

Fun, Adaptation, Event, Night, Drink, Smile,

Amazon Tubi

Released the same year as Risky Business , Tom Cruise plays the hunk in this high school sex comedy that time forgot. Get it? They’re "losin’ it"—as in their virginity.

Endless Love

Barechested, Abdomen, Chest, Muscle, Thigh, Leg, Fun, Summer, Trunk, Arm,

In his first on-screen appearance, Tom Cruise is some random shirtless kid in Daisy Dukes bragging about being a pyromaniac.

Lions for Lambs

White-collar worker, Suit, Photography, Businessperson, Employment, Window, Job,

Nearly a decade before Trump coined the term “Fake News,” Tom Cruise plays a morally corrupt senator making a presidential bid by planting a story through a journalist played by Meryl Streep. In the end, this pretentious and convoluted plot says very little about its moving parts.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Hand, Arm, Technology, Finger, Room, Gesture, Art, Media, Vacation, Interior design,

Though the tagline warns to never go back, Cruise unfortunately did go back to play the titular Jack Reacher, in a sequel that plays out like dumb, less tech-savvy Mission: Impossible.

Romance, Human, Interaction, Organism, Love, Adaptation, Photography, Scene, Movie, Cg artwork,

Tom Cruise and Mia Sara try to protect the last of the unicorns from Tim Curry, who is some sort of awesome devil muppet. It’s also the only straight-up fantasy movie Cruise has ever done—and it’s pretty obvious why.

Far and Away

Romance, Interaction, Forehead, Love, Fun, Photography, Gesture, Scene,

Seven years before they co-starred in Eyes Wide Shut (and two years after their wedding), Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman played star-crossed lovers and Irish immigrants trying to make it in America.

Digital compositing, Fictional character, Cg artwork, Adventure game,

In this post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Cruise is a drone repairman who’s also into American sports. When he finds a group of survivors (led by Morgan Freeman), he begins to question the nature of his entire reality. As always, Cruise holds down what is otherwise a pretty clunky plot.

Soldier, Army, Military, Motor vehicle, Vehicle, Mode of transport, Troop, Off-road vehicle, Military organization, Military uniform,

YouTube Pluto TV

Tom Cruise plays a German officer with an American accent who leads a group of German soldiers with British accents in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler during WWII. It’s based on an actual military plot that could have entered some intriguing territory, had it not settled for being average historical escapism.

Knight and Day

Gun, Firearm, Shooter game, Airsoft gun, Airsoft, Trigger, Movie, Games, Recreation, Shooting,

In this action comedy, Cruise is once again a secret agent who accidentally ropes Cameron Diaz into an international conspiracy. For all his macho spy stuff, Cruise proves in Knight and Day that he can take this hero stuff lightly too.

Mission: Impossible II

Blue, Water, Light, Fun, Photography, Liquid bubble, Glass,

Paramount+ Netflix

The worst of Cruise’s six Mission: Impossible movies, this one sees Ethan Hunt trying to stop a deadly weaponized virus that’s going to be released by terrorists. Unfortunately, director John Woo’s style didn’t quite fit with the international espionage of this franchise.

Jack Reacher

Movie,

In his first of two movies playing the titular former military police-officer-turned-vigilante-drifter, Cruise’s character tries to stop a military sniper on a killing spree. Of course, Cruise also did all his own driving stunts.

The Outsiders

Social group, People, Youth, Friendship, Fun, Team, Photography, Leisure, Jeans, Family,

Coming down from the golden phase of his career, Francis Ford Coppola assembled an incredible upcoming cast for The Outsiders that included Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane.

Vehicle, Car, Fictional character, Family car, City car,

In his second-ever onscreen role, Cruise plays David Shawn, one of the military cadets who attempt to protect their academy from being torn down for local condo developers. Pretty low stakes as far as military dramas go.

War of the Worlds

Human, Jacket, Outerwear, Beard, Facial hair, Leather, Fictional character,

In this Steven Spielberg re-imagining of the H.G. Wells novel, Cruise plays a father attempting to keep his children safe throughout an alien invasion. Though it has all the highlights of a Spielbergian sci-fi, it wasn’t quite enough to cause riots like Orson Welles’s infamous radio broadcast.

The Last Samurai

Recreation, Musical instrument, Team,

Amazon Netflix

A white savior complex brings down what is otherwise a well-acted period period piece about an American Civil War veteran sent to train a 19th century Japanese army.

Mission: Impossible III

Romance, Interaction, Love, Human, Photography, Gesture, Scene, Happy, Flash photography, Dance,

Before he was put in charge of both Star Wars and Star Trek , J.J. Abrams’s big Hollywood blockbuster movie directorial debut was at the helm of Mission: Impossible III , which saw a retired Ethan Hunt brought back in the game to stop an excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Vanilla Sky

Barechested, Chest, Muscle, Human, Arm, Human body, Neck, Flesh, Photography, Trunk,

Cruise stars in this philosophical thriller as a man haunted by the specter of a former flame after becoming disfigured in a car crash. (Fun fact: Penelope Cruz plays the same character in this remake of her Spanish film, Abre los Ojos .)

Days of Thunder

Vehicle, Car, Tire, Automotive wheel system, Motorsport, Automotive tire, Compact car, Team, City car,

NASCAR moved into the mainstream thanks to this movie in which Cruise plays a promising driver hoping to making it in the big leagues.

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  • Tom Cruise has done every type of movie you can think of over his nearly 40-year career.
  • Here we rank every one from worst to best.
  • See where his latest, "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One," ranks in his career filmography.

43. "Rock of Ages" (2012)

cruise tom movies

Somehow Cruise got roped into being part of this feature-film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. But leave it to him to lay it all out there.

Though the movie is unwatchable, Cruise provides its only memorable moments when his rock-star character belts out classic songs like "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Wanted Dead or Alive."

42. "Endless Love" (1981)

cruise tom movies

Cruise's first appearance in a movie is this 1980s teen romance drama starring Brooke Shields that's best known for giving us the Diana Ross/Lionel Richie title song.

Cruise gets a brief bit of screen time as one of the male lead's friends. It's quite forgettable, but it's still better than "Rock of Ages."

41. "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016)

cruise tom movies

Between "Mission: Impossible" movies, Cruise tried to kick off another action franchise by bringing the main character of the Lee Child novel series to the big screen.

Though the first movie just got over the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office, the performance (or lack thereof) by the sequel indicated no one wanted any more Mr. Reacher. It barely made $162 million worldwide.

40. "The Mummy" (2017)

cruise tom movies

Cruise was all set to be the Robert Downey Jr. of Universal's Dark Universe with the release of this movie and promises of more creature pictures to come. But playing a soldier of fortune who tries to stop an ancient Egyptian princess from taking over the world didn't grab audiences. It was another franchise not meant to be.

39. "Losin' It" (1983)

cruise tom movies

Still getting his legs under him in the movie biz, Cruise signed onto this teen comedy in which he's one of four friends who go on a hard-partying road trip to Tijuana in hopes of losing their virginity. Yes, even Cruise couldn't hide from the teen-sex-comedy genre when he started his career.

38. "Mission: Impossible II" (2000)

cruise tom movies

Man, John Woo deserved better than this. The legendary Hong Kong director took over the "Mission: Impossible" reins after Brian De Palma kicked things off with the first movie, but Woo didn't find the same success.

"Mission: Impossible II" did go on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of 2000, with over $546 million earned worldwide, but with its weak plot and character development, it has not aged anywhere near as well as the first movie (or the other movies in the franchise).

37. "Jack Reacher" (2012)

cruise tom movies

Though "Jack Reacher" was the first time Cruise worked with his longtime "Mission: Impossible" director, Christopher McQuarrie, and it features the legendary director Werner Herzog as the movie's villain, Cruise as Jack Reacher is a seen-it-before character who isn't exciting.

36. "Oblivion" (2013)

cruise tom movies

Here, Cruise attempted to go the sci-fi route in hopes of having a breakthrough "Minority Report"-like experience for the audience. But the story was nowhere as sharp, and its postapocalyptic vibe left us all feeling uninterested.

35. "Lions for Lambs" (2007)

cruise tom movies

Marking the first movie released by United Artists after Cruise and his producing partner Paula Wagner took over (the two left UA after a couple of years) was "Lions for Lambs," a tense drama set around the war in Afghanistan and directed by Robert Redford.

Cruise gave his all playing an agenda-pushing senator and has some strong scenes opposite Meryl Streep. But the movie is just dull.

34. "Far and Away" (1992)

cruise tom movies

Cruise and his wife at the time, Nicole Kidman, paired together in this 1890s-set epic directed by Ron Howard. The two play Irish immigrants seeking a fortune in America. Outside the lush photography, there isn't much to enjoy about this movie. And don't get me started on Cruise's awful Irish accent.

33. "Vanilla Sky" (2001)

cruise tom movies

At the tail end of Cruise's heartthrob phase, the director Cameron Crowe teamed with him again after their hugely successful collaboration on "Jerry Maguire" to make a very different love story.

Based on the Spanish movie "Open Your Eyes," Cruise plays a vain New York City media playboy who has a different outlook on life after being in a horrific car crash. Though Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Penélope Cruz (who also starred in "Open Your Eyes") all give top performances, Crowe goes too weird with the story, leaving viewers out in the void by the time the movie gets into the home stretch.

32. "American Made" (2017)

cruise tom movies

Mixing action and dark comedy in telling the real-life story of the drug runner Barry Seal seemed like a nice pivot for Cruise, but at the end of the day, the director Doug Liman's movie is just too glossy to be taken seriously. (Accent update: Cruise delivers a tolerable Southern drawl.)

31. "The Last Samurai" (2003)

cruise tom movies

Cruise stars as an American soldier in 19th-century Japan who embraces the samurai culture. The movie went on to receive four Oscar nominations, but it's the kind of title in which one viewing is enough.

And on a side note: Wow, would this movie get hammered on social media if it came out today.

30. "Valkyrie" (2008)

cruise tom movies

Another release from the time Cruise was calling the shots at UA, "Valkyrie" sees him playing one of the rogue Nazi officers who attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

(Accent update: Cruise — and basically most of the other Nazi officers — decided to not even bother with a German accent. Good choice; the audience didn't even notice [ holds back giggles ].)

29. "Cocktail" (1988)

cruise tom movies

It's one of the movies in Cruise's career that ride fully on his good looks. Honestly, this movie should have just been titled "Sex." Cruise plays a hot New York City bartender who has dreams of making it big, and it's his hotness that's going to get him to the top. It's classic Hot Guy Cruise — who cares that the story is garbage.

28. "War of the Worlds" (2005)

cruise tom movies

Steven Spielberg teamed up with Cruise after "Minority Report" for this blockbuster remake of the classic sci-fi movie. Though it made a lot of money, it was dark in tone — maybe a little too dark. Be honest: Have you wanted to see this movie again?

27. "Knight and Day" (2010)

cruise tom movies

This is one of those movies that don't get enough credit. The director James Mangold cleverly takes all the common action-hero traits and has Cruise make fun of them. You might want to give this one another viewing.

26. "Taps" (1981)

cruise tom movies

Unlike in "Endless Love," Cruise really capitalized on this small role. As a military cadet who takes his responsibilities way too seriously, Cruise is a standout in the movie and showed audiences (and Hollywood executives) that he had leading-man potential.

25. "Mission: Impossible III" (2006)

cruise tom movies

J.J. Abrams takes over the franchise for this one and does an impressive job. It also helps that you have the talents of Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the villain. It's better than "Mission: Impossible II," so we're going in the right direction.

24. "The Outsiders" (1983)

cruise tom movies

Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of the classic novel brought all the biggest names from young Hollywood together, and Cruise was right there in the mix. With Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe, the movie is pretty heavy-handed with the drama, but it's fun to watch all these amazing talents on the screen together.

23. "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" (2015)

cruise tom movies

Rebounding from the so-so performance of "Jack Reacher," McQuarrie jumps on the "Mission: Impossible" franchise and ups the action stakes. Yep, this is the one where Cruise hangs from the side of a giant plane taking off. The movie also got an extra jolt with the inclusion of Rebecca Ferguson in the supporting cast.

22. "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" (2018)

cruise tom movies

This "Mission: Impossible" could go down as one of the best action movies ever — its stunts and action sequences are that amazing. This time, McQuarrie gives us a deeper look at what makes Ethan Hunt tick and the values he lives by. But it's really the action that stays with you.

21. "Minority Report" (2002)

cruise tom movies

With its breakthroughs in CGI and tech, the first teaming of Spielberg and Cruise lived up to the hype. This movie was so advanced in its execution and what it showcased that it had a "Jurassic Park"-style ripple effect, in the sense that it has influenced countless action and sci-fi movies since.

20. "Tropic Thunder" (2008)

cruise tom movies

Though Cruise doesn't have a lot of screen time, his presence in this movie cannot be ignored. Playing a despicable movie executive named Les Grossman, he brings that patented intensity to a role that for most actors would have been a mail-it-in cameo role. In Cruise's hands, it's one of the best comedic performances of the early 2000s.

19. "All the Right Moves" (1983)

cruise tom movies

Two months after Cruise hit theaters with his first lead movie, "Risky Business," he was back again with this very different movie about a Pennsylvania high-school football player who clashes with his coach.

"Risky Business" showed that Cruise had no problem being the face of a movie, but "All the Right Moves" proved he could be more than the charming lead with good looks. This one showed he could be a serious actor.

18. "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" (2011)

cruise tom movies

It's the movie that breathed life back into the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. It came five years after "Mission: Impossible III," and in that time Cruise struggled with an image problem and a string of underperforming movies. He had a lot to prove with this one. And with the casting of Jeremy Renner, Cruise probably sensed he could lose his beloved franchise if the movie didn't work.

However, Brad Bird's direction and Cruise's disregard for common sense — in this one he climbs the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai — put him back on top, as the movie became a global hit.

17. "Top Gun" (1986)

cruise tom movies

Before "Days of Thunder," Cruise and Tony Scott teamed up for what would become one of the actor's most iconic roles: the fighter pilot Maverick. What Cruise doesn't pull off acting-wise he makes up for with brooding looks and shirtless volleyball skills.

16. "The Firm" (1993)

cruise tom movies

In "The Firm," based on the best-selling John Grisham novel, Cruise gives a fantastic performance as a hotshot lawyer who signs on with one of the most prestigious US law firms only to find it has quite a dark side. The era of "Tom Cruise runs" really launched with this movie.

15. "Legend" (1985)

cruise tom movies

Ridley Scott's beautiful fantasy movie is still a marvel of moviemaking. The practical effects and production design put into this movie, made back when CGI was scarce, are a treasure. And at the center is a fresh-faced Cruise who tries to get his girl back from the villain who gave me the most nightmares as a kid, Darkness (played perfectly by Tim Curry).

14. "Collateral" (2004)

cruise tom movies

We really don't talk enough about this one enough. Michael Mann's slow-burn crime movie stars Cruise as a hitman who forces a cab driver (Jamie Foxx) to drive him around Los Angeles as he goes on his "jobs." The acting by both Cruise and Foxx in this movie is some of their best work.

13. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023)

cruise tom movies

There are many things to love about the "Mission: Impossible" franchise: Its James Bond-like gadgets. Cruise's disregard for his life and safety when it comes to pulling off amazing stunts . But the biggest thing to love is that the films just seem to get better and better.

The first "M:I," directed by Brian De Palma, set the bar very high. However, since McQuarrie took the reins in 2015 with "Rogue Nation," the franchise has gotten a jolt in the arm. It seems to always outdo itself, and "Dead Reckoning" makes good on that promise.

The high stakes, the timely villain being AI, and, of course, Tom Cruise in the middle of some amazing thrills makes this film one of the best in the franchise.

13. "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999)

cruise tom movies

Cruise and Kidman teamed up again, this time under the watch of Stanley Kubrick in what would be his final movie. Both actors are pushed to the limits as the movie explores a marriage at a crossroads. Though "Eyes Wide Shut" is not close to Kubrick's best work, Cruise and Kidman are riveting.

12. "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022)

cruise tom movies

Thirty-six years after playing Pete "Maverick" Mitchell he returns to the role in the rare legacy sequel that's better than the original movie.

Though Tony Scott's landmark "Top Gun" made Cruise a superstar and became an instant 1980s classic, the director Joseph Kosinski has elevated the story with more death-defying dogfight jet stunts and a more compelling story.

This time Maverick returns to the Top Gun school to be a teacher of the new hot-shot pilots. But he must deal with his own demons as one of the students is the son of his best friend, Goose, who died in his arms in the first movie.

Cruise delivers one of his best performances in years.

11. "Days of Thunder" (1990)

cruise tom movies

It's pretty much everything you would think would be in a Tony Scott movie: lots of fast cars and big egos. Cruise is in his glory in every scene playing the hot-shot Nascar driver Cole Trickle (and Kidman appears as his love interest).

10. "Risky Business" (1983)

cruise tom movies

It's the movie that made Cruise a star. The coming-of-age story doesn't shy away from its mature storyline, and Cruise delivers a playful performance but also shows sparks of his dramatic chops that he'll showcase in the decade to come.

9. "Mission: Impossible" (1996)

cruise tom movies

Boy have things changed since the first "Mission: Impossible." With De Palma at the helm, the movie had its action, but it was encased in a tense whodunit thriller. Since then the action has only gotten bigger (and the story, well, less of a concern), but Cruise has always been fantastic as Hunt.

The first movie is his best acting work of the franchise. (Accent update: Cruise delivers another Southern accent while disguised at the beginning of the movie — one of those classic face-rip-off disguises. It's brief but effective in the scene.)

8. "Interview with the Vampire" (1994)

cruise tom movies

Cruise gives one of his best performances as Lestat, a vampire from the 1700s who finds a lot of drama in his undead life once he recruits Louis (Brad Pitt). (Accent update: His little hint of a French accent to stay true to the character's portrayal in the classic Anne Rice book is perfectly subtle.)

7. "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014)

cruise tom movies

Whether you want to call it "Edge of Tomorrow" or "Live. Die. Repeat.," it's just a really great action movie. With Liman directing and McQuarrie as a screenwriter, Cruise is surrounded by people he trusts to make a risky project: a soldier who relives the same day. But the MVP of the movie is Emily Blunt, who delivers a performance that makes Cruise kick it up a few notches.

6. "Rain Man" (1988)

cruise tom movies

Always at his best when he's playing a character with major conflict, Cruise plays a guy always looking to capitalize on the angles until he's finally in a situation in which he has to be on the level: building a relationship with his autistic savant brother (Dustin Hoffman).

5. "Jerry Maguire" (1996)

cruise tom movies

Receiving a best-actor nomination for his performance as a slick sports agent whose life turns upside down after having a moment of clarity, Cruise was, thanks to this movie, at his height of stardom and power in Hollywood.

4. "A Few Good Men" (1992)

cruise tom movies

Rob Reiner's courtroom drama has Cruise going up against Jack Nicholson, and it's pure magic. Yes, there's the "can't handle the truth" scene, but for us, it starts earlier in the movie when the two characters meet for the first time.

Thanks to the incredible dialogue by Aaron Sorkin, both actors subtly trade off with each other, but it's the fire being held back that makes the ending when they are face-to-face again so memorable.

3. "Magnolia" (1999)

cruise tom movies

No matter what you think of Paul Thomas Anderson's epic look at family, love, and forgiveness, it's hard to dispute that it has the most powerful performance of Cruise's career.

Playing a pickup artist who uses his talents to build a public-speaking career, Cruise appears as we've never seen him before. Anderson and Cruise connected over dealing with the loss of their fathers and use that darkness to create the character of Frank T. J. Mackey.

2. "The Color of Money" (1986)

cruise tom movies

Paul Newman won only one Oscar in his iconic career, and it was for this movie. But you have to give a big assist to Cruise.

Playing the protégé to the pool player "Fast Eddie" Felson — the role Newman first played in 1961's "The Hustler" — Cruise is a cocky player, and you can never tell whether he's on the level with Felson. Cruise proved once again that he's more than just a pretty face.

1. "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989)

cruise tom movies

Cruise got an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the veteran and activist Ron Kovic, who was paralyzed fighting in Vietnam. Oliver Stone traces Kovic's journey from being a wide-eyed soldier thinking he's doing what's right for America to coming home from the war to find everything has changed. Including the way he views his own country.

Cruise has never been better as he delivers a tour de force performance that still gives us chills.

cruise tom movies

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Tom Cruise has made a tremendous impact on Hollywood and our screens since he burst onto the scene in the ‘80s. To celebrate his new film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One  hitting theaters, here is our ranking of the 21 best Tom Cruise movies.

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#20 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Rock of Ages (2012)

Tom Cruise puts his singing skills to the test as rock legend Stacee Jax in the jukebox musical movie Rock of Ages . Adapted from the Broadway show of the same name, the film uses the music of ‘80s rock artists to show the glamour and consequences of making it in Hollywood.

Watch the trailer:

Watch Rock of Ages on HBO Max .

#19 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Jack Reacher (2012)

There can never be too much action in a Tom Cruise movie, and Jack Reacher is no different. Tom Cruise stars as the title character Jack Reacher, a homicide investigator who looks into a case involving a trained military officer who shot five people.

Watch Jack Reacher on Hulu .

#18 Best Tom Cruise Movies: War of the Worlds (2005)

The apocalypse is here in Steven Spielberg’s high grossing sci-fi action film, War of the Worlds . Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a New York crane operator who, along with his two children ( Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin ), must escape an alien invasion threatening humanity.

“WAR OF THE WORLDS” was released on this day 16 years ago. pic.twitter.com/1PSEQ8XPV9 — Films to Films ?️? (@FilmstoFilms_) June 29, 2021

Watch War of the Worlds on Pluto TV .

#17 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tom Cruise looks almost unrecognizable in his Golden Globe-nominated role as studio executive Les Gorden in the action-comedy Tropic Thunder . The film follows a group of actors ( Ben Stiller , Jack Black , and Robert Downey Jr. ) who get dropped into a real war when filming a movie.

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder ? pic.twitter.com/uIBNItfb8o — MARC SPECTOR ? (@NTRdevote_Abhi) June 27, 2021

Watch Tropic Thunder on Amazon Prime .

#16 Best Tom Cruise Movies: The Outsiders (1983)

Tom Cruise plays minor character Steve Randle, a member of the Greasers in the memorable coming-of-age film, The Outsiders . Based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name, the movie follows the Greasers gang ( C. Thomas Howell , Matt Dillon , Ralph Macchio , Rob Lowe , Emilio Estevez , Patrick Swayze , and Tom Cruise ) who must face the death of a rival gang member.

‘The Outsiders’ (1983) Dir. by Francis Ford Coppola, novel by S.E. Hinton. The rivalry between two gangs when one member kills a member of the other. With C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane & many others pic.twitter.com/vF89e4CVZ4 — Classicman Film (@classicsman70) December 11, 2018

Watch The Outsiders on Amazon Prime .

#15 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Mission: Impossible (1996)

In 1996, Tom Cruise revived the hit multimedia franchise Mission: Impossible . The spy film follows U.S. agent Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise ), who must prove his innocence after his mentor ( Jon Voight ) is killed. Earning booming box office success, Mission: Impossible became the highest-grossing film of 1996, creating a whole movie series.

Watch Mission: Impossible on Paramount+ .

#14 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Tom Cruise sinks his teeth into the American gothic horror film, Interview with a Vampire . Inspired by Anne Rice ’ s 1976 novel, vampire Louis ( Brad Pitt ) recounts his life after being turned into a vampire by Lestat ( Tom Cruise ).

Because Tom Cruise always makes a better baddie than a hero. Always. So Interview with a Vampire is the only example I can think of where #TheFilmWasBetter pic.twitter.com/wc7tP2JAwf — EU citizen, leaving the UK, (@SarahLeeNotCake) June 15, 2019

Watch Interview with The Vampire on Tubi .

#13 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)

In the third best installment from the Mission: Impossible franchise, Rogue Nation , Ethan Hunt, and his crew must destroy an international rogue organization out to get their agency. Rebecca Ferguson , Simon Pegg , Jeremy Renner , Ving Rhames , and Alec Baldwin also star.

Watch Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation on Amazon Prime .

#12 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Known as one of Tom Cruise’s wildest movies to date, his character gets wrapped up in an underground sexual group in the psychological drama Eyes Wide Shut . The film follows Dr. Bill Hartford ( Tom Cruise ), who embarks on his own sexual journey when his wife Alice ( Nicole Kidman ) discloses she’s fantasized about other men.

Stanley Kubrick with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Sydney Pollack on the set of ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999) pic.twitter.com/iCBhjzhcCR — Lost In Film (@LostInFilm) December 23, 2020

Watch Eyes Wide Shut on HBO Max .

#11 Best Tom Cruise Movies: A Few Good Men (1992)

The unforgettable line, “You can’t handle the truth,” takes center stage in the legal drama film A Few Good Men . When military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee ( Tom Cruise ) must defend two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine, he realizes that they may have been acting under orders by their Colonel ( Jack Nicholson ).

Just tuned in to the last 30 mins of “A Few Good Men” – one of my top 5 movies of all time! pic.twitter.com/Ik5MHSity2 — Coach Ray Noelte (@CoachRayNoelte) June 26, 2021

Watch A Few Good Men on Amazon Prime .

#10 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

The 3rd best film out of the Mission: Impossible franchise is the 4th installment, Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol . When Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise ) and his agency are blamed for a terrorist attack, he must clear the agency’s name while stopping the real suspects.

Watch Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol on Hulu .

#9 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Magnolia (1999)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic drama film Magnolia focuses on different people’s lives and how they intersect in the San Fernando Valley. Tom Cruise earned another Oscar nomination for playing Frank Mackey, a motivational speaker hiding dark secrets.

Stolen from The Dude pic.twitter.com/QQ1RIUuuxk — Ben (@BenVelvetPeaks) June 29, 2021

Watch Magnolia on Youtube .

#8 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)

Known as the best film from the Mission Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise returns as the famous Ethan Hunt. In the movie, Ethan and his team join forces with CIA assassin August Walker ( Henry Cavill ) to prevent dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

Watch Mission: Impossible — Fallout on Amazon Prime .

#7 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Tom Cruise must defeat aliens again in another sci-fi film, Edge of Tomorrow. In the movie, Major William Cage relives the same day repeatedly while fighting aliens with help from Sergeant Rita Vrataski ( Emily Blunt ).

Watch Edge of Tomorrow on Amazon Prime .

#6 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Minority Report (2002)

Tom Cruise has to prove his innocence once more in the sci-fi movie Minority Report . In 2054 Washington D.C. psychic technology helps convict murderers before they kill. However, when the head of the unit, Chief John Anderson ( Tom Cruise ), is accused of murdering a man he has never met, he has to save himself and the people around him.

Watch Minority Report on Youtube .

#5 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Tom Cruise received his first Academy Award nomination as Sergeant Ron Kovic in the biographical war drama Born on the Fourth of July . Based on Ron Kovic’s autobiography, the movie follows the Sergeant who was paralyzed from the Vietnam War and became an anti-war and political activist.

#NowWatching ‘Born on the Fourth of July’. 1989 (Oliver Stone) At what price would your beliefs go when losing everything you once held dear? Cruise has never been better. https://t.co/LU41Pb94BM #FilmTwitter #Cinema pic.twitter.com/sgZUtTHl5h — ??Father Eros Grandier?☠️. ??‼️ (@RussellKubrick) April 27, 2020

Watch Born on the Fourth of July on Showtime .

#4 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Rain Man (1988)

In the critically acclaimed Rain Man , Tom Cruise plays selfish car dealer Charlie Babbitt. After Charlie’s father passes, he discovers he has an autistic older brother named Raymond ( Dustin Hoffman ). To access the $3 million fortune left for his brother, he checks Raymond out of a mental institution, and they travel across the country together.

Rain Man (1988) pic.twitter.com/KZPwZ1vAJY — ?FilmKulübü (@filmkulubu_) June 27, 2021

Watch Rain Man on Netflix .

#3 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Risky Business (1983)

After high school senior Joel Goodsen ( Tom Cruise ) hires a sex worker Lana ( Rebecca De Mornay ) in Risky Business , Joel must seek desperate measures to earn money fast. The movie helped catapult Tom ’s career with his fresh-faced charisma and iconic underwear dancing scene.

Watch Risky Business on HBO Max .

#2 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Top Gun (1986) &  Top Gun: Maverick  (2022)

Top Gun gave viewers a first-hand look into the essence of what Tom Cruise would come to be: the rugged action hero. The film follows reckless but talented fighter pilot Maverick ( Tom Cruise ) during his time at Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School and his efforts to earn affection from his flight instructor Charlotte ( Kelly McGillis ).

Watch Top Gun on Showtime .

Top Gun: Maverick is the anticipated sequel of the 1986 film.  Tom Cruise  reprises her role as Maverick, now a test pilot. When he is given orders to teach a class of new graduates, including the son of his late friend “Goose,” Maverick must prove he has what it takes to be a meaningful teacher. 

#1 Best Tom Cruise Movies: Jerry Maguire (1996)

Regarded as a grown-up romantic comedy, Jerry Maguire stars Tom Cruise as a sports agent who builds an independent management firm and falls in love with his partner, single mother, Dorothy Boyd ( Renée Zellweger ). The film went on to receive 5 Academy Award nominations.

Watch Jerry Maguire on HBO Max .

Upcoming Tom Cruise Movies: Mission: Impossible 7 (2022)

Plot details are under wrap but Tom Cruise is gearing up to bring Ethan Hunt to the big screen once again when Mission: Impossible adds another film to the franchise with its 7th installment. Added to the cast are Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham , and Rob Delaney . The movie is set to be released in theaters in July 2023.

Do you agree with our list? What is your favorite Tom Cruise movie? Let us know on Twitter!

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The Best Tom Cruise Movies Ranked: Where to Stream the Actor's 30 Greatest Films

cruise tom movies

Ghezal Amiri

Official JustWatch writer

Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s most successful actors, known for his daredevil commitment to performing his own stunts in some of the top action movies of all time. He has worked continuously in films since the early 80s, earning his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Risky Business . If you want to stream the best Tom Cruise movies online, you can check out this complete streaming guide.

Tom Cruise's best movies: From Top Gun to Mission Impossible

Cruise’s most iconic role is arguably Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in Top Gun , which was the highest grossing film of 1986 and took Cruise's fame to new heights. The movie was followed up with a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick,  nearly forty years later – which became Tom Cruise's highest grossing film with $1.4 billion at the box office.

Aside from his role as Maverick, Tom Cruise also stars as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible series. The first film,  Mission: Impossible , premiered in 1996 and the franchise is still ongoing with the Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. Released in 2023, the movie was the first part of a two-act finale which will come to an end with Mission Impossible 8 .

Tom Cruise may be world-famous for his action movie franchises, but he also has plenty of dramatic roles in his filmography – having worked with directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson and Cameron Crowe. He is a four time Academy Award nominee, twice for Best Actor in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire ; once for Best Supporting Actor in Magnolia ; and once for Best Picture for Top Gun: Maverick . He also has an Honorary Palme d’Or, the highest honor at Cannes Film Festival, and was awarded three Golden Globe Awards which he later returned to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in May 2021 due to their lack of diversity and various other controversies.

Where can I watch Tom Cruise's best movies online?

You can use JustWatch's streaming guide to find out where all of Tom Cruise's best movies are available in the United States. From his iconic franchises like Top Gun and Mission Impossible to his performances in dramas like Jerry Maguire, you'll find all the streaming details below.

Netflix

For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.

Paramount Plus

Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player.

Magnolia

An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Atom Tickets

A Few Good Men

When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

AMC+

Top Gun: Maverick

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.

Amazon Prime Video

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill his original briefing, the CIA begin to question his loyalty and his motives. The IMF team find themselves in a race against time, hunted by assassins while trying to prevent a global catastrophe.

FXNow

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organization committed to destroying the IMF.

fuboTV

Born on the Fourth of July

Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.

Risky Business

Risky Business

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.

FilmBox+

When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.

The Roku Channel

The Last Samurai

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

AMC+ Amazon Channel

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.

AMC Plus Apple TV Channel

Jack Reacher

One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All evidence points to a single suspect: an ex-military sniper who is quickly brought into custody. The interrogation yields one written note: 'Get Jack Reacher!'. Reacher, an enigmatic ex-Army investigator, believes the authorities have the right man but agrees to help the sniper's defense attorney. However, the more Reacher delves into the case, the less clear-cut it appears. So begins an extraordinary chase for the truth, pitting Jack Reacher against an unexpected enemy, with a skill for violence and a secret to keep.

Mission: Impossible

Mission: Impossible

When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the No. 1 suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.

Minority Report

Minority Report

John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.

Apple TV Plus

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Jack Reacher returns to the headquarters of his old unit, only to find out he's now accused of a 16-year-old homicide.

The Color of Money

The Color of Money

Former pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He meets talented but green Vincent Lauria and proposes a partnership. As they tour pool halls, Eddie teaches Vincent the tricks of scamming, but he eventually grows frustrated with Vincent's showboat antics, leading to an argument and a falling-out. Eddie takes up playing again and soon crosses paths with Vincent as an opponent.

Mission: Impossible III

Mission: Impossible III

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who is as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear -- including the woman Hunt loves.

Oblivion

Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds

Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

7 best Tom Cruise movies to stream on Netflix, Prime Video and more

Where to stream these iconic movies starring Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick

Tom Cruise is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. For good reason, too. With jaw-dropping stunts, a gleaming smile and an intense gaze unmatched by many, Tom Cruise is a household name in Hollywood. He's had the lead actor role in at least 39 films and counting and has a box office total that has grossed over 10 billion. He has also produced some of his own films, including the hit Mission: Impossible franchise.

While Cruise may be known as an invincible action star, he has also played numerous characters with incredible depth and range. He has been the charming yet competitive romantic lead, the cold, calculating killer, and the greedy but misguided younger brother . Cruise has worked alongside some of the most famous actors and directors of our time. While it's hard to narrow down his greatest roles in such a short list, we've put together a few of the best Tom Cruise movies. 

In the Oscar award-winning film, Rain Main, Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, the selfish brother of Raymond as played by Dustin Hoffman. Charlie finds out that his brother Raymond has inherited a great deal of money. Determined to get hold of what he believes is rightfully his, Charlie absconds Ray away from his residential home, sending the two on a memorable road trip neither will forget.

Hoffman took home an Academy Award for his role. So did the director, the screenwriter, and the picture as a whole. While Tom Cruise may not have received an Oscar nomination for his role in the film, he is the perfect actor to play alongside Hoffman. You have the reward of watching him shed his character's shallow, flashy demeanor and embrace a subtle maturity as he learns why his brother was sent away. A must-watch film that is one of Tom Cruise's best.

Watch on Prime Video

No one but Cruise could have played the part of Mitch McDeere in The Firm, an adaptation of the book by John Grisham. It could be why the 2012 television series of the book was canceled after only a single season. In the film, Cruise's McDeere is hired by a "small" firm from Memphis right out of law school. Although everything seems on the up-and-up, it isn't long before he realizes that he is surrounded by crooks.

It's the transformation of McDeere's smugness over landing such a top-notch job into an intensity over uncovering the truth and protecting his career — and life — that makes this such a powerful Tom Cruise film. However, what may surprise many is that Holly Hunter took home the Oscar for her role as Tammy Hemphill, the secretary of the private detective that McDeere hires. Despite Cruise's lack of Oscar recognition, this is one of his best movies.

Watch on Netflix , Prime Video or Paramount Plus

A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men is a movie best known by many for its famous line spoken by Jack Nicholson who retorts, "You can't handle the truth!" However, it wouldn't be the same without Cruise playing the cocky Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee. 

When defense lawyer Kaffee gets to defend two Marines accused of killing one of their colleagues, many expect him to simply settle the case out of court. Cruise's natural overconfidence as portrayed in his character, Kaffee, becomes a quality that people plan to manipulate to keep the truth a secret. When he realizes this raw reality, Cruise's stone-cold determination to take the case to court shocks many. Nicholson, who plays Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, was nominated for the Oscar. However, Cruise wows the audience when he plays opposite Nicholson in the famous court scene that prompted the line we all know so well.

Watch on AMC Plus

Going against his typical role, Tom Cruise plays a ruthless killer in the movie, Collateral. Vincent, as played by Cruise, is visiting Los Angeles to finish off a few people who are supposed to testify in court against a drug lord as well as a couple of other lawyers involved in the case. When he gets into the cab of Max, played by Jamie Foxx, not everything goes according to plan.

Cruise takes out all the charm in his personality to depict a heartless killer — although what remains is a certain reasonableness to his personality as he almost convinces Foxx's Max to stick with him for the long haul. However, Foxx's Max becomes braver by the moment. In yet another film where another actor was Oscar-nominated over Cruise — this time it was Jamie Foxx — it still remains one of Cruise's most complex characters, making it one of his best movies.

Watch on Paramount Plus

Jerry Maguire

This time an Oscar nominee, Cruise plays the part of Jerry Maguire, a sports agent at the top of his game. However, Cruise's Maguire gets a crisis of conscience when one of his clients gets seriously hurt. Confronted by the client's son, Cruise realizes he has no heart for those he is supposed to represent. 

When Cruise's Maguire writes a mission statement, encouraging his agency to change their ways, he loses it all. However, despite the falling out, he connects with potential love interest, Dorothy Boyd, played by Renee Zellweger. He also manages to keep a single client, Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. It's a perfect blend of excellent acting, a strong script, and superb directing that makes this one of the most memorable romantic comedies. It also happens to include the famous Tom Cruise line that gives us all the feels, "You complete me."

Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple  

Top Gun: Maverick

Timing is everything, as the old adage says. That is possibly why the movie Top Gun: Maverick was such a success. Cruise starred in and produced the film, a sequel to his career-making film, Top Gun. While it was ready to go in 2020, he delayed its release for when people could actually see it in theaters. And for good reason. With incredible stunts and minimal usage of CGI, the movie is an experience as much as it is entertainment.

Playing a character many became familiar with in the '80s, Cruise adds a level of maturity to his role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. Cruise's Maverick returns to the school that molded him to train younger pilots, one of whom is the son of his now-deceased best friend. The emotional depth Cruise brings to the film makes it almost better than the original, a feat that's near impossible for sequels. 

Watch on Prime Video or Paramount Plus

Risky Business

How can any of us forget that famous scene when Cruise dances in his underwear to the Bob Seger song, "Old Time Rock & Roll"? One of the movies that made him who he is today, Cruise plays Joel Goodsen, a college-bound high school senior who itches to cut loose from his parents' ties. Finally having the opportunity to live a little when his parents go on vacation, things for Goodsen go from bad to worse as each rule is broken.

Acting alongside Rebecca De Mornay who plays the elusive and appealing call girl, Cruise's Goodsen learns about life, love, and consequences in this iconic film. Coupled with a strong script and excellent music from the 80s, this is one of Tom Cruise's best and most memorable movies.

Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple

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Nicole Pyles is a writer in Portland, Oregon. She loves movies, especially Lifetime movies, obscure TV movies, and disaster flicks. Her writing has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Mental Floss, WOW! Women on Writing, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and more. When she isn't watching movies, she's spending time with family, reading, and writing short stories. Say hi on Twitter @BeingTheWriter.

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Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including Risky Business , A Few Good Men , The Firm , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

tom cruise

Who Is Tom Cruise?

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child to accommodate his father's career.

Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.

At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school's production of the musical Guys and Dolls . After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

'Taps,' 'The Outsiders'

Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York City, struggling through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981's Endless Love , starring Brooke Shields. Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn .

His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise's potential, and his performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers. In 1983, Cruise appeared in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , which also starred Emilio Estevez , Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe —all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the "Brat Pack." The film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

'Risky Business'

His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor — thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.

In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend , which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise's A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun , which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan . The testosterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest-grossing film of 1986.

'The Color of Money,' 'Rain Man' and 'Born on the Fourth of July'

Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. He first starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , and then went on to work with Dustin Hoffman on Rain Man (1988). Cruise's next role, as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned him an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm' and 'Interview with a Vampire'

In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men . The film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

'Mission: Impossible,' 'Jerry McGuire'

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996), which the star also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'Eyes Wide Shut,' 'Magnolia'

Cruise and then-wife Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick 's final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that year Cruise enjoyed greater success with the release of Magnolia . His performance as a self-confident sex guru in the ensemble film earned him another Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

'Vanilla Sky,' 'The Last Samurai'

Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, alongside Anthony Hopkins , Thandie Newton and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with Crowe, as well as Steven Spielberg 's Minority Report . The following year, Cruise traveled to Australia to shoot the $100 million war epic The Last Samurai, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination.

'War of the Worlds'

Cruise proved he remained a top draw by starring in the Spielberg-directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company's chairman cited Cruise's erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split, though industry experts noted that Paramount more likely ended the partnership over Cruise's high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Cruise quickly rebounded and on November 2, 2006, he announced his new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Their first production as a team, the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007), proved a commercial disappointment despite a strong cast that included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford .

'Tropic Thunder'

Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his performance in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). Despite his relatively small role in a movie that featured Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller , Cruise stood out by obscuring his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.

'Valkyrie,' 'Rock of Ages'

In December 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, Valkyrie , was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler . Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.

Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol . Breaking into new territory, he then starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages . Although Cruise received some positive reviews for his performance as a rock star, the movie failed to attract much of an audience.

'Jack Reacher,' 'Edge of Tomorrow'

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise starred in the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher , based on a book by Lee Child. He then headlined a pair of science-fiction adventures, Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Showing no signs of slowing down, the veteran actor in 2015 delivered his usual high-energy performance for the fifth installment of his blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation .

Latest Movies and Familiar Franchises

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for Never Go Back . He then headlined a reboot of The Mummy (2017), which performed respectably at the box office but was savaged by critics, before earning better reviews later that year for the crime thriller American Made .

2018 brought a return to familiar territory for Cruise, who starred in Mission Impossible —Fallout that summer. Prior to its release, he tweeted a photo to mark day 1 of production on the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick , scheduled for a June 2020 release.

Scientology and Personal Life

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents. However, while his spiritual life flourished, his marriage to Rogers ended in 1990. That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder alongside Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

Divorce from Kidman

For much of the 1990s, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage. They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case, the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity. The couple has two children, Isabella and Connor.

On February 5, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers and the amount of time spent apart while working. Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz , followed by a much-publicized relationship with actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!"

Marriage to Katie Holmes

In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. In October, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise's statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June 2005, for which Cruise later apologized.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That year, they were married in an Italian castle, with celebrities Will Smith , Jada Pinkett Smith , Jennifer Lopez and Victoria and David Beckham among those in attendance. However, the storybook romance wouldn't last, and in June 2012, the couple announced their separation.

QUICK FACTS

  • Birth Year: 1962
  • Birth date: July 3, 1962
  • Birth State: New York
  • Birth City: Syracuse
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including 'Risky Business,' 'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm,' 'Jerry Maguire' and the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
  • Astrological Sign: Cancer

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CITATION INFORMATION

  • Article Title: Tom Cruise Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tom-cruise
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: March 26, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

Headshot of Biography.com Editors

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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Screen Rant

8 things tom cruise’s jack reacher movies got right about lee child’s character.

Even though Amazon's Reacher is the superior adaptation, Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher movies got a surprising number of character details right.

  • Cruise's height didn't match Reacher's stature, but his charisma and fearlessness brought the character to life in unexpected ways.
  • Despite changes to the source material, Cruise's rapport with Robert Duvall's character helped humanize Reacher without losing his tough edge.
  • The lack of gore in Cruise's movies made Reacher's antics more accessible to a wider audience, offering a different take on the character.

While everybody knows that Amazon’s faithful Reacher adaptation works, it is worth noting that Tom Cruise’s earlier Jack Reacher movies weren't a wholesale betrayal of the Lee Child character. Introduced in the 1997 novel Killing Floor , Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is one of the most popular protagonists in the world of crime fiction. Reacher has appeared in 28 novels, each of which has seen the iconic hero use his considerable brawn and often underestimated brains to solve a new case. Reacher’s adventures have spanned decades and continents, but his appeal remains simple. He is a tough guy who does the right thing.

It might seem like this straightforward premise would be perfect fodder for a screen adaptation, but it took Reacher 15 years to reach the big screen. Not only that, but it wasn’t until Amazon’s Jack Reacher TV adaptation that the character got a screen iteration fans were happy with. 2012’s Jack Reacher and its 2016 sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , cast Tom Cruise as the character and were met with disappointment from the franchise’s sizable fan base as a result. At 5 foot 7 inches, Cruise doesn’t fit the description of Child’s hulking 6'5" novel hero. Despite that, Cruise's portrayal got a number of things right about the character.

Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher movies are available on Paramount, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

tom-cruise-as-jack-reacher-from-the-jack-reacher-movies

10 Reasons Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher Movies Didn't Work

8 cruise’s jack reacher was appropriately charismatic, the screen veteran imbued reacher with his trademark charm.

Many things didn't work about Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies, but the star can’t be faulted for a lack of charm.

However, fans who wrote off Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies due to the actor’s height missed out on a surprisingly solid adaptation. Cruise’s movie version of Reacher is a quick-thinking, smooth-talking antihero just like his book counterpart, and the 2012 movie in particular featured plenty of moments where the star’s take on the character matched his ruthless, razor-sharp book persona. Many things didn't work about Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies , but the star can’t be faulted for a lack of charm. This take on Reacher could talk or fight his way out of anything, which fits with the character seen in the novels.

7 Cruise’s Jack Reacher Was Still A Threatening Presence

The star’s cold-eyed performance ensured reacher wasn’t harmless.

(Tom-Cruise-as-Jack-Reacher)-from-The-Jack-Reacher-Movies

Alan Ritchson’s massive frame made the actor instantly intimidating, but Cruise had to work harder to make his version of Reacher a threatening figure . Fortunately, he succeeded admirably. While his two movies don’t always live up to the actor's performance, Cruise put a heroic spin on the same iciness he perfected in Collateral , Eyes Wide Shut , and Interview With A Vampire in the Jack Reacher movies. As a result, this take on Reacher always felt like a threat despite lacking Ritchson’s commanding physique, and this means his heroism had a dark, compromised edge that made the character more compelling.

6 Cruise’s Reacher Had A Perfect Rapport With Martin Cash

Cruise’s scenes with robert duvall were a series standout.

Robert Duvall's Martin Cash uses bullets as ear plugs in Jack Reacher 2012

Robert Duvall’s scene-stealing Martin Cash is a highlight of Jack Reacher , but the screen legend’s supporting role wouldn’t work if Cruise’s curt antihero didn’t have a perfect rapport with him. While Reacher finds time for romantic subplots in both his movies and TV adaptations, his camaraderie with Cash in Jack Reacher captures the character’s persona perfectly.

Cash’s scenes humanize Reacher without softening his appeal, balancing his machismo and more vulnerable side perfectly.

Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies made many major changes to their source material, but keeping the character’s relationship with this grizzled gun range owner intact was a smart choice. Cash’s scenes humanize Reacher without softening his appeal, balancing his machismo and more vulnerable side perfectly.

5 Cruise’s Fearlessness Matched Reacher Perfectly

The actor’s penchant for stunts made him a perfect fit.

(Alan-Ritchson-as-Jack-Reacher)-from-Reacher-TV-&-(Tom-Cruise-as-Reacher)-from-Jack-Reacher-

Cruise’s real-life willingness to do his own stunts fit Reacher’s fearless persona perfectly and, in a meta sense, proved that the star’s casting made sense. Reacher canonically overcame fear for life when he was a child after a monster in a movie led him to use anger to overpower his phobias. This is something that comes through in Cruise’s performance, and it is aided by the actor’s choice to perform many of the character’s stunts. Cruise injured his foot while filming one of Jack Reacher ’s fight scenes but, fittingly, continued shooting despite this. It is this commitment that shines through on-screen.

4 Jack Reacher’s Battle Scars Work In Cruise’s Movies

The character’s introduction highlighted his history of combat.

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Admittedly, Amazon’s Reacher fixes the Cruise franchise’s mistakes in many areas. However, one place where Cruise’s take on Reacher outdid the later adaptation was an early, subtle scene that introduced the character . When Reacher is seen shirtless early on in the 2012 movie, he is covered in scars that line up with various adventures seen in Childs’ novels. This proves just how much work went into Cruise’s take on the character, letting viewers in on a traumatic history through something as simple as a single shot. While not overly showy, these touches prove that Cruise’s character was surprisingly fleshed out.

3 Cruise’s Softer Take On Reacher Fit the Multiplex

The lack of an r-rating made reacher’s antics less gritty and gory.

While Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies weren’t anywhere near as gory as the Amazon series, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Child’s books are closer in tone to the television show, but their level of gore would have looked out of place in a big-budget blockbuster starring an A-list actor. Cruise’s version of the character killing more enemies in less detail made more sense than the movies adapting Reacher’s most gruesome kills , most of which were too dark for the more accessible tone of the movies. The show works, but the movies were still right to trim the darker excesses of the books.

2 Jack Reacher’s First Movie Villain Was Perfect

The zek’s interactions with reacher were chilling.

Werner Herzog playing The Zec in Jack Reacher 2012

Although Cruise’s Jack Reacher might have toned down the gore found in Child’s novels, the movie still managed to translate the menace of the books onto the big screen. A big part of this was Cruise’s interactions with Werner Herzog’s chilling Jack Reacher villain, the Zek. This war criminal is a genuinely terrifying screen presence, and the ingenious casting of documentary veteran Herzog is just wild enough to work perfectly. Although Cruise’s second movie lacked a similarly compelling antagonist, Jack Reacher nailed the character’s face-off against Herzog’s deeply creepy villain and Cruise even gave the character an all-time great send-off.

1 Cruise’s Shorter Reacher Made Him Less Predictable

Cruise’s infamous stature let the movies offer a different take on reacher.

The most infamous element of Cruise’s casting as Reacher was his height. Cruise is not as tall as Reacher and the movies scarcely tried to cover up this fact. However, this makes his casting an interesting decision that fundamentally changes the character’s appeal. When Cruise’s hero walks into a room, the villains don’t instantly realize who they are dealing with. In this respect, Cruise’s Jack Reacher is more unpredictable and less of a traditional hero, something that works to his advantage throughout both movies. While not perfect, Cruise’s Jack Reacher movies do offer an intriguing alternative take on Reacher’ s story.

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Tom cruise to star in new alejandro g. iñárritu movie.

Warner Bros and Legendary are in talks to land the project.

By Mia Galuppo , Aaron Couch February 22, 2024 2:44pm

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Tom Cruise, Alejandro González Iñárritu

Tom Cruise will star in the new feature from The Revenant filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment are in talks to acquire the package, which marks Iñárritu’s first English-language film since the Leonardo DiCaprio starrer The Revenant nearly a decade ago.

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Iñárritu last directed the Spanish-language Netflix drama Bardo . Prior to this, the director was in theaters with The Revenant , which earned over $500 million at the global box office and landed him the best director Oscar. This followed his 2015 best picture, director and original wins for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) .

Cruise has been nominated twice for best actor, in Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July (1990) and Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire (1997), and once for supporting actor in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (2000). Iñárritu directed DiCaprio to Oscar gold in The Revenant and helped Michael Keaton land a best actor nom for Birdman . The pairing of Cruise and the filmmaker is sure to raise the notion that the actor is hoping for a prestige play.

Warners, meanwhile, has been beefing up its roster of features with top talent in recent months, locking down Ryan Coogler’s next feature and greenlighting a Paul Thomas Anderson movie with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star. Legendary and Warners are out in theaters next weekend with Dune 2 , the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic.

Deadline first reported the news of the project.

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Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher (2012)

A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting. A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting. A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

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  • Trivia When Jack Reacher's car crashes into some barrels, the car accidentally stalled upon the impact, but Tom Cruise was luckily able to restart the car before driving off again. Rather than do a retake, Christopher McQuarrie decided to leave it in the film, as he felt it added to the suspense of the scene.
  • Goofs The antagonists kill Sandy in order to frame Reacher for her murder, however, at the time of the murder, Reacher was with Helen Rodin at her office. Even if he was arrested, he would have been released very quickly as soon as Helen confirmed his alibi.

Jack Reacher : What I mean is, the cheapest woman tends to be the one you pay for.

Sandy : [stands up, angrily] I am *not* a hooker!

Jack Reacher : Well, a hooker would get the joke.

Jeb : [enters with his four buddies] What's this?

Sandy : He called me a whore.

Jeb : Is that true?

Jack Reacher : Well, nobody said whore. She inferred hooker, but I meant slut.

Punk : Hey. That's our sister.

Jack Reacher : Is she a good kisser?

Jeb : Hey. Outside.

Jack Reacher : Pay your check first.

Jeb : I'll pay later.

Jack Reacher : You won't be able to.

Jeb : You think?

Jack Reacher : All the time. You should try it.

Jeb : It's a great joke, but I'm gonna beat your ass. Do you want to do that here or outside?

Jack Reacher : Outside.

Jeb : Stay here, Sandy.

Sandy : I don't mind the sight of blood.

Jack Reacher : [walks by Sandy] When it means you're not pregnant, anyway.

  • Alternate versions The UK release was cut, the distributor chose to reduce two moments of violence (a woman being suffocated by a man and a man being hit over the head with a rock) in order to obtain a 12A classification. An uncut 15 classification was available.
  • Connections Featured in The Big Review: Fall Trailer Park (2012)
  • Soundtracks Jump Around Written by DJ Muggs (as Larry Muggerud) & Erik Schrody Performed by House of Pain Courtesy of Tommy Boy Music By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User reviews 654

  • Apr 20, 2013
  • Who is the actress playing the girl dressing in the first scene with Reacher?
  • Why did Emerson work for The Zec? Towards the end of the movie, he mentioned that he did not have a choice but it was never flushed out.
  • December 21, 2012 (United States)
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  • Strip District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (DeLucas Resturant; 1st fight scene)
  • Paramount Pictures
  • Skydance Media
  • H2L Media "AKA" Mutual Film Company
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  • $60,000,000 (estimated)
  • $80,070,736
  • $15,210,156
  • Dec 23, 2012
  • $218,340,595

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Alejandro González Iñárritu with Tom Cruise at the Baftas in 2016.

Tom Cruise signs up for new film by The Revenant director Alejandro G Iñárritu

The Top Gun star will take a break from action blockbusters to make an English-language film with the multiple Oscar-winning Mexican director

In a dramatic departure from his recent run of large-scale action blockbusters, Tom Cruise has agreed to appear in the new film from Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu .

According to Deadline , Cruise has signed on to star in the film, about which little is known other than that it will be in English and has been written by Iñárritu along with Sabina Berman, as well as Birdman co-writers Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone.

The film is due to be produced by Warner Bros under Cruise’s recently announced non-exclusive contract with the studio, which allows for Cruise to work on projects for other Hollywood entities. A third Top Gun film is in the works at Paramount, and Cruise is believed to currently be filming Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, production of which was delayed by Covid, and which is due for release in May 2025. Cruise is also working “diligently” on a long-gestating project that involves shooting in space.

Alongside his success in action movies, Cruise has a strong record in more dramatic and comedic films. In 1994 he starred alongside Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire , and followed it up with the lead role in Jerry Maguire, for which he was Oscar nominated. In 1999, he appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut, and subsequently received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. In 2005 he starred opposite Jamie Foxx in Collateral, and played a movie producer in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.

Iñárritu, the first Mexican to be nominated for the best director Oscar, released Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths in 2022, and last made an English-language film in 2015 with The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His films have won eight Academy awards, including three for The Revenant (including best director) and a special achievement Academy Award for the virtual-reality short film Flesh and Sand.

  • Alejandro González Iñárritu

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Warner Bros. Spends Big: ‘Joker 2’ Budget Hits $200 Million, Lady Gaga’s $12 Million Payday, Courting Tom Cruise’s New Deal and More 

By Tatiana Siegel

Tatiana Siegel

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Tom Cruise Joaquin Phoenix

In January, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy jetted to London to connect with the new crown jewel of the studio, Tom Cruise . The three met to identify a film that would kick off their nonexclusive “strategic partnership.” Sources say a raft of possibilities were discussed, including an “Edge of Tomorrow” follow-up and Quentin Tarantino ’s “The Movie Critic,” which currently isn’t set up with a distributor and has Warner Bros., like every major studio, salivating.

In Tarantino, Cruise could find the rare auteur who marries box office performance and awards-season heat. However, securing the project won’t come cheap. The biggest roadblock for De Luca and Abdy is potentially Sony. Sources say Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman has the edge, having distributed Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”

Still, a Cruise-Tarantino alliance at Warners would align with the De Luca-Abdy modus operandi: Lure A-list directors who can attract bona fide stars — and spend wildly. Since taking over the studio in July 2022, De Luca and Abdy have struck some pricey deals: There’s Anderson’s next movie, which will feature Leonardo DiCaprio (earning $20 million plus), and a Ryan Coogler-Michael B. Jordan vampire film that has Warners ceding the copyright to Coogler after 25 years. The latter move was a head-scratcher considering that Tarantino is the only other director to secure an eventual copyright from a major studio (with “Once Upon a Time”) and will surely be looking to replicate that with “Movie Critic.” But sources who have done recent business with the studio say the mandate to spare no expense to land big talent comes via Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

That time may be approaching. In April, Warner Bros. Discovery can entertain offers to buy, sell or merge with a studio like NBCUniversal, as many on the lot believe will happen. That’s when the two-year lock-up period expires as part of the 2022 deal that united WarnerMedia and Discovery. All of the recent moves, from a first-look pact with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap to the quest to land Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” follow-up are akin to painting a house before it hits the market.

And this is one splashy renovation. The budget for Todd Phillips’ musical “Joker” sequel — one of De Luca and Abdy’s first green lights — has ballooned to about $200 million, a significant bump from the $60 million cost of the first film. Sources say Joaquin Phoenix is getting $20 million to reprise his role as the clown prince of crime, while Lady Gaga is taking home about $12 million to play Harley Quinn. “Joker” took in more than $1 billion, but musicals are tricky. Case in point: Warners lost $40 million on last year’s “The Color Purple,” according to sources. Though that one can be blamed on the previous regime.

Some argue that spending big is essential when releasing movies in theaters.

“There’s only so much top talent in Hollywood, and it’s very competitive and stretched thin because a lot of talent have deals in streaming,” says Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “If theatrical is going to work, you need the A-lister like Tom and Leo, and Warner Bros. is spending what they need to spend to keep this talent.”

But executives across town believe Warners’ math sometimes doesn’t add up, with the studio decried as fiscally irresponsible. The Anderson film, for instance, was greenlit with a $115 million budget, according to sources. Underscoring the gamble, none of the director’s movies has crossed $80 million at the box office. His latest, 2021’s “Licorice Pizza,” made $33 million worldwide. Even with Cruise’s star power, “Magnolia” only mustered $48.5 million. (It was De Luca, then a New Line exec, who convinced Cruise to play “Magnolia’s” misogynistic self-help guru.) The pair are said to be less pumped about another auteur’s latest: Bong Joon Ho ’s “Mickey 17.” In January, Warner Bros. pulled the $150 million Robert Pattinson sci-fi starrer from its schedule and then moved it to 2025. A Warner rep insists: “There is, of course, enthusiasm for it.”

Other projects that De Luca and Abdy prioritized are perplexing executives at rival studios. Warners picked up Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Frankenstein film, which is set in the 1930s and stars Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley. It was a project that Netflix deemed too risky and passed on before Warners salvaged it. (A Warners source says Netflix didn’t want to make it on the timeline Gyllenhaal proposed.)

Despite the pressure to acquiesce to demands from top talent, De Luca and Abdy can still say no.

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See Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, and Others Read the Same Role for ‘The Outsiders’ Casting

By Kory Grow

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola has made an Instagram post about the unique way he cast his adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders . The movie, which came out in 1983, starred several notable actors — Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon , Diane Lane , Patrick Swayze, and Ralph Macchio , among others — but they didn’t necessarily audition for the roles they got; they auditioned for all the roles.

“Forty-two years ago we cast The Outsiders in a unique way,” Coppola wrote in the caption for his post. “We had all the actors together on a soundstage and would alternate different actors reading for different roles. It was interesting because each of them was watching their competition, so while it could’ve been a volatile situation, it turned into a very positive one. There emerged the natural respect and sense of colleagueship among them. The result worked beautifully and reminded me of my days as a camp counselor.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francis Ford Coppola (@francisfordcoppola)

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Longer clips of the footage , which originally came out as bonus material on home-video releases, has leaked online in recent decades.

The movie depicts the rivalry between two Oklahoma gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, in 1964. As in Hinton’s book, which came out in 1967, the tension mounts after one gang member is killed by a rival gang member.

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  1. Tom Cruise Movies List

    Risky Business (1983) R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama. 6.8. Rate. 75 Metascore. A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand. Director: Paul Brickman | Stars: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur.

  2. Tom Cruise filmography

    Tom Cruise filmography. Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama Endless Love. [1] [2] Two years later he made his breakthrough by starring in the romantic comedy Risky Business (1983), [3] [4] which garnered his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ...

  3. Tom Cruise Movies Ranked

    All Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer. Top Gun: Maverick is back in theaters for Rotten Tomatoes' 25th anniversary screening series at AMC — get tickets now!. From his teen idol days in the early '80s to his status as a marquee-lighting leading man today, Tom Cruise has consistently done it all for decades — he's completed impossible missions, learned about Wapner time in Rain ...

  4. Tom Cruise

    Tom Cruise. Actor: Top Gun. In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born ...

  5. Tom Cruise's Top 25 Movies...

    15. The Last Samurai (2003) Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds. Great movie but it is truly hard to imagine Cruise as the "The Last Samurai".

  6. Best Tom Cruise Movies & Performances Ranked

    All it took was a button-down shirt, briefs and a Bob Seger track to make Tom Cruise one of the defining movie stars of his generation. In Paul Brickman's directorial debut, Cruise's turn in ...

  7. Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

    Paramount Pictures. 20. The Firm (1993) At a time when Cruise's star status had grown so immense a legal thriller qualified as a summer blockbuster, Sydney Pollack 's film from John Grisham 's ...

  8. The Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

    Every Tom Cruise Movie Performance, Ranked. By Angelica Jade Bastién, a New York and Vulture critic covering film and pop culture. No one better than Tom Cruise exemplifies the breed of megastars ...

  9. Tom Cruise

    Tom Cruise. Highest Rated: 97% Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) Lowest Rated: 9% Cocktail (1988) Birthday: Jul 3, 1962. Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA. Tom Cruise rose quickly to become ...

  10. The 10 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

    7. Magnolia (1999) It's rare to see a Tom Cruise movie where the actor isn't front and center the entire time. But Cruise tried something a little different when he joined the cast of Paul Thomas ...

  11. 44 Best Tom Cruise Movies of All Time, Ranked

    In 1981, Tom Cruise, who may be the last real movie star, made his first on-screen appearance shirtless, wearing a pair of cut-off shorts. Since then, he's led an illustrious career, remaining one ...

  12. 10 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

    Cruise's talent as both a dramatic and physically skilled actor is evident in movies like Rain Man , A Few Good Men , and the Mission: Impossible franchise, where he delivers powerful performances and defies the laws of physics in thrilling action sequences. Known for his prolific filmography, Tom Cruise is one of the most recognizable actors ...

  13. Every Single Tom Cruise Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best

    Paramount. Tom Cruise has done every type of movie you can think of over his nearly 40-year career. Here we rank every one from worst to best. See where his latest, "Mission: Impossible - Dead ...

  14. The 20 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

    Watch Jack Reacher on Hulu. #18 Best Tom Cruise Movies: War of the Worlds (2005) The apocalypse is here in Steven Spielberg's high grossing sci-fi action film, War of the Worlds. Tom Cruise ...

  15. All Tom Cruise movies ranked & how to watch online

    Cruise's most iconic role is arguably Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in Top Gun, which was the highest grossing film of 1986 and took Cruise's fame to new heights. The movie was followed up with a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, nearly forty years later - which became Tom Cruise's highest grossing film with $1.4 billion at the box office.

  16. Tom Cruise Film List

    Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. ... Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow. Votes: 581,075 | Gross: $132.07M. 25. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure ...

  17. All 46 Tom Cruise Movies in Order

    The next Tom Cruise movie that we can look forward to is Mission: Impossible - Dead Recoking Part Two which is set to be released in 2024. Josip Sovar. Josip Sovar is a part-time writer based in Krizevci, Croatia. He is a law student at Faculty of Law at University of Zagreb. Josip's expertise includes Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, MCU ...

  18. Tom Cruise

    Tom Cruise. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, [1] [2] [3] he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $4 billion in North America and ...

  19. 7 best Tom Cruise movies to stream on Netflix, Prime Video and more

    Coupled with a strong script and excellent music from the 80s, this is one of Tom Cruise's best and most memorable movies. Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple. More from Tom's Guide.

  20. Mission: Impossible (film series)

    Mission: Impossible is a series of American action spy films, based on the 1966 TV series created by Bruce Geller.The series is mainly produced by and stars Tom Cruise, who plays Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The films have been directed, written, and scored by various filmmakers and crew, while incorporating musical themes from the original series by Lalo Schifrin.

  21. Tom Cruise

    Tom Cruise is an American actor known for his roles in iconic films throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, as well as his high profile marriages to actresses Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. After ...

  22. 8 Things Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher Movies Got Right About Lee Child's

    While everybody knows that Amazon's faithful Reacher adaptation works, it is worth noting that Tom Cruise's earlier Jack Reacher movies weren't a wholesale betrayal of the Lee Child character. Introduced in the 1997 novel Killing Floor, Lee Child's Jack Reacher is one of the most popular protagonists in the world of crime fiction.Reacher has appeared in 28 novels, each of which has seen ...

  23. Tom Cruise to Star in New Alejandro Iñárritu Movie

    Warner Bros and Legendary are in talks to land the project. By Mia Galuppo, Aaron Couch Tom Cruise will star in the new feature from The Revenant filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Hollywood ...

  24. Jack Reacher (2012)

    Jack Reacher: Directed by Christopher McQuarrie. With Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo. A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.

  25. Tom Cruise signs up for new film by The Revenant director Alejandro G

    Cruise is also working "diligently" on a long-gestating project that involves shooting in space. Alongside his success in action movies, Cruise has a strong record in more dramatic and comedic ...

  26. Warner. Bros Spending Spree: Joker 2 $200 Million Budget, Tom Cruise Deal

    In January, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy jetted to London to connect with the new crown jewel of the studio, Tom Cruise.The three met to identify a film ...

  27. See Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, and Others Read the Same Role for 'The

    The movie, which came out in 1983, starred several notable actors — Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, and Ralph Macchio, among others — but ...