‘The biggest stunt in cinema history’: Tom Cruise rides motorbike off a cliff for real in his new Mission: Impossible film – and it took him years of training, 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps to pull off his most dangerous-ever action sequence
The secrets behind an incredible Tom Cruise stunt – dubbed the biggest and most dangerous in cinema history – have been revealed.
The 61-year-old, famous for performing his own action stunts, sets pulses racing in his new Mission: Impossible film, released on Monday, when he rides a motorbike off a cliff and falls from the sky.
Now, the extent of the behind-the-scenes work to prepare for that one jaw-dropping scene has been unveiled.
A remarkable ten-minute video from Paramount Pictures explains how Cruise undertook years of training, including 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps, for the scene.
It begins with writer and director Christopher McQuarrie admitting: ‘This is far and away the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted.’
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-lsFs2615gw%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
The secrets behind an incredible Tom Cruise stunt – dubbed the biggest and most dangerous in cinema history – have been revealed
The 61-year-old, famous for performing his own action stunts, sets pulses racing in his new Mission: Impossible film, released on Monday, when he rides a motorbike off a cliff and falls from the sky
A remarkable ten-minute video from Paramount Pictures explains how Cruise undertook years of training, including 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps, for the scene
Initial planning
The clip reveals how Cruise himself put together a ‘master plan’, coordinating various experts in a number of disciplines to help bring the scene together.
READ MORE: BRIAN VINER reviews M:I – Dead Reckoning Part 1
BASE jumping coach Miles Daisher said of the actor: ‘Tom Cruise is an amazing individual. You tell him something and he just locks in in.
‘His sense of spatial awareness, he’s the most aware person I’ve ever met.’
Cruise has become known for performing a number of thrilling stunts himself throughout the Mission Impossible series, which is now in its seventh instalment.
Outlining his philosophy when it comes to dangerous scenes to the camera, he says: ‘Don’t be careful, be competent’.
Training on the bike
To be ready for the scene, Cruise had to make sure he was well-trained, both on the bike and in terms of BASE jumping.
A motocross track was built, on which the star jumped 80ft tabletops, a whopping 13,000 times across his training.
He said of the experience: ‘I have to get so good at this that there’s just no way that I miss my marks.
‘You train and drill every little aspect over and over and over and over again.’
Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood said: ‘They were doing 30 jumps a day, getting to the point where he was just a machine.’
To simulate the jump, which was ultimately filmed in Hellesylt, Norway, in September 2020, the film crew replicated a ramp and quarry – filled with cardboard boxes to catch the motorcycle – in England
To simulate the jump, which was ultimately filmed in Hellesylt, Norway, in September 2020, the film crew replicated a ramp and quarry – filled with cardboard boxes to catch the motorcycle – in England
Director Chrostpher McQuarrie (pictured) explained how different ramps were built at different angles to calculate what Cruise’s trajectory would be
Filming could only take place if the weather conditions were perfect, both in terms of light and cloud cover – ‘misty, but not foggy’
Cruise performed the stunt without any hitches, and was even willing to go back for more takes
Building a replica
To simulate the jump, which was ultimately filmed in Hellesylt, Norway, in September 2020, the film crew replicated a ramp and quarry – filled with cardboard boxes to catch the motorcycle – in England.
McQuarrie explained how different ramps were built at different angles to calculate what Cruise’s trajectory would be.
‘We have to be able to consistently predict where Tom is going to be in three-dimensional space,’ he said.
A GPS chip recorded every single one of the star’s jumps, along with his ground speed and whether there was a headwind or a crosswind, to build a consistent set of data.
Cruise added: ‘The key is me hitting certain speeds and being consistent with that.
‘There’s no speedometer, so I do it by sound and feel of the bike. Then as I depart the bike I’m using the wind that’s hitting me here, I’m cupping my chest, that will give me lift.’
By analysing the data on each take, the filmmakers were able to see the height Cruise was reaching, and set drones and cameras in places where close-up shots could be captured.
McQuarrie added: ‘Finding the right lens, the right platform, the right medium – even two years ago, the cameras didn’t exist that would allow us to do what we’re trying to do today.’
The ramp in Norway was constructed over several months, with all the equipment having to be brought in by helicopter
A GPS chip recorded every single one of the star’s jumps, along with his ground speed and whether there was a headwind or a crosswind, to build a consistent set of data
The film crew had their head in their hands when Cruise performed the hugely dangerous stunt
Cruise revealed how there was no speedometer on the bike, so he calculated how fast he was going by sound and feel of the bike
It took months for the film crew to assemble the ramp Cruise drove off in Norway
Filming the stunt
The ramp in Norway was constructed over several months, with all the equipment having to be brought in by helicopter.
Filming could only take place if the weather conditions were perfect, both in terms of light and cloud cover – ‘misty, but not foggy’.
BASE jumping coach John Devore admitted in the video: ‘Of course, when something’s being done for the first time you can’t help but worry a little bit about how it’s really going to turn out.’
Daisher added: ‘If you don’t get a clean exit from the bike and you get tangled up with it, if you don’t open your parachute then you’re not going to make it.’
Fortunately, Cruise performed the stunt without any hitches, and was even willing to go back for more takes.
As one crew member recalled: ‘Tom Cruise just rode a motorcycle off a cliff six times today.’
After the suspense-filled jumps, McQuarrie said: ‘The only thing that scares me more is what we have planned for Mission [Impossible] 8.’
Cruise summed up the experience by saying: I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid. It all comes down to one thing – the audience.’
By analysing the data on each take, the filmmakers were able to see the height Cruise was reaching, and set drones and cameras in places where close-up shots could be captured
After driving the bike off a cliff, Cruise then goes into a BASE jump, which he prepared for with some 500 skydives
Outlining his philosophy when it comes to dangerous scenes to the camera, Cruise says: ‘Don’t be careful, be competent’
Another high-profile stunt he performs in the film takes place aboard a moving train at 60mph, when he fights a villain played by Esai Morales.
Returning to the sequel are Cruise’s usual sidekicks – veteran Hollywood names Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby.
Meanwhile, Pom Klementieff, Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg also star in the blockbuster.
Speaking to 9Honey Celebrity on the red carpet of the movie’s Australian premiere earlier this week, Cruise revealed his thoughts while filming the motorbike scene.
‘I was thinking of performance, because, you see me at the beginning, I have to act, but I’m also thinking about the helicopter that’s going down, the speed that I have to travel down that ramp,’ he said.
‘[Also] not getting blown off the ramp by a helicopter, not hitting the drone that was at the end of the ramp, not having the motorcycle hit me and destabilise me when I have a few seconds before I hit the ground, holding my position as long as I can, because if I open too soon, that’s not the shot.’
Cruise also recently revealed that he doesn’t wear helmets in his stunts because it ‘just doesn’t look cool’.
‘I wear helmets when I ride motorcycles, and when I’m training, and I wear pads,’ he explained.
‘But when you start to go film, all the pads come off. So I train in helmets, but when I’m jumping and racing high-speed bikes, then it’s not cinematic.’
- Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is released in UK cinemas on Monday, July 10.
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