Tom Cruise’s top five movie roles includes ‘masterpiece’ as The Final Reckoning met with mixed reviews
Tom Cruise's eighth Mission Impossible has been met with mixed reviews but when it comes to the action star's top five movies? UNILAD RANKED has you covered.
With Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning having come out in the US earlier today (May 23), it only seemed right for this week's UNILAD RANKED to hone in on the man, the face and the action hero behind it all - Tom Cruise.
So, we asked LADbible Group's Netflix Bangers' audience for Cruise's 'best role of all time'.
Over 400 people voted, with poll options even added by the biggest of fans.
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For anyone who's not an action-head, Cruise has starred in other movie gems such as Cocktail and Magnolia - the question is - did they make the list?
5) A Few Good Men (1992)
The results of the poll as of May 20 saw A Few Good Men come out with two percent of votes sneaking into fifth place.
Based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play of the same name, the legal drama was written by Sorkin (The West Wing) himself too.
Directed by Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally), the film was produced by Reiner, David Brown (Chocolat) and Andrew Scheinman (Little Big League).
It stars an ensemble cast including Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Cruise and Demi Moore (The Substance), alongside others including Kevin Bacon (Footloose), Kiefer Sutherland (Designated Survivor) and Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects).
Cruise stars as a lieutenant and military lawyer named Daniel Kaffee, who's defending two US Marines charged with killing a fellow marine at a naval base in Cuba. While we normally see Cruise dicing with danger in intense fight scenes, A Few Good Men sees him risk it all by calling a colonel to the stand in a bid to unravel a suspected conspiracy - but will it pay off?
Cruise's impersonation of Jack Nicholson when Kaffee is quoting Nicholson's character wasn't actually scripted - with Moore and Pollak's reactions subsequently genuine, IMDB notes.
The film saw Cruise nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, alongside MTV Movie Award's Best Male Performance - sadly, he came way empty handed.
And as one Redditor said: "One of the movies tom should have won an Oscar for."
4) Rain Man (1988)
Rain Man made it into the fourth spot with three percent of votes. The film has a screenplay by Barry Morrow (Race the Sun) and Ronald Bass (My Best Friend's Wedding), adapted from a story by Morrow.
Directed by Barry Levinson (The Alto Knights) and produced by Mark Johnson (The Holdovers), it stars Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate) alongside Cruise and Valeria Golino (Hot Shots!).
Cruise's character is a selfish wheeler-deeler named Charlie Babbitt whose dad passes away and leaves all his fortune to the institution to his autistic, older brother, Raymond (Hoffman) - who he never knew he had. Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility and the pair end up on a road trip back to LA - but how much will they learn and how much could change along the way?
Despite Hoffman nearly walking away from the role weeks into the project believing it was the 'worst work of [his] life,' he persevered and ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work, IMDB notes.
Cruise just missed out on a nomination, but as one Twitter user said: "Rain Man is a masterpiece. This film won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director & Best Original Screenplay - all deserved. And if we’re being honest, Tom Cruise also deserved a nomination. The chemistry between Cruise & Dustin Hoffman couldn’t be better."
"Subtle and beautiful performance with a wonderful character arc. His performance was less showy but carries the entire movie," another viewed added. And with a music score by Hans Zimmer himself, what more could you want?
However, if you can't see Cruise as anything other than an action man, then fear not, because next up launches you right in.
3) Jack Reacher series (2012-2016)
Jack Reacher came in with six percent of votes. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun), the 2012 movie was based on Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot.
It was produced by Cruise alongside Don Granger (Mayday), Paula Wagner (Vanilla Sky) and Gary Levinsohn (Deadfall) and the film was directed by McQuarrie too.
Cruise plays the titular character of Jack Reacher - a former US Army Major MP investigator who's called upon to help with a homicide investigation after a mass shooting occurs and a trained military sniper is believed to be behind it.
Although, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was allegedly in talks for the role prior to Cruise being hired - Cruise's 5ft7 height was called into question, given Jack Reacher is meant to be 6ft5 in the novels.
Ultimately, Child told The Wall Street Journal: "With another actor you might get 100 percent of the height but only 90 percent of Reacher. With Tom, you'll get 100 percent of Reacher with 90 percent of the height."
Cast alongside him are Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Werner Herzog (Queen of the Desert), Robert Duvall (The Godfather), David Oyelowo (Selma), Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) and Jai Courtney (Jolt).
Oh, and Child even made a cameo in the movie too, appearing as the police desk sergeant who gives Reacher his belongings, IMDB notes.
One Twitter user said: "Did Tom Cruise match the physical description of Jack Reacher from the books? No. Do I care? No. Cruise absolutely nailed that role imo."
"First movie is a banger absolutely," another added. And so successful was the first film, a sequel followed.
Written by Richard Wenk, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was based off Child's 2013 novel of the same name.
Directed by Zwick too, it was produced by Cruise, Granger and McQuarrie.
Cruise reprised his role as the titular character, joined by Cobie Smulders (The Avengers), Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man) and Robert Knepper (Prison Break).
Alongside Cruise performing all of his own stunts - shocker - Smulders did too, as per IMDB. In preparation for the role, the actor reportedly spent eight weeks training in various martial arts.
Alas, while fans were left 'hungry for more' from the first Reacher movie, the second left one feeling 'underwhelmed'.
A Redditor described it as 'rushed,' over edited' and lacking the 'careful craftsmanship in the first one'.
However, when it comes to the next up on the list, the sequel certainly didn't disappoint in the same way - actually exceeding in popularity compared to its predecessor.
2) Top Gun series
Scoring a solid 29 percent of votes was the Top Gun series. The first action drama released in 1986 was written by Jim Cash (Anaconda) and Jack Epps Jr. (Legal Eagles), inspired by an article titled Top Guns written by Ehud Yonay.
Produced by Don Simpson (Days of Thunder) and Jerry Bruckheimer (Bad Boys), the movie was directed by Tony Scott (Man on Fire).
The original hit stars Cruise alongside Anthony Edwards (ER), Kerry McGillis (Witness), Val Kilmer (Heat) and Tom Skerritt (Picket Fences).
Cruise's character of US Navy Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell is sent to the Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School but he clashes with some of the other pilots in his competition to reach the top.
The role was initially offered to Matthew Modine (Stranger Things), but he turned it down because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics.
However, it also saw the passing of a stunt pilot, Art Scholl killed during the production of the film aged 54 - the exact cause of the plane crash never determined and the film dedicated to him, IMDB reports.
Top Gun was a global hit, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1986 worldwide and becoming known as a cult classic.
As one viewer wrote: "I'm sure I have watched it at least 200times Lol it truly is a all time best."
Its sequel - Top Gun Maverick - subsequently had big shoes to fill...
But boy did it fill them, surpassing the original film both commercially and critically.
Based on Cash and Epps Jr.'s characters and a story by Peter Craig (The Unforgivable) and Justin Marks (The Jungle Book), the screenplay was written by Ehren Kruger (Dumbo), Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle) and McQuarrie.
Produced by Cruise, Bruckheimer, McQuarrie and David Ellison (Spellbound), the movie was dedicated to the memory of the original film's director Scott, who died by suicide in 2012, IMDB reports.
Cruise reprised his role, alongside Kilmer - in his final film role - and the pair were joined by Miles Teller (The Gorge), Jennifer Connelly (Hulk) and Glen Powell (Twisters).
Top Gun: Maverick currently stands at the highest-grossing of Cruise's career so far - grossing a staggering $1.496 billion worldwide, as per Box Office Mojo.
A sequel is also reported as being in development - Cruise telling Australia's Today the team is 'thinking and talking about many different stories and what [they could] do and what's possible'.
But in the mean time, if you're looking for the latest fix of a Cruise action film filled to the brim with as many heart-racing scenes as possible, how about the latest addition to what has become known as the most iconic series of his career?
1) Mission Impossible series
And voted as the best role of Cruise's of all time according to fans? Well, his role in Mission Impossible no less - voted for by 38 percent of voters.
The series of action spy films based on the 1966 TV series created by Bruce Geller (Mannix) first started being released in 1996.
Cruise stars as agent of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), Ethan Hunt, who's sent on many an operation in a bid to tackle all manners of threats against humanity.
The series has seen a whole host of writers, directors and composers tackle its gripping action and in January 2019, it was announced the eighth was in development, written and directed by McQuarrie.
Alongside Cruise, Ving Rhames (Lilo and Stitch) and Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) have also had recurring roles in the series, as well as Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) and Frederick Schmidt (The Marker).
Joining the cast for the eighth release - The Final Reckoning - include Hannah Waddingham (The Fall Guy) and Katy O'Brian (The Mandalorian).
And the series has been praised by some as the best action franchise of all time.
Indeed, one Twitter user wrote: "I’m starting to really realize the mission impossible series is genuinely one of the best series ever."
"The shooting locations in the Mission Impossible series are absolutely stunning. No other movie series comes close," another added.
And a third said: "A series of increasing crescendoes."
So, do you think the eighth and final of the franchise lives up to its predecessors?
Topics: Film and TV, Tom Cruise, US News, UNILAD RANKED
Poppy Bilderbeck