Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ Stunt Almost Broke His Back
Tom Cruise is famous for doing his own stunts, but the actor revealed that one stunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was almost too much to handle. In bonus features from the movie’s digital release, Cruise said the biplane fight near the end of the film “almost broke [his] back.”
The Final Reckoning, co-written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, is the eighth and possibly final Mission: Impossible film. The story follows Ethan Hunt and his IMF team as they race to stop a rogue AI called the Entity from destroying humanity.
The movie is packed with thrilling stunts, including Ethan diving into a sunken submarine, which required Cruise to hold his breath for long takes. But the biplane fight between Ethan and the villain Gabriel is one of the most dangerous stunts Cruise has ever done.
During the scene, Ethan jumps from his own plane onto Gabriel’s plane and clings to the wing. Cruise performed the stunt himself and described it as brutal. In the commentary, he said, “Oh, this almost broke my back.” McQuarrie added, “You’re talking about a lot of pain here… Now watch this: The thing we haven’t talked about, holding on to this belt.”
Cruise also revealed that when Ethan grabs a seatbelt while the plane flips upside down, it “separated the joints in [his] fingers from the force, so by the time we finished this sequence, your hands were absolutely swollen — oh my God, it was so painful to watch.” Cruise said, “Oh, that was brutal. That hit, that was a hard one.” McQuarrie praised Cruise’s improvisation, adding, “You were like, ‘I think we’re gonna need that,’ and I was like, ‘I didn’t ask you to do that.'”
Cruise’s stunts didn’t stop there. He set a Guinness World Record for the most burning parachute jumps by an individual. For one of the final stunts, he burned his first parachute and successfully opened a second one 16 times. The Guinness World Record website reported this on June 5, 2025.
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The movie has been praised for its action scenes. At the 5th Critics’ Choice Super Awards, The Final Reckoning won Best Action Movie and Best Actor in an Action Movie for Cruise. As of August 17, 2025, the film has made $197.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $399.1 million in other countries, totaling $596.5 million worldwide.
Critics generally liked the movie, especially the action, though some felt the first hour dragged because of exposition. On Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 417 critic reviews were positive. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning proves once again that Cruise is willing to risk it all to give audiences unforgettable action.
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