As Tom Cruise seemingly takes a well-deserved break from the Mission: Impossible series, it’s time to look back at his riveting action movies that have thrilled audiences for years. Whether the focus is more on the action or more on the thriller, the best Tom Cruise movies on the list feature a healthy mix of both to entertain audiences.
All Mission: Impossible Movies, Ranked
Tom Cruise leads the Mission: Impossible franchise in 8 movies spanning 3 decades, but which Mission: Impossible movie can be seen as the best of all?
Tom Cruise has starred in nearly 40 movies across his career spanning 4 decades, and while not all of them are action-centric, these ones have the most memorable action that audiences might want to watch, or rewatch, after jumping into the epic world of the Mission: Impossible series.
8 War of the Worlds
Cruise and Spielberg Try to Survive an Alien Invasion
War of The Worlds
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- June 29, 2005
- Runtime
- 116 Minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Writers
- Josh Friedman, David Koepp, H.G. Wells
Cast
-
Tom Cruise -
Dakota Fanning -
Miranda Otto -
Tim Robbins
Spielberg and Cruise are a great match, and this sci-fi action movie has Spielberg directing Cruise into deadly escapades as he tries to save his family from an impending alien invasion, where there’s no rhyme or reason to the senseless attacks sweeping the world. War of the Worlds is intense and grizzly in nature, and the action spectacles of sci-fi elements in the real world are heart-stopping as Tom Cruise dives into the middle of it all.
7 Minority Report
Uncovering the Truth of a Framed Future Murder
Minority Report
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- June 21, 2002
- Runtime
- 145 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg never disappoints, and Minority Report comes in as one of his most intense movies, bolstered by Tom Cruise’s intriguing performance as a police officer who is trying to clear his name after being framed for a murder that he has yet to commit. While more of a suspenseful thriller than an action movie, Minority Report certainly has its breathtaking moments where audiences are on the edge of their seats to see what Tom Cruise will do next to get himself out of this police-wide hunt.
6 Knight and Day
A Hilarious Action-Comedy With Cruise and Diaz
Knight and Day
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- June 23, 2010
WHERE TO WATCH
Knight and Day is hilarious, in part because Tom Cruise plays a satire of his most famous roles. His character, Roy Miller, is the embodiment of his action stardom: brave, skillful, intense, and unwittingly creepy as he hits on and flirts with Cameron Diaz’s June Havens, a character who has unwillingly gotten herself entangled in the lethal adventure of Roy. With fun gun action and great chemistry between the romantic pairing of Cruise and Diaz, Knight and Day is an assured fun time.
Mission: Impossible – Tom Cruise's 8 Most Dangerous Stunts, Ranked
Tom Cruise defies death to provide movie fans with intense thrills throughout the Mission: Impossible series, but which is the most dangerous?
5 Jack Reacher
An Engaging Action Thriller Where Cruise Plays a Lee Childs Character
Jack Reacher
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- December 21, 2012
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
While Jack Reacher is a character more associated with Amazon Prime Video’s tall and buff Alan Ritchson, he was previously played on the silver screen by Tom Cruise. The first Jack Reacher movie in 2012 was the start of a beautiful cinematic collaboration between Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, and the film itself follows Jack Reacher, an expert military man who takes justice into his own hands to investigate a string of murders that lead him down a path of action and danger.
4 Collateral
Cruise Becomes an Intense Contract Killer
Collateral
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- August 6, 2004
- Runtime
- 120 minutes
- Director
- Michael Mann
While Tom Cruise usually involves himself in the role of a hero, this Michael Mann-directed movie has Cruise take the role of a contract killer – a man who isn’t ashamed by what he is, and won’t let anyone get in his way. Collateral has Tom Cruise at his most intense, where audiences are watching for his every move because his breaking point could hit at any moment. The intensity between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx is unparalleled in their dynamic as a paid killer and his cab driver hostage, filled with death at every stop.
3 Top Gun: Maverick
A Feel-Good Time with Roaring and Intense Jet Action
Top Gun: Maverick
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- Release Date
- May 27, 2022
Top Gun: Maverick managed to defy expectations and blow everyone away with a sequel with heart and action. While most might assume this is a movie about Tom Cruise training new recruits for some fun banter and beach volleyball, it goes a lot deeper as Cruise’s character is forced to confront his past and the face of his dead best friend’s son, all while trying to stop nuclear warfare from breaking out with a set of thrilling scenes in fighter jets that will have audiences blown back in their seats and their hearts thumping with every moment.
7 Highest-Grossing Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked
Movie megastar Tom Cruise has starred in a number of box office smash hits that have made him one of Hollywood's highest-grossing actors.
2 Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise Lives, Dies, and Repeats in an Alien Invasion Movie
Edge of Tomorrow
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- June 6, 2014
- Runtime
- 114 minutes
- Director
- Doug Liman
Edge of Tomorrow is certainly a change of pace from Tom Cruise as he tackles aliens directly in an exosuit. While Cruise usually plays stoic and confident heroes who never die, Edge of Tomorrow somewhat makes fun of Cruise’s own style by forcing him into a more cowardly role and killing him… again, and again, and again. Edge of Tomorrow doesn’t just have humorous ways for Cruise to cheat death, but it’s a riveting and rewarding action spectacle as Tom Cruise battles alien forces with Emily Blunt.
1 Mission: Impossible – Fallout
The Most Action-Packed Mission: Impossible Movie
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 27, 2018
- Runtime
- 147 minutes
- Director
- Christopher McQuarrie
While this entire list could be filled with nothing but Mission: Impossible movies, it feels like there should be more of a focus on films outside of that franchise. However, if there had to be one Mission: Impossible movie, then it deserves to be Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Fallout is filled with action and intensity, with Tom Cruise carrying the movie on his back as he weaves between mountains in a helicopter, jumps from rooftops and planes, and attempts to uncover a cabal of rogue agents to stop nuclear Armageddon from engulfing the world for this impossible mission.
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For fans of ridiculously high-octane action games, here are some of the best titles to check out.