Tom Cruiseâs 10 best movies ranked
Tom Cruise turns 61 today. As an actor and producer, his films have grossed more than $11 billion worldwide, and he shows zero signs of slowing down. How do we know? Because he’s still climbing mountains, flying jet fighters and falling from flying helicopters any chance he gets.
To wish the film icon a happy day, we’ll share our 10 favorite films of his. Seems fitting Cruise was born on the third of July, doesn’t it?
We’ll cover plenty of the hits you know and love and include some lesser celebrated titles that deserve the love. What are your favorite Tom Cruise flicks? Read our picks (and honorable mentions) below:
MORE: Tom Hanks’ 10 best movies ranked
10) Risky Business (1983)
You saw glimpses of Cruise’s movie star potential in “Taps” and “Losin’ It,” but Paul Brickman’s coming-of-age comedy about a promising Chicago teen looking for fun at home while his parents are out of town before things get out of hand thanks to a rendezvous with a prostitute gave us the Cruise we’d know and love forever. At just 21, Cruise impressed Hollywood enough to not only guarantee him starring roles in films like “Legend” and “Top Gun,” but also work with ace filmmakers like Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Martin Scorsese.
9) Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
If nobody else wants to make a 90s-style sci-fi action flick in the mid-2010s, we can count on Cruise to give it a go, even giving Bill Paxton a tasty part in the process. He plays a smarmy military PR officer thrust into the frontlines in an apocalyptic battle against deadly aliens, while also reliving the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies. So it’s basically “Groundhog Day” meets “Starship Troopers,” yet even more awesome than it sounds. For some, it might just be a fun throwaway B-movie with the star on his game, but thanks to Cruise, co-star Emily Blunt, director Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, we a get a thoughtful treatment of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s source material and another send-up of Cruise’s persona in arguably the greatest video game movie not based on an actual video game.
8) Minority Report (2002)
Cruise’s collaborations with Steven Spielberg warrant a spot on this list, and while we dig “War of the Worlds,” we’ll opt for this slick adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story about a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, and an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder. Spielberg’s racing direction, the snazzy special effects and John Williams’ thrilling score help to supercharge this man-on-the-run adventure, which definitely goes on longer than it should, but it’s Cruise’s trademark star-power and earnestness that really make it go.
7) Rain Man (1988)
Dustin Hoffman received rave reviews in Barry Levinson’s best picture winner, but Cruise’s performance remains every bit as good as his Oscar-winning counterpart. As a selfish yuppie whose father left a fortune to his savant brother, who takes him cross-country through a series of frustrating left turns that help him learn about communication, patience and family in what remains some of his best acting to date.
6) Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
With a thrilling sequel nearly four decades in the making, Tom Cruise saved Hollywood. Steven Spielberg said so. With the public’s return to movie theaters post-COVID up in the air, Cruise’s assuaged any fears by waiting out the pandemic and delivering a $1.5 billion blockbuster in the 11th hour. Oh, and it’s quite good. Reprising his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, Cruise confronts ghosts of his past when he leads the titular training academy’s elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it. Has all the action, drama, comedy, romance you want to see in a big Hollywood motion picture event, earning six Oscar nominations in the process (including best picture). Above all, Cruise reminded the world what a real movie star can deliver on the biggest stage.
5) Magnolia (1999)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s jam-packed mosaic of fragile and flawed characters in the San Fernando Valley ran an epic three hours long, going for another home run after his dynamic “Boogie Nights.” He called upon super-duper-star Cruise, who established himself as a movie icon who should only ever get top billing, to shed that mystique and take on a supporting role that would challenge his Hollywood rep as well as his skill as a serious actor opposite the likes of Jason Robards and Philip Seymour Hoffman. As a motivational speaker and a bit of a charlatan selling a pickup artist tutorial, Cruise rises to the occasion by certainly stealing scenes but also sharing the load beautifully with an ensemble of gifted actors keen on exploring the human condition.
4) Top Gun (1986)
The mega-hit that further launched Cruise into absolute superstardom. As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom. Thanks also in large part to late director Tony Scott (with whom he’d also make the NASCAR version, “Days of Thunder”), this remains one of the purest 1980s experiences to date: The call signs (Maverick, Goose, Iceman, etc.), the beach volleyball, the Kenny Loggins. Oh, and the thrilling fighter jet sequences. Cruise had only just begun to reach the peak of his powers. It all still holds up.
3) Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
The great Stanley Kubrick’s final film stars then-real-life married couple Cruise and Nicole Kidman as spouses in need of an answer, as he embarks on a dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him. Great performances from the leads and truly disturbing pacing and imagery sent a master like Kubrick off in fitting style. With “Days of Thunder” and “Far and Away” under their belts, Cruise and Kidman deliver their strongest work yet together, with one knockout scene in which Kidman counter-punches him down to size.
2) Mission: Impossible franchise (1996-present)
The franchise is a force of nature, so it’s tough to pick just one. Each brings enough energy and eye-popping action and stunt work to warrant its own spot (yes, haters, even “M:I2″), and it’s clearly what will define Cruise’s legacy as a movie star and Hollywood’s true last action hero. If we must pick one, we’ll take “Fallout,” simply one of the greatest action movies ever made. The process of bringing this sixth entry in the still-evolving “Mission: Impossible” franchise (and its spectacular set pieces and stunts) is fascinating onto itself, but sometimes you just have to marvel at what’s on screen, primarily Cruise, who literally risks his life to entertain us. And with at least two more sequels on the way (starting with July’s “Dead Reckoning, Part 1″), writer/director Chris McQuarrie and Cruise seem hell-bent on topping themselves, so watch out.
1) Jerry Maguire (1996)
Arguably the most Tom Cruise movie ever? He plays a sports agent who has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, as he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former secretary. Cruise, Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renee Zellweger give winning performances. From writer/director Cameron Crowe, with whom he’d also later make “Vanilla Sky.” At the time, it felt like the pinnacle of Cruise’s career as movie star and actor (capping an incredible 1990s box office run), though he’d lose out on the Oscar to Geoffrey Rush (”Shine”). All of Cruise’s big screen charisma is on display, and at the same time, it all unravels in manic fashion to further prove his willingness to stretch creatively, especially in the hands of another artist like Crowe.
Honorable mentions: The Color of Money (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Valkyrie (2008).
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