Watch Tom Cruise Drift One-Handed Through Rome for Mission Impossible
Tom Cruise is handcuffed to someone else while actually drifting through Rome.
A good movie action sequence can define a whole film. Take Ronin, Top Gun (either one), or Heat. Sure, Heat did have something of a compelling story, but that entire film lives for the bank heist scene. Ronin lives and dies on the E34 BMW-starring car chase. Top Gun is the best fighter plane action anywhere. And the newest Mission: Impossible film starring Tom Cruise, it looks like Cruise’s one-handed drifting sequence is going to make the film.
If there’s one thing Cruise is known for, besides being a huge advocate for Scientology (not as logical as it sounds), is doing his own stunts. It has arguably made his career. That, and his onscreen charisma is that of one of the last of the classical movie stars. If nothing else, he does deserve credit for actually putting himself in harm's way for the stunt. For Top Gun: Maverick, the 60-year-old Cruise did do training to sustain the g-forces that fighter aircraft can do. He also strapped himself to the side of a cargo plane during takeoff for another shot.
For Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (can we stop with the parts?) he and co-star Hayley Atwell were handcuffed together for a series of driving stunts. Cruise had his left hand actually handcuffed to Atwell for the stunts, which included spins, drifts, and precision driving through the streets of Rome. For the first part of the segment, Cruise drifted a contemporary BMW 5 Series with no doors. Then it got crazy–Cruise and Atwell switched to a specially modified Fiat 500 for the rest of the stunts. Not the modern one. The old one.
The behind-the-scene chronicling of the stunts is neat to watch, and certainly does show Cruise doing his own stunts. If nothing else, there’s some sick drifts in there for your enjoyment.
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