Mission: Impossible Behind the Scenes — Best Tom Cruise Stunts Explained with Wade Eastwood

Mission: Impossible Stunts Explained — Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Wade Eastwood walks us through the planning and execution of the most insane stunts in the Mission: Impossible franchise like Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to the Mission: Impossible Stunts
01:11 - The Role of Wade Eastwood, Stunt Coordinator and Second-Unit Director
04:54 - Hanging on a Plane in Rogue Nation
06:23 - Long Take Underwater in Rogue Nation
07:37 - HALO Jump in Fallout
09:35 - Helicopter Chase in Fallout
13:03 - Motorcycle Cliff Jump in Dead Reckoning
16:24 - Takeaways

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE STUNTS EXPLAINED

It’s almost objectively true that Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible films have occupied the apex of jaw-dropping stunts for years. And now, with the 7th installment, Cruise and Co. have raised the bar…again. In this video, we had the honor of sitting down with Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Wade Eastwood to discuss those insane Mission: Impossible stunts and the harrowing tales behind them.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE BEHIND THE SCENES — ROGUE NATION

We’ve all wondered what it would be like to hang on to the outside of an airplane mid-flight, right? Well, Tom Cruise actually did it. What’s really amazing about the Airbus sequence is that the crew had only two days to complete it — one for rigging and rehearsal, one for shooting. The only safety precautions were eye contacts to protect his eyes and a rope and harness to keep Cruise from falling to certain death. The underwater vault sequence required an entirely different set of skills. The biggest one was Cruise holding his breath for up to 6 minutes in the same shot.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE STUNTS BTS — FALLOUT

In the next film, Fallout, another plane is involved, but instead of hanging on, Cruise jumps out of it at an altitude of 25,000 feet. This was the now-iconic HALO jump, and Cruise became the first actor to complete it on camera. Because they shot it at dusk, the camera (strapped to another diver’s helmet) had a very limited depth of field which meant precise choreography and planning. In another sequence, Cruise piloted a helicopter himself during an alpine chase. To capture the actor and his surroundings, specially designed camera rigs were mounted to the helicopter.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE STUNTS — DEAD RECKONING

In this installment, the team pulled off what might be the most dangerous stunt yet. Cruise was tasked with driving a motorbike off of a cliff and then base-jumping into the canyon below. While that may not sound extreme, the number of variables and potential accidents made this a big “don’t try this at home” stunt.

As Eastwood explains, the most impressive aspect of these Mission: Impossible stunts is that Tom Cruise also has to act in character while he’s piloting a helicopter or driving off of a cliff. The thrill that the audience experiences is uninterrupted by cutting away to a stunt double. These are the reasons why Mission: Impossible stunts are a cut above the rest.

When we take a look at Mission: Impossible behind the scenes and how Mission: Impossible stunts were filmed, we find a group of professionals pushing the limits on what's possible in film.

#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking

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♬ SONGS USED:

"Mission Accomplished" - Lorne Balfe
"Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Music from the Official Teaser Trailer)" - Lorne Balfe
"Stairs and Rooftops" - Lorne Balfe
"Fallout" - Lorne Balfe
"Your Mission" - Lorne Balfe
"Action Drums (Instrumental)" - Rhythm Scott
"Change of Plan" - Lorne Balfe
"Cutting on One" - Lorne Balfe
"The A400" - Joe Kraemer
"The Torus" - Joe Kraemer
"Free Fall" - Lorne Balfe
"Night Driveway" - Max H.
"Good Evening, Mr. Hunt" - Joe Kraemer
"Fate Whispers to the Warrior" - Lorne Balfe
"And the Warrior Whispers Back" - Lorne Balfe
"Noah Sleeps" - James Forest
"The Manifesto" - Lorne Balfe
"The Exchange" - Lorne Balfe
"Dojo Tradition (Instrumental)" - In This World
"Should You Choose to Accept..." - Lorne Balfe
"Mission Accomplished" - Lorne Balfe
"Steps Ahead" - Lorne Balfe
"Mission Impossible - Main Theme" - Danny Elfman

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[StudioBinder]

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to the Mission: Impossible Stunts
01:11 - The Role of Wade Eastwood, Stunt Coordinator and Second-Unit Director
04:54 - Hanging on a Plane in Rogue Nation
06:23 - Long Take Underwater in Rogue Nation
07:37 - HALO Jump in Fallout
09:35 - Helicopter Chase in Fallout
13:03 - Motorcycle Cliff Jump in Dead Reckoning
16:24 - Takeaways

[tfpp]

This guy is gonna single-handedly bring about the creation of the category of Oscar for best stunt work.

[_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: For Fallout, the bathroom fight was meant to be shot in four days, but due to the complexity of the fight, it ended up being shot over several weeks.

[jasoneaton]

‘This isn’t mission difficult, Mr Hunt. It’s mission impossible, Difficult should be a walk in the park for you.’
Tom Cruise and a stellar crew making the impossible, possible. Outstanding cinema👏👏

[Kennethmarchant]

This man deserve an Oscar for his work in the stunt industry. All the people behind the fantastically stunt works, even putting their live at risk. So sad that the stunt work does not recognize as an important art.

[alejandrovargasaguilar]

You have not idea how much this put a smile on my face. The stunt director is my hero here, he helps to develop the story that mcquarrie and cruise wants to bring into the audiences. That passion for such extreme sequences ended up making me a fan of the saga. What cruise does is matchless to what other people. What a year for action movies, specially because most major blockbusters are pure CGI, a very horrible CGI work most of the time. Here we have pure cinema in sense of camera work and narrative. Tomorrow will see dead reckoning i am beyond excited to see my favorite action hero and movie hero.

[MagneticDonut]

didn't know how insanely well prepared and executed these stunts were. Thank you SB for another amazing video analysis!

[samazwe]

Wade makes me so proud to be South African. It's very rare someone from here can make it that big in Hollywood, but it speaks to his exceptional skills and uncompromising dedication to his craft. Wade, Tom and McQ always deliver the best

[michaela.velasquez]

Honestly, Tom Cruise has some serious cojones, but it really helps to have such a fantastic team working with him. Amazing work!

[hbaldinr]

Tom cruise movies that have this amount of real practical scenes are the most amazing experiences you can experience in the movies. The guy and his team are a beast

[TheJoStephan]

Proudly South African, Wade! Born in Durban and still keeping that SA accent beautifully! Great career !

[keysersoze]

Just watched an advanced screening yesterday. Loved the car chase scene. The cinematography was great as always. I especially loved the staging, blocking and camera angles in this one!

[jpl]

We deserve to know these behind the scene stunts of Tom Cruise! He's a legend

[RohanKumaar]

Now i want to watch the film just to watch this VIDEO LATER 😆

Studiobinder rocks !

[olabodeolujomoye]

The amazing stunts Tom does is just mind-blowing. His crew is simply extraordinary.

[harshdhankar]

The Academy has to start recognising the great and important work the stunt performers and coordinators do in films. With more and particularly impressive action movies releasing, it's high time for the Best Action / Best Stunt category...

[SamuelNasta]

Someone: What if James Bond really did all those tricks?
Tom Cruise: Say no more

[Juliano_DJOL]

To think how T Pastrana did the moto jump back in the day is nutz!

[RSG_TheMonster]

Got to appreciate that they shot all of these complicated action sequences on real 35mm film (right up till Dead Reckoning)

[RogueWolfArtist]

“Don’t be careful, be confident.” Steps to living an amazing life every day.