Program a five-film Tom Cruise fest

[Gaith]

Same as with the Schwarzenegger thread, choose five movies you think best covers the highlights and variety of Cruise's career (not all from one genre, in other words). Bonus points for justifying your picks.

Here's mine:

1. Rain Man - A shame to leave out Risky Business, but Rain Man similarly covers the cocky youth period of his career, and is a great movie besides.

2. Mission: Impossible II - a personal favorite, it's also perhaps the purest cinematic expression of Cruise's unmistakably stratospheric opinion of himself.

3. Minority Report - The dark side to his M:I movies, in that he plays a drug-addicted cop. Also one of Spielberg's best movies, a sci-fi classic.

4. Collateral - There's no denying it: whether on Oprah, in Magnolia or here, Cruise makes a terrific villain, and this is his best bad guy role that I know of.

5. Tropic Thunder - if he's played a funnier or weirder part, I sure don't know of it. A glorified cameo role, but it captures the Cruise's offbeat side, and how he can't escape his increasingly intense person even in a comedic part.


So there you go; I went a bit heavy on the action, but not, I hope, unduly so. How'd I do?

[Kirkman1987]

Rain Main

Top Gun - this one is a camp classic and perhaps Cruise's most Iconic role, even if nowhere near his best.

Born on the Fourth of July - One of his best performances and a touching film.

Mission Impossible - One of these has to go on the list and this is the only one I really cared for.

Minority Report

[Admiral Shran]

Rain Man - His best role. Period.

Top Gun - His most iconic role.

Interview with the Vampire - An excellent movie with great performances all around.

The Last Samuari - Again, an excellent movie with great performances all around. Cruise is probably the weakest part in the cast, and easily gets outshinned by Ken Watanabe, but that's not to say he's bad in the role. In this movie he just had to contend with a lot of amazing actors.

Valkyrie - Other than The Last Samuari, it's the only good moive he's done in the last fourteen years.

[Landed]

Rain Man

Risky Business

Mission Impossible

The Last Samurai

Minority Report

[FordSVT]

Rain Man
Top Gun
Jerry Maguire
The Color of Money
Born on the Fourth of July


I think the Scientology thing sucks, but I don't care what other people think about him, I think he's a pretty brilliant entertainer and actor. There are few major Hollywood stars that have been featured in so many different types of movies; from surreal thrillers to action movies and comedy, he does it all, and more often than not he does it well.

[Garak]

Top Gun: start with what made Tom Cruise the utter legend he is.

Mission Impossible 2: Tom Cruise + John Woo = heart pounding, non stop action. Also nice to look at: Thandie Newton and Tom Cruise's hair.

Jerry Macguire: Great tale about a sports agent that grows a heart. Brilliant performances all around, except Rene Whatsherface, but you barely notice her.

A Few Good Men: very underrated movie in my books.

Days of Thunder: Remember Cole Trickle? He's that guy in your rear view mirror about to pass you.


Honorable mentions: Cocktail, Legend, Born on the 4th of July

[Aragorn]

Top Gun -- the movie that made him a movie star

Born on the Fourth of July -- the movie that showed he was an actor

Jerry Maguire -- the romantic comedy drama

Minority Report -- the science fiction

The Last Samurai -- the period action piece

FordSVT wrote:

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I think the Scientology thing sucks, but I don't care what other people think about him, I think he's a pretty brilliant entertainer and actor. There are few major Hollywood stars that have been featured in so many different types of movies; from surreal thrillers to action movies and comedy, he does it all, and more often than not he does it well.

He's always giving his all to every project and is also someone who wants to work along side legitimate talent. When was the last time the director of one of his movies was a nobody that he could control (like what Stallone did throughout most of the 90s)? Even two of his worst movies since he became a lead actor, Legend (Ridley Scott) and Cocktail (Roger Donaldson, director of No Way Out, Thirteen Days and The Bank Job), were from name directors.

[Holdfast]

FordSVT wrote:

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I think he's a pretty brilliant entertainer and actor. There are few major Hollywood stars that have been featured in so many different types of movies; from surreal thrillers to action movies and comedy, he does it all, and more often than not he does it well.

Agreed 100%. His screen presence is remarkable. Like Arnie, he's often enough to carry an otherwise less than stellar film just through that charisma. Plus, when given material, he really can act.

My top 5:

Top Gun - srsly, automatic pick. Awesome movie, brilliant casting
Cocktail - this is a really shitty film. Watch it anyway; if you liked the 80s, you'll love it.
A Few Good Men - Tom Cruise AND Jack Nicholson? No brainer.
Vanilla Sky - classy sci-fi flick. "TECH SUPPORT!"
The Last Samurai - just a great acting performance, and I found the ending very moving.

Hon. Mentions: Days of Thunder, Jerry Maguire, Born on 4th July, Minority Report, Interview with A Vampire, Rain Man, Collateral

[Obiwanshinobi]

TAPS
Risky Business
Top Gun
Magnolia
Minority Report

[CaptainCanada]

Risky Business - comedy breakout.
Top Gun - the movie that made him the world's biggest star.
Born on the Fourth of July - showed he could really act.
Jerry Maguire - in a lot of respects, probably Cruise's high point in terms of combining box office, pop culture relevance, and critical and awards acclaim.
Minority Report - his last really great lead role (though I liked The Last Samurai), before his personal life started to completely overpower his screen persona.

[Gaith]

Admiral Shran wrote:

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Valkyrie - Other than The Last Samuari, it's the only good moive he's done in the last fourteen years.

Eyes Wide Shut, Minority Report, Collateral, Tropic Thunder?!And that's charitably assuming you haven't seen the light on M:I-2.

[Jax]

Pity hes such a weird-O because he is the best actor of his generation and one of the best never to win the Oscar.

The Last Samurai
Tropic Thunder
A Few Good Men
Rain Man
Mission Impossible 3

[Admiral Shran]

Gaith wrote:

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Eyes Wide Shut, Minority Report, Collateral, Tropic Thunder?!And that's charitably assuming you haven't seen the light on M:I-2.

Eyes Wide Shut - Aside from Nicole Kidman nude, I never saw what was so great about it.

Minority Report - Boring. And I don't think Spielberg has the touch he had early in his career anymore.

Collateral - Okay, I might be willing to give this one another chance. Maybe.

Tropic Thunder - Stupid and unfunny.

Mission Impossible 2: Never been a fan of the Mission Impossible series. And John Woo sucks.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Jerry Maguire is probably the most quotable movie of the 1990s and has quite possibly contributed more catchphrases to pop culture than any other film.

Garak wrote:

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Honorable mentions: Cocktail, Legend, Born on the 4th of July

Ahhh, Legend... Tom Cruise before he got his teeth fixed. I really can't stand that movie. The actors put in a decent effort, particularly Tim Curry as the bad guy. But Ridley Scott's direction is just too thick & cloying. All of the floating crap that Scott put in the air to reflect the light is supposed to make the forest look idyllic. I think it makes it look like hayfever hell! The "funny" dwarves are neither funny nor particularly well acted, though that might just be because the midget actors are buried underneath thick layers of latex to make them look more like storybook drawings.

Holdfast wrote:

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Agreed 100%. His screen presence is remarkable. Like Arnie, he's often enough to carry an otherwise less than stellar film just through that charisma.

A great movie to demonstrate this aspect, IMO, is Knight & Day. Tom Cruise plays some sort of insane secret agent who thinks that he's the hero in a Tom Cruise movie...and happens to be right! It's a total lightweight to be sure, but it's got a very high fun:weight ratio.

[Kirby]

Risky Business
Top Gun
A Few Good Men
The Color of Money
Rain Man