Tom Cruise is perhaps the most well-known movie star on the planet, and he’s widely known for his work in the action genre. Cruise’s role as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, in particular, has seen him participating in shootouts, car chases, motorcycle chases, and foot chases, all involving stunt work. Cruise, however, is also an action star outside his work in Mission: Impossible.

Cruise appeared in Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014), both action movies with sci-fi twists. He also took on action with a rom-com element in Knight and Day (2010). Cruise’s roles in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and as Jack Reacher are both action-oriented as well. It was in 2004, however, that Cruise played one of his most memorable characters, showing off a new side of himself in an intense crime thriller that features a handful of realistic shootouts.

Tom Cruise’s Collateral Shooting Earns A Glowing Review

The Actor’s Dedication Is Unmatched

A firearms expert analyzes a scene from Collateral, praising Cruise’s “textbook” gun-handling abilities. Released in 2004, the Michael Mann film marks an interesting career shift for Cruise, putting him in the role of the villain. Cruise plays assassin Vincent in the movie, forcing Jamie Foxx’s Max, a cab driver, to accompany him from hit to hit across Los Angeles. Collateral was a critical and commercial success, earning two nominations at the Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for Foxx.

In a recent video for Insider, firearms expert and retired Special Operations soldier Patrick McNamara analyzes the scene from Collateral in which Cruise’s Vincent guns down two thieves trying to steal his briefcase. The expert praises Cruise’s drawing of the gun and the shooting itself, with McNamara saying that the star looks as if he spent a great deal of time training. Though Vincent using only one hand to finish off one of the thieves results in a point being docked, Collateral ultimately earns a near-perfect accuracy score. Check out McNamara’s analysis below:

He confronts them and allows them to close the gap with pistols out. Game over. Very cool scene. So the way he drew in this particular scene was not only good as far as effectiveness, but as far as safety as well. He did such a good job at clearing that blazer and there was a really good positive grip on that pistol as he drew. It was just spectacular as far as gun handling went.

So, hands up, which means non-aggressive posture. Came over the top, left hook, down, drew, shot from the hip, “boom, boom,” and then two hands, “boom, boom.” So you could tell, not only in this scene but in other scenes in this movie that Tom Cruise spent many, many, many hours drawing and firing.

So he’s built in what people refer to as “muscle memory.” But he’s performed the appropriate amount of meaningful repetitions until that draw stroke is seamless. Because that right there was easily a 1.5 or maybe even a sub-1.5 second draw stroke, which was really nice. It looked textbook to me.

There’s a lot going on here in terms of body position too. So, tactically, he eliminates predictability, he makes sure he gets off the x. His whole body motion is ensuring that nothing is predictable. Predictability leads to freaking chaos and you’re an easy target if you are predictable in your body movements. So he went off the charts with unpredictability like a boxer would do – make ‘em miss and make ‘em pay.

I’m not a fan of lazy gun-handling, but he just kind of lets it dangle before he puts it away. Me, personally, I would probably have backed up and made sure I was covering them before I put the pistol away.

Overall in this scene, Tom Cruise’s form is really, really good . Time invested. Sweat equity. That dude put in work, he put in hours. I would rate this clip a nine [out of 10].

What Collateral’s Accuracy Score Means For Tom Cruise

The Mission: Impossible Star Never Does Anything Halfway

When it comes to wanting to entertain audiences, arguably nobody is more determined than Cruise. Cruise continues to put his life on the line to entertain people, doing a variety of dangerous stunts throughout the Mission: Impossible franchise. Often, these stunts require months’ worth of training and preparation, with his motorcycle jump in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning a perfect example of this.

Cruise is set to do his most dangerous stunts yet in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning , which is due out in May 2025.

Clearly, though, Cruise’s dedication to his roles goes beyond wild stunts. Vincent’s shooting of two thieves in Collateral isn’t nearly as high-stakes as Cruise doing a HALO jump for Mission: Impossible – Fallout, but the actor still put in a great deal of time to ensure that this twenty-second scene was the best it could possibly be. This scene, in many ways, is emblematic of Cruise‘s entire approach to acting.

Source: Insider