Why I Travelled nearly 100 Kilometres to Watch Tom Cruise on the Big Screen

When the release date of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning was announced, I felt a strong obligation — not just excitement, but a personal pull to watch it on the biggest screen available, as early as I could. Very few actors can generate that kind of reaction from fans. But Tom Cruise is different.

So, on May 17th, I took leave from work, boarded an early morning train, and travelled nearly 100 kilometres to Kochi. My destination: the IMAX theatre. My mission — one that I gladly chose to accept — to witness Tom Cruise’s latest portrayal of Ethan Hunt, larger than life.

The fact is, it’s not the Mission: Impossible franchise itself that turned me into a fan. It’s Cruise. Across the eight films, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed three or four as complete movies, but each film has offered unforgettable moments — Cruise hanging from the ceiling to steal a disc from the CIA headquarters in MI:1, the wild helicopter chase inside a train tunnel in MI:2, the brutal bathroom fight alongside Henry Cavill in MI:5, or Cruise clinging to the side of a flying jet. These set pieces have continuously pushed the boundaries of what we think is possible on screen.

What makes these sequences even more incredible is knowing that Cruise performs most of them himself, with minimal reliance on VFX or stunt doubles. His commitment is no secret — we’ve seen behind-the-scenes clips where he fractures his ankle jumping between buildings while shooting one of the MI films. He could easily hand such scenes off to doubles, and no one would blame him. But Cruise chooses to do them himself because it allows filmmakers to capture angles and authenticity that CGI simply can’t replicate.

That kind of dedication is rare. You hear it from his co-actors and in interviews — his goal is always clear: to give audiences the best cinematic experience possible.

And it’s not just the Mission: Impossible franchise. Whether it’s Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow, Collateral, War of the Worlds, or The Last Samurai, his filmography consistently delivers. There’s a kind of “minimum guarantee” that comes with a Tom Cruise film — a promise that you’re in for something special. In fact, the average IMDb rating of his last 30 movies stands at over 7! How many other actors can claim that kind of consistency?

It almost feels like he’s speaking directly to us through his work: “We’ve done everything we can to make this worth your time. Now please come and see what we’ve created.”

And really, what else can we say but — “Yes, Tom! We love you. And yes, we’ll be there in theatres.”