Movies: Tom Cruise

Neutrinos

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Sep 23, 2016
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Biggest movie star of this century, maybe. But bigger than John Wayne? Humphrey Bogart? Cary Grant? That would be a stretch.

Do you think people in places like Brazil and China and Japan know who John Wayne is?

I don't think there are many places in this world where Cruise wouldn't be recognized

He's a global superstar on a level the 3 you mentioned were never able to achieve
 

ProstheticConscience

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Apr 30, 2010
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I rooted for him for Last Samurai. Weird guy, but an effective actor.

Watched that movie and realized that he talked the Japanese Emperor into sending away the American envoys in favour of the old time Samurai ethic for their Imperial expansion. Japan could have been an American ally, but because Tom Cruise was so impressed with the Samurai after doing his Dances With Wolves thing the Emperor kept it going forward.

So we indirectly have Tom Cruise to thank for Imperial Japanese war atrocities in WWII.

Thanks a lot, Tom Cruise.

Dick.
 

Unlimited Chequing

Christian Yellow
Jan 29, 2009
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Recently I came to the realization that I enjoy *a lot* of movies he's in. Not necessarily because he's a great actor (I feel there are much better actors out there), but because he either makes good choices when selecting films, he helps bring together all the right people to make an enjoyable film, or everyone brings their A-game when he's involved.

Whenever I watch anything with him in it, it's always "This looks good and hey, Tom Cruise is in it" and not "It's a Tom Cruise movie so I'm going to watch it".

And even though he's got this reputation, deservedly or not, of being crazy, I will say I was quite surprised at how well he handled that squirting prank many years ago and that always plays in my mind that maybe he's not as bonkers as the media makes him out to be (even if he does have a weird belief system). I would have expected him to fly off the handle; certainly many people with his celebrity stature would have.
 
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x Tame Impala

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Aug 24, 2011
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As a movie star he has had a very long and spectacular career, making entertaining movies almost every time out. As a serious actor, he is good, but not in the first tier and probably not in the second tier either. I'd place him in a league with guys like Kurt Russell, Mark Wahlberg, Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt, dependable to a fault, but rarely truly exceptional.

Agreed completely.

This thread already has a lot of the typical reactions I'd expect on the internet. The guy has been making mostly good to great movies his entire career. He's the epitome of a "Movie Star" and obviously opinions are subjective, but I don't know how someone can say otherwise.

I didn't like him in Jack Reacher 2 and I hope he goes more down the more creative/original path of Edge of Tomorrow and Oblivion than rehashing his classics (MI, Top Gun 2, etc...) and judging by his upcoming projects listed on IMDb that's exactly what he plans on doing.

I actually just watched "A Few Good Men" again over Christmas. It was ****ing excellent. The guy just knows how to make good movies. There's really no denying it. He's been doing it for three decades now.
 
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kihei

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Jun 14, 2006
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Do you think people in places like Brazil and China and Japan know who John Wayne is?

I don't think there are many places in this world where Cruise wouldn't be recognized

He's a global superstar on a level the 3 you mentioned were never able to achieve
For starters, people in Brazil and China and Japan who had access to movies did certainly know who John Wayne was. Hollywood movies have always been an international calling card for the US, even before the internet and mass distribution of films. Hollywood movies are in fact one of the first manifestations of pop culture world-wide and have been so since the time of Chaplin and Keaton. If international exposure and facial recognition were all that counted than Harrison Ford would be a bigger movie star than Tom Cruise. After all his movies have been seen by far more people than Cruise's. In fact if those factors were all that counted, no movie star before the present technologically sophisticated era need apply. In terms of iconic clout, however, I don't think Cruise, as much as I usually enjoy his films, can hold a candle to Wayne, Grant or Bogart.
 

Mario Lemieux fan 66

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Nov 2, 2012
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Minority Report
The Last Samurai
Mission: Impossible III
A Few Good Men
Rain Man
Collateral
Mission: Impossible 5
Mission: Impossible 4
Jerry Maguire
Interview with the Vampire
Edge of Tomorrow
Eyes Wide Shut
Valkyrie
Born on the Fourth of July
Tropic Thunder
Austin Powers in Goldmember

All good to great movies or with great performance from him. The first 3 are amongst my all-time favorite movies.
 

Dipsy Doodle

Rent A Barn
May 28, 2006
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My mom was a big fan. I was raised on the cassette soundtracks to Top Gun and Cocktail.
 

ShootIt

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Nov 8, 2008
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Dude doesn't age. He's like a Japanese woman, won't age till he's 130.

I've enjoyed most of the movies he's been in. Even when he went through that weird off the stage part of his career.

Can't say I cared too much for MI outside of the first couple, but thing I just got bored of the series than his acting.
 

Bood12

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Oct 12, 2016
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Rainman I think was his best role, I am guessing because that "prickly" role he played might have suited his personality

Born On the Fourth Of July was his next best, he would have probably won the best actor for that if it were not for Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot
 

Mimsy

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Mar 21, 2015
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--Rain Man is probably my favorite performance of his.

--I liked Edge of Tomorrow more than I expected, considering the movie plays like a video game.

--While it's not his film and his role is minor, I love The Outsiders, and so I'll plug an his early job of his. Rob Lowe's autobiography dedicated a lot of space to the making of The Outsiders. He talked about Cruise's intensity and how he was often on the phone with his agent looking to secure the next gig.

I'm not a big fan of Cruise, but the guy has star and staying power.
 

Kestrel

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Jan 30, 2005
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Do you think people in places like Brazil and China and Japan know who John Wayne is?

I don't think there are many places in this world where Cruise wouldn't be recognized

He's a global superstar on a level the 3 you mentioned were never able to achieve

Kind of an apples to oranges comparison there - movies were not nearly as global - period - back then as they are now. Very few people in those countries would have even had the opportunity to see John Wayne. Those that had access though, as mentioned before, certainly would know who he is.

Even now, a lot of people in those countries are still missing half of Tom Cruise's acting - they won't be hearing his voice, they'll be hearing a dubbed voice actor.
 

kihei

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Jun 14, 2006
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Tom Cruise plays Tom Cruise in every movie he's done but Collateral.
A good point, but most movie stars do that. That's partly why they are considered movie stars first and actors second.
 

member 51464

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A good point, but most movie stars do that. That's partly why they are considered movie stars first and actors second.

That is an interesting point. I have trouble thinking of someone who is simultaneously seen as a top-flight, adaptable actor (not always playing his or herself) as well as having the cachet of being an A-list, legitimate movie star.
 

montreal

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Not a fan of him since he seems nuts and is in a major cult. But he's had a heck of a career. Tons of entertaining movies, I thought he was great in Magnolia and pretty good in A Few Good Men, Born on the 4th of July, Top Gun.

Movies with him in it that I like in no order,

The Outsiders
Magnolia
A Few Good Men
Top Gun
Born on the Fourth of July
Risky Business
All the Right Moves
Legend
The Color of Money
Taps
Far and Away
Interview with the Vampire
The Firm
The Last Samurai
Tropic Thunder
Jerry Maguire
 

Trap Jesus

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Feb 13, 2012
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He's the greatest action star of all time as far as I'm concerned. I can't say that it's because of him, but I don't think I've ever seen a movie he's in that I didn't enjoy, and some of his films, notably Edge of Tomorrow, stand among my favorite of the genre. Nothing groundbreaking whatsoever about his acting ability, but he's solid and consistent in his performances, and he also has a few roles like in Rain Man and Collateral that he went above and beyond that.
 

Osprey

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Feb 18, 2005
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It's odd to say this about a guy in a cult, but perhaps he's a lot smarter (at least professionally) than most of us give him credit for, since he very rarely makes movies that aren't good. Go through other A-list actors and you can pick out a few or several movies that were big disappointments. For example, Will Smith has Wild, Wild West and After Earth. Arnold Schwarzenegger has Last Action Hero, Batman & Robin and Sabotage. Both of those guys can win you over with their personalities, so it can't just be Cruise's likability that makes all of his films good. Perhaps he picks his roles a little more carefully than other action stars, works with only directors and producers that he trusts and, maybe, takes a larger behind-the-scenes role in producing, himself.

It's not like everything that he's touched has turned to gold (maybe silver, though), but nearly everything of his has been as good as or better than expected. The upcoming The Mummy movie would seem to have all of the ingredients for being a bomb: it's perceived as a remake a very popular movie, it's too soon for it and it seems to play a hokey premise rather straight (unlike the other one)... yet, somehow, we're all going to be surprised that it's better than we expected, I imagine, since that's Tom Cruise for you.
 
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