Tom Cruise has redefined Hollywood action and drama for four decades. From early 80s breakouts to the jaw-dropping stunts of Top Gun: Maverick, which of his films stands above the rest?
1Top GunThe 1986 action classic that made Tom Cruise a superstar, following a hotshot Navy fighter pilot training at an elite school.
2Mission: ImpossibleThe 1996 spy thriller that launched one of cinema's most enduring action franchises, starring Cruise as Ethan Hunt.
3Rain ManThe 1988 Oscar-winning road movie in which Cruise plays a selfish yuppie who bonds with his autistic savant brother.
4Jerry MaguireThe 1996 sports dramedy featuring Cruise's iconic 'Show me the money!' performance as a sports agent who has a crisis of conscience.
5Top Gun: MaverickThe 2022 blockbuster sequel that became one of the highest-grossing films ever, with Cruise reprising his role decades later.
6Mission: Impossible – FalloutThe 2018 action masterpiece widely considered the pinnacle of the franchise, praised for its breathtaking practical stunts.
7A Few Good MenThe 1992 courtroom thriller in which Cruise faces off against Jack Nicholson's commanding colonel in a military murder case.
8Born on the Fourth of JulyThe 1989 Oliver Stone anti-war drama that earned Cruise his first Oscar nomination as paralyzed Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic.
9CollateralThe 2004 Michael Mann thriller casting Cruise against type as a silver-haired contract killer forcing a taxi driver through a deadly night.
10Minority ReportThe 2002 Steven Spielberg sci-fi thriller set in a future where police arrest criminals before they commit crimes.
11Edge of TomorrowThe 2014 sci-fi action film in which Cruise's cowardly officer is forced to relive an alien-invasion battle day repeatedly.
12Risky BusinessThe 1983 comedy-drama that launched Cruise's career, featuring the iconic underwear-sliding-across-the-floor scene.
13Eyes Wide ShutStanley Kubrick's 1999 erotic psychological drama, his final film, starring Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a couple in crisis.
14MagnoliaPaul Thomas Anderson's 1999 mosaic drama in which Cruise delivers a career-best supporting turn as a self-help misogynist.
15Mission: Impossible – Ghost ProtocolThe 2011 entry that reinvigorated the franchise with the jaw-dropping Burj Khalifa exterior climb sequence.
16Mission: Impossible – Rogue NationThe 2015 entry featuring Cruise hanging off a real Airbus A400M in flight — another landmark practical stunt.
17Interview with the VampireThe 1994 gothic horror adaptation of Anne Rice's novel with Cruise as the menacing vampire Lestat de Lioncourt.
18The Color of MoneyMartin Scorsese's 1986 pool-hustler sequel with Cruise as the cocky protégé of Paul Newman's legendary Fast Eddie.
