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Days of Thunder

Where to watch.

Watch Days of Thunder with a subscription on Paramount+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

Days of Thunder has Tom Cruise and plenty of flash going for it, but they aren't enough to compensate for the stock plot, two-dimensional characters, and poorly written dialogue.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Cole Trickle

Robert Duvall

Harry Hogge

Nicole Kidman

Dr. Claire Lewicki

Randy Quaid

Michael Rooker

Rowdy Burns

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, days of thunder.

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"Days of Thunder" is an entertaining example of what we might as well call the Tom Cruise Picture, since it assembles most of the same elements that worked in " Top Gun ," "The Color Of Money" and " Cocktail " and runs them through the formula once again. Parts of the plot are beginning to wear out their welcome, but the key ingredients are still effective. They include: 1. The Cruise character, invariably a young and naive but naturally talented kid who could be the best, if ever he could tame his rambunctious spirit.

2. The Mentor, an older man who has done it himself and has been there before and knows talent when he sees it, and who has faith in the kid even when the kid screws up because his free spirit has gotten the best of him.

3. The Superior Woman, usually older, taller and more mature than the Cruise character, who functions as a Mentor for his spirit, while the male Mentor supervises his craft.

4. The Craft, which the gifted young man must master.

5. The Arena, in which the young man is tested.

6. The Arcana, consisting of the specialized knowledge and lore that the movie knows all about, and we get to learn.

7. The Trail, a journey to visit the principal places where the masters of the craft test one another.

8. The Proto-Enemy, the bad guy in the opening reels of the movie, who provides the hero with an opponent to practice on. At first the Cruise character and the Proto-Enemy dislike each other, but eventually through a baptism of fire they learn to love one another.

9. The Eventual Enemy, a real bad guy who turns up in the closing reels to provide the hero with a test of his skill, his learning ability, his love, his craft and his knowledge of the Arena and the Arcana.

The archetypal Tom Cruise Movie is "Top Gun," in which the young fighter pilot, a natural, was tutored by a once-great pilot and emotionally nurtured by an older female flight instructor before testing his wings against the hot dogs of his unit, in preparation for a final showdown.

In " The Color of Money ," the young pool player, a natural, was tutored by a once-great pool hustler and emotionally nurtured by an older female who had been around the block a few times, in preparation for a two-part showdown with (a) his hated opponent on the professional pool circuit, and (b) his Mentor himself. In "Cocktail," the young bartender, a natural, was tutored by an older bartender, before eventually meeting first an older female who taught him a thing or two, and then a younger but still more mature female who taught him how to forget them.

In "Days of Thunder," all of these elements are present in an entertainment of great skill but predictable construction. The Craft is stock-car racing. The Mentor is played by Robert Duvall , as a veteran racing-team leader. The Superior Woman is a physician ( Nicole Kidman ), who is attracted to the raw energy of the hero but forces him to grow up by laying down the line of responsible behavior. The Arena is the auto-racing track, and the Arcana includes such lore as "slipstreaming," RPMs, tire temperature and whether to pass on the outside or the inside. The Proto-Enemy is a driver named Rowdy ( Michael Rooker ), who challenges the hero to racing duels, including one that winds them both up in the hospital. The Eventual Enemy ( Cary Elwes ) is a driver named Wheeler who would like to run the hero into the wall and kill him. And the Trail is the Southern stock-car circuit, ending in the holy city of Daytona.

"Days of Thunder" was directed by Tony Scott , the same man who started this whole cycle by directing "Top Gun," and the new movie shows the same mastery of the photography of fast machines. The movie's handicap is that auto racing is a boring sport visually unless you are standing close to the cars or they are crashing into each other. The rest consists of long shots of lots of anonymous cars dashing confusingly around the track, medium shots of two cars trying to pass one another, and closeups of drivers looking as if they are experiencing proctoscopy.

As "Days of Thunder" sees it, the principal strategy in stock-car racing consists of trying to sideswipe your opponent and push him into the wall, and Cruise's cars scrape the wall for easily half of the time they are on the track. Most of this racing footage is loud and fast enough to be exciting, however, and the off-track sequences are served by Duvall's usual laconic, sensitive performance; Randy Quaid as a used-car dealer who has faith in the kid, and Rooker as the perfect Proto-Enemy (he can look hateful and then turn it around with a smile).

Kidman has little to do as the love interest and doesn't make much of an impression. And Cruise is so efficiently packaged in this product that he plays the same role as a saint in a Mexican village's holy day procession: It's not what he does that makes him so special; it's the way he manifests everybody's faith in him.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Days Of Thunder (1990)

Rated PG-13

106 minutes

Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle

Randy Quaid as Tim

Robert Duvall as Harry

Nicole Kidman as Claire

Produced by

Jerry Bruckheimer
Don Simpson
Chris Lebenzon
Billy Weber
Hans Zimmer

Photography by

Ward Russell

Directed by

Robert Towne

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25 details from Tom Cruise's 'Days of Thunder' that show how much NASCAR and the rest of the world have changed

"Days of Thunder" is the biggest dramatic movie ever based on NASCAR and one of the biggest auto racing movies of all time.
The movie, now 32 years old, starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
While the movie is still a fun look at big-time racing, many details have not aged well and will make fans feel old.
From some eyebrow-raising casting choices to the lack of safety equipment, and an early look at Cruise's yet-to-be-perfected running style, the world has changed a lot since 1990. Below we take a look at the details that will make fans of NASCAR and the movie feel old.

Look at those shorts! And those headphones!

This movie is so old, The King, Richard Petty, was not yet retired from stock car racing and is shown several times in racing scenes.

Randy Quaid was still landing dramatic roles as a serious actor in major films.

Pepsi stopped using that logo more than 25 years ago.

The film zoomed-in on several Confederate Flags, including a "The South Will Rise Again" flag. These were all seen in the first 90 seconds. No matter what your opinion is on the flag, we can all agree that this would not happen in a blockbuster film today.

Fred Thompson, who plays the head of NASCAR, was seen smoking in a nice restaurant.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman still liked each other. They would get married a year after this movie was filmed.

ESPN still covered NASCAR. There was even a Dr. Jerry Punch sighting, the long-time NASCAR pit reporter.

Sixteen years before John C. Reilly would star in another NASCAR movie, "Talladega Nights," he was a member of Cole Trickle's crew in "Days of Thunder." It was the original "Shake and Bake."

While Chevy is still a major player in NASCAR, it has been a while since the Lumina was a star in their lineup.

Same for the Ford Thunderbird.

And any Buicks.

There were also some major sponsors you wouldn't see anymore at sporting events, including Skoal and Kodak Film.

A young Rusty Wallace made a cameo. In 1990, he was the reigning NASCAR champion.

It is strange to see pit crew members not wearing helmets or fire suits.

The drivers wore open-faced helmets without any safety devices, such as the HANS head restraint device which wouldn't become mandatory in NASCAR for another 12 years.

Dirty faces were the norm.

The walls were just concrete. It would be years before NASCAR would start using safety walls made with foam.

In a sad bit of irony, one of the main characters is Harry Hogge, played by Robert Duvall. The character starts the movie in retirement due to his driver dying in a head-first crash into the wall at Daytona.

Some of the safety features not seen in this movie were ushered in after Dale Earnhardt died in a similar fashion at Daytona in 2001. Earnhardt's No. 3 car is seen in the movie competing at Daytona.

At the time of this movie, one person owning more than one NASCAR team was considered controversial enough to be a plot twist. Nowadays, that is the norm and drivers often assist teammates. (Also, look at that TV on Channel 4!)

Fresh off of "The Princess Bride" and "Glory," the movie tried to pass off Cary Elwes as a NASCAR driver villain.

It is also hard to imagine Hardees and Mello Yello cars battling for the lead on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

After Cole won the Daytona 500 at the end of the film, he drove straight to pit row without taking a victory lap or doing any burnouts.

In the final scene of the movie, Cole Trickle races his crew chief to victory lane after winning Daytona. In one of the more dated sights in the movie, Tom Cruise has clearly not yet perfected his famous movie running style. It's like seeing a baby take its first steps.

Main content

15 Fast Facts About Days of Thunder

By eric d snider | jul 5, 2015.

Days of Thunder was many people's first exposure to the high-octane, left-turning world of NASCAR. The 1990 Tom Cruise vehicle reunited him with his Top Gun director and producers, and for that reason was nicknamed Top Car during the pre-production stage. It failed to deliver the sizable audience or inspire the fervent devotion that Top Gun had, but Days of Thunder remains a minor cult favorite today among Cruise aficionados and racing enthusiasts. Here are some things you might not have known about everyone's favorite NASCAR movie (non-comedy division).

1. TOM CRUISE'S CHARACTER, COLE TRICKLE, WAS LOOSELY INSPIRED BY A REAL NASCAR DRIVER—AND IT WASN'T DICK TRICKLE.

It was Tim Richmond , a fiery, hard-partying, ladies' man of a NASCAR driver who died of AIDS in 1989. There was a driver named Dick Trickle, who made his NASCAR debut in 1989 and won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award at the record-setting age of 48, but apart from the last name, he had nothing in common with Cruise's flashy playboy.

2. THIS IS WHERE TOM CRUISE AND NICOLE KIDMAN MET.

It was the Aussie actress’ first American film. She and Cruise started dating while the movie was being shot, and were married on Christmas Eve 1990, six months after the film's release.

3. IT'S ALSO WHERE DIRECTOR TONY SCOTT MET HIS WIFE, A "PIT GIRL" ORIGINALLY PICKED UP BY PRODUCER DON SIMPSON.

Among Simpson's many excesses was making screenwriter Robert Towne write in a small role for Simpson's new girlfriend, an actress named Donna Wilson. She had only one line, but it was enough of an excuse for Simpson to bring her to Daytona for the entire shoot. While there, the relationship ended because of Simpson's Herculean drug use, and Wilson ended up with the director. She and Scott married in 1994 and were together until his death in 2012.

4. THE FILM DIDN'T FINISH SHOOTING UNTIL ABOUT SIX WEEKS BEFORE IT HIT THEATERS.

That's an unusually short post-production schedule for such a big-budget, tech-heavy film, but shooting delays left Paramount with little choice. Producers Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (more on them later) were constantly micromanaging Scott and Towne, and arguing with each other about every little thing. The shoot went more than three months over schedule, finally ending in early May. Its original Memorial Day release, where it would have competed with Back to the Future Part III , had to be pushed back to June 27, where it competed with Ghost Dad .

5. THAT MELLO YELLO PRODUCT PLACEMENT WAS FOR REAL.

NASCAR teams are famous for proudly displaying their sponsors' logos on their cars, so it wouldn't make sense to make a NASCAR film without similar decorations on the fictional drivers' vehicles. Naturally, the studio jumped at the chance to make a movie full of product placements that could be justified by the story. Though Mello Yello is never mentioned by name in the film, its logo appears prominently on Cole Trickle's car, and a TV commercial tying the soda to NASCAR and Days of Thunder aired in summer 1990. The next year, actual NASCAR racer Kyle Petty started driving a Mello Yello car, and did so for four years. As expected, Mello Yello's sales surged in the mid-90s.

6. AS WITH SO MANY THINGS, WE CAN THANK PAUL NEWMAN FOR THE FILM’S EXISTENCE.

The legendary actor and part-time racer shared his enthusiasm for motorsports with Tom Cruise when they made The Color of Money together. The two were then introduced to NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick (the inspiration for Randy Quaid's character), who let budding racing enthusiast Cruise drive a stock car himself. Cruise's reaction after taking a car around the track at 175 mph: “Hey, we gotta make a movie about this!”

7. THE SCREENPLAY WAS WRITTEN BY AN OSCAR-WINNER, AFTER ANOTHER OSCAR-WINNER TOOK A SWING AT IT.

Robert Towne, author of Chinatown , is whom Cruise eventually recruited to flesh out his basic story idea. Before that though, two other screenwriters attempted it: Warren Skaaren (who'd written Beetlejuice and Batman ), and Donald Stewart, a car aficionado who'd won an Academy Award for Missing and would go on to co-write the first three Jack Ryan movies.

8. BUT IT WASN'T WRITTEN IN A TIMELY MANNER, AND TOWNE PROBABLY WOULD NOT HOLD IT UP AS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF HIS CRAFTSMANSHIP.

In addition to all the other production problems, Cruise was consistently unhappy with the script, which 1) wasn't done yet when they started shooting, and 2) kept needing rewrites. Actors would be given new pages of dialogue immediately before filming—or even during. According to Don Simpson's biographer Charles Fleming, “For a while, Cruise read new lines off the dashboard of his speeding stock car, until keeping his eyes off the road caused him to crash. After that, Cruise listened to new lines as Towne dictated through a headset.”

9. THE PRODUCERS TURNED THE DAYTONA, FLORIDA SET INTO THEIR OWN SPRING BREAK PARTY.

Allegedly. Allegedly. The production delays caused by Simpson and Bruckheimer's incessant creative involvement (to be fair, there were weather issues, too) meant everyone had a lot of downtime. According to one crew member , the producers’ “main concern [was] getting laid.” They—mostly Simpson, a notorious party animal—spent studio money to build a private gym at the hotel where they were staying, with a neon sign alerting nearby beachgoers to the movie’s (and thus Tom Cruise’s) presence. They bought out a local club for a party for the cast and crew, who were mostly men, and invited beach girls and hookers to fill out the ranks. By most accounts , Bruckheimer was the one who got the work done , while Simpson partied, slept, and caroused.

10. SIMPSON THE PRODUCER WANTED TO BE SIMPSON THE MOVIE STAR, AND MADE TOWNE WRITE A PART FOR HIM IN THE MOVIE.

Simpson fancied himself an actor, and even went around telling people he had uncredited cameos in his and Bruckheimer's movies, which was untrue. He made it happen in Days of Thunder though, getting Towne to write a four-page scene where Simpson, as a driver named Aldo Bennedetti (think Mario Andretti), would interact with Cruise and Robert Duvall. Film editor Billy Weber, who was on-set the whole time, said Simpson's acting was “painful.” “It was clear to Tony [Scott] and to Towne and to Don that his scenes just weren't working … It was unusable." Another on-set source said it was Cruise who objected to the scene, which was unnecessary and would only exacerbate the film's schedule problems. Eventually Simpson's part was whittled down to one line, Aldo telling an ESPN reporter, “I'm glad he's well enough to come back, and I hope I beat him, at the same time.”

11. THE FILM (AND ITS DISAPPOINTING BOX OFFICE) HELPED USHER IN A NEW ERA OF FISCAL RESTRAINT IN HOLLYWOOD.

The '80s were marked by studios giving producers a lot of money to crank out whatever populist entertainment they could. By the end of the decade, production costs were spiraling upward at an alarming rate. When Days of Thunder 's budget ballooned from about $35 million to something like $70 million (reports vary, and Hollywood accounting is notoriously secretive and unreliable), execs at Paramount got nervous. When the film's box office barely covered its production, marketing, and distribution costs, they got serious, severing the five-year deal with Simpson and Bruckheimer that they'd inked less than a year earlier. (The duo's previous films, including Flashdance , Beverly Hills Cop , and Top Gun , had been cash cows, but enough was enough.) The producers landed on their feet elsewhere and went on to make The Ref , Bad Boys , Crimson Tide , Dangerous Minds , and The Rock before Simpson's death in 1996.

12. AS YOU'D EXPECT, THE RACING SCENES WERE FILMED WITH THE CARS GOING MUCH SLOWER THAN THEY USUALLY WOULD: ONLY 120 MPH.

That's down from the 200 miles per hour those cars would do in a real race. And still, even at a reduced speed, the work was dangerous. Tony Scott told The New York Times , "There's a major crash in the middle of the movie at speeds of 120 to 140 miles an hour manned by stunt drivers. Things happen to metal at 140 miles an hour that don't happen at 60 miles an hour." Despite that, Scott boasted that the total on-set injuries for the entire production only added up to 13 stitches.

13. TOM CRUISE'S INEXPERIENCE WITH STOCK CARS DESTROYED A $100,000 CAMERA.

Early in the shoot, NASCAR driver Hut Stricklin, hired as a consultant and stunt driver, told Cruise that stock cars are built to turn left. "He didn't really know what I was talking about," Stricklin later recalled . Cruise figured it out soon enough when he turned left without trouble, then tried going back to the right and spun out. The car grazed a track wall, destroying an expensive camera that had been attached to the right side of the vehicle. "[He] understood then," Stricklin said. "Too bad he had to kill a $100,000 camera." (By the way, Stricklin said he got paid more for the Days of Thunder job—for which he was a contractor, not even mentioned in the credits—than he “ever thought about making driving.”)

14. IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT NASCAR'S SUPPORT.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing truly has national popularity now, but in 1990, it was mostly a regional thing, big in the Southeast quadrant of the U.S. and small everywhere else. Simpson and Bruckheimer needed NASCAR's full cooperation if the film was to be authentic, and the association's president, Bill France Jr., was noncommittal at first. He got onboard when Simpson convinced him that the film would show the public that NASCAR was a high-tech, professional sport. From then on, NASCAR's support was full and unconditional , even allowing producers to enter movie cars in the real Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) races, including the 1990 Daytona 500.

15. THE SCENE WHERE NASCAR BOSS BIG JOHN THREATENS TO FIRE TRICKLE AND BURNS IF THEY BUMP EACH OTHER ON THE TRACK AGAIN—THEN FORCES THEM TO DRIVE TO DINNER TOGETHER—WAS BASED ON A REAL INCIDENT WITH GEOFF BODINE AND DALE EARNHARDT.

Bodine and Earnhardt did not, however, destroy two rental cars in the process. But such shenanigans were attributed to 1950s racers Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly, who were the Cole Trickles of their day.

The story behind making "Days of Thunder"

"Days of Thunder" turns 30 this year, and to celebrate NASCAR put together a documentary about the making of the movie that brought stock-car racing to the big screen.

The film starred Tom Cruise as NASCAR rookie Cole Trickle. Cruise was introduced to racing by the late Paul Newman, himself a very competitive driver off screen. After co-starring in "The Color of Money," Newman put Cruise in sports cars, which led to Cruise meeting NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, who eventually let the actor test one of his race cars.

That test—and other conversations with NASCAR personalities—pushed Cruise to pitch a NASCAR movie to producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Cruise and writer Robert Towne then attended races to research the story and characters. They also had to convince NASCAR boss Bill France Jr. to get onboard.

Filming took place at several NASCAR races, including the 1990 Daytona 500. Filmmakers planned to enter camera-equipped cars (built and raced by Hendrick Motorsports) in races for additional footage, but that meant qualifying said cars just like any other entrant. The first time around, the car didn't make the field, but in a subsequent race, driver Bobby Hamilton did so well that Hendrick decided to strip out the cameras and let Hamilton race for real. He even led a few laps.

Actors did some of their own driving, and were even asked to flick on in-car cameras at 120 mph, Cary Elwes, who played Russ Wheeler, said. For exterior shots, the production team built its own camera car—a 1986 Chevrolet El Camino body mounted on a NASCAR Cup Car chassis that looked like it could have been the ancestor of Chevy's C8 Corvette development mule based on a Holden Commodore Ute.

"Days of Thunder" has achieved cult-classic status, inspiring current NASCAR driver Kyle Busch to produce his own spoof video , and even motivating coders to reconstruct a long-lost video game based on the movie.

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1 hr 51 min

Days of Thunder (1990‪)‬ The Confused Breakfast

Film Reviews

On today’s episode, we discuss a movie that taught us all that rubbin’ is racin’. A movie that was essentially Top Gun but with race cars. A movie with peak middle-tooth Tom Cruise. The best movie ever made about Nascar. We are of course talking about 1990’s Days of Thunder. •0:00:00 - Introductions •0:02:30 - Memories of first viewing •0:05:45 - Pertinent movie details •0:11:00- Critical and fan reviews •0:18:00 - Scene by scene breakdown •1:39:00 - Modern day ratings —————————————————————— SPONSORS: ****Bespoke Post- Get a free Mystery Gift with your first monthly shipment when you sign up at http://BoxofAwesome.com and enter the code CONFUSED at checkout. ****Shopify- Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at http://shopify.com/confused —————————————————————— **Support us at http://patreon.com/confusedbreakfast for bonus weekly episodes, voting on upcoming movies, giving your modern-day ratings on our movies and much more. Special thanks to our executive producers- Josh Miller, Starling, Bud Larsen and Michael Guiliano. Welcome to our newest members - bDizzle, Andrew Baltera, Matt B, Ryan Munson, Mark Ruskowsky, Craig Elworthy, Philip Dold, James, Jake Pederson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Tom Cruise makes a serious face in a Chevrolet Lumina on the set of the NASCAR racing movie, "Days of Thunder."

What Happened to Tom Cruise’s Days Of Thunder Racecar?

“Days of Thunder” is over 30 years old now, yet it holds a special place in the hearts of some car enthusiasts. In the film, Tom Cruise’s character and other NASCAR drivers vie for racing dominance. Still, the character car fans care about is the black Mello Yello-sponsored number 51 Chevrolet Lumina. Tom Cruise would go on to act in many other movies, but what happened to the Chevrolet he drove?

Not a great movie, but a good “bad” car film

The genesis for the Days of Thunder movie sprung from Tom Cruise’s relationship with car-crazy celebrities Rick Hendrick and Paul Newman . They were all talking at the track and discussed making a movie to give fans a better understanding of a driver’s life. After convincing financial backers and NASCAR, the movie was given the go-ahead.

Tom Cruise would go on to play Cole Trickle, the movie’s lead character. Interestingly, Cruise likes to perform many of his own stunts, so a racing movie was right up his alley. For the movie, he did drive an actual NASCAR racecar. Specifically, the Mello Yello Number 51 car he drove in the movie was not a show car or movie prop. Instead, it was the real deal fabricated by Rick Hendrick. In fact, Mr. Hendrick fabricated many cars for the movie.

The Chevrolet Lumina from “Days of Thunder”

In 1990, the year the movie hit the theaters, the Chevrolet Lumina hit the road. A front-wheel-drive (FWD) replacement for the Chevrolet Celebrity, the Lumina starred in “Days of Thunder” alongside Tom Cruise. The Lumina, however, would be a short-lived nameplate for the automaker, as the last American-market Luminas were 2001 models, per Curbside Classic .

After the movie’s production, some of the cars used for filming continued to race. Moreover, the Lumina that Tom Cruise drove in the film continued to race in NASCAR.

What happened to the Lumina racecar driven by Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise sits in a NASCAR race car in a tribute to

So, what happened to the car driven by Tom Cruise? The number 46 Chevrolet City Lumina is in the possession of Rick Hendrick. As for the Mello Yello car, a black Lumina that claimed to be the one in “Days of Thunder” showed up for sale in 2018. According to the ad, that Lumina underwent a restoration by Laughlin Race Cars. Furthermore, the advertisement claimed that the chassis was set up for road racing with a Chevrolet 502 cubic inch V8 that pumps out 650 horsepower.

Unfortunately, there also seems to be no clear understanding of the specific car that Cruise drove or what happened to it. One firm told us that even if they had any knowledge of the car, they could not share ownership information. It’s an understandable conclusion, but heartbreaking nonetheless.

For now, sadly, the whereabouts of the specific car will have to remain ambiguous, if not unknown.

Editor’s note: HJ Pizarro contributed to this article.

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Erik Sherman

Erik Sherman joined the MotorBiscuit team as an Autos Writer in 2022. An admitted petrolhead and an avid motorcyclist, Erik has owned everything from classic cars to motorcycles to modern driver’s cars. Erik also has extensive experience with military and emergency vehicles, ranging from ambulances and fire engines to MRAPs and M-ATVs. Erik is an eager car and motorcycle reviewer with experience covering everything from sports cars to pontoon boats and jet skis.

Erik holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations (IRG) from the University of Texas at Austin and has studied Chinese, Energy, and European Politics at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Erik’s background is unorthodox; he is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) combat veteran, water survival practitioner, and a former firefighter/EMT. Additionally, Erik is a regular volunteer and former instructor with the American Red Cross (ARC).

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Tom Cruise's car collection proves he does feel the need, the need for…

By Adam Hay-Nicholls

Image may contain Sunglasses Accessories Accessory Clothing Apparel Human Person Jacket and Coat

“I feel the need, the need for speed,” said Tom Cruise in 1986’s Top Gun and he’s set to don Maverick’s black and red helmet once again this winter. Adrenaline has been a component of many of this movie star’s roles since he first hit Hollywood and he famously does his own stunts. But what does he drive when the cameras aren’t rolling? A bit of a mixture it turns out.

Cruise, who turns 58 today, has spent some of his estimated £500 million on aeroplanes, helicopters and motorcycles, but he has a taste for automobiles too. Lifting the mantle from Paul Newman , he has raced stock cars in real life as well as film and lavished love on road cars, fast and slow. A number of his four-wheeled co-stars have ended up in his garage and vice-versa. Sadly, that doesn’t include the Ferrari 250 GTO from Vanilla Sky . It was a fake, anyway (a Datsun 260Z in jaw-dropping drag).

Instead, the Cruise missile has made a habit of buying polite German motors, punchy American metal and one neck-snapping seven-figure hypercar.

Buick Roadmaster (1949)

Image may contain Transportation Car Vehicle Automobile and Convertible

In 1988, Cruise and Dustin Hoffman were filmed driving from Cincinnati to Los Angeles in a 1949 Buick Roadmaster for Rain Man . Cruise fell in love with the convertible and kept it, and used it off-camera on several cross-country road trips. The flagship Buick was very innovative in its day, with patented VentiPorts to cool the engine and the very first pillarless hardtop. The front grille could be described as “toothy”, and upon the car’s launch journalists joked that an oversized toothbrush needed to be bought separately. Tom, on the other hand, has (nearly) always owned perfect gnashers.

Chevrolet Corvette C1 (1958)

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The 1958 Corvette takes pride of place in the Cruiser’s garage. It’s precisely what you’d expect a real-life Maverick to drive. Tom’s first-generation solid-axle 'Vette looks extra classic in two-tone glacier blue and white with silvery blue leather. Despite now being hailed as one of the most beloved pieces of Americana to ever hit the road, early reviews were mixed and sales were disappointing. GM had rushed the car from concept to production, an accusation that cannot be levied at the forthcoming Top Gun: Maverick , which has been ten years in the making.

Chevrolet Chevelle SS (1970)

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Another of Tom’s earliest automotive acquisitions was this quintessential V8 muscle car. The SS stood for Super Sport and Cruise’s SS396 packed 350bhp and a power-bulge in the hood. Years later, in 2012, Cruise gave the SS a starring role in Jack Reacher . The Chevelle was a popular body style in Nascar racing in the 1970s, but by the late 1980s and early 1990s it had been replaced by the Chevrolet Lumina in which TC’s character Cole Trickle (possibly related to the stock car series’ curiously christened Dick Trickle) took the chequered flag in Days Of Thunder .

Dodge Colt (1976)

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Born not on The Fourth Of July, but on the third in 1962, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV grew up in near poverty in Syracuse, Ottawa and New Jersey. He later described his father as “a merchant of chaos” who used to beat him and his three sisters. Tom, who initially hoped to become a Catholic priest, attended 15 different schools in 14 years, but the two constants were American football and drama class. As a senior, he was the linebacker for the varsity team and starred in Glen Ridge High School’s production of Guys And Dolls . His coming of age ride came in the form of a used Dodge Colt , which might sound like a Detroit-built machine but was in fact manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan. At 18, Cruise jumped in the 1.6 litre compact and headed to New York City to pursue acting and bussing tables. Widely described as a control freak, one imagines getting his hands on his first car gave the actor the independence and confidence he needed to really go after his dreams, even if the vehicle that started him on that journey was rather modest.

Porsche 928 (1979)

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Tom’s breakthrough movie, Risky Business , was both a fantasy and a horror for teenage boys. On the one hand, our hero had access to his dad’s Porsche and a naked Rebecca De Mornay. On the other, there was Guido the killer pimp and, nightmarishly, the Porsche fell into Lake Michigan by accident. The 928 was originally designed to be the replacement for the 911 . It was less quirky, more luxurious and easier to drive, yet the 911’s appeal endures while the 928 got its P45 in 1995. It remains the company’s only front-mounted V8 coupé. The car from the film sold some years ago for £40,000, but after filming wrapped Cruise went down to his local dealership and got his very own 928, free of damp velour and fish in the footwells.

BMW 3-Series E30 (1983)

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Cruise has been seen sliding around BMW’s i8 , M3 and M5 in recent Mission: Impossibles , but his relationship with the brand goes back to 1983, when he bought a new 3-Series in the wake of supporting roles in Taps and The Outsiders . Both films were packed with fresh talent and Cruise made such an impression that stardom was on the horizon. The E30 was a symbol of ambition; Teutonic transport over-engineered for the yuppie twentysomethings of the 1980s.

Nissan 300ZX SCCA race car (1988)

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Before Days Of Thunder , Cruise had already turned his hand to racing for real. Legendary actor, driver and race team boss Paul Newman had become Tom’s mentor during their time on The Color Of Money, and Old Blue Eyes inspired the young man to apply his copious energies to the track. The result was a season in the SCCA. The SCCA championship stood for Sports Car Club of America, but in 1988 it became known in the paddock as See Cruise Crash Again. Newman-Sharp supplied the red, white and blue No7 Nissan 300ZX and Tom won some races. If he didn’t win, it was usually because he was in the barriers. According to championship rival Roger French, Cruise was way too aggressive: “His attitude was go fast all the time.” It likely didn’t stop Newman offering to be his wingman any time.

Porsche 993 (1996)

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“Porsche. There is no substitute”. So said Cruise in Risky Business and it’s a mantra he has maintained through the decades. He’s owned several 911 s, but if paparazzi footage is a barometer then the 993 variant is his favourite. It’s ours too; the last of the air-cooled Carreras. Its handling was a major improvement over its predecessor and it was prettier too, thanks to a Yorkshire-born designer named Tony Hatter who, rather than being a mad Hatter, was blessed with taste and civility. The car’s development was overseen by Ulrich Bez (no relation to the Happy Mondays' hype man), a very serious German businessman who later served as Aston Martin’s CEO. Overall, the 993 is a modern classic that’s rapidly appreciating in value, not unlike Cruise’s 1990s output.

Ford Excursion (2000)

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When you’re one of the most famous motion picture stars of all time, it helps to have a car that’s impenetrable to paparazzi lenses. Tom’s stretched and tank-like Ford Excursion is sure to have TMZ leaping out of the way, although it’s understood he often uses it as a decoy. According to the tabloids, this car was actually custom-built on the orders of the Church Of Scientology to protect his ex-wife Katie Holmes when she was pregnant and undergoing a “Purification Rundown” programme. Two-thousand Sea Org man-hours went into electrical modifications, ballistic-proof roof panels, special TC badging and veneer from a eucalyptus tree that once stood in the church’s Gold Base.

Bugatti Veyron (2005)

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If you think Dianetics is insane, just check out the Veyron . With nearly 1,000bhp from its 8.0-litre W16, this engineering marvel delivered 253mph upon its introduction in 2005 (later trials have clocked it at 268mph). Tom bought his that same year and, at a cost of £1m, we’d be very disappointed if the salesman didn’t spread his arms wide and yell, “Show me the money!” as the actor signed on the dotted line. Cruise drove it to the premiere of Mission: Impossible III and couldn’t get Katie Holmes’ passenger door to open, which led to some red carpet red faces.

Saleen Mustang S281 (2010)

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American Made muscle seems the right way to go for TC’s garage. The Saleen Mustang S281 boasts up to 550bhp, thanks to the California tuners breathing on Ford’s V8. Pound for pound, few cars deliver such tyre shreddablity for such a modest sum (under £40,000). Cruise uses it for everyday errands, possibly at speeds that would force his passengers’ Eyes Wide Shut .

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Hey Tom Cruise, It's Time for 'Days of Thunder 2' and the Return of Cole Trickle

The 1990 NASCAR-themed cult classic 'Days of Thunder' essentially was 'Top Gun' with cars instead of planes.

We can't be the only ones wishing that Tom Cruise would return to his role as Cole Trickle in a NASCAR-based Days of Thunder 2.
The original Days of Thunder was released on June 27, 1990. It got a lot of media attention and drew significant technical support from NASCAR and its teams.

The movie collected $160 million, more than three times its filming budget.

As expected, Top Gun: Maverick was one of the top movies of the summer of 2022.

This begs the question: Might Cruise return to his role as Cole Trickle in the NASCAR-based Top Gun knockoff movie Days of Thunder ? Could there be Days of Thunder 2 or maybe Months of Thunder ?

Auto racing fans and many movie-goers across the land will almost immediately shout, “No!” to such an audacious suggestion. Though impressive visually (the race cars looked cool, and so did Cruise and love interest Nicole Kidman), Days of Thunder was widely panned for wild inaccuracies and on-track racing sequences that were laughably overdone.

The movie was released on June 27, 1990. It got a lot of media attention and drew significant technical support from NASCAR and its teams. NASCAR allowed in-race filming at several tracks, and the movie, benefitting from the not-insignificant pull of a superstar like Cruise, showcased the sport to people who otherwise might have had little interest.

Days of Thunder essentially was Top Gun with cars instead of planes. The plot was not a carbon copy but there were many similarities.

Cruise plays Trickle, a hotshot rookie driver who arrives to stir the pot in NASCAR with the help of a veteran crew chief, Harry Hogge, played with his usual skill by the great Robert Duvall.

Kidman plays a physician who becomes involved with Cruise. It’s their first movie together, and their movie romance turned into real-life marriage (they later divorced).

The cast also included John C. Reilly, Randy Quaid and Michael Rooker, who played Cruise’s on-track rival, Rowdy Burns. (This predates NASCAR’s modern-era Rowdy, Kyle Busch).

Days of Thunder

When Cruise and crews (the technicians wore Top Car caps, a nod to the Top Gun movie) arrived in Darlington, South Carolina, to film parts of the movie at Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR’s storied tracks, that part of the world was aflame with Hollywood excitement for days. It was starstruck times 10.

Around Darlington and the neighboring town of Florence, residents were on the outlook for sightings of Cruise. He—or someone who looked very much like him—was seen many times, if you believe the reports of locals.

A 9-year-old boy excitedly told a newspaper reporter that his mother had seen Cruise. “And he had his shirt off!” he said. He didn’t know if his mom had fainted in the moment.

Cruise (or at least someone who might have been Cruise) was seen: Fueling his car, eating at a local soul-food restaurant, cuddling with Kidman in a local park, driving around the square in Darlington.

He also was seen by law enforcement radar. He got a ticket for driving 85 mph in a 55 mph zone.

nicole kidman and tom cruise in days of thunder

Top car, indeed.

Despite its description by one critic as a “big, dumb testosterone factory,” the movie has lived on in NASCAR lore. Some of the race car paint schemes used in the film—Mello Yello, Hardee’s and Exxon, for examples—have been copied in real “throwback” races over the years.

And it left fans with this classic line from Duvall (as Trickle’s crew chief): “And rubbing, son, is racing.”

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Best Motorcycles In Tom Cruise’s Collection, Ranked By Power

The veteran actor’s bike collection ranges from impressive to downright incredible, as this list proves.

The great thing about being a motorcycle enthusiast is that it transcends mere genres, occupations, and societal status, as it were. There are no hard-set qualifications that one has to possess, and on the whole, it’s a very inclusive community. That’s part of why Tom Cruise, a full-blown A-list Hollywood celebrity, is drawn to some incredibly potent machines from the likes of Kawasaki , BMW , Triumph , Honda, and Ducati , among others. It’s also why he’s that much more relatable.

That said, Tom Cruise does tend to dial things up to 11 when it comes to his machines . As his rather extensive collection clearly shows, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that his enthusiasm for motorcycles borders on obsessive. It’s certainly an enviable one, with a variety of shapes and sizes, but they’re all there for a reason, and that’s to give him that buzz that’s so intrinsic to time spent riding any of these machines. This list, then, puts the spotlight on some of his best, and just to add a bit more layering, we’ve ranked them by their respective power outputs.

How We Got Our Model Selections: To compile this list, HotCars thoroughly scanned all the motorcycles that have been reported to be a part of Tom Cruise’s collection. It should be noted that this list is a mix of motorcycles that are currently in production and those that have been discontinued. Also, the entries have been organized in increasing order based on their horsepower outputs.

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10 honda crf450x, maximum power: 44.8 hp.

If you thought that Tom Cruise preferred only sports bikes, you’d be mistaken. The Honda CRF450X is a seriously capable machine off the roads he can call his own.

In case you missed it, the CRF450X was also used by him in the movie Oblivion, albeit wrapped up in a different skin. The bike he used was reportedly given to him as a birthday present after the filming was over. Not bad for a day’s work.

2012 Honda CRF450X Specs

(Specs sourced from Motorcycle Specs )

9 Triumph Bonneville Scrambler

Maximum power: 54 hp.

One of the rarer bikes in his collection, Tom Cruise, owns a custom-built Triumph Bonneville Scrambler seen in Mission Impossible 3.

Another bit of interest is that the bike didn’t technically exist when the movie came out in 2005, with Triumph only starting production of the Bonneville Scramblers a year later. The one he owns is one of five that were built for filming. We’re sure he’s happy to hold on to this one as long as possible.

2006 Triumph Bonneville Scrambler Specs

Why tom cruise never wears a helmet on a motorcycle in movies, 8 triumph thruxton, maximum power: 69 hp.

The incredibly gorgeous Triumph Thruxton is definitely one of the most appealing bikes in Cruise’s collection, and there’s a lot to like about it. In fact, it even won our best cafe racer of 2024 .

According to a few reports, Cruise personally rode the Thruxton that was intended for the movie to the set while all the film equipment was being shipped. The 865cc parallel-twin undoubtedly made it all the more fun for him.

2012 Triumph Thruxton Specs

7 kawasaki gpz900r, maximum power: 108 hp.

Unless you’ve been in exile for the last few decades, it’s hard not to remember the iconic Kawasaki GPz900R Cruise used to devastating effect in the original Top Gun movie.

At the time, it was the fastest production motorcycle in the world, and the movie featured a memorable scene of Cruise riding the GPz900R down a runway with a fighter jet running parallel. The movie undoubtedly did a world of good for the GPz900R, but even without it, this was a gem of a motorcycle, something that’s reflected in the value that used examples of the iconic Kawasaki demand today.

2000 Kawasaki GPz900R Specs

6 bmw r ninet scrambler, maximum power: 110 hp.

As you might have guessed by now, Cruise isn’t partial to any one motorcycle manufacturer, especially in his films. The gorgeous BMW R nineT Scrambler had a cool, if ultimately, unfortunate (spoiler: he crashes it) role in Mission Impossible: Fallout.

The R nineT Scrambler is a beautiful take on the scrambler format of the past, mixed in with a healthy dose of modern internals. The 1,170cc boxer-twin engine makes a good amount of grunt and seems perfect for some of Cruise’s antics in the film.

2016 BMW R nineT Scrambler Specs

10 coolest cars and bikes tom cruise ever drove on screen, 5 triumph speed triple.

One of the older bikes on this list is the 1999 Triumph Speed Triple that Tom Cruise was seen riding in Mission Impossible 2. It's one of the sickest hooligan bikes around .

Its 955cc inline 3-cylinder engine puts out a credible 110 hp and 71.5 lb-ft of torque, which was, and still is, a fair bit for a bike like this. It was put through the ringer in the movie, but unfortunately, it was done without a helmet, which was indicative of the time.

1999 Triumph Speed Triple Specs

4 confederate hellcat, maximum power: 121 hp.

One of the more valuable motorcycles in Cruise’s collection, and one of the more powerful, is the incredible Confederate Hellcat.

In case you missed it, Confederate is an American company specializing in limited-edition bikes that tend to cost a fair bit. This particular one features a massive 2,163cc V-Twin carved from a 400-pound block of 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum, all for structural integrity. Only a few have been made, so if Cruise ever decides to sell it, expect it to go for more than just a pretty penny.

Confederate Hellcat Specs

3 ducati 999r, maximum power: 139 hp.

One of the more powerful machines in Cruise’s collection is the incredible Ducati 999R . And it’s a rarity: only 200 units were built, one of which went straight to Cruise for his 46th birthday.

It features a 999cc L-Twin that puts out 139 hp and 79.7 lb-ft of torque and has a manic reported top speed of 174 mph. Remember that this is 2003, and the stats get even more impressive. It can also manage to knock off the quarter-mile run in a blistering 10.6 seconds.

2003 Ducati 999R Specs

Tom cruise's mission impossible stunt will give you the chills, 2 ducati desmosedici rr, maximum power: 200 hp.

By this point, a 200 hp road-legal MotoGP bike shouldn’t be surprising as part of Cruise’s collection, but that’s exactly what the Ducati Desmosedici RR is.

This is, again, a limited-run affair, with only 1,500 examples made by Ducati, and is understandably one of the most coveted machines made by Ducati. It's powered by a 989cc engine that puts out a bonkers 200 hp and 85.5 lb-ft of torque to boot. The top speed was a wild 188 mph, with a 0-60 mph run coming in a very short 3.2 seconds.

2006 Ducati Desmosedici RR Specs

1 vyrus 987 c3 4v, maximum power: 211 hp.

Topping this list is another Ducati. Well, kind of. For the time, the 2010 Vyrus 987 C3 4V was the world’s fastest, most powerful production motorcycle. It was first showcased at the 2009 EICMA show in Milan and featured a 1,198cc L-twin from Ducati.

A lot of work later, the Virus was available in three separate versions: one with 170 hp, one with 184 hp, and the range-topping supercharged version that puts out 211 hp.

Vyrus reportedly hand-builds these machines and custom-builds them to customers’ measurements and preferred parts. The jewel in his crown? Definitely.

2010 Vyrus 987 C3 4V Specs

Source for features: Respective manufacturers' websites
Source for technical specifications: Motorcycle Specs

The Tom Cruise Role That Was Written With Tom Hanks in Mind

A tale of two Toms.

The Big Picture

Tom Cruise showed a surprisingly seasoned and thoughtful approach to his film choices in the 1990s, working with prestigious directors on risky projects.
Cameron Crowe originally wrote the role of Jerry Maguire with Tom Hanks in mind, but Hanks declined, giving Cruise the opportunity to showcase vulnerability in his performance.
Cruise's comedic vulnerability in films like Risky Business and All the Right Moves proved that he could handle romantic roles, and Jerry Maguire showcased his ability to deliver surprising and powerful moments in a rom-com setting.

Tom Cruise is most closely associated with the action genre these days due to the success of Top Gun and Mission: Impossible , but in the 1990s, it seemed like he made it a goal to work with nearly every great filmmaker on a prestige project. Between Sydney Pollack ’s The Firm , Rob Reiner ’s A Few Good Men , Neil Jordan ’s Interview with the Vampire , and Stanley Kubrick ’s Eyes Wide Shut , Cruise showed a surprising amount of discretion in the risky projects that he joined. Ironically, the role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor was Cameron Crowe ’s Jerry Maguire , which was a mainstream success and audience favorite. The film gave Cruise some of the most endearing, iconic, and hilarious moments of his entire filmography, but it wasn’t a role that was originally written with him in mind.

Jerry Maguire

Cameron crowe wrote ‘jerry maguire’ for tom hanks.

Crowe is among the foremost directors of romantic comedies, as his films tend to go beyond simply being crowd-pleasers to say something powerful about the nature of love, and what it means to be in a relationship. While he had proven his competence within the genre with the 1989 coming-of-age dramedy Say Anything and the ensemble project Singles , Jerry Maguire was arguably his most ambitious project to date. It was the type of film that relied upon an established movie star to show vulnerability, and Crowe had his sights set on which A-Lister he wanted in the role of the titular sports agent.

In 2017, Crowe told NBC Sports that the role “was originally written with Tom Hanks in mind,” and that he “had this wonderful conversation with Tom Hanks, and people were waiting in the next room for the answer.” Crowe found that he was “high on the Tom Hanks personality charisma.” However, Hanks was busy working on his directorial effort That Thing You Do! , and could not commit to Crowe’s project. Hanks would later joke that he “would like to think, however, that Tom Cruise owes me one dollar, and I’m still waiting for the check.”

Cruise was very complimentary of Hanks , stating that “as a fan of his, I would have been very interested to see what he would have done with that character.” However, Cruise was keen to note that he put significant effort into ensuring that the role could become his own. Cruise said that he “spent nine months with Cameron going back and forth developing” the characterization of Jerry. While the work that Cruise puts into the physical stunts within his action films is evident to anyone that watches them, the efforts he took to develop such a complex character were more subtle.

'Jerry Maguire' Lets Tom Cruise Get Vulnerable

On paper, Hanks seemed like a more obvious choice for the role. While he had a newfound prestige thanks to his back-to-back Academy Award wins for Best Actor in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump , he was still at his core a comedic actor that had shown his aptitude within the rom-com genre. Romantic comedies were huge in the ‘90s, but his collaborations with Meg Ryan in the films Joe Versus the Volcano , You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle were among the best. However, Hanks’ refusal gave Cruise the chance to give an uncharacteristically vulnerable performance that pushed him as an actor.

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Tom Cruise tends to take on drama roles and isn't generally associated with comedy, but he’s proven on more than one occasion that he’s much funnier than some of his fans might expect. Outside his iconic cameos in Tropic Thunder and Austin Powers in Goldmember , Cruise showed a comedic vulnerability in his early films Risky Business and All the Right Moves . In both films, he plays a teenager who bites off more than they can chew, and they end up making a lot of ill-advised decisions for the sake of what they perceive to be true love. These films showed that Cruise was willing to make himself the butt of a joke, and didn’t have the ego that he’s sometimes associated with. However, these skills were set aside in the immediate aftermath as Cruise focused on films with a more serious edge to them .

'Jerry Maguire' Is Proof That Tom Cruise Should Do More Romantic Movies

That level of vulnerability is something Hanks has utilized throughout his career, and a reason why his romantic comedies with Ryan are so endearing to this day. It makes perfect sense why he would have been someone that Crowe had in mind, but casting Cruise forced the Mission: Impossible star to show that same romantic vulnerability that had been absent in his filmography since the late 1980s. It was a choice that ended up making Jerry Maguire more surprising. Audiences would expect to see Hanks pouring out his heart to Renée Zellweger about how he feels, but seeing Cruise do it came as a shock, making the “you complete me” moment even more powerful.

When Jerry sets forth with his ambitious mission statement regarding his intentions for his company, it feels like his breakthrough will be accepted automatically, so it’s hilarious when his speech is met with a collective shrug from his co-workers. However, seeing Cruise descend into madness as Jerry digs himself deeper by ranting (and even stealing a fish) results in one of the funniest moments in the entire film. These sorts of physical gags are something that Hanks has done all the time, but Cruise had to show a wacky side of his personality that he hadn’t accessed since his adolescent roles.

Cruise continues to push the boundaries of his physicality as recently as 2023's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , and he’ll be doing the same thing for the next installment. However, Cruise is also 61 years old, and can’t be doing action films forever. Perhaps choosing to go back to the romantic comedy genre for the first time since Jerry Maguire would be the best choice for Cruise to prove that, even after all these years, he’s still one of the greatest movie stars in the world.

Jerry Maguire is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

Rent on Prime Video

This 20-Year-Old Tom Cruise Movie Can Lay The Blueprint For His Future After Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise's action star status faces a challenge as he ages, so exploring villain roles could be the key to his future success after Mission: Impossible .
A return to the character depth of his role in Collateral could provide Cruise with exciting new opportunities in his career.
Practical stunt work sets Cruise apart in action films, but taking on antagonistic roles could help him stay relevant in the industry.

Tom Cruise has been a movie star for over forty years, and one of his most underrated films could be the key to the next phase of his career after Mission: Impossible . Cruise, in his most recent star era, has become synonymous with daring stunt work and large action set pieces in his blockbuster films. The two most notable examples are his long-running Mission: Impossible franchise, which is currently filming its eighth installment, and Top Gun: Maverick , which was the highest-grossing film of 2022 .

In many ways, Cruise is as popular as he's ever been and remains one of the last examples of a true movie star. There's just one issue he faces, and it's one that will only get worse with time: he's now in his 60s. He's still in amazing shape for his age and can still perform all the stunts his action roles require of him. Yet, at a certain point, Cruise just won't be able to physically accomplish these feats anymore, and the question will arise of what he will do to define the next era of his career.

10 Movies That Defined Tom Cruise's Career

Tom cruise should follow collateral's blueprint after mission: impossible.

The answer regarding a future after Mission: Impossible lies with one of Cruise's most memorable roles as the cold-blooded hitman Vincent in Michael Mann's Collateral . Collateral follows a single night in the life of cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx), who is forced to transport Vincent around L.A. as he crosses off targets on his hit list. The film doesn't just feature excellent action scenes but also a fascinating back-and-forth between the two leads. Many long exchanges of dialogue happen within Max's cab, and the audience sees him and Vincent argue philosophically about the value of human life and their differing ideologies.

Cruise had to train for Collateral since it was an unexpected role, as the actor had never played the main villain of a film before, and to this day hasn't done it again since. The uniqueness of this notion paid off, as Collateral proved to be a healthy hit. It grossed $220 million worldwide from an estimated $65 million budget (via Box Office Mojo ). Cruise's movie star charisma brought layers of charm to Vincent's sociopathic demeanor, and it is still widely considered one of the best performances of Cruise's long and illustrious career. A return to this type of role would be an exciting prospect for the actor.

Every Michael Mann Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Villain roles can help tom cruise stay relevant.

As Cruise gets older, it'll become more challenging for him to remain at the center of these action franchises. Unlike films like Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny , which heavily relied on CGI to assist 81-year-old Harrison Ford with the action scenes, Cruise's movies use their practical stunt work as a selling point. Top Gun: Maverick had Cruise flying real jets , and Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One had him jumping off a massive cliff on a motorcycle. Too much CGI would cheapen the impact of these stunts, which have become a big part of Cruise's brand.

However, if Cruise takes on more antagonistic parts in movies like Collateral going forward, he could not only avoid putting his body at risk in as many huge stunts but also access an untapped well of potential film roles. Cruise would still be a selling point in whatever franchise he chooses to be a part of, and he'd be able to explore the darkness he displayed as Vincent all those years ago. It'd be an exciting development for fans to witness, full of possibilities, and could prove to be the key to Tom Cruise staying relevant through the 2020s and beyond.

Source: Box Office Mojo

(Tom-Cruise-asJoel)-from-Risky-Business-&-(Tom-Cruise-as-Ethan-Hunt)-from-Mission-Impossible

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All Tom Cruise Movies

Movies or TV
IMDb Rating
In Theaters
Release Year

1. The Outsiders (1983)

PG | 91 min | Crime, Drama

In a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: C. Thomas Howell , Matt Dillon , Ralph Macchio , Patrick Swayze

Votes: 97,531 | Gross: $25.60M

2. Risky Business (1983)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.

Director: Paul Brickman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca De Mornay , Joe Pantoliano , Richard Masur

Votes: 99,840 | Gross: $63.50M

3. All the Right Moves (1983)

R | 91 min | Drama, Romance, Sport

An ambitious young football star is trapped in a dying mill town--unless his gridiron skills can win him a way out.

Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Lea Thompson , Craig T. Nelson , Charles Cioffi

Votes: 20,396 | Gross: $17.23M

4. Legend (1985)

PG | 94 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Mia Sara , Tim Curry , David Bennent

Votes: 72,480 | Gross: $15.50M

5. Top Gun (1986)

PG | 109 min | Action, Drama

As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Tim Robbins , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer

Votes: 502,575 | Gross: $179.80M

6. The Color of Money (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Sport

Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman , Tom Cruise , Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , Helen Shaver

Votes: 93,260 | Gross: $52.29M

7. Rain Man (1988)

R | 133 min | Drama

After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Tom Cruise , Valeria Golino , Gerald R. Molen

Votes: 546,590 | Gross: $178.80M

8. Cocktail (1988)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Brown , Elisabeth Shue , Lisa Banes

Votes: 91,862 | Gross: $78.22M

9. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

R | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War

The biography of Ron Kovic . Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Larkin , Raymond J. Barry , Caroline Kava

Votes: 115,942 | Gross: $70.00M

10. Days of Thunder (1990)

PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport

A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Robert Duvall , Randy Quaid

Votes: 96,409 | Gross: $82.67M

11. Far and Away (1992)

PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Thomas Gibson , Robert Prosky

Votes: 68,324 | Gross: $58.88M

12. A Few Good Men (1992)

R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller

Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jack Nicholson , Demi Moore , Kevin Bacon

Votes: 287,325 | Gross: $141.34M

13. The Firm (1993)

R | 154 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Gene Hackman , Hal Holbrook

Votes: 147,695 | Gross: $158.35M

14. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Brad Pitt , Tom Cruise , Antonio Banderas , Kirsten Dunst

Votes: 347,470 | Gross: $105.26M

15. Jerry Maguire (1996)

R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Renée Zellweger , Kelly Preston

Votes: 287,024 | Gross: $153.95M

16. Mission: Impossible (1996)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny

Votes: 470,286 | Gross: $180.98M

17. Magnolia (1999)

R | 188 min | Drama

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jason Robards , Julianne Moore , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 328,478 | Gross: $22.46M

18. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Todd Field , Sydney Pollack

Votes: 375,103 | Gross: $55.69M

19. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt is sent to Sydney to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera".

Director: John Woo | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dougray Scott , Thandiwe Newton , Ving Rhames

Votes: 377,687 | Gross: $215.41M

20. Vanilla Sky (2001)

R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell

Votes: 285,693 | Gross: $100.61M

21. Minority Report (2002)

PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery

John works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Colin Farrell , Samantha Morton , Max von Sydow

Votes: 584,333 | Gross: $132.07M

22. The Last Samurai (2003)

R | 154 min | Action, Drama

Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Ken Watanabe , Billy Connolly , William Atherton

Votes: 471,086 | Gross: $111.11M

23. War of the Worlds (2005)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dakota Fanning , Tim Robbins , Miranda Otto

Votes: 475,221 | Gross: $234.28M

24. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise , Michelle Monaghan , Ving Rhames , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 390,728 | Gross: $134.03M

25. Lions for Lambs (2007)

R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.

Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Tom Cruise , Meryl Streep , Robert Redford , Michael Peña

Votes: 52,705 | Gross: $15.00M

26. Tropic Thunder (2008)

R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller , Jack Black , Robert Downey Jr. , Jeff Kahn

Votes: 448,043 | Gross: $110.52M

27. Valkyrie (2008)

PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller

A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bill Nighy , Carice van Houten , Kenneth Branagh

Votes: 259,248 | Gross: $83.08M

28. Knight and Day (2010)

PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

A young woman gets mixed up with a disgraced spy who is trying to clear his name.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cameron Diaz , Peter Sarsgaard , Jordi Mollà

Votes: 210,319 | Gross: $76.42M

29. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg , Paula Patton

Votes: 528,424 | Gross: $209.40M

30. Rock of Ages (2012)

PG-13 | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

A small-town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Julianne Hough , Diego Boneta , Tom Cruise , Alec Baldwin

Votes: 81,668 | Gross: $38.52M

31. Jack Reacher (2012)

PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller

A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rosamund Pike , Richard Jenkins , Werner Herzog

Votes: 365,036 | Gross: $80.07M

32. Collateral (2004)

R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jamie Foxx , Jada Pinkett Smith , Mark Ruffalo

Votes: 433,127 | Gross: $101.01M

33. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Emily Blunt , Bill Paxton , Brendan Gleeson

Votes: 736,845 | Gross: $100.21M

34. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan and his team take on their most impossible mission yet when they have to eradicate an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are and committed to destroying the IMF.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca Ferguson , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg

Votes: 410,927 | Gross: $195.04M

35. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Crime, Drama

Jack Reacher must uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy in order to clear his name while on the run as a fugitive from the law.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cobie Smulders , Aldis Hodge , Robert Knepper

Votes: 175,300 | Gross: $58.70M

36. American Made (2017)

R | 115 min | Action, Comedy, Crime

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Domhnall Gleeson , Sarah Wright , Jesse Plemons

Votes: 208,174 | Gross: $51.34M

37. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

PG-13 | 147 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Henry Cavill , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 378,129 | Gross: $220.16M

38. The Mummy (2017)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

An ancient Egyptian princess is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

Director: Alex Kurtzman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Sofia Boutella , Annabelle Wallis , Russell Crowe

Votes: 206,214 | Gross: $80.10M

39. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 246,881 | Gross: $172.14M

40. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Drama

After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.

Director: Joseph Kosinski | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jennifer Connelly , Miles Teller , Val Kilmer

Votes: 696,697 | Gross: $718.73M