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30 years old this week: Tom Cruise's 'All The Right Moves'

• Steve Spears

All The Right Moves might be the best football movie of the '80s. Maybe one of the top football movies of any decade, outside of Rudy . Oh, and the one about the field-goal-kicking mule. And Tom Cruise 's opus to high school football turns 30 years old this week.

Released Oct. 21, 1983, All The Right Moves follows Stefen Djordjevic (Cruise), a Pennsylvania steel-town high schooler who's gifted both in the classroom and the gridiron. He has an understanding girlfriend (Lea Thompson) and an impatient coach (Craig T. Nelson), and all of them would love to book the next bus outta town for better opportunities. If Stefen could just put a nice showing in the big Walnut Heights game, he'll be set. Knock on wood.

Sadly, the movie has only a 53 percent "fresh" rating at Rottentomatoes.com. It's criticized for being sugar-coated and cliche-ridden, but if you ask me, it's still one of the most honest potrayals of high school football. Here are five things you probably didn't know about the movie.

5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ALL THE RIGHT MOVES:

1. The town of "Ampipe" is fictional (based on the equally fictional American Pipe and Steel Co.), but it's probably based on Ambridge, a real town just northwest of Pittsburgh, which is based on American Bridge Co.

2. The uniforms and team colors of Cruise's team -- the Ampipe Bulldogs -- are the actual uniforms from Ferndale Area High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where the film was made.

3. Thompson and Cruise went undercover to high schools to research their roles. Cruise was discovered almost immediately -- he was recognized from the movie Taps . Thompson survived much longer, got asked out on dates and was even caught smoking.

4. The coach of the rival team Walnut Heights was an actual football coach in the area and served as technical consultant on the film.

5. The soundtrack is largely forgettable. The main theme song -- All The Right Moves -- was performed by Jennifer Warnes and Chris Thompson. Warnes is probably best known for Up Where We Belong , her duet with Joe Cocker from An Officer and a Gentleman.

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Can Tom Cruise Lift “All the Right Moves” Above the Football Movie Fray?

• Author: The MMQB Staff

When you watch enough football movies ( like we have this summer ), a lot of familiar movements emerge. There is the challenge of balancing the game action with all of the character arcs. There is the stumbling through a romantic subplot that ultimately shows a far more accomplished and emotionally mature female character lessening herself to heal the hardscrabble athlete unable to cope with life off the field. There is the largely terrible live game action, a challenge that few directors have been able to solve.

The weird thing about All The Right Moves is that it fits into the cookie-cutter football movie category, but it also doesn’t. There is a beautiful grit to the on-location filming in Johnstown, Pa., standing in for the fictional steel town of Ampipe. The way in which the movie conveys the story of the emotionally drained and directionless out-of-work steelworkers is authentic. Tom Cruise could pass for a high school football player because, at the suggestion of his director, he went back to high school and listened to how utterly crass and freewheeling kids just a little younger than him were (he was 21 when the movie was released). And the live game action was … good!

In this week’s episode, our panel of experts was split on the 1983 Cruise classic. Was it just another typical Bad Football Movie? Or was it a film that contained football but ultimately transcended the genre? Dive in with us, crack open a beer (or canned rosé!) and listen to us break down All The Right Moves .

Check out our Bad (or Maybe Good!) Football Movies series, plus the rest of The MMQB’s NFL podcasts,  on iTunes or wherever you download your podcasts. 

Question or comment? Email us at [email protected] .

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Two pennsylvania high school football teams to re-enact rivalry game from tom cruise’s 1983 movie ‘all the right moves’.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Two western Pennsylvania high schools whose football teams portrayed rivals in the 1983 Tom Cruise movie “All The Right Moves” will play in replica uniforms of the fictionalized teams when they next meet at the local stadium where the movie’s climax was filmed.

Johnstown players will wear the black-and-gold uniforms of Ampipe, Cruise’s team when he portrayed Stefan Djordjevic, a young man hoping to earn a football scholarship so he could escape the grim mill town. Johnstown’s rival, Westmont Hilltop, will wear the red-and-white uniforms of Walnut Heights. Like Walnut Heights was to Ampipe, Westmont is the more affluent rival to Johnstown.

Johnstown coach Tony Penna Jr., also the school’s athletic director, said Friday’s game will be played at Johnstown’s Point Stadium, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. Several players from Johnstown and Westmont had bits parts as players of the on-screen rival, with parents, fans and others appearing as extras in the movie’s game scenes.

Westmont athletic director Tom Callihan appeared in the movie as an Ampipe player.

“What a great way to celebrate the movie than to play a game to honor those two teams,” Callihan said. “We’ve reached out to people who have been in the movie. The players who appeared in the movie are going to show up.”

And, in some ways, art is continuing to imitate life in Johnstown/Ampipe.

“A lot of the story lines have stayed the same 30 years later,” Penna told the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown for Thursday’s editions. “A lot of these kids are trying to not necessarily find a way out of Johnstown, but they’re trying to find a way into college football.”

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• Pittsburgh Movies

Some locations in the area are particularly photogenic and appear in several films. For instance, Mellon Institute on the Campus of Carnegie Mellon University has appeared in The Dark Night Rises and The Mothman Prophecies. The Duquesne Incline and Pittsburgh International have also had several cameos.

One of the earliest movies about Pittsburgh was Allegheny Uprising.  It premiered in 1939 and starred a young John Wayne.  Valley of Decision, a 1945 film, starred Gregory Peck and Greer Garson and depicted the tale of a housemaid who falls in love with the scion of the local steel mill. Since then many other films have been about Pittsburgh or filmed in Pittsburgh. Here is a list of some memorable films shot in Pittsburgh from 1950, onward. Learn what Pittsburgh locations have seen the Hollywood lights. Several of these movies are linked to more in depth summaries and histories below. Be aware: there may be spoilers.

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Tom cruise in pittsburgh at movie premiere, wednesday night's screening will be held at the southside works cinema.

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Tom Cruise is back for the rescheduled U.S. premiere of "Jack Reacher," but it has a scaled-down feel out of respect for families and victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

PHOTO: James Creely

Tom Cruise is back for the rescheduled U.S. premiere of "Jack Reacher," but it has a scaled-down feel out of respect for families and victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.Tom Cruise is back for the rescheduled U.S. premiere of "Jack Reacher," but it has a scaled-down feel out of respect for families and victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

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Tom Cruise’s Character in ‘Jerry Maguire’ Was Based on a Big-Name NFL Agent

If you’ll forgive the pun, Tom Cruise made nearly All the Right Moves for more than a decade, beginning with the 1983 movie about a football prodigy looking to college football as his escape from a rust-belt steel mill town. Ten or so major hits later, Cruise starred in Jerry Maguire , another sports movie. It’s one that premiered 25 years ago this week and owes a debt to Leigh Steinberg, one of the best-known and most successful agents in football history.

‘Jerry Maguire’ continued an incredible run for actor Tom Cruise

The lack of Academy Awards honors doesn’t detract from the fact that Tom Cruise has appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest hits and played numerous memorable characters along the way, beginning with Risky Business and All the Right Moves in 1983. Top Gun, The Color of Money , and Rain Man followed soon afterward. Throw in Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men , and The Firm , and Cruise earned a well-deserved mulligan for Cocktail .

Cruise’s 1996 releases included the first installment of the Mission Impossible franchise and a sports movie that the producers marketed brilliantly. Targeted commercials and other promotions led women to believe Jerry Maguire was a love story between Cruise and Renee Zellweger. Meanwhile, the campaign aimed at men focused on Cuba Gooding Jr. playing a wide receiver who puts his next contract negotiation in the hands of a character that NFL agent Leigh Steinberg helped screenwriter Cameron Crowe bring to life.

The formula worked. The movie scored five Oscar nominations, though Cruise lost out on the best actor nod, and grossed triple its $50 million budget domestically.

Leigh Steinberg brought a wealth of knowledge to ‘Jerry Maguire’

Though beset by personal and financial problems at various junctures of his career, Leigh Steinberg leveraged his law degree from Cal-Berkeley in 1973 into a legendary career as a sports agent focused primarily on football players and boxers. Steinberg has represented a record eight No. 1 overall picks in NFL drafts, and his speakers’ bureau biography credits him with negotiating $4 billion in contracts.

Steinberg’s clients have included quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Young, and boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Lennox Lewis. The producers of Jerry Maguire recruited Steinberg as a consultant and even gave him a cameo. In true agent fashion, he arranged a walk-on role for Aikman in the movie. Another of the agent’s clients, former San Francisco 49ers player Tim McDonald, is credited with coining Gooding Jr.’s iconic “Show me the money” line.

According to Moviefone.com , Steinberg turned down the slightly meatier role of agent Jerry Maguire’s brother because he didn’t want to look like a villain. “To this day, I may be the only actor who ever talked his way out of a scene with Tom Cruise,” he said.

More facts about the Tom Cruise hit movie

Tom Cruise earned a best actor nomination for his portrayal of fictional agent Jerry Maguire, modeled after Leigh Steinberg, but lost out to Geoffrey Rush of Shine . However, co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. won the best supporting actor for his work as Arizona Cardinals receiver Rod Tidwell . Among the nominees he beat out were William H. Macy ( Fargo ), Edward Norton ( Primal Fear ), and James Woods ( Ghosts of Mississippi ).

A few additional tidbits to note on the 25 th anniversary of Jerry Maguire’s release:  

• Paula Abdul choreographed Gooding Jr.’s end zone celebration.
• The 27-page mission statement that Cruise’s character wrote, leading to his firing, exists. Cameron Crowe wrote it and posted it online . Alice in Chains frontman Jerry Cantrell portrayed the clerk at the store who printed the copies.
• Moviefone.com reported that Rebook spent $1.5 million to have its shoes featured in a commercial by Gooding’s character that was supposed to appear in the movie. It was cut from the theatrical version of Jerry Maguire but added back into the made-for-TV edit as part of a settlement with the studio.

With the Cardinals sitting at 10-2 entering their Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams, the time might be right to rent the movie and enjoy.

Like Sportscasting on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @sportscasting19 .

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John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat ). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.

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Every Tom Cruise movie, ranked

There will never be another Tom Cruise . For decades, his star power has endured, even as movies have shifted away from stars in favor of studios. He has still found a way to sell tickets, and he's put together an unmatched career of blockbusters, comedies, dramas, and cameos. To celebrate, we've taken on the impossible mission of ranking every one of his films from worst to best. From Endless Love  to  Jerry Maguire , here are the actor's money roles.   

42. 'Endless Love' (1981)

How do you secure the bottom ranking? Having more than five writers work on the script and making no money at the box office is a good start. Not helping matters is the romance between two teenagers, which ends with Tom Cruise burning down one of their homes. 

41. 'The Mummy' (2017)

Remember the Dark Universe? Me neither. Apparently, the folks at Universal had plans to make their own franchise but bailed once they saw a rough-cut of The Mummy . The movie has all the pratfalls of a D.C. comic: dim lighting, bad acting, and a star who can't outrun a bloated plot. 

40. 'Rock of Ages' (2012)

We can all agree on one thing: this movie sucks. It's horrible, and the movie flopped mainly because director Adam Shankman mistook loudness for passion. But as Stacee Jaxx, the Axl Rose-like superstar who's drugged-out, sexed-out, and bottomed-out, Cruise almost saves it. His performance of "Dead or Alive" makes you want to give it another shot. 

39. 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' (2016)

Cruise should have taken the title as a sign and never gone back to Jack Reacher . The first one wasn't a hit, but the second one takes all the pep out of the first and replaces it with blandness. 

38. 'Cocktail' (1988)

It's Top Gun set in the world of bartending, which means the only action happening here is in the bedroom. Cruise's only mission is to make girls swoon. He looks like a million bucks and shows off the charm that would make him a sex symbol in the '90s. But he isn't very good in the part and received a Razzie nomination for his performance. 

37. 'Losin' It' (1983)

Anyone who has seen Cocktail will have difficulty going along with Losin' It . I mean, this is a movie where Tom Cruise has a hard time romantically. The sexiest man in the world is joined by two friends on a trip to Tijuana, where they try to find him a woman to sleep with. In reality, that would take about two seconds. But since this is a teenage comedy, we have to wait two hours for the climax. 

36. 'Lions for Lambs' (2007)

Robert Redford couldn't have asked for a better cast than Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Michael Pena, but he could have asked for a better script. The director's war drama boils down to a lot of dense, long-winded monologues about how screwed up our country is. It's basically an Aaron Sorkin movie without an Aaron Sorkin script. 

35. 'Vanilla Sky' (2001)

It seemed Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise were made for each other after Jerry Maguire , but then Vanilla Sky happened. Cruise plays a handsome, rich publisher who goes into a tailspin after his wife dies in a car accident. The entrance of Penelope Cruz changes things for a while, but then things start to get weird when Cameron Diaz shows up. None of it makes any sense, and I found myself scratching my head long after the credits rolled. 

34. 'Valkyrie' (2008)

The problems with  Valkyrie  have nothing to do with Cruise. He's great in the part of Colonel Stauffenberg. The problems are with the script, the direction, and the decision to have the Nazis speak English. 

33. 'Far and Away' (1992)

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were a power couple who starred in three movies together. One is great, but the other two are missed opportunities. The idea of two immigrants falling in love against a backdrop of rolling hills sounded good on paper, but Ron Howard isn't able to elevate it above shallow Oscar bait.

32. 'Days of Thunder' (1990)

Another Cruise and Kidman joint. Days of Thunder sees the stars reuniting with Top Gun director Tony Scott, who wanted to recapture the magic of their first collab on the streets of Daytona. The movie hit all the beats of their first outing — cocky heroes, loud music, cool montages — but couldn't make them soar.  

31. 'Legend' (1985)

Long before people asked for the "Snyder Cut," people were asking for the director's cut of  Legend . Hacked to pieces by the studio, the theatrical version of Ridley Scott's fantasy was about as silly as they come. Cruise plays a young man who quests to save a princess from the clutches of Darkness (Tim Curry). The director's cut eventually came out, and it's just as silly as the first one. 

30. 'Mission Impossible II' (2000)

Tom Cruise may be known for his great running posture, but if there's one thing he can't outrun, it's a bad script. It's a shame the worst movie in the MI franchise is directed by John Woo, who gave us some of the best action movies of all time. It's not his fault, though. The problem is a script that pins Cruise against a dull villain, a silly plot, and some of the most ridiculous action sequences of the 21st century. 

29. 'Oblivion' (2013)

Oblivion is bland, and Cruise is bland in it. What works is a twist that keeps us intrigued even when the rest of the movie doesn't. 

28. 'The Firm' (1993)

Here's where the movies go up a notch. The Firm may not be a great courtroom drama, but it has all the elements of one. The tension is there, the dialogue is dense, and the performances draw us into the action. 

27. 'The Last Samurai' (2003)

Can you imagine if this came out today? Cruise plays a soldier who adapts samurai culture and saves the day in 19th-century Japan. It might as well be called White Savior: The Movie , but Cruise is excellent as the hero, and Ken Watanabe is superb as the hero's righthand man. Plus, who can forget those battle scenes? 

26. 'American Made' (2017)

Cruise doesn't do a lot of movies these days outside of Mission Impossible . So it's a treat when he dives into something like American Made , a fact-based drama about a pilot who smuggles drugs for the government. The movie rides on Cruise's shoulders, and he sells every scene the same way his character sells information to the DEA: in style. 

25. 'The Outsiders' (1983)

Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of the classic novel has more pretty faces than a perfume commercial. Cruise takes a backseat to stars like Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze , Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez, but he does get to show off his good looks. More than that, he shows off his range as an actor in one of the film's most memorable scenes. 

24. 'Jack Reacher' (2012)

Why would Cruise do another action franchise? Is Mission Impossible not enough? That's what most people thought when they got news of Jack Reacher, the latest action hero to take the shape of Cruise's slim, handsome persona. But once the movie kicked into gear, all doubts were off as audiences got sucked into a murder mystery.

23. 'Knight and Day' (2010)

Not everyone got what Cruise was putting down. Some people watched Knight and Day and saw another generic action movie, while others saw a movie about the actor's persona. This is a spoof first and an action movie second. Director James Mangold does a good job sending up Mission Impossible , and Cruise has a blast making fun of himself and everyone around him. 

22. 'Taps' (1981)

In Cruise's first major role, he plays a hot-headed military cadet who takes his job a little too seriously. When he fires into a crowd of civilians with wide, crazy eyes, you can tell he was born to play more than just pretty faces. He can play anything you throw at him.  

21. 'Interview with the Vampire' (1994)

Cruise delivers one of his best performances as Lestat, a vampire who finds a lot of drama when he recruits a man named Louis (Brad Pitt). Not everyone was on board with the casting of Cruise, but he won them over with this portrait of a lifeless sucker with a beating heart. There are a number of sexy moments between the actors. Plus, one of the bleakest endings in recent memory. 

20. 'Mission Impossible III' (2006)

The MI series rallied under the guidance of J.J. Abrams, who brought back the formula that made the original work. The movie starts with jokes, moves to action, introduces the villain, and ditches the plot so Cruise can run, jump, shoot, and swim. It's what fans pay to see and what Abrams delivers with aplomb. 

19. 'All the Right Moves' (1983)

The best sports movies are less about sports than they are about people. In this one, Cruise plays a high-school football player who clashes with his coach, fights with his girlfriend, and wants to escape his town. It's a sensitive turn from Cruise — one he would go back to in The Color of Money .

18. 'War of the Worlds' (2005)

Cruise does some of his best work as an everyday guy. In Steven Spielberg's adaptation of H.G. Welles' novel, he plays a divorcee who has to flee the invaders from space. The film starts with some nitty, gritty family drama, then shifts into a series of visceral set pieces that rank among Spielberg's best.

17. 'Minority Report' (2002)

Cruise and Spielberg did another movie together three years earlier. With even more tension, a mix of dark themes, mysterious plots, and perverse characters, Minority Report saw Cruise doing his best noir impression. He plays a cop who solves murders before they happen and gets tied up in a case involving Colin Farrell .  

16. 'The Color of Money' (1986)

Like a great pool hustler, Martin Scorsese makes you think you're dealing with an average player and then hits you with the nine ball. The Color of Money doesn't seem like anything special. At first, it's another sequel that brings back a famous character (Paul Newman) and has them team up with an up-and-comer (Tom Cruise). Then the movie sneaks up on you in the third act and the tone shifts from sports drama to character study. 

15. 'Mission Impossible' (1996)

Some things never change. The stakes may have gotten higher, and the action sequences may have gotten bigger, but the thrill of watching Ethan Hunt save the day has always remained the same. Even today, Brian De Palma's original has the power to make you drop your jaw. The scene where he breaks into CIA headquarters and dangles from the ceiling is peak Mission Impossible , and the opener on a train is what every MI installment has been trying to top. 

14. 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol' (2011)

How do you top the train sequence? Oh, I don't know. Maybe scale the largest building in the world. Cruise took the franchise to new heights in this 2011 thriller, which was reportedly the last one he would do if the movie bombed at the box office. He was coming off the Scientology incident and did everything in his power to keep the franchise alive. 

13. 'Born on the Fourth of July' (1989)

Tom Cruise should have won an Oscar for his role as the once-optimistic, now-shattered military veteran Ron Kovic. But then again, roles like these are built in a lab for the sole purpose of winning Oscars. Based on a true story? Check. A wig that makes him look worse? Check. A long monologue that can play over his acceptance speech? Check. Cruise may be great, but this is Oscar Bait 101.

12. 'Colateral' (2004)

A more nuanced performance can be found in this dark, twisted thriller from Michael Mann. Cruise plays a hitman with white hair who kidnaps a taxi driver ( Jamie Foxx ) and has him drive to multiple locations around Los Angeles. The bodies start to pile up like garbage bags, and it soon becomes clear that there's more going on than meets the eye. Much more.

11. 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999)

Cruise and Kidman teamed up again, this time under the watch of Stanley Kubrick in what would be his final film. Both actors are superb, and there's no shortage of tense moments in this erotic thriller. That being said, the movie was never finished, and you can see the threads hanging from the black corset. For much of the runtime, we are drawn into this underworld of sex among bureaucrats, but the patches start to show in a busy third act. 

10. 'Top Gun' (1986)

While Risky Business put Cruise on the map, Top Gun  cemented his status at the top of Hollywood. Whether or not you take issue with the movie's politics, it's impossible to deny the charm of Cruise in this part. It's dripping off his body in every scene, and whenever he says something like, "I have the need...the need for speed," you can't help but pump your fists in excitement. 

9. 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014)

Whether you want to call it Edge of Tomorrow or  Live . Die. Repeat. , it's a darn good movie. With Cruise in the role of a military officer who knows nothing about combat, the actor plays with his persona in a fun way. When he's thrust into battle, we expect him to kill a bunch of aliens with a smile on his face. Nope. Cruise is killed by the aliens, and then he's killed again and again in a Groundhog Day  scenario that doesn't change until he meets Emily Blunt . 

8. 'Risky Business' (1983)

The sight of Cruise dancing in sunglasses and tighty-whities might be the most iconic image of his career. It's the moment that made him a star and one of many memorable moments in this teenage comedy.

7. 'Mission Impossible: Fallout' (2018)

Who would have guessed that the guy from Risky Business would go on to become the next Buster Keaton? The actor has come a long way from the teenage comedies that made his career. He's gone from the guy who flirts with girls to the guy who flirts with disaster. The stunts in Mission Impossible: Fallout are Keaton-esque, and the sight of him hanging off a ledge or jumping off a bridge is some of the most epic in movie history. 

6. 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022)

Bathed in golden-hour light and highly-stylized action, Top Gun: Maverick is more than just fan service. It's a sequel that surpasses the original in every way. The stunts are better, the stakes are higher, the fights are cooler, the emotions are clearer, and the volleyballs are...footballs. Cruise returns to teach the next generation a thing or two about flying and might join them on a mission along the way. 

5. 'A Few Good Men' (1992)

Tom Cruise goes head-to-head with Jack Nicholson , and the results speak for themselves. This is Cruise's best performance, showcasing all the different elements that make him a star. He's cocky, smart, charismatic, and good-looking but also wounded down deep. His character stands up for two marines who need help, and they get all the help they can get in a courtroom battle.

4. 'Rain Man' (1988)

The movie was a major hit, took home Best Picture, and gave Dustin Hoffman his first Oscar. But somehow, Cruise got overlooked as the man who takes his brother on a road trip. As a salesman who only sees dollar signs, he eventually learns to see more in his brother than autism and money. He learns to see emotion. Not many actors can pull off that kind of transformation, but Cruise does it beautifully. 

3. 'Tropic Thunder' (2008)

The best comedic performance of the past 13 years goes to...Tom Cruise? Hiding under layers of makeup, Cruise stole the show as a profanity-spewing, Flo Rida-dancing studio exec in Ben Stiller's masterpiece.

2. 'Magnolia' (1999)

Cruise steals the show from another ensemble. In a movie loaded with actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, and Julianne Moore , Cruise makes an impression. He roams around the frame like a hungry, sharp-toothed lion, ready to pounce on the weak men who come to him for advice. His chauvinistic motivational speaker is unlike any character we've ever seen, and Cruise makes sure you care about him despite his deplorable behavior.  

1. 'Jerry Maguire' (1996)

The ultimate Tom Cruise movie. Jerry Maguire is a blast to watch, with more quotable lines, charismatic performances, and timeless moments than we can count. Cameron Crowe's rom-com might have had us at hello, but it really had us at goodbye. Once the credits start to roll, you want to watch it again.  

Asher Luberto is a film critic for L.A. Weekly, The Playlist, The Progressive and The Village Voice.

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“idea was better than the execution”: tom cruise’s $223m vampire movie key scene candidly reflected on by vfx director.

One key moment from Tom Cruise's Interview With The Vampire adaptation leaves VFX director Robert Legato wishing he'd tried a different approach.

• VFX director Robert Legato admits mistakes in CGI and lighting techniques used in an Interview With The Vampire scene breakdown.
• Practical effects and digital VFX were combined in the movie to bring the living dead cast and key set pieces to life.
• Despite critical acclaim, Legato reflects on how he would handle the movie differently with modern technology and more experience.

Nearly 30 years after the movie hit theaters, VFX director Robert Legato candidly reflects on a specific moment from Tom Cruise's Interview With The Vampire adaptation. The 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice's iconic gothic horror novel starred Brad Pitt as the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, whose life in 18th century New Orleans is turned upside down upon meeting the charismatic Lestat de Lioncourt (Cruise), who transforms him into a bloodthirsty creature of the night. Interview With The Vampire is celebrated as both a critical and financial hit, earning accolades and major award nominations.

On Corridor Crew 's latest installment of "VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGI", Legato broke down one of Interview with the Vampire 's major scenes.

Looking back on his first feature, the group looked back on the moment Louis took his revenge on the Paris vampire coven and Claudia's (Kirsten Dunst) demise. Legato was quick to admit he'd wished he'd tried different techniques, from highlighting a poor CGI burning skeleton, to how he executed a mid-sequence lighting change:

I love film fire stuff, and in dailies, they're like "Ah, you did a beautiful job!" It's like, "Oh, it's fire. It's hard to beat"... There's a bad CG shot in here, by the way. That's bad. The idea was better than the execution... This is the shot where I had to hide a lighting change in the way I operated the shot. So this is the shot I did — It's a miniature set, and then I tilt up here on purpose to now see the organ. Now, I've changed the lighting below so that when I tilt back down it feels like it's the same lighting scheme, but it's all a different re-light. Originally, it was all just pulled straight back, and I can't hide the s---ty lighting that look good here, but doesn't look good there.

How Do Interview With The Vampire 's Movie VFX Compare To The TV Series?

Under the leadership of visual effects legend Stan Winston, Legato, and other VFX artists set out to bring Interview With The Vampire to the big screen , uniting to create both key set pieces and the smaller, more detail-heavy effects on the film's living dead cast themselves. From extreme techniques to capture individual veins to a blend of miniatures and models for property destruction and gruesome demise. Despite these practical elements, digital VFX was carefully incorporated to enhance moments both personal and grandiose, such as the careful additions of blood spilling and roaring fires that Legato mentioned above.

Interview With The Vampire: The Movie's Biggest Changes To The Book 

While 28 years had passed between adaptations, AMC's own Interview With A Vampir e has also boasted its own celebrated VFX work, as season 1, episode 3, "Is My Very Nature That of the Devil", received a Hollywood Professionals Association Award nomination for its visual effects work. The TV series had to navigate filming during the COVID-19 pandemic while also working with expensive historical sets and props that could not be damaged. As such, the show employed digital effects alongside solid " Blood puddles " and even creatives from the original movie to bring Rice's story to the small screen.

As one of the most beloved vampire tales in pop culture, Interview With The Vampire will always have a place in audience's hearts, be it the classic 1994 movie or its modern reimagining. With the movie having received such acclaim at the time, it may be surprising to hear Legato speak so critically of his work. However, with Legato offering an honest reflection on one of his earliest jobs, many may wonder how he would handle the movie differently with his greater experience and newer technology.

1994's Interview With The Vampire is available to stream on Paramount+, while season 2 of the TV series will premiere on May 12 on AMC.

Source: Corridor Crew

Interview with the Vampire

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Based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel, Interview with the Vampire tells the story of two vampires, Lestat and Louis, and their complicated relationship after Lestat turns Louis in 1791. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt star as Lestat and Louis respectively, with a cast that includes Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, the two men's young charge who Lestat also turns in an attempt to keep a disillusioned Louis from leaving. Christian Slayter rounds out the cast as Daniel Molloy, a reporter to who Louis tells his story in the mid-1990s. 

Tarantino quería a Brad Pitt y Tom Cruise en ‘The Movie Critic’: un crossover de todas sus películas

‘ The Movie Critic ’ estaba llamada a ser la obra culmen de Quentin Tarantino , su décima y última película que ya nunca veremos; y es que tras más de un año tratando de armar el proyecto, finalmente el director de ‘ Pulp Fiction ’ o ‘ Kill Bill ’, entre muchas otras películas ya consideradas de culto, ha terminado desechando, tal y como os traíamos recientemente. Ahora, han aparecido novedades sobre el que estaba llamado a ser el crossover definitivo de toda su filmografía y para el que quería contar con muchas de las estrellas de sus pasadas cintas, como Brad Pitt , además del mismísimo Tom Cruise . Así lo recoge un reciente artículo de The Hollywood Reporter , en el que descubrimos algunos de los planes fallidos de Tarantino .

Quentin Tarantino y su propio “Tarantinoverse”

Así, en un principio, ‘ The Movie Critic ’ pretendía presentarnos a un crítico de cine anónimo que escribía para una revista para adultos durante la década de los años 70, aunque tras varias reescrituras de guion, el proyecto se convirtió en una suerte de spin-off de ‘ Érase una vez en... Hollywood ’, su última película protagonizada por Brad Pitt , Leonardo DiCaprio y Margot Robbie , de nuevo con Pitt en el papel de Cliff Booth .

De este modo, Tarantino pretendía presentar al público su propio crossover de todos sus anteriores filmes, donde todas sus anteriores películas tuvieran presencia en su obra final de un modo u otro, presentando así una especie de “ Tarantinoverse ”. Su intención es que todos estos personajes tuvieran algún tipo de relación con un adolescente con sueños de convertirse en cineasta, una especie de autoprospección sobre su propia vida .

Para ello, el director quería contar con la presencia de muchos de los actores y actrices de sus anteriores películas, desde Brad Pitt a John Travolta , pasando por Margot Robbie , Jamie Foxx o Bruce Willis , incluyendo a la superestrella de Hollywood Tom Cruise , aunque se dice que Tarantino no llegó a hablar con el protagonista de la saga ‘ Misión: Imposible ’. Sea como fuere, Tarantino pretendía retirarse por todo lo alto con una idea tan ambiciosa como surrealista . ¿Cuál será, entonces, la última película de Quentin Tarantino? Desde luego, parece que no será ni ‘ Kill Bill Vol. 3 ′ ni su propia visión de ‘Star Trek’.

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• Contact info
• 64 wins & 119 nominations total

Photos 1992

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Personal details

• Tomu Kurûzu
• 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• July 3 , 1962
• Syracuse, New York, USA
• Spouses Katie Holmes November 18, 2006 - August 20, 2012 (divorced, 1 child)
• Children Isabella Jane Cruise
• Parents Thomas Mapother III
• Relatives William Mapother (Cousin)
• Other works Played Nathan Detroit in a high school production of "Guys and Dolls"
• 12 Print Biographies
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• 32 Interviews
• 145 Articles
• 21 Pictorials
• 764 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia His acting idol is Paul Newman . Much to the delight of Cruise, they became good friends during work on The Color of Money (1986) . Newman got him into racing, and Cruise ultimately raced on his team.
• Quotes The thing about filmmaking is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible.
• Trademarks Often plays romantic leading men with an edge
• Salaries Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two ( 2025 ) $13,000,000 + % of back end
• How old is Tom Cruise?
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Tom Cruise produced a movie in Eugene during the summer of 1996 about Steve Prefontaine

In 1996 a film crew descended on Eugene to make a movie about Steve Prefontaine.

The film followed the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman.

Prefontaine was a star athlete from Coos Bay who ran for the University of Oregon and later competed in the Olympics in the 1970s.

He died in an automobile accident in Eugene on May 30, 1975, at the age of 24.

The film was written and directed by Robert Towne and produced by Tom Cruise.

Hundreds of locals appear as extras in the film at locations around Oregon, Lane Community College and Hayward Field.

The $25 million movie was released and distributed by Warner Bros. in 1998.

Cruise himself visited Eugene in 1998 for a screening of the film at the McDonald Theater.

The movie was well-received by critics but ended up grossing only $777,000 at the box office.

Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at [email protected] , or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch

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Nicole Kidman, who 'makes movies better,' gets AFI Life Achievement Award

49th AFI Life Achievement Award - Show Honoree Nicole Kidman addresses the audience during the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to her, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) (Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES — (AP) — Morgan Freeman spoke the words, but pretty much everyone who took the stage at the presentation of the AFI Life Achievement Award agreed: " Nicole Kidman . She makes movies better."

The line came in a video parody of Kidman's AMC Theatres “we make movies better” ad that opened the Saturday night ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. It got huge laughs from the crowd of multigenerational A-listers there to honor the 40-year career of the 56-year-old Australian that has included roles in “Moulin Rouge,” “Eyes Wide Shut” and an Oscar-winning turn in “The Hours.”

Meryl Streep , Kidman's "The Hours" co-star who presented to Streep the Life Achievement Award that she won herself in 2004, got laughs nearly as big when, in a mock-boastful voice, described the hardest part of being "incessantly called the greatest actress of my generation."

It's when you come up against someone else who is “really, really, really, really, really, really great” and you realize they did things you couldn’t do, as happened with Kidman the first day they worked together on the HBO series “Big Little Lies," Streep said.

Streep and their “Big Little Lies” co-star Reese Witherspoon both did spot-on, Australian-accented impressions of Kidman that had the audience in stitches.

Streep also drew tears from Kidman when describing what she believed motivated her.

“People call it bravery when an actress bares all and leaps off into the unknown and she dives deep into the darker parts of what it is to be a human being,” Streep said. “But I don’t think it’s bravery. I think it’s love. I think she just loves it.”

Kidman teared up for the first time in the evening when her husband and fellow Australian, singer Keith Urban, said she showed him “what love in action really looks like” when his substance abuse problems emerged almost immediately after they wed in 2006.

“Four months into our marriage, I’m in rehab for three months,” Urban said, looking at Kidman where she sat on a dais with their two daughters and other family. “Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love. And here we are 18 years later.”

Kidman said the night was the first time she allowed their teenage daughters to join her on a red carpet. She also has two children with her first husband, Tom Cruise.

She accepted the AFI award in the same venue where she accepted her Oscar in 2003 for playing Virginia Woolf in “The Hours."

She thanked by name every director she has worked with, including Stanley Kubrick, Jane Campion, Baz Luhrmann, Sofia Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sydney Pollack and Lars von Trier.

“It is a privilege to make films. And glorious to have made films and television with these storytellers who allowed me to run wild and be free and play all of these unconventional women," Kidman said, wearing a floor-length, glittering-gold gown. “Thank you for making me better at my craft and giving me a place, however temporary, in this world.”

It was announced back in November of 2022 that Kidman would receive the award, first handed out in 1973, whose previous winners include Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Gene Kelly, Sidney Poitier, Barbara Streisand, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington and Julie Andrews.

The ceremony originally was scheduled for June of 2023, but delayed because of Hollywood's strikes . It will air on TNT on June 17.

Kidman also was nominated for Academy Awards for “Moulin Rouge,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Lion,” and “Being the Ricardos," whose director, Aaron Sorkin, also sang her praises at the ceremony.

Others honoring her included Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Zoe Saldana and Mike Myers, who came on stage in disguise in one of the eerie orgy masks from “Eyes Wide Shut.”

Kidman began her career as a teen in Australia in films including “Bush Christmas” and “BMX Bandits." Naomi Watts, a friend from those days, described meeting Kidman when both had to sit in a waiting room in bathing suits for two hours at an audition. Aussies Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett all gave video tributes to the first from their country to win the award.

Kidman said in a video played at the ceremony that her appearance in the 1989 thriller “Dead Calm” brought her to the attention of, among others, Cruise, the only time his name was spoken Saturday night.

She had her breakthrough Hollywood role alongside him in 1990's “Days of Thunder" — they would marry the same year — and also starred together in 1992's “Far and Away” and in 1999 in Kubrick's final film, “Eyes Wide Shut.”

She divorced Cruise in 2001, but her stardom only grew in his wake. Some of her biggest roles, and her Oscar, were still to come.

The role most often cited as a favorite during the awards show Saturday night was her musical turn in Luhrmann's 2001 “Moulin Rouge.”

Freeman, the 2011 AFI honoree, in his in-person presentation that followed the video spoof, serenaded Kidman with the modified Elton John lines she sings in the film: “How wonderful life is, now you're in the world.”

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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