It’s getting kind of hard to imagine a world of action movies where Tom Cruise doesn’t exist, isn’t it? Despite being well over 50 already, Tom still insists on performing all his stunts himself, which only makes his career as action hero more impressive.
Despite not always making the best movies, Tom has a few classic characters under his belt that are going to be embedded in our collective memory for decades to come. Let’s take a look.
John Anderton (Minority Report)
Just imagine being a guy that’s charged for a crime he didn’t commit yet. That’s pretty much the story behind Minority Report and the situation that John Anderton found himself in. The story was a bit all over the place, but I guess that’s allowed when you’re dealing with this level of sci-fi.
Maverick (Top Gun)
I mean, what do we still have to say about Top Gun. It was a huge hit at the time of its release, and it’s finally getting a sequel next year, 25 years after the first movie!
Les Grossman (Tropic Thunder)
This was the part we never imagined Tom would do, wasn’t it? If you don’t know that this character is Tom Cruise, you probably won’t recognize him anyway. This is hands down one of Tom’s most hilarious characters.
Ray Ferrier (War of the Worlds)
Tom Cruise against a bunch of alien invaders? Nailed it. Not the best alien invasion movie, but probably the best Tom Cruise alien invasion movie.
William Cage (Edge of Tomorrow)
Jeez, another Tom Cruise alien invasion movie? Well, I guess this one was a bit better than War of the Worlds. In this movie, Tom Cruise gets hit with some alien blood before he gets killed, which allows him to somehow “reset” to a previous point in his life whenever he dies.
Vincent (Collateral)
A radically different look for Tom Cruise, this character was a ruthless mercenary. It was one of the few times where we saw Tom shine as the villain, which was different but cool.
Jerry Maguire (Jerry Maguire)
Jerry Maguire was one of Tom’s big breakout roles and is a romantic comedy that still stands up today. In fact, it’s one of the few romantic comedies that gives more attention to the male perspective, making it fun to watch for men as well.
Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible)
There’s been like 23 movies in this series, so I guess we all pretty much know who Ethan Hunt is. He’s basically the American version of James Bond, except they don’t swap actors once every 10 years.
