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Every Tom Cruise Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

The best and worst of Tom Cruise's eclectic and transformative filmography.

Since his big screen debut in 1981, Tom Cruise has held strong as one of Hollywood's most successful megastars, a title he has justified time and time again over the years, even as his career has taken on different forms and his controversies behind-the-scenes have threatened to derail him entirely.

He's starred in iconic rom-coms, political thrillers, rock musicals, epic ensemble dramas, enrapturing war biopics, legal thrillers and some of the most innovative, adrenalised action films of the last 20+ years, and he's given his all in almost every one.

A three-time Oscar nominee with a thirst for doing his own stunts and one-upping himself wherever possible, Cruise seems to have done it all, even if many of his films have laughably missed the mark and - in one extreme case - killed an entire franchise.

With the long-awaited Top Gun sequel on the horizon and production on the next two Mission Impossible films well underway, now seems a good time to take a deep breath before the next wave of Cruise Fever, and remember the highs and lows of the cinematic titan's filmography, by ranking all 42 Tom Cruise movies worst to best...

42. Rock Of Ages (2012)

It's tough to figure out why Tom Cruise's performance in Adam Shankman's painfully dull and misguided musical Rock of Ages was so applauded when it came out, but time has proven the film's original supporters wrong.

Cruise's role as arrogant rock star Stacee Jaxx finds the actor noticeably out of his element, trying his damnedest to belt out tunes by Def Leppard and Bon Jovi and lacking any redeeming charm to stop his performance coming across as tacky and hilariously forced.

To be honest, the role is a summary of the entire dismal film, which is nothing short of an embarrassment for everyone involved.

Aidan Whatman hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.

Every Tom Cruise Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best

#43: cocktail (1988).

A film that earned Tom Cruise a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor, Cocktail was largely panned by critics but was a financial success at the box office. Cruise stars as a New York City bartender who takes his impressive skills to a Jamaican bar and falls in love with an artist (Elisabeth Shue).

"Very, very stupid." —Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

#42: Legend (1985)

A young man (Cruise) squares off against the Lord of Darkness to save the world and the woman he loves. The fantasy film also features Tim Curry and Mia Sara and is considered by many to be a cult classic.

"It stinks from top to bottom. Even Tom Cruise (Risky Business), one of the most appealing actors of his generation, can now claim to have made his first truly awful film." —Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

#41: The Mummy (2017)

The action-adventure film, which rebooted The Mummy franchise and was the first installment of the Dark Universe monster movie series for Universal, was widely panned by critics. Cruise stars as a former military officer who unearths a mummy's tomb and becomes cursed as a result. Russell Crowe also appears in the film as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"It's an irredeemable disaster from start to finish, an adventure that entertains only via glimpses of the adventure it should have been." —David Ehrlich, Indiewire

#40: The Outsiders (1983)

This coming-of-age drama, based on the S. E. Hinton novel, starred several up-and-coming actors alongside Cruise, including Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. The Outsiders is the only 1983 film for Cruise where he doesn't have a starring role. Risky Business , Losin' It and All the Right Moves were his other films released that year.

"As a movie, it's mediocre." —David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

#39: Vanilla Sky (2001)

This sci-fi psychological thriller stars Cruise as a self-indulgent man who is disfigured in a car accident and loses the woman of his dreams. Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz costar in the Cameron Crowe film. The opening features an iconic shot of Cruise running through an empty Times Square.

"Its tone is unquenchably pretentious, and its scale is overblown." —Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

#38: Knight and Day (2010)

Vanilla Sky costars Cruise and Diaz reunite in this action-comedy about a woman who unwittingly gets thrust on a series of adventures with a disgraced secret agent.

"It's hardly a perfect film, not even close, but it is the most entertaining made-for-adults studio movie of the summer, and one of the reasons it works at all is the great skill and commitment Cruise brings to the starring role." —Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

#37: Rock of Ages (2012)

Cruise belts out rock anthems "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" in the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical. Cruise takes on the role of Stacee Jaxx, frontman of the rock band Arsenal, in the jukebox musical feature.

"Shankman gets enormously entertaining performances from Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin, so much so that it's a problem: The movie's not about them." —Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

#36: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Cruise's titular character goes on the run with an army major (Cobie Smulders) and cracks a major government conspiracy wide open. Like Cruise, Smulders also performed her own stunts. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a sequel to the 2012 film Jack Reacher .

"The whole thing is just so sloppy and dumb and overflowing with clichés." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

#35: Lions for Lambs (2007)

Cruise joins forces with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in this Afghan-war drama. Cruise plays a U.S. Senator and Republican presidential hopeful who develops a new war strategy to combat the Taliban. Grossing $15 million in the U.S. and $63.2 million at the worldwide box office, it's one of Cruise's biggest flops of his career.

"One of those movies in which the principals talk a lot but don't say much." —James Berardinelli, ReelViews

#34: Taps (1981)

George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton star in this drama, also featuring Cruise, about a group of military school students who take over their school to save it from closing. This was Cruise's second film (and first decent-sized role) after his brief debut appearance in Endless Love .

"Taps labors at an unbearably slow pace to an inevitable, depressing conclusion." —Variety

#33: Far and Away (1992)

The second film starring Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Far and Away follows two Irish immigrants seeking fortune and land of their own in America in the late 19th century. The actor gets to show off his fighting skills as his character becomes a local bare-knuckle boxer.

"Far and Away is a movie that joins astonishing visual splendor with a story so simple-minded it seems intended for adolescents." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

#32: Top Gun (1986)

Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards join Cruise in this romantic military drama about a group of daring fighter pilots. Though it received mixed reviews, the film's aerial stunts and action were widely praised.

"This is a movie that comes in two parts: It knows exactly what to do with special effects, but doesn't have a clue as to how two people in love might act and talk and think." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

#31: Jack Reacher (2012)

The first in the film franchise and based on the 2005 Lee Child novel One Shot , Jack Reacher stars Cruise as a former military officer investigating a homicide. Though the book series describes Reacher as 6'5" tall and weighing between 210 and 250 pounds, the role was re-imagined for the 5'7" Cruise.

"Reacher is a brawny action figure whose exploits would have been a good fit for the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone back in the day, but feel less fun when delegated to a leading man like Tom Cruise. The star is too charismatic to play someone so cold-blooded, and his fans likely won't appreciate the stretch." —Peter Debruge, Variety

#30: Losin' It (1982)

This teen comedy focuses on four young men in the 1950s heading from Los Angeles to Tijuana, Mexico to lose their virginity. A young Cruise stars opposite Jackie Earle Haley and Shelley Long.

"Losin' It isn't without its likable moments, but it isn't overloaded with them, either." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

#29: Oblivion (2013)

Cruise and Morgan Freeman star in this post-apocalyptic science-fiction film adapted from an unpublished graphic novel. Cruise is on a mission to extract Earth's remaining vital resources when he begins to question everything he knows.

"Admirable in its look and style, the film is not unique or exceptional." —Louis Black, Austin Chronicle

#28: The Last Samurai (2003)

A retired American soldier becomes an adviser for the Japanese army in this Academy Award-nominated epic historical film. Cruise and costar Ken Watanabe were praised for their work and received Golden Globe nominations.

"There are pleasures to be had in the handsome, heroic The Last Samurai. But they're all on the surface." —David Ansen, Newsweek

#27: Valkyrie (2008)

German army officers plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in this historical thriller. Cruise reportedly was attracted to the role of Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg because of his resemblance to the real-life officer. Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson costar.

"It's slickly executed, handsomely acted for the most part and utterly easy to forget." —Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer

#26: The Firm (1993)

An adaptation of the John Grisham novel, The Firm is about a young lawyer (Cruise) who accepts a job with a prestigious but sinister law firm. Sydney Pollack directed the legal thriller, which also stars Gene Hackman, Ed Harris and Holly Hunter.

"An average movie improved by Cruise's star appeal and accomplished supporting cast." —Matt Mueller, Empire

#25: Mission: Impossible (1996)

With the same Metascore as its sequel, the first Mission: Impossible of the film franchise established Cruise in the iconic role of Ethan Hunt, a secret agent framed for the murders of his team members.

"The bottom line on a film like this is, Tom Cruise looks cool and holds our attention while doing neat things that we don't quite understand—doing them so quickly and with so much style that we put our questions on hold, and go with the flow." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

#24: Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) returns with a sequel more action-packed than the first. Two of the most memorable Cruise stunts include a free-scaling cliff scene at Utah's Dead Horse Point and a fight scene where a knife was held just centimeters from his eye.

"Check your brains at the popcorn stand and hang on for a spectacular ride." —Lou Lumenick, New York Post

#23: Days of Thunder (1990)

The first of three films to star Cruise and his now-ex Nicole Kidman, Days of Thunder features high-octane racing scenes and appearances from real-life NASCAR drivers. Cruise plays Cole, a young racer who makes it all the way to the Daytona 500 "¦ and he falls in love with a beautiful doctor (Kidman), too.

"This expensive genre film about stock car racing has many of the elements that made the same team's Top Gun a blockbuster, but the producers recruited scripter Robert Towne to make more out of the story than junk food." —Variety

#22: Interview with a Vampire (1994)

Lestat de Lioncourt (Cruise) is an ancient vampire who adds Brad Pitt and a young Kirsten Dunst to his undead brood in this horror film based on the Anne Rice novel. Cruise reportedly spent more than three hours each day in the makeup chair.

"This darkly effective horror drama holds plenty of interest, even for those who find Anne Rice's gothic cult novels unreadable." —TV Guide Magazine

#21: A Few Good Men (1992)

Military lawyers (Cruise and Demi Moore) take on a murder case in this Academy Award-nominated film also featuring a powerful performance from Jack Nicholson. And who could forget that "you can't handle the truth" scene?

"Like all courtroom dramas, A Few Good Men is gimmicky and synthetic. It's also an irresistible throwback to the sort of sharp-edged entertainment Hollywood once provided with regularity." —Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

#20: All the Right Moves (1983)

A football star lands a scholarship to escape his small town in this sports drama starring Craig T. Nelson and Lea Thompson. Cruise and Thompson were reportedly embedded in high schools to prepare for their roles, but Cruise was immediately recognized.

"A well-made but sugar-coated working-class fable about a football star." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

#19: American Made (2017)

Based (loosely) on a true story, this comedic 2017 action-thriller re-paired Cruise with his Edge of Tomorrow director, Doug Liman. Here, Cruise plays Barry Seal, a commerical airline pilot who is recruited by the CIA to conduct secret reconnaissance missions in Central America. The film performed relatively modestly at the box office, and some critics felt it an inadequate portrayal of Seal's real-life adventures, but it was another solid showcase for its star, whose stuntwork included flying a small plane.

"Featuring one of Tom Cruise's best performances in recent years, American Made is a darkly funny, dizzying crime film that nevertheless ultimately feels inconsequential and overly familiar." —Jim Vejvoda, IGN

#18: Rain Man (1988)

The road-trip movie, also starring Dustin Hoffman, earned numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. A self-absorbed yuppie (Cruise) and his autistic brother (Hoffman) travel cross-country in the highest-grossing blockbuster of 1988.

"It's a mature assignment for Cruise and he's at his best in the darker scenes." —Variety

#17: Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Ethan Hunt is called back to duty to confront a madman arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in another action-packed edition of the franchise. This was J.J. Abrams' directorial debut on a feature film and he had a $150 million budget to work with, reportedly the highest ever for a first-time director.

"A gratifyingly clever, booby-trapped thriller that has enough fun and imagination and dash to more than justify its existence." —Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

#16: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Another on-screen collaboration for Cruise and Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut tells the story of a doctor involved in an underground sexual group. The erotic drama was director Stanley Kubrick's final film. It was also his first movie to open in the top spot at the U.S. box office.

"A spellbinder: provocatively conceived, gorgeously shot and masterfully executed." —Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

#15: Collateral (2004)

Cruise plays against type in this crime thriller, where a hitman takes his cab driver hostage (Jamie Foxx). Foxx was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a reluctant getaway driver.

"The best kind of genre filmmaking: It plays by the rules, obeys the traditions and is both familiar and fresh at once." —Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

#14: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

A soldier stuck in a time loop keeps re-living the day he dies. The film is based on the Hiroshi Sakurazaka manga and novel "All You Need Is Kill." A sequel, Live Die Repeat and Repeat , is reportedly in development and Cruise and costar Emily Blunt will return.

"For a film about repetition, Edge of Tomorrow never feels tired or familiar." —Alonso Duralde, TheWrap

#13: Tropic Thunder (2008)

Cruise received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his cameo as a foul-mouthed, angry studio executive named Les Grossman. The actor wore special-effects makeup and performed a memorable dance number for the comedy.

"An imperfect work of genius, a satire of Hollywood excess and vanity that dares to tread territory laden with minefields." —Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

#12: War of the Worlds (2005)

Loosely based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name, this sci-fi disaster film shows a family on the run during an alien invasion. At the time of its release, it was Cruise's highest-grossing film.

"A gritty, intense and supremely accomplished sci-fier." —Todd McCarthy, Variety

#11: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

In the fourth installment of the franchise, Cruise's Ethan Hunt goes rogue with his team after being blamed for a terrorist bombing. It was the highest-grossing Mission: Impossible film in the series at the worldwide box office.

"It's implausible as hell, but no less fun for that." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

#10: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

It's the most recent film in the franchise ... and the one where Cruise hangs off the side of a plane. Hunt and his team face off against an international criminal consortium called the Syndicate.

"The most assured and satisfying of the five so far." —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

#9: Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nomination for Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July is Oliver Stone's drama based on the best-selling autobiography by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Kovic reportedly gave Cruise his Bronze Star to thank him for his portrayal.

"It is a film of enormous visceral power with, in the central role, a performance by Tom Cruise that defines everything that is best about the movie." —Vincent Canby, The New York Times

#8: Risky Business (1983)

Dancing around in his underwear to "Old-Time Rock and Roll" is one of the reasons this romantic-comedy launched Cruise to stardom. The coming-of-age movie is about a trustworthy high school student who lets loose when his parents leave town.

"Smart, stylish and cynical about the values of its time, this movie aspires to be The Graduate for its generation and it comes pretty close." —TV Guide Magazine

#7: Jerry Maguire (1996)

A sports agent loses all of his clients, except for one struggling football player, in this romantic-comedy-drama. Two of film's iconic lines, "Show me the money" and "you had me at hello," made the American Film Institute's ranking of the Top 100 Movie Quotes.

"Altogether wondrous." —Richard Schickel, Time

#6: The Color of Money (1986)

Paul Newman earned an Academy Award for his starring role in this Martin Scorsese-helmed drama that costars Cruise. A poor pool hustler (Newman) takes on a talented protégé (Cruise) and they ultimately become opponents.

"The Color of Money plays better when not under the shadow of The Hustler, which is ultimately a better and more compelling tale." —James Berardinelli, ReelViews

#5: Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia is an ensemble film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson about interrelated characters played by Cruise, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and others. Cruise racked up another Academy Award nomination for his work in the film.

"Spellbinding." —Wesley Morris, San Francisco Examiner

#4: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Credited with bringing audiences back to movie theaters following the pandemic, this belated sequel to the hit 1986 fighter-pilot action film Top Gun collected nearly $1.5 billion in worldwide grosses to become the highest-grossing movie of 2022—and of Cruise's entire career, which is no mean feat. And it wasn't just popular—it's an excellent film, with critics scoring the Joseph Kosinski-directed Maverick nearly 30 points higher than its predecessor. Maverick even received a Best Picture nomination (among six total Oscar nominations).

"Thirty-six years after the original, Tom Cruise is having the time of his life, the in-flight thrills are off the charts and—hot damn!—you won't find more blazing action anywhere." —Peter Travers, ABC News

#3: Minority Report (2002)

Cruise teamed up with director Steven Spielberg for this sci-fi flick about a futuristic police department that arrests murderers before they kill. It opened at No. 1 at the U.S. box office and made $226.3 million overseas.

"It's a dark and dazzling spectacle." —Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

#2: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Released in 2023, this seventh film in the franchise is the third straight to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie, with all three receiving terrific reviews from critics. Set to be followed by a concluding film in 2024, Dead Reckoning Part One received plenty of advance buzz for Cruise's ever-daring stuntwork including a fight scene on the roof of a moving train and an instantly legendary motorcycle sequece that finds him riding a bike off of a mountain cliff and deploying a parachute to fall to safety.

"The fact that McQuarrie and Cruise routinely set and then raise the bar for the gold standard of action movies is the lure of the franchise — but it's the characters, their foibles, their wit, and their deep humanity that are Mission: Impossible's secret weapon." —Maureen Lee Lenker

#1: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Few film franchises get better as they progress, but Cruise's sixth Mission: Impossible film is the best in the entire series. The 2018 release is (like 2015's Rogue Nation ) both directed and scripted by Christopher McQuarrie and features some of the best action sequences ever recorded on film, helping propel Fallout to become the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career (at least until the release of Top Gun: Maverick a few years later).

"He's only Tom Cruise because nobody else is willing to be — or maybe he's only Tom Cruise so that nobody else has to be. Either way, Fallout is the film he's always promised us, and it was totally worth the wait." —David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked From Worst to Best

He's more than a guy who looks good in Ray-Bans and runs a lot.

preview for The Top 10 Stunts From The 'Mission Impossible' Franchise

A movie so bad, it was the first and last entry in Universal’s planned monster movie cinematic universe.

Rock of Ages

Performance, Rock concert, Concert, Performing arts, Event, Stage, Public event, Music venue, Metal, Musician,

Amazon Hulu

In this extremely unfortunate musical about ‘80s hair metal, Tom Cruise plays a karaoke version of a rock and roll god named Stacee Jaxx.

Fun, Adaptation, Event, Night, Drink, Smile,

Amazon Tubi

Released the same year as Risky Business , Tom Cruise plays the hunk in this high school sex comedy that time forgot. Get it? They’re "losin’ it"—as in their virginity.

Endless Love

Barechested, Abdomen, Chest, Muscle, Thigh, Leg, Fun, Summer, Trunk, Arm,

In his first on-screen appearance, Tom Cruise is some random shirtless kid in Daisy Dukes bragging about being a pyromaniac.

Lions for Lambs

White-collar worker, Suit, Photography, Businessperson, Employment, Window, Job,

Nearly a decade before Trump coined the term “Fake News,” Tom Cruise plays a morally corrupt senator making a presidential bid by planting a story through a journalist played by Meryl Streep. In the end, this pretentious and convoluted plot says very little about its moving parts.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Hand, Arm, Technology, Finger, Room, Gesture, Art, Media, Vacation, Interior design,

Though the tagline warns to never go back, Cruise unfortunately did go back to play the titular Jack Reacher, in a sequel that plays out like dumb, less tech-savvy Mission: Impossible.

Romance, Human, Interaction, Organism, Love, Adaptation, Photography, Scene, Movie, Cg artwork,

Tom Cruise and Mia Sara try to protect the last of the unicorns from Tim Curry, who is some sort of awesome devil muppet. It’s also the only straight-up fantasy movie Cruise has ever done—and it’s pretty obvious why.

Far and Away

Romance, Interaction, Forehead, Love, Fun, Photography, Gesture, Scene,

Seven years before they co-starred in Eyes Wide Shut (and two years after their wedding), Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman played star-crossed lovers and Irish immigrants trying to make it in America.

Digital compositing, Fictional character, Cg artwork, Adventure game,

In this post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Cruise is a drone repairman who’s also into American sports. When he finds a group of survivors (led by Morgan Freeman), he begins to question the nature of his entire reality. As always, Cruise holds down what is otherwise a pretty clunky plot.

Soldier, Army, Military, Motor vehicle, Vehicle, Mode of transport, Troop, Off-road vehicle, Military organization, Military uniform,

YouTube Pluto TV

Tom Cruise plays a German officer with an American accent who leads a group of German soldiers with British accents in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler during WWII. It’s based on an actual military plot that could have entered some intriguing territory, had it not settled for being average historical escapism.

Knight and Day

Gun, Firearm, Shooter game, Airsoft gun, Airsoft, Trigger, Movie, Games, Recreation, Shooting,

In this action comedy, Cruise is once again a secret agent who accidentally ropes Cameron Diaz into an international conspiracy. For all his macho spy stuff, Cruise proves in Knight and Day that he can take this hero stuff lightly too.

Mission: Impossible II

Blue, Water, Light, Fun, Photography, Liquid bubble, Glass,

Paramount+ Netflix

The worst of Cruise’s six Mission: Impossible movies, this one sees Ethan Hunt trying to stop a deadly weaponized virus that’s going to be released by terrorists. Unfortunately, director John Woo’s style didn’t quite fit with the international espionage of this franchise.

Jack Reacher

In his first of two movies playing the titular former military police-officer-turned-vigilante-drifter, Cruise’s character tries to stop a military sniper on a killing spree. Of course, Cruise also did all his own driving stunts.

The Outsiders

Social group, People, Youth, Friendship, Fun, Team, Photography, Leisure, Jeans, Family,

Coming down from the golden phase of his career, Francis Ford Coppola assembled an incredible upcoming cast for The Outsiders that included Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane.

Vehicle, Car, Fictional character, Family car, City car,

In his second-ever onscreen role, Cruise plays David Shawn, one of the military cadets who attempt to protect their academy from being torn down for local condo developers. Pretty low stakes as far as military dramas go.

War of the Worlds

Human, Jacket, Outerwear, Beard, Facial hair, Leather, Fictional character,

In this Steven Spielberg re-imagining of the H.G. Wells novel, Cruise plays a father attempting to keep his children safe throughout an alien invasion. Though it has all the highlights of a Spielbergian sci-fi, it wasn’t quite enough to cause riots like Orson Welles’s infamous radio broadcast.

The Last Samurai

Amazon Netflix

A white savior complex brings down what is otherwise a well-acted period period piece about an American Civil War veteran sent to train a 19th century Japanese army.

Mission: Impossible III

Romance, Interaction, Love, Human, Photography, Gesture, Scene, Happy, Flash photography, Dance,

Before he was put in charge of both Star Wars and Star Trek , J.J. Abrams’s big Hollywood blockbuster movie directorial debut was at the helm of Mission: Impossible III , which saw a retired Ethan Hunt brought back in the game to stop an excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Vanilla Sky

Barechested, Chest, Muscle, Human, Arm, Human body, Neck, Flesh, Photography, Trunk,

Cruise stars in this philosophical thriller as a man haunted by the specter of a former flame after becoming disfigured in a car crash. (Fun fact: Penelope Cruz plays the same character in this remake of her Spanish film, Abre los Ojos .)

Days of Thunder

Vehicle, Car, Tire, Automotive wheel system, Motorsport, Automotive tire, Compact car, Team, City car,

NASCAR moved into the mainstream thanks to this movie in which Cruise plays a promising driver hoping to making it in the big leagues.

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All Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked By Tomatometer

Edge of Tomorrow celebrates its 10th anniversary!

From his teen idol days in the early ’80s to his status as a marquee-lighting leading man today, Tom Cruise has consistently done it all for decades — he’s completed impossible missions, learned about Wapner time in Rain Man , driven the highway to the danger zone in Top Gun , and done wonders for Bob Seger’s royalty statements in Risky Business , to offer just a few examples. Mr. Cruise is one of the few honest-to-goodness film stars left in the Hollywood firmament, so whether you’re a hardcore fan or just interested in a refresher course on his filmography, we’re here to take a fond look back at a truly impressive career and rank all Tom Cruise movies.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 97%

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) 96%

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) 96%

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) 94%

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) 93%

Risky Business (1983) 92%

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) 91%

Minority Report (2002) 89%

Rain Man (1988) 88%

The Color of Money (1986) 88%

Collateral (2004) 86%

Born on the Fourth of July (1989) 84%

American Made (2017) 85%

A Few Good Men (1992) 84%

Jerry Maguire (1996) 84%

Magnolia (1999) 82%

Tropic Thunder (2008) 82%

The Firm (1993) 76%

War of the Worlds (2005) 76%

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 75%

Mission: Impossible III (2006) 71%

The Outsiders (1983) 70%

Taps (1981) 68%

Mission: Impossible (1996) 66%

The Last Samurai (2003) 66%

Jack Reacher (2012) 64%

Interview With the Vampire (1994) 63%

All the Right Moves (1983) 61%

Valkyrie (2008) 62%

Top Gun (1986) 57%

Mission: Impossible II (2000) 56%

Oblivion (2013) 54%

Knight and Day (2010) 52%

Far and Away (1992) 50%

Vanilla Sky (2001) 43%

Rock of Ages (2012) 42%

Legend (1985) 41%

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) 38%

Days of Thunder (1990) 38%

Lions for Lambs (2007) 27%

Losin' It (1982) 18%

The Mummy (2017) 15%

Cocktail (1988) 9%

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Tom Cruise is one of our greatest living movie stars, plain and simple. While the term “movie star” is used less and less in today’s Hollywood landscape, Cruise remains a tremendous entertainer, a larger-than-life performer—an icon of the silver screen, truly. His persona transcends celebrity, and over the last nearly four decades he has delivered memorable performance after memorable performance, proving adept at traversing a variety of genres—some with more success than others. From the boyish 80s protagonist to classic leading man to action hero, Cruise’s film career is the epitome of success, and it’s a testament to his talent that he can be taken just as seriously in a dark, complex drama from an auteur filmmaker as he can in a major blockbuster franchise.

And while PR troubles led to a sharp left turn into exclusively blockbuster-type material in the mid-2000s, Cruise remains a reliable source of entertainment. Audiences can rest assured that when they see a Tom Cruise movie, the actor is leaving nothing on the table. This is the guy who literally hung off the tallest building in the world for our entertainment. It’s this focus on pleasing audiences that exemplifies Cruise’s status as “movie star,” but it’s the actor’s talent, ambition, and willingness to venture into uncertain territory that makes him our greatest living movie star.

As such, it felt appropriate to dive back into Cruise’s entire filmography, take a closer look at his entire body of work from Taps to Top Gun: Maverick , and rank every single film from worst to best. While at first, this seemed like a simple enough task, as I dove deeper into the actor’s oeuvre, I came to realize that Cruise has made more genuinely good movies than not. It’s one thing to have the kind of longevity that Cruise has enjoyed, but the actor’s filmography is consistently solid—even most of the “bad” Tom Cruise films have some sort of redeeming quality.

A couple of notes before we begin: this is a ranking of Tom Cruise films , not performances. As such, the order I’ve laid out here has to do with the film as a whole, not just Cruise’s performance in it. Additionally, I didn’t include 1983’s Losin’ It due to lack of availability, and also left off 1981’s Endless Love given Cruise’s lack of substantial screentime.

RELATED: To See or Not to See: ‘Minority Report’ on Surveillance and Data Collection

So, without further ado, I present to you every Tom Cruise movie ranked from worst to best.

41. Lions for Lambs

This 2007 Robert Redford drama came on the heels of Cruise’s PR issues, and at first glance was seen as a potential comeback for the actor, but in the end would mark Cruise’s final foray into straight drama territory. Whether that was a consequence of Cruise’s perceived image issues or the film’s quality is unclear, but Lions for Lambs is the worst film on the actor’s resume. It’s the equivalent of a political Facebook meme come to life—a pedantic, hollow “morality play” that goes nowhere and is so ineloquent with the handling of its subject matter that if you’re a self-professed liberal, it may have you questioning your political beliefs.

Cruise is fine as a conservative senator trying to sell a new military endeavor in Afghanistan, and the role had promise as Cruise has rarely tackled something so blatantly political, but Redford mishandles the whole thing, with a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan that reads like liberal fan-fiction. The ideas in the film aren’t wrong, but they’re spun with such smugness and lack of interest in telling some semblance of a story that they come off as groan-worthy. If you can watch this movie without rolling your eyes, you deserve a medal.

It’s no coincidence that Tom Cruise has yet to make even the slightest of forays into the fantasy genre since his lead role in Ridley Scott ’s original dark fantasy adventure Legend . The movie is, frankly, quite bad, with a meandering plotline and thin character motivations, all of which is underscored by a distractingly incongruous synth-heavy score by Tangerine Dream . The only good thing about Legend is the tremendously impressive makeup effects, which transform Tim Curry into a downright unrecognizable Lord of Darkness. As for Cruise, he’s clearly uncomfortable in the lead role, given little to work with from William Hjortsberg ’s script, and his first attempt to make the jump from promising leading man to blockbuster lead was an unsuccessful one—although he recovered quite nicely the same year with a little movie called Top Gun .

Taps is a competently made film about a bunch of dummies. When the entire premise hinges on a group of military academy kids who take over the school at gunpoint in order to prevent its closing, it’s hard to root for the “heroes.” Their whole plan is what we call flawed logic, and despite the fact that the characters come to realize their mistake as the film wears on, Taps spends far too much time heralding their “honor” and sense of duty. As for Cruise, this was his first major role in a feature film, and it’s kind of funny to see him playing the testosterone-fueled, dickish supporting character. It’s a personality type that he would toy with a couple other times in his career, but never with as much purity as Cadet Captain David Shawn.

38. Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages is a film in which Tom Cruise sings into Malin Akerman ’s butt, and yet, somehow Cruise remains pretty much the only good thing about Adam Shankman ’s musical adaptation. I suppose it shouldn’t be so much of a surprise given Cruise’s commitment to each and every role, but his consistently delightful performance as Stacee Jaxx is kind of incredible. The rest of the film…well, this is still a movie in which Tom Cruise sings into Malin Akerman’s butt. Shankman’s staging of the musical sequences is surprisingly lackluster, and the overabundance of autotune distracts from what should be a fun jukebox shuffle. The story is downright silly, and Rock of Ages as a whole stands as proof positive that not every musical is ripe for the feature film treatment.

37. The Mummy

The Mummy is one of the biggest wastes of Tom Cruise’s talent in recent memory. His Nick Morton character is wholly devoid of any engaging or unique character traits, and instead we get a blank slate protagonist who simply reacts to plot points and moves the story forward with no grace or agency. His motivations are murky, the audience is given no reason to root for him, and there’s a romantic twist that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t work at all. Morton is wholly devoid of the charisma, complexity, or darkness that makes Cruise’s action heroes so compelling, but it’s kind of in keeping with the blandness of the entire movie.

The Mummy wants to be funny and scary and adventurous, but only by going through the motions of comedies, horror movies, and adventure epics without any original ideas of its own. Even when Russell Crowe enters the film as Dr. Jekyll, what should be an exciting new twist on a classic monster has instead been turned into an exposition machine with few unique characteristics. The promise was there in developing a new twist on a classic Universal Monster with the starpower of Tom Cruise, but unfortunately The Mummy falls short in almost every capacity. A complete disappointment.

36. Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II is the only bad Mission: Impossible movie. Cruise was understandably eager to jump back into franchise mode after a series of intense dramatic roles in the late 1990s, but this action sequel is mostly a pointless chore of a film as director John Woo never comes close to crafting anything resembling a thrilling sequence—action or no—throughout the entire movie’s runtime. Add in the fact that the purpose of Thandie Newton ’s character is to literally distract the villain by having sex with him, and the whole movie really falls apart from the word “go.” Luckily, Cruise would recover with subsequent installments in the Mission: Impossible franchise, and while M:I II would eventually prove to be a necessary growing pain to allow for the evolution of this particular film series, it's still a bit of a rough watch.

35. Oblivion

Director Joseph Kosinski ’s 2013 sci-fi drama Oblivion is an absolutely gorgeous and incredibly boring spectacle. While Cruise characteristically gives this thing his all, the various “twists” are predictable and poorly executed, and the emotionally detached quality of Kosinski’s direction makes what should be a sweeping sci-fi drama a dull and overlong chore. Claudio Miranda ’s cinematography is certainly striking, and M83 ’s original score is epic in its scope, but the film just kind of rolls along like a very pretty, very hollow music video, and not even Cruise’s charisma can inject something resembling a pulse into this massively disappointing sci-fi pic.

34. Cocktail

The first 30 minutes or so of Cocktail are actually pretty good. The film has a breezy charm that’s typical of so many other 80s Hollywood films, and seeing Cruise begin his career as a bartender is pretty fun. But then the movie gets downright silly and continues to become even sillier as it goes along. This is a profoundly dumb movie in which not a lot really happens, and Cruise’s Brian Flanagan is interested in one thing and one thing only: Brian Flanagan. Indeed, the central driving force behind the story is the aim of making money, although this throughline makes sense within the context of the late 80s/early 90s yuppie culture.

Cruise’s performance is pitched a tad too high here, with his excitement more off-putting than infectious. But you can see shades of the natural charisma and charm that would be further honed in subsequent films, and Cruise’s range was on full display in 1988 as it was the year both Cocktail and Rain Man hit theaters.

33. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

I’m not mad at you, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back . I’m just disappointed. The first Jack Reacher was a surprisingly rich, thrilling, and artful twist on the action hero formula with Cruise delivering a dark and confident turn as the lead character. The sequel, however, feels like what should have been the story for Jack Reacher 3 or 4 , as it introduces a potential daughter into the mix that throws Jack Reacher’s life for a loop. We really could’ve used more time fleshing out the Reacher character first before introducing this “blast from the past” element, and in the hands of director Edward Zwick it mostly falls flat.

The story isn’t near as compelling as the first film, and the action lacks a certain oomph that director Christopher McQuarrie brought to the original (he passed on directing the sequel as he was busy with another Cruise vehicle, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ). The film isn’t entirely devoid of merit: Cobie Smulders makes a strong case for leading an action franchise of her own, and Cruise delivers another solid performance. It’s just a disappointing step down in quality from the pleasant surprise of the first film.

32. Valkyrie

Valkyrie is one of the most curious entries in Cruise’s resume. On paper, this thing should’ve been terrific, with Bryan Singer helming a World War II dramatic thriller starring Tom Cruise, written by Christopher McQuarrie . But in execution, the story of the failed plot to assassinate Hitler fails to ever really take off. It’s a fascinating film in that it’s tough to really pin down exactly why it doesn’t work, but a big contributing factor is the simple fact that everyone watching knows exactly how this thing’s gonna end, so it’s tough to muster enthusiasm or root for this group of individuals whose plan is doomed for failure. Cruise is fine in the role of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the supporting cast is fine in capturing the inner workings of the Nazi army, and Singer is fine at stitching the whole story together. But in the end there’s little to write home about, and nothing that really makes the film stand out as anything more than a curious—but forgettable—oddity.

31. Days of Thunder

While the prospect of a reteaming of Tom Cruise and his Top Gun director Tony Scott for a film about NASCAR was incredibly promising, the end result left much to be desired. For everything Top Gun got right, Days of Thunder got wrong. There’s an engaging movie in there somewhere, but the end result is all flash and no substance, with none of the heart that made Top Gun so endearing. While the rapport between Cruise and Robert Duvall is interesting enough, it can only go so far, and at heart Days of Thunder is a film that’s running on fumes.

30. The Color of Money

A controversial ranking I'm sure, but what a disappointing film. Martin Scorsese working with Cruise and Paul Newman should’ve been reason to celebrate, but The Color of Money —a follow-up to the Newman vehicle The Hustler —is shockingly rote and by-the-numbers, marking one of the most disappointing films on Scorsese’s resume. The film came out in 1986, the same year as Top Gun , and it’s fascinating to compare Cruise’s over-excited and boyish performance here with the assured confidence and complexity with which he tackled Top Gun . Sure the hotshot character of Vince is meant to be more adolescent in nature, but Cruise and Scorsese overshoot and result in something that’s more akin to an annoying kid brother than a likable protagonist. The Color of Money just kinda sits there, not terrible but not great, wholly unremarkable and, frankly, boring.

29. All the Right Moves

It’s kind of surprising that Cruise managed to avoid so many cliché-filled 80s movies given that he was such a hot item throughout the decade, but 1983’s All the Right Moves really stands as unique in that regard. Director Michael Chapman ’s story of a hot-headed football player in a Pennsylvania town who wants nothing more than to go to college and escape a future working at the local plant is cliché-filled to the max, but Cruise manages to keep things somewhat interesting by bringing a curious intensity to the role, while Lea Thompson ’s girlfriend character almost manages to manifest into something resembling a real person. In the end, the story goes exactly where you think it’s going to go, and there’s not much else to make it worthwhile. It’s a minor entry on Cruise’s resume and his most forgettable film from the 80s, but it’s not out-and-out bad per se. Just incredibly familiar.

28. Tropic Thunder

Throughout the 2000s, Cruise had firmly left the comedic days of his early career behind. But following some bad PR and a couple of films that didn’t really work, the actor made one of his more ambitious leaps in filling the role of studio executive Les Grossman in Ben Stiller ’s satirical comedy Tropic Thunder . The result is a somewhat shocking and altogether hilarious turn from Cruise, who’s nearly unrecognizable in the part. It’s not a terribly substantial role so I considered leaving Tropic Thunder off this list altogether, but the film did mark the beginning of a career turnaround for Cruise, and thus stands as an important landmark on the trajectory of his film career.

The movie itself is a no-holds-barred skewering of self-important actors and the gluttony of Hollywood, and while it’s certainly a very funny comedy, the film ends up becoming the exact thing it’s making fun of, as Stiller tries to have his cake and eat it too by crafting his own bloated war epic that drones on for too long and loses sight of its central thrust along the way. And yet, it’s still really funny, and Cruise caps the whole thing off like a cherry on top of a sundae as Les Grossman’s grotesque dancing plays over the closing credits.

27. The Firm

In the late 80s/early 90s, Cruise nearly became pigeonholed as the sort of typical yuppie American businessman, and perhaps his most rote film of this time period was the 1993 John Grisham adaptation The Firm . While director Sydney Pollack ’s handle on the Wicker Man -esque tome is quite confident and the story is compelling to a point, the film is a bit too long and attempts to cover too much ground. A longform approach would have better suited this particular source material, and it’s no surprise that a TV series adaptation was attempted a few years ago. Cruise is fine though, his rapport with Gene Hackman is certainly the bright spot of the film, and the story is constantly engaging. But it’s a movie that starts to fade almost immediately after the credits roll. It’s the film equivalent of an airplane read—satisfying and disposable.

26. American Made

Post- Valkyrie , Cruise made a concerted effort to shy away from more dramatic material and focus on offering up the very best pieces of entertainment possible. This gave us great films like the Mission: Impossible sequels and Jack Reacher , but the lack of complexity in Cruise’s roles has been sorely missing. American Made is the closest Cruise has come to a "morally conflicted" lead since Collateral , and I don’t know if it’s the refreshing change of pace or Doug Liman ’s visceral filmmaking, but this thing works. Cruise brings a needed amount of charisma to the role of Barry Seal, a dude who does some very bad stuff; but he also completely delivers as Barry’s life spirals out of control.

The film still fits into Cruise’s “entertainment” mode as it’s a tremendously exciting movie, but it’s not as action-heavy as Cruise’s other recent films, and that gives the actor a chance to showcase his range far better than in something like The Mummy . While the film probably could have stood to embrace the darkness even more, as it stands it’s an exciting and refreshingly different kind of movie, at least for the present day Tom Cruise persona.

25. Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky is a weird movie, but I’m not altogether sure it’s a great one. Writer/director Cameron Crowe ’s ambition is admirable, as the film still stands as his biggest departure to date and sees him firmly tackling psychological thriller territory. But in the category of Tom Cruise movies that hinge on trippy dream sequences and leave much open to interpretation, it lags behind Stanley Kubrick ’s Eyes Wide Shut .

And yet, there’s a certain charm to Vanilla Sky and Cruise’s unhinged performance that make it quite watchable, even if Crowe himself seems to be unsure of what, exactly, is really going on. The soundtrack is unsurprisingly on point, and Cameron Diaz proves to be a solid foil for Cruise in their first of two onscreen pairings. While it far from sticks the landing, there’s a certain moxie to Vanilla Sky that makes it charming in its own unique way.

24. The Outsiders

Director Francis Ford Coppola ’s 1983 adaptation of The Outsiders famously had every hot young actor in Hollywood angling for a role, and indeed the ensemble (mostly) reads like a who’s who of future megastars. Cruise is among them, and while Steve Randle is a minor character in the scheme of the ensemble, Cruise does enough here to show that he’s in this thing called “showbiz” for the long haul. As for the film itself, it’s a terrific spin on the coming-of-age genre with a West Side Story twist, and the gaggle of youngsters leading the cast do a tremendous job of capturing life as a hot-headed adolescent in the 1960s. Moreover, Coppola’s willingness to cover the darker aspects of the novel elevates the film to a thematically rich and relevant watch. Stay gold, Ponyboy.

23. The Last Samurai

While the combination of the film’s title and the giant image of Tom Cruise on the poster rubbed many the wrong way, The Last Samurai is actually a surprisingly thoughtful and sensitive historical epic. Director Edward Zwick ’s handling of this post-Civil War Japan-set story is deft, resulting in something akin to Dances with Wolves albeit with even more heart. And Cruise is pretty terrific as a regretful, alcoholic solider who finds himself immersed in the world of the samurai—a dying breed. Ultimately The Last Samurai is a story of redemption, and while Zwick’s reverence for the subject matter sometimes starts to smother the film (the pacing is somewhat uneven), it’s ultimately a refreshingly unique spin on a genre that ruled the 90s. If anything, The Last Samurai is notable for being the only historical epic on Cruise’s resume.

22. Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is the kind of film that looks like a movie you’ve seen a million times before, and in many ways is exactly the movie you were expecting, but is executed so perfectly that it transcends familiarity to become something altogether special. Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie spins one hell of a yarn in this Lee Child adaptation, and if casting Cruise as Reacher was genius decision number one, then setting Werner Herzog as the emotionless villain was a close second.

Cruise’s approach here is so sure-footed and confident that you buy every single move Reacher makes, but this role diverges from many of Cruise’s other action hero leads in that Reacher is not overly joyful. You can feel his annoyance every time someone underestimates him or puts another life in danger, and it’s that facet of the character that makes him so watchable and, ultimately, a memorable Tom Cruise role. The performer eschews his natural charm and boyish excitability in favor of a much dryer tone, and it suits him well. While the story is, again, nothing you haven’t seen before, thanks to skillful execution and a unique turn for Cruise, Jack Reacher is one of Cruise’s most watchable films.

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Top Gun: Maverick Wasting One Actor Is Made Worse By This New TV Show With 83% On Rotten Tomatoes

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Tom Cruise brings box-office-worthy performances to every movie he stars in, including the recent multiplex smash-hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick , released May 27, 2022. He is, however, a sometimes-derided actor and is often typecast as a one-size-fits-all-action hero.

Cruise's almost cosmic draw for cinema-going audiences is one of the more undeniable facts of life. But many of his performances do not get the credit they rightly deserve, according to many Redditors, and in light of his most recent foray into the action genre, some of his more dynamic performances are being discussed in detail once again.

Magnolia (1999)

Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling magnum-opus, Magnolia, is memorable for countless reasons, not least the performances of its ensemble cast. The pick of the bunch of these performances, though, came from Tom Cruise, whose portrayal as the tortured lifestyle guru Franck T.J Mackey is one of the all-time greats of cinema.

Related: 10 Things Redditors Admire About Paul Thomas Anderson's Filmmaking

Reddit users believe that Cruise's performance, despite being rightly praised by critics, deserved more recognition from Academy voters when it came to the Oscars season, as he missed out on claiming a Best Actor award for the role. Reddit user bartos33863 , for example, laments that Cruise was "just outstanding. And his snub was outrageous."

Interview With The Vampire (1994)

Neil Jordan's adaptation of Interview With The Vampire , based on the book by Anne Rice , showcased some of the best actors in the business. Tom Cruise's demonic portrayal of the evil Lestat was a masterful performance from an actor more used to playing the hero of the piece.

In the film, Cruise starred alongside Brad Pitt, and there is much debate on Reddit as to who is the real star of the film. Reddit user coco9unzain believes that it is Cruise, not Pitt, who should be given more credit in discussions about the film, saying "Tom Cruise outshined Brad completely in Interview With The Vampire ."

Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Oliver Stone's Born On The Fourth Of July presented Cruise with an opportunity to flex his acting chops in a way that was uncharacteristic of an actor usually suited to action films. Cruise's sensitive portrayal of a soldier paralyzed after serving in Vietnam was the nuanced anchor of a film that sought to expose the horrors and trauma of war well after the fact.

Far from being an underrated actor, several Reddit users in fact believe Tom Cruise to be overrated . The quality of his performance in Oliver Stone's anti-war masterpiece is scarcely up for debate though, with Reddit user jakeupnorth saying, "really underrated performance for how overrated Tom Cruise is."

Collateral (2004)

Michael Mann's iconic thriller Collateral , once again, presented Cruise with an opportunity to play a character that did not fit with the typecast image of a chiseled hero. In the movie, Cruise plays an assassin who, after accepting a cab ride from Jamie Foxx's Max, manipulates the hapless protagonist into embroiling himself in Vincent's maniacal plot.

Redditors are largely in awe of Cruise's performance in the film and cite it as one of, if not his best, performances on screen, and think it should get more recognition. Reddit user derubino remarks that "I thought his acting was absolutely amazing. He tends to play a similar guy in many of his movies, but Collateral was completely different."

Valkyrie (2008)

Bryan Singer's 2008 Second World War thriller, Valkyrie, is one of Cruise's lesser-known films and it showcases his versatility in playing a flawed anti-hero. Singer's movie was a tense portrayal of the events which nearly saw the assassination of Adolf Hitler led by rogue German officers and is anchored by a terrific performance from Cruise.

Related: 10 Best World War 2 Movies Ranked According To IMDb

Redditors cite Singer's movie as one of Cruise's more profound yet understated performances and were pleasantly surprised by the depth that Cruise's character displayed on screen in the film. Reddit user The_Stability says, "I thought he was really good in Valkyrie . Although I had really low expectations for that film."

War Of The Worlds (2005)

Fan reaction to Steven Spielberg's controversial adaptation of the popular science fiction story, War Of The Worlds , has been mixed, to say the least. That is not to say that it does not have its admirers, and what many would consider an underrated film has a very underrated performance at its center, from Tom Cruise.

War Of The Worlds has its detractors in the Reddit community, but Cruise's performance is often referenced as one of its more admirable qualities. Reddit user TimesThreeTheHighest argues that despite what people think of the film as a whole, Cruise's turn needs appreciation, saying, "his performance in War Of The Worlds is very underrated."

Days Of Thunder (1990)

Cruise is both derided and appreciated for his roles in iconic retro action films, and Redditors have often made light of his work in these kinds of movies. But as the recent revival of Top Gun: Maverick shows, there is still plenty of clamor for retro franchise reboots, and no one would discount Days Of Thunder getting another crack at the box office in the 21st century.

Redditors rank Cruise's performance in Days Of Thunder alongside some of his best, and one Reddit user puts it in the same category as his more appreciated roles in Minority Report and of course, Top Gun, saying, " Days Of Thunder (very underrated, IMO."

Knight And Day (2010)

Tom Cruise is an actor who at times can take himself very seriously, but James Mangold's Knight And Day was not one of those times. The action-comedy crime caper was almost universally ridiculed by critics upon its release and many Redditors are in agreement that it was not Cruise's finest moment on the silver screen.

Related: 15 Best Action-Comedies That Blend The Genres Perfectly

The film is, however, somewhat of a guilty pleasure for some, including Reddit user Scary_The_Clown , who says, "I don't get why people don't like this movie, especially if they're Cruise fans - it's just a perfect Cruise vehicle and nothing more." According to some, Knight And Day is overdue for some credit.

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

The Mission: Impossible saga is potentially Cruise's most famous and globally recognized franchise but the second installment is widely regarded as being the most flawed of all the movies. But despite its critical detractors, there is no doubting Cruise's ability to give it his all, and more, in the movie.

Like Top Gun, Mission: Impossible 2 has many memorable scenes and some Redditors believe it is an underrated gem in Cruise's distinguished canon. Reddit user briskt is quick to defend the movie and Cruise's performance, saying, "I think I'm the only person who really loved MI2 ."

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

Penned by long-time Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, Edge Of Tomorrow was vintage Tom Cruise action fare in all its over-the-top glory. The movie may not have been a critical hit, but it was a success with fans of Cruise who appreciate his acting gifts despite the over-abundance of action set pieces in the film.

Reddit is largely appreciative of Cruise's efforts in Edge of Tomorrow, with Reddit user DrewDan96 particularly complimentary of his performance, saying, "The Rock is maybe the biggest action star right now in terms of film gross, but I don't think The Rock could have pulled off what Tom Cruise did in that movie from an acting perspective."

Next: 10 Movies With The Best Aerial Dogfight Scenes According To Reddit

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Tom Cruise Movies List

Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt in Endless Love (1981)

1. Endless Love

3. The Outsiders

4. Losin' It

5. All the Right Moves

Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay in Risky Business (1983)

6. Risky Business

9. The Color of Money

10. Cocktail

Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1988)

11. Rain Man

Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

12. Born on the Fourth of July

13. Days of Thunder

Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)

14. A Few Good Men

15. The Firm

Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

16. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

17. Mission: Impossible

18. Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

19. Eyes Wide Shut

Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, Jason Robards, and Jeremy Blackman in Magnolia (1999)

20. Magnolia

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II (2000)

21. Mission: Impossible II

Stanley Kubrick in Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)

22. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

23. Vanilla Sky

24. Space Station 3D

25. Minority Report

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This compelling argument has convinced us Tom Cruise's most underrated movie may be one of his best

It’s hard to argue with this logic

Tom Cruise has a pretty illustrious filmography, featuring everything from blockbuster hits like Top Gun: Maverick to cult classics like Risky Business. However, now a Redditor has been making an argument that an underrated feature is potentially one of Cruise’s best – and we’ve got to admit, it's pretty compelling reasoning.

The movie in question: the 2010 action rom-com Knight and Day . Yes, really. Starring Cruise opposite Cameron Diaz, the satire directed by James Mangold may have received mixed reviews, but it’s beloved by many. It follows Diaz as a classic car restorer who gets caught up with Cruise’s secret agent when he’s on the run from the CIA.

In a new post defending the movie, Reddit user Mavajo argues that a perfect satire of Cruise’s career, it was just badly mismarketed. "Basically, it's two hours of Tom Cruise making fun of his career," they begin , "and shit... he managed to still make a funny and entertaining movie, with a little charm and quirk even?"

In particular, they praised the absurdity of the film, arguing (although we’re not as sold on this bit) that "the movie actually ends up having more interesting personality than any of his last five Mission Impossible movies."

For the Redditor, the crux of the issue – and why it didn’t hit with all reviewers early on – is down to bad marketing. "They shoulda played the ‘Tom Cruise mocks Tom Cruise’ angle for the movie. It came out less than two years after his cameo appearance in Tropic Thunder and could have benefitted from that momentum (he only did Valkyrie between Tropic Thunder and Knight & Day)," Navajo continued. "It's Tom Cruise – but it's new, it's different."

As we said before, it’s a good point. A lot of the marketing for the film was around the romance between the two leads, but actually where it really excels is being a funny and fresh take on the action genre. Perhaps if it leaned more into this, the Rotten Tomatoes score may have been slightly higher.

It certainly seems that the OP is not alone, either as plenty of others shared their thoughts too. "This movie was so much fun," one replied . "Tom Cruise doesn't do a lot of movies where he's just having fun. I mean, he still makes movies that are fun (the Mission Impossible movies, for example), but the character he plays is usually very serious."

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"I showed this to a mixed audience of pre and early-teen children (boys and girls) and their parents and everyone enjoyed it – that is really impressive," shared another . "I really like that it is told from Diaz's perspective and the soundtrack, direction, and cinematography are top-notch. Truly underestimated."

Although, some weren’t quite as convinced of the argument. "Let's hold back on the hyperbole there. Knight and Day is passable, but the Mission Impossible movies have been fantastic," argued another user . Still, maybe it’s time for a rethink of Cruise's filmography.

Also check out our ranking of the best Mission: Impossible movies .

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

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‘mission: impossible — dead reckoning part one’ review: tom cruise amps up the electrifying action but story is strictly secondary.

Hayley Atwell joins returning cast Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby in Christopher McQuarrie’s high-octane opening salvo of the two-part Ethan Hunt thriller.

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Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

It says a lot about Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One , the first chapter in the $3.5 billion franchise’s two-part seventh installment, that detailed footage of one of the film’s most spectacular stunts was released in full online last December. The extended clip showcased the meticulous planning and execution of a sequence in which Tom Cruise as superspy Ethan Hunt drives a motorcycle off a cliff and plunges 4,000 feet into a ravine, separating from the bike and BASE jumping the final 500 feet to the ground.

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Tom Cruise: Filmography 1981-2018
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COMMENTS

Tom Cruise has an incredibly strong and consistent filmography ...
While just looking through Tom Cruise's filmography I was surprised that for someone with 49 acting credits who has been acting nonstop since 1981 he has a very strong record with multiple classics and nothing too terrible or that bombed too hard. Obviously he is still a massive movie star (which is equally impressive to still be such a huge name after all these years) and everone knows he ...
Almost through Tom Cruise's filmography, anyone have ...
I'm a big fan of his 'Mission: Impossible' work but his two best favorites of mine would be 'Collateral' and 'Eyes Wide Shut.'. Love collateral, eyes wide shut I need to rewatch, Yk how Kubrick is. Eyes Wide Shut, Collateral, Risky Business, American Made. Edge of Tomorrow is uncontested for me.
What are your top Tom Cruise movies? : r/movies
Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Collateral, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Valkyrie, War of the Worlds, Risky Business, Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Born on the Fourth of July, and Legend . I also like his minor work in The Outsiders and Tropic Thunder .
Tom Cruise filmography
Tom Cruise filmography. Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama Endless Love. [1] [2] Two years later, he made his breakthrough by starring in the romantic comedy Risky Business (1983), [3] [4] which garnered his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ...
Tom Cruise Filmography
Tom Cruise Filmography. 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.
Tom Cruise Filmography
1983 1h 31m PG. 7.0 (99K) Rate. 45 Metascore. 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. Steve Randle.
Every Tom Cruise Movie Ranked From Worst To Best
With the long-awaited Top Gun sequel on the horizon and production on the next two Mission Impossible films well underway, now seems a good time to take a deep breath before the next wave of ...
Every Tom Cruise Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best
12. Metascore Overwhelming dislike. Photo by Touchstone Home Entertainment. A film that earned Tom Cruise a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor, Cocktail was largely panned by critics but was a financial success at the box office. Cruise stars as a New York City bartender who takes his impressive skills to a Jamaican bar and falls ...
44 Best Tom Cruise Movies of All Time, Ranked
In 1981, Tom Cruise, who may be the last real movie star, made his first on-screen appearance shirtless, wearing a pair of cut-off shorts. Since then, he's led an illustrious career, remaining one ...
Tom Cruise Movies Ranked
A Few Good Men (1992)84%. #14. Critics Consensus: An old-fashioned courtroom drama with a contemporary edge, A Few Good Men succeeds on the strength of its stars, with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and especially Jack Nicholson delivering powerful performances that more than compensate for the predictable plot.
Best Tom Cruise Movies
The best way I can explain my view on Tom Cruise movies is that if you got a bunch of aliens together and told them about humans, and then gave them all skin suits and said "make a movie", Tom Cruise movies is what they'd create. EDIT: Revising my take, all Tom Cruise moves made post-1990, I liked Rain Man and Outsiders.
Tom Cruise Movies Ranked Worst to Best
Critic's Picks: Tom Cruise's Performances, Ranked Worst to Best. With 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' hitting theaters this weekend, a THR film critic ranks the star's work from the cringe ...
Tom Cruise Movies Ranked from Worst to Best
Stay gold, Ponyboy. 23. The Last Samurai. While the combination of the film's title and the giant image of Tom Cruise on the poster rubbed many the wrong way, The Last Samurai is actually a ...
Tom Cruise's 10 Most Underrated Performances, According To Reddit
In the film, Cruise starred alongside Brad Pitt, and there is much debate on Reddit as to who is the real star of the film. Reddit user coco9unzain believes that it is Cruise, not Pitt, who should be given more credit in discussions about the film, saying "Tom Cruise outshined Brad completely in Interview With The Vampire."
Tom Cruise Movies List
4. Losin' It. 1982 1h 40m R. 4.9 (5.3K) Rate. 51 Metascore. Set in 1965, four rowdy teenage guys travel to Tijuana, Mexico for a night of partying when they are joined by a heartbroken housewife who is in town seeking a quick divorce. Director Curtis Hanson Stars Tom Cruise Jackie Earle Haley John Stockwell.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise. Highest Rated: Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) Lowest Rated: Cocktail (1988) Birthday: Jul 3, 1962. Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA. Tom Cruise rose quickly to become one of ...
Some other good Tom Cruise movies? : r/Mission_Impossible
Some of his other great action movies are Edge of Tomorrow, Collateral, War of the Worlds (2004), Last Samurai, American Made, Oblivion and Minority report. Day and Knight is a spy romcom, very silly and almost like a parody film of Mission Impossible. Not the best movie in the world, but fun to watch with a few friends.
'Top Gun: Maverick' Ties as the All-Time Best Reviewed Tom Cruise Film
From Paramount and Skydance, the pic ranks as the best-reviewed movie of Tom Cruise 's prolific career, alongside the most recent installment in the Mission: Impossible series. The movie ...
Tom Cruise Best Movies Ranked Worst to Best
Tom Cruise is a cinematic juggernaut. Since making his debut with a minor role in 1981's Endless Love, the actor and producer has made billions at the box office playing super spies, jet pilots ...
Tom Cruise's Best Films : r/movies
Unpopular opinion (at least among my friends and family): Tom Cruise is better in Rain Man than Dustin Hoffman. I love Hoffman's performance, don't get me wrong, but it's one note. It's an expertly done one note, but Cruise is the one whose character progressively changes from snobby dick to make you believe he truly does love his brother.
Is Tom Cruise's most underrated movie actually one of his best?
Tom Cruise has a pretty illustrious filmography, featuring everything from blockbuster hits like Top Gun: Maverick to cult classics like Risky Business. However, now a Redditor has been making an ...
Tom Cruise's filmography : r/moviescirclejerk
I was watching Collateral for the first time the other day. The whole time I was thinking 'Wow this is such a different role for Tom Cruise, he's like a villain and everything'. Then at like 2 hours and 40 minutes, Jamie Foxx's character gets on the metro and Tom starts running after him and I spit out my drink because it was literally this meme.
'Mission: Impossible
It says a lot about Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, the first chapter in the $3.5 billion franchise's two-part seventh installment, that detailed footage of one of the film's ...
Tom Cruise : r/reacher
Actually, cruise made him way too socially like oh Social Casanova that's not who reacher was at all. Actually Alan Richardson played him perfectly because that's how he was so he wouldn't go to a bar and just start talking to strangers and picking a girl up because he would struggle with that, Tom Cruise made him like his mission, impossible character where he would go into a bar and ...