When it comes to death-defying stunts, Mission: Impossible has built its legacy on pushing the limits, and Tom Cruise seems determined to obliterate them. But in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, even director Christopher McQuarrie admits they may have gone too far.
In a recent interview with People, Cruise opened up about one of the film’s most harrowing sequences, which sees his character, Ethan Hunt, trapped in a submerged, tilting submarine wreckage. He explained:
“You’re not going to feel as connected with the character if I went with a regular mask and a thing in my mouth to breathe.
“Luckily when you’re flying jets you train for hypoxia and for carbon dioxide buildup. You start to be able to perceive your body and how it’s reacting so that I knew when to stop.”
Yes, that means no scuba gear. Just Cruise, underwater, breathing in his own recycled carbon dioxide because emotional realism, apparently, trumps basic survival gear.
The scene required the crew to build a full-scale submarine interior that could fill with water and rotate 360 degrees, essentially turning Cruise into a human sock inside a high-budget washing machine. The stunt was literally described as tumbling Cruise like a washing machine in People magazine.
So dangerous was the process, that even McQuarrie, who’s been with the franchise since Rogue Nation,had second thoughts in hindsight:
“If we knew what it took to do it, we would not have done it.”
The Final Reckoning marks the eighth entry in the franchise, and potentially its swan song. McQuarrie isn’t confirming anything, but he’s dropping heavy hints.
“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc. I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”
We’ll find out soon enough if Hunt’s final mission sticks the landing when Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters on May 21.
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