Who really compares to Tom Cruise? As far as modern movie stars go—no one touches him. Heck, I’m not even sure if anyone in the history of Hollywood quite compares to him.
A few days ago, I posted my list of the 10 Best Tom Cruise movies, and a lot of readers shared their own in the comments. So, we decided to run a poll asking readers what their favorite Tom Cruise movie is. It will be interesting to see what the results are like.
The Legendary “Golden Era” Run
I think for older readers, it’s more likely one of his golden era movies, such as anything from his legendary Top Gun to Mission: Impossible III run, that will get the nod. During this period, every single Cruise movie was a hit, usually both critically and financially, with perhaps only Ron Howard’s Far and Away being the only one that underperformed—although it wasn’t actually a flop, still making more than double its $60 million budget.
In that era he was unstoppable, with each of his movies being an event. What made Cruise so legendary was his commitment to quality and his passion for films. A good example is how Cruise, in the wake of Jerry Maguire, took two years away from Hollywood to make Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, with him present for pretty much every day of its notorious 400-day shooting schedule.
The Post-M:I III Era and the Ultimate Comeback
Arguably the golden period ended with Mission: Impossible III, when Cruise’s antics at the time led to a dip in his popularity, and some of his movies from this era, like Lions for Lambs, Valkyrie, and Knight and Day, underperformed drastically, although none were outright flops.
Yet, he came back with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and even if his movies afterwards didn’t always work, the commitment to quality was always there, and more often than not they worked. Perhaps 2017’s The Mummy was the only unmitigated disaster he was ever part of (although it still made over $400 million worldwide).
So what is Cruise’s best movie? Take the poll below and let us know!
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