Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher
Tom Cruise returns to the big screen this week as be takes on the title role in Jack Reacher as Lee Child’s novel One Shot is adapted.
Over the years Cruise has brought to life some great characters in a whole host of films from blockbusters to hard hitting dramas.
So to celebrate his return we take a look at some of his best movies over the years.
- Top Gun
It was back in 1986 that Top Gun hit the big screen but it was to be the movie that cemented Cruise as a superstar and Hollywood leading man.
He took on the role of Maverick in the Tony Scott directed film and it remains one of Cruise’s most loved roles after almost thirty years.
The movie charts Maverick’s journey training at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School as he questions himself and overcomes a devastating training accident.
Cruise gave an emotional, cocky and powerful central performance and the film went on to be a box office smash and has endured over the years.
Click here to buy Top Gun on DVD
- Rain Man
Cruise may have established himself as an action star but in 1988 he showed that he could deliver powerful drama as well as he teamed u with Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man.
Cruise took on the role of Charlie in the Barry Levinson directed movie who discovers he has a bother when his father leaves him his fortune in his will.
The movie follows these two brothers as they try to build a relationship with on another. Charlie learns to but his selfish ways behind him while struggling to cope with Raymond’s autistic savant syndrome.
Rain Man was an emotional and powerful movie that brought the best out of Cruise and Hoffman and they really shined together.
Click here to buy Rain Man on Blu-Ray
- A Few Good Men
He returned to drama in 1992 when he starred in the big screen adaptation of the play A Few Good Men - which was directed by Rob Reiner.
A Few Good Men remains one of the best courtroom dramas to grace the big screen as the movie follows the trial of two U.S. Marines who are charged with the murder of a fellow Marine.
Cruise takes on the role of Daniel Kaffee in the movie who is an inexperienced U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps lawyer who leads the defence in the court martial.
The movie was met well by the critics when it was released and was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture. Cruise was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his central performance.
Click here to buy A Few Good Men on DVD
- Jerry Maguire
Cruise switched drama for romantic comedy in 1996 as he teamed up with Renee Zellweger and Cuba Gooding Jr for Jerry Maguire.
Cruise took on the role of Jerry Maguire, a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent with the only athlete who stays with him.
The movie follows the fantastic relationship between Maguire and Rod Tiddwell, (Gooding Jr) with ‘show me the money’ being one of the best quotes in movie history.
The movie was a box office hit as it grossed in excess of $270 million at the global box office - comfortably making back its $50 million budget.
But with this movie Cruise showed that he could also excel in lighter projects as well as the hard hitting drama.
Click here to buy Jerry Maguire on DVD
- Mission: Impossible
He really cemented his action man status in 1996 when he took on the role of Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible for the very first time.
The movie was based on the television series of the same name and saw Brian De Palma in the director’s chair.
Mission: Impossible followed Hunt as he tried to track down a mole that was responsible for getting his IMF team killed and him framed for murder.
Mission: Impossible was a high octane ride that showed Cruise at his action hero best - not to mention it was a box office smash.
Since then he has gone on to star in three more movies and Mission: Impossible is one of the most successful franchises.
Click here to buy Mission: Impossible the Box Set DVD
- Collateral
In 2004 Cruise teamed up with Oscar winner Jamie Foxx to bring Collateral to the big screen - a movie that was directed by Michael Mann.
Cruise played a contract killer in the movie who is hired to kill four witnesses and a prosecutor in a big drugs case.
Cruise kidnaps taxi drive Max and forces him to drive him to all of the locations he needs to complete his mission.
There is a great relationship between Cruise and Foxx in the movie as Cruise gives a very restrained performance - which is regarded as one of this best.
Other Cruise movies that are not to be missed include Born on the Fourth of July, Days of Thunder, Magnolia and The Last Samurai.
Click here to buy Collateral on DVD
Jack Reacher is released 26th December
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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