Anyone who gets lost with the numbering of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ films can communicate which one they are referring to in conversation by referring to it as “the one from (insert setpiece description)”. At the moment, the first part of ‘Death Judgment’, is “Tom Cruise jumping off a cliff on a motorcycle”, which is pretty amazing in itself.
Take a weight off of one’s shoulders
During an interview with Empire magazine, director Christopher McQuarrie explained that the stunt in question was the first thing that was shot as soon as production started. Why was this decision made? For the filmmaker, it was a matter halfway between the narrative and the philosophical.
“By doing it on the first day, we had all the time in the world to understand why he [Ethan] he was doing what he was doing. If we were to sit around trying to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you would never do it, simply because they are living, breathing things.”
For Tom Cruise, the decision to start filming by risking the guy had a much more pragmatic and earthly reasoning. The accident that he suffered during the filming of ‘Fallout’ and that forced to stop filming after shattering an ankle resulted in millions in losses until the machinery could be put back into operation.
A failed stunt resulting in injury or, worst case scenario, death, could be catastrophic. Getting it out of the way right out of the gate not only helps keep investors calm, but also helps keep your head straight for the rest of the production. This was explained by Cruise himself in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“We’ll know if we’re going to go ahead with the movie or not. Let’s know on the first day! I was training and I was ready. You have to be very clear-headed when you do something like that. As we were preparing, it was very important that we do it first. I don’t want to leave it and shoot other things while my head is somewhere else. We were all ready. Let’s do it.”
‘Mission: Impossible – Deadly Judgment. Part One’ will arrive in our cinemas next 12th of July.
In Espinof | Why ‘Mission: Impossible’ is the best action saga of recent times