He’s one of Hollywood’s greatest box office draws of all time.
A man whose film career now spans 40 years and features more than 40 roles – everything from Endless Love and Eyes Wide Shut to Taps and The Last Samurai – Thomas Cruise Mapother IV’s efforts earned him three Oscar nominations while earning more than US Yielded a $ 10 billion ticket. You go out.
As he prepares to celebrate his 60th birthday on July 3, Stuff to Watch has looked back on his career and come up with six of our favorite “Tom Cruise” movies – and where you can watch them this weekend in honor of his big milestone .
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Magnolia (1999, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube)
The pinnacle of the multi-narrative, ensemble movie. PT Anderson’s magnum opus not only showcases such diverse talents as Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H Macy and Jason Robards, but it also delivers scathing drama and a scene-stealing twist by Cruise as oily motivational speaker Frank TJ Mackey.
On top of that, it boasts a smelly soundtrack by Aimee Mann, culminating in a fourth-wall-crushing, breathtaking, heartbreaking series on her lamenting Wise Up.
Minority Report (2002, Prime Video)
Cruise plays Captain John Anderton, a specialist in PreCrime, the policing tool used in America in the mid-21st century to help prevent crime before it happens – through the use of psychologists – in this loose adaptation by Philip K. Dick ‘s 1956 short story of the same jam.
Steven Spielberg keeps the action going thick and fast, while also ensuring that the story remains captivating. Also remarkable for introducing audiences to the real potential of touchscreens.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018, Prime Video)
Starting with a wedding in the shadow of Miter Peak and ending with an exciting, extensive helicopter search through the Southern Alps, there is plenty for Kiwis to rejoice in the seemingly ageless actionman Cruise’s sixth mission.
Sure, the plot may be old hat, stolen from any number of 1990s action thrillers, but with so much double-crossing, mean deeds and breathtaking stunt work, you will hardly care as the almost two-and-a-half hours fly by.
Jerry Maguire (1996 Prime Video)
“You had me at hello.” Honestly, Cameron Crowe’s magnificent magnum opus, the best sports movie of the 1990s, Tom Cruise’s best two hours as an actor and one of the greatest rom-coms of that era’s wide range of genre classics, captured me a lot. much earlier than the memorable lounge set finale.
Much of his charm comes from Cruise’s chemistry with a winning-looking Renee Zellweger as the practical, intricate and somewhat tragically plagued widowed mother-of-one Dorothy Boyd.
Tropic Thunder (2008, Prime Video)
Right from the previous fake ad for Booty Sweat drink and three hilarious faux trailers, this is a relentless pastiche of the Hollywood dream factory.
In collaboration with Justin (cousin of Paul) Theroux and King of the Hill writer Etan Cohen, Ben Stiller’s screenplay, allegedly inspired by his experiences making Empire of the Sun, was packed into the cannons with a quick- fire stream of rough gags, deadpan lines and movie-making jokes.
The brilliant cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Steve Coogan. However, it is Cruise who steals the show (despite being on screen for a maximum of about 10 minutes) as the dirty-mouthed, take-no-prisoner studio manager Les Grossman.
The Color of Money (1986, Disney +)
The same year that Cruise took to the air in Top Gun, he also swung a different kind of stick in this late sequel to 1961’s The Hustler. He plays Vincent Lauria, a talented pool player who takes Paul Newman’s “Fast” Eddie Felson under his wing.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, Newman’s performance earned him an Oscar, but Cruise’s brought him an army of new admirers with his toiling and surprising depth and nuance.