top 10
10. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
IMDb rating: 7.4
The intelligent Harford family lives a measured life, where every day is predictable. Behind the visible illusion of happiness lies inner dissatisfaction and caustic doubts. One day Bill walks into a bar, where he notices an old friend. The meeting brings surprises: Bill learns the secret password to enter a closed event and the place where it is being held. Yielding to temptation, he goes to a well-known address. The coming night will change his outlook.
Director Stanley Kubrick died a few days after editing was completed. Some argue that the sudden death became an obstacle to further changes in the final vision of the completed work. Opposite opinion: the picture corresponds to the wishes of the creator.
Kubrick's categorical ban on translating original replicas became a kind of creative testament. The film is released overseas with subtitles.
Due to the abundance of explicit scenes, the film is banned for showing in Belarus. Assuming a similar reaction from a number of countries, the creators, even at the “gluing” stage, modified individual intimate shots on the computer in order to level out the provocation.
The performers of the basic roles signed a contract with an open date for the completion of filming. This meant: the work would last as long as Kubrick deemed necessary. As a result - 4 hundred shooting days.
The disagreements between the on-screen spouses mystically reflected in the real marriage of Kidman and Cruise, which led to the divorce of the star couple.
Cast: Sydney Pollack, Maria Richardson, Rade Sherbedzija, Todd Field, Vinessa Shaw.
9. Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
IMDb rating: 7.4
The organization, in which special unit agent Hunt served for many years, was liquidated as unnecessary. At this moment, the threat of international terrorism looms over the world. Militant groups operating across an extensive network are preparing criminal actions in different states. Ethan must prepare to carry out a new responsible assignment to preserve world order and prove that his work is vital.
Tom Cruise performed his own stunts, refusing the services of hired stuntmen, and as a result received 6 injuries.
In the shot where Cruise, grabbing the door of the fuselage of a taking off plane, rises into the air with the car, only special lenses were used to protect the actor’s eyes.
The main negative character was supposed to be played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin.
8. Accomplice (2004)
IMDb rating: 7.5
It all started in the evening, which should have turned out to be ordinary in the series of working days of the taxi driver. When a man with a briefcase got into the car, everything changed. Now the driver is forced to serve as a personal chauffeur for a hired killer, cruising around the city from one victim to the next “object”. In such a situation, you can get rid of the status of being involved in planned murders only by trying to disrupt the killer’s plans, save the people still living on his list and yourself.
Instead of Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe and Edward Norton could appear as a mercenary.
Director Michael Mann sought from Cruise the ability to be invisible in a crowd, which, according to the “helmsman,” was the main quality for a professional killer. To gain a similar property, Tom Cruise got a job as a courier at FedEx. No one recognized or remembered the delivery man; it was a success.
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Bruce McGill, Peter Berg.
7. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
IMDb rating: 7.6
A journalist, in search of sensational material, is approached by a mysterious man with a request to listen and record his life story. The nosy scribbler cannot even imagine who his counterpart turned out to be. The guest's story begins with a description of events that date back to the times of the slave system in America. A wealthy landowner loses his wife and small child. Being in despair, he wants to end his earthly existence, but a stranger shows him the edges of another world. Now these two are eternal wanderers in the stream of time, only one perceives this as a gift, and the other is burdened by a curse.
Johnny Depp could have played the cruel Lestat, but the role went to Tom Cruise. Subsequently, the creative duo of Brad Pitt and Cruise was nominated for the unsightly Golden Raspberry Award. They got it, but the talent of the young actress Kirsten Dunst at that time (only 12 years old) was highly praised. She was named Breakthrough of the Year by the MTV Movie Awards and nominated for a Golden Globe.
6. The Last Samurai (2003)
IMDb rating: 7.7
At the end of the century before last, in the Land of the Rising Sun, the current emperor intended to eradicate the authentic army, replacing it with Western warriors trained in American warfare. The ruler hires Nathan Algren as a martial arts teacher. Soon the samurai should be exterminated, and the new generation of soldiers should be in formation.
Preparation lasted 2 years. Tom Cruise, for the authenticity of the image, comprehended the basics of Japanese culture, learned to control a samurai sword, and studied the language.
During the filming, Cruise could have lost his head: Hiroyuki Sanada's sharp sword had to freeze a few millimeters from Tom's neck. He stood on a movable platform, the mechanism should have allowed the actor to dodge at the right moment. The system did not work, unlike the lightning-fast reaction of the Japanese Sanada. He quickly assessed the situation and changed the trajectory of the strike, saving the life of the Hollywood star.
