A ton of work went into pulling off the helicopter chase scene in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which, as usual, saw Tom Cruise perform his own stunts. The action icon has long been known for putting himself at risk to film certain scenes, particularly in the Mission: Impossible franchise, and Fallout’s helicopter battle was no exception.
In the final act of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt had to obtain a bomb detonator from the movie’s villain, August Walker (Henry Cavill). When Walker took off in a helicopter, Hunt’s only option was to give chase in the chopper that was tailing behind him. As it was taking off, Hunt grabbed a rope connected to a payload. After carefully climbing up to the top, Hunt slipped and fell onto the payload. Luckily though, he managed to survive. Following a difficult climb back up, Hunt hijacked it from the minions on board, and used it to pursue Walker. While avoiding difficult terrain in the helicopter, Hunt tried – and failed – to drop the payload on his enemy. When that didn’t work, he planned to ram Walker’s chopper, colliding the two.
Comments from those involved in the making of the scene have revealed how it was all put together [via LA Times]. True to how action is traditionally done in a Mission: Impossible movie, the scene was indeed shot with Cruise and the helicopter at a high altitude with extreme temperatures. According to Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise was equipped with a safety harness, but it’s important to note that they didn’t completely protect Cruise from harm; their purpose was to help guide his fall from the chopper. Cruise falling from the helicopter and landing on the cargo was intentional, even though many in the cast and crew weren’t aware of that at the time. When Cruise let go, it gave the impression that a major error had been made and that he was about to be serious injured – or worse.
This was an incredibly high-risk scene to film, because as McQuarrie pointed out, Cruise would have died had the landing not been executed perfectly. If he had hit the payload first, his neck would have been broken by the impact. McQuarrie said that even the safety line couldn’t have protected him in that event. Not only that, but the actor performed this stunt a total of five times [via The Wrap]. Fortunately, Cruse was able to land safely on his back, but that was far from the end of the sequence. The part where Hunt flew after Walker involved Tom Cruise actually taking control of the chopper. Cruise, who does have a license to fly and has done so in both real-life and in other movies, did “100%” of the flying. This included getting dangerously close to the mountains and the other helicopter. Cameras were mounted in the chopper to show that he was flying by himself.
This long sequence in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which was followed by an equally intense fight between Hunt and Walker on a cliff, is among the most dangerous Cruise has ever been involved in. And that’s saying a lot, given that the actor has build a reputation for doing his own stunts in daring action scenes for several years now.
