ok I just can't square the 'best movie star of your lifetime' there's definitely actors who have consistently had better roles, and better movies over their career. Tom Cruise's work in the Mission Impossible series, a few other roles, and the Top Gun movies certainly put him in that tier for action movie stars.
lol wat. What action actors over the last 40 years do you think are comparable to Tom Cruise? If it is personal preference sure I get that but box office bank type of guarantee it is him, then Will Smith (who I think almost all of his movies suck), and the Rock recently
I literally said if he purely wants to talk action movies I would agree. if that's semantics so be it, but 'best movie star of lifetime' I'd have Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Leonardo Dicaprio, etc. ahead of Tom Cruise.
Alright fair enough but even without chasing the accolade awards I think he is clearly in that category, this has nothing to do with a period of my life where I lived within walking distance of one of the main hubs of the church of scientology
You can't argue against those, either, but I feel you're pigeon holing him into a type based on the MI series. Some were better than others, but before somewhat settling into the MI and Jack Reacher prototype, there was Eyes Wide Shut, A Few Good Men (great movie), Jerry McGuire, Rain Man, Cocktail, Color of Money, Interview with a Vampire, Born on the Fourth of July, Risky Business, All the Right Moves, Taps, etc. He's played some great roles in great movies, a few OK movies and a few stinkers, as every actor does. But that's a pretty damned good partial list right there.
I will not argue that he's a great actor and movie star who has had an incredibly successful career. Also, I am very much looking forward to the new Top Gun.
And you still left off arguably the best in Daniel Day-Lewis. Cruise is usually in very entertaining movies that may not be considered great from a artistic point of view. Saying someone is the best would have to be in a very narrowly defined way when it comes to acting.
Don’t forget Days of Thunder. I have professed my love for MI and Tom Cruise in the MI thread, but worth stating again. Cruise is weird as fuck but is a great actor and a great stuntman. Basically every movie of his is both a) very good and b) very rewatchable. Mission Impossible is cool as fuck in all aspects and it’s basically just Tom Cruise Open World Adventure. Have a crew for TG2 in IMAX now. Might need to put a flight suit on for this.
That or Top Gun for me. Him as Les Grossman I think was a great career move at the time. After that his Q rating went back up.
Some other pretty good ones not named yet: American Made Magnolia Collateral The Last Samurai Minority Report Vanilla Sky Far and Away The Firm
It really isn't though. I haven't seen the movie in a while, granted, but Tom Cruise's character isn't a white savior or any kind of savior at all. He's not even the title character. He's just a filmmaking tool for the (likely western) audience to witness the story of the Last Samurai, that being Katsumoto. The title might even be plural, referring to the whole band of them focused on in the film. Cruise' character is saved BY the Samurai. He goes to Japan depressed, alcoholic and suicidal, and during his time among the Samurai they give him a reason to live.
I don't think that was the intent for Cruise but yeah Last Samurai is a white guy shows up and fixes everything. I still liked the movie however
Looking back at reviews for the first Top Gun I was a bit surprised. 57% on RT, 6.9 (nice) on IMDB. I watched the shit out of it when i was younger and thought it was a masterpiece. Rewatched it and still thought it was great, fuck the haters
The first half of cocktail is good. Then the mentor kills himself and the rest of the movie is AWFUL.
I was going to offer up Hanks, Denzel and Leonardo. My lifetime also includes Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Kevin Coster at his height, Sly Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray and some more. But Cruise finding new life with the Mission Impossible and now the new Top Gun, and his 90s movies like The Firm and Jerry Maguire.. he's definitely Top 10 and probably Top 5.
Edge of Tomorrow is one of the most under-appreciated movies of my lifetime. It's such an enjoyable movie to watch.
My wife is pretty flexible in what she will watch, with two exceptions, she is not a fan of most Tom Cruise movies, and doesn't like SciFi. I tried to get her to watch Oblivion and then Edge of Tomorrow, and she Nope'd out on both. Its so frustrating because its such a fantastic movie.
Yeah. First time ever. Never been a huge movie guy so there’s a ton of a well known classics that I’ve never seen.
Rain Man. Roadhouse. Gladiator. Sixth Sense. Point Break. Tombstone. Those are some recent ones I’ve seen. Think I need to check out Mission Impossible series, Kill Bill, The Matrix, etc. I have never seen and don’t think I ever will see either LOTR or Star Wars.