Cruising SF Movies

Whatever you think about Tom Cruise the person, it’s hard to dispute that Tom Cruise the actor has turned out a lot of very worthwhile films. It’s hard to find many duds in his filmography but easy to spot noteworthy titles. Ever since Risky Business (1983) and Top Gun (1986), Tom Cruise has starred in movies so memorable that they became part of our cultural lingo.

More importantly for this Sci-Fi Saturday post, Tom Cruise has appeared in a perhaps surprising number of science fiction movies. Even more importantly, nearly all of them are good science fiction movies. Some of them are even really good.

Unfortunately, one of his rare duds is among them.

As a reminder, here are some of his notable (non-SF) films:

• Risky Business (1983). His fifth film, a comedy, and one that put him on the map. Rebecca De Mornay costars. The shirt-underwear-socks-sunglasses rock’n’roll singer slide is a much-imitated meme.
• Top Gun (1986). A film that’s been talked about, parodied, and imitated, but which still holds up fairly well today. Directed by Ridley’s brother, Tony Scott.
• The Color of Money (1986). A well-regarded sequel to the highly regarded 1961 film, The Hustler, which also starred Paul Newman. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Based on the same-named novel by Walter Tevis.
• Cocktail (1988). Another comedy, this one with Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue. Another film with a long-lived meme. Critically panned — it even won a Golden Raspberry Award — but a huge success at the box office.
• Rain Man (1988). With Dustin Hoffman and Valeria Golino, directed by Barry Levinson. Critically acclaimed, much nominated, award-winning, and hugely successful. His movie career isn’t yet ten years old, but he’s been in some memorable films already (with more to come).
• A Few Good Men (1992). I love legal stories, and this is one of my favorite Tom Cruise (non-SF) movies. And, wow, what a cast: Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, and others. Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. And of course, widely remembered for the great final showdown between Cruise and Nicholson, not to mention Nicholson’s immortal line, “The truth? You don’t want the truth!”
• The Firm (1993). Another legal story with Cruise as a lawyer again! I loved the David Grusin soundtrack so much I resolved while watching the movie to go out and buy it the next day (and I did). Still love that soundtrack.
• Jerry Macguire (1996). Yet another film that entered the popular lexicon. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe and produced by, among others, James L. Brooks. Another much-nominated, award-winning film. Especially loved by sports fans.
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The last film Stanley Kubrick did (he wrote, directed, and produced) and released posthumously. Costars Nicole Kidman (she and he were married at the time). Surreal, intense, and deep. I suspect cinephiles are more impressed by it than regular moviegoers.
• Collateral (2004). Cruise as an expert assassin. Quite the change of pace! Jamie Foxx costars (and is excellent opposite Cruise). Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Rullalo are also in it. Directed by Michael Mann. Yet another popular and critical success. An excellent film.
• Tropic Thunder (2008). Directed by Ben Stiller, who also starred in it. Also has Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, and others. Rather controversial at the time. Mostly forgotten now (a tempest in a teacup). Possibly doesn’t belong on this list, but it gave me a chuckle (the controversy gave me a bigger one, though). Cruise plays a nasty studio exec, and if memory serves, his makeup made him almost unidentifiable.
• Top Gun: Maverick (2022). A very worthy sequel to the 1986 original. Especially considering how lame most sequels are, and extra especially considering how bad they are these days. And very probably the last time we’ll see Val Kilmer in a film.
• Seven Mission: Impossible movies from 1996 to present (with an eighth — a second part to number seven — coming out next year). As I’ve written here before, I really hated the first one when it came out, but once I got over the “this isn’t my Mission: Impossible” disappointment, I was able to enjoy what are very well done hella fun rides.

This is an incomplete list. It’s easy to find others from his filmography that probably should also be on this list. Possibly I’ve even missed someone’s favorite. The ones above are the ones I’ve seen and particularly enjoyed. Even so, I skipped some just because the list was longer than I intended and not at all the point of this post. But until I went through his filmography, I hadn’t fully realized just how many memorable movies he’s been in.

And looking over that list, I think Cruise is a little like a modern Humphrey Bogart — not a typical muscle-bound action hero but tough and versatile. He doesn’t play the same type over and over. Neither did Bogie.

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Getting back to the point of the post, here’s a list of his science fiction (or fantasy) films:

1. Legend (1985). Fantasy. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen this. The plot doesn’t ring any loud bells, but I don’t think I would have skipped a film directed by Ridley Scott. It came out the year after I moved back to Minnesota, and my best bud then — and still — and I went to the movies weekly those days. On the other hand, it was a flop with a $23.5 million box office against a $25 million budget, so there’s some chance we heard it wasn’t worth seeing and didn’t. I’d have to watch it again to see if any of the visuals triggered an “oh, yeah, I remember this.”
2. Interview with the Vampire (1994). Fantasy; based on the same-named novel by Anne Rice. Directed by Neil Jordan (who’d last directed The Crying Game in 1992). Cruise was a star by this time, and Rice’s novels were all the rage then, so Cruise’s portrayal of the vampire Lestat got a lot of attention. I read the first few Rice books before losing interest (because I thought there were better vampire stories). I did enjoy the movie just fine but can only give it an Eh! rating (because there are better vampire movies).
3. Magnolia (1999). Magical Realism (but only a dash; it’s mostly a weird drama). Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Features a large cast of well-known (and capable) actors. Great soundtrack, too. I gave it a strong Ah! (almost a Wow!) rating and bought both the DVD and the soundtrack. A bit weird around the edges but recommended if you’ve never seen it. It is apparent in earlier movies, but this is the film that made me sit up and say, “Hey, Tom Cruise can really act!”
4. Vanilla Sky (2001). Directed by Cameron Crowe. The cast includes Penélope Cruz, Kurt Russell, and Cameron Diaz. Strong box office, but somewhat disregarded by critics and fans. Worse, not fully appreciated by science fiction fans. But it’s one of those movies you cannot judge without seeing it at least twice. Because it’s actually an excellent film (and a favorite of mine). Interesting and different enough to earn a Wow! rating from me. This DVD is also (still) in my collection.
5. Minority Report (2002). Directed by Steven Spielberg but based on a Philip K. Dick story, which might explain why I liked it so much. I’m not big on Steven Spielberg movies, but I loved this one (and, once again, bought the DVD and, to my surprise, actually own a movie directed by Steven Spielberg). Even more surprising, I have to give it a Wow! rating.
6. War of the Worlds (2005). Another Spielberg movie, and this one didn’t really grab me much. The story is well-known and has been done several times. Had some good things, but also a lot that had me shaking my head. I didn’t much care for the obvious and deliberate 9/11 imagery — exactly the sort of shameless and blatant emotional pandering that makes me dislike the director. I gave it an Eh! rating.
7. Oblivion (2013). Directed by Joseph Kosinski (who also directed Tron: Legacy and Top Gun: Maverick). A bit overshadowed by the next entry, but I’ve seen this several times now and really like it. A (very well realized) far future timeline, a very small cast, and the plot has a twist ending. It’s one of those little SF gems. I’m not sure it quite rises to a Wow! rating, but it’s awfully close. A very strong Ah! at the very least.
8. Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Directed by Doug Liman. This immediately followed Oblivion and is the Tom Cruise SF movie most remember. And in terms of action, effects, and story, it’s probably the best — or at least most popular — entry on the list (albeit not with all that much of a lead). Definitely a success with fans, critics, and at the box office. And rightfully so, it’s an excellent film.
9. The Mummy (2017). Fantasy. Directed by Alex Kurtzman, who is primarily a writer with only one previous film director credit, People Like Us. Managed to pull in $410 million against a budget of $125–$195 million, but only $80.2 million in the US. The movie was generally panned by everyone (in the US, anyway), and earned eight Golden Raspberry Awards. Cruise won the Worst Actor nomination. I’ve never seen it, so can’t rate it.

That last one, The Mummy, is the aforementioned dud. Interesting how I haven’t seen the first and last entries. (At least, I can’t recall ever seeing the first one.) But I’d give two thumbs up to all the rest. (Maybe with the lone exception of War of the Worlds. Still, it does have a lot of good bits.)

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That, to me, seems quite a list for someone I wouldn’t have pegged as a science fiction star. An action and drama star, no question, and even a capable comedy star. But there seems a long road from Joel in Risky Business to Major William Cage in Edge of Tomorrow.

It may speak simply to the popularity of science fiction in the Anno Stella Bella era. Despite the two Jack Reacher movies, Cruise was never going to be à la Arnold or Sylvester (or Bruce or Dwayne — good manly names). Or a Keanu. As good as Collateral was, it was pretty weird to see Cruise in the role of an assassin. Think how that movie would have played with Keanu Reeves in that role.

The buddy I mentioned above once noted how Jackie Chan looks friendly and cheerful while Jet Li looks fierce and dangerous. Donnie Yen falls somewhere in between. Most Jackie Chan movies have some light-hearted fun, and many are comedies. Donnie Yen mostly does deadly serious martial arts dramas but has at least one outright comedy I know of. And he can bring a lighter touch to the drama. (His role in John Wick 4 is an example. It’s deadly serious, but with some light touches.) Jet Li usually seems awkward doing comedy but perfectly cast as an assassin.

Tom Cruise is perhaps Donnie Yen mixed with Jackie Chan. He’s certainly no Jet Li. Which is, I think, why his Jack Reacher films weren’t that great.

In any event, from where I sit, Tom Cruise doesn’t just consistently deliver memorable movies, he delivers memorable science fiction movies. And given the glut of SF movies and TV shows, his ability to stand above the common schlock is impressive.

Stay cruising, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.

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