Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Shot Tom Cruise's Bike Stunt Before Knowing The Reason For It

To say that IMF super-agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) likes to live life on the edge would be a literal understatement. The man has dangled off planes and high-rise rooftops, held his breath underwater for more than 5 minutes for the sake of a mission, and fought bad guys on a moving train several times. As we approach the seventh installment in the endlessly invigorating "Mission: Impossible" franchise with the highly-anticipated "Dead Reckoning – Part One," expectations surrounding Hunt's daredevil antics have only gotten more pronounced. Moreover, with Cruise intimately involved in the evolution of Ethan Hunt, combined with his unparalleled commitment to raising the stakes with every installment, it is fair to expect grander action set pieces and even more impressive stuntwork from the upcoming film.

Turns out, Cruise's dedication to upping the stakes with every "Mission: Impossible" film is so intense that his insane, highly-publicized bike stunt for "Dead Reckoning" was filmed even before it found a purpose within the expanding story. Per an exclusive feature on "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" in the latest issue of Empire, even director Christopher McQuarrie was unsure as to why Hunt was endangering his life by driving a bike off a cliff, as they had not worked that part out into the story yet.

However, if that's the case, why go through with such a laborious, and not to mention, dangerous stunt in the first place? The answer is simple: Cruise wanted to do it, and in the process, make an audacious statement about a franchise that did not flinch from soaring dizzying heights just to entertain its audiences. Judging by audience reactions to the bike-stunt footage alone, this risk-laden endeavor can be considered a success. 

Almost every "Mission: Impossible" entry boasts of bold, truly creative stuntwork that effectively keeps audiences at the edge of their seats. However, what makes these larger-than-life setpieces work is the steady, reliable presence of Ethan Hunt — a man who can push himself to the limits for the sake of his work, and still acknowledge his limitations on an emotional front. Hunt might be flawed, impulsive, even, when he suddenly decides to jump off the Burj Khalifa, but he is, ultimately, a formidable IMF agent and an unstoppable force of nature.

Keeping Hunt's evolution as a person and an agent in mind, Cruise's decision to up the ante with the bike stunt in "Dead Reckoning" feels fitting. As for working it into the story, this shouldn't be a problem in the capable hands of McQuarrie and co., who've managed to flesh out compelling action-centric stories with kinetic "M:I" characters at the center. McQuarrie commented about the bike stunt in the Empire issue:

"Doing that [the stunt] on Day One gave us all the time in the world to understand why he [Cruise] was doing what he was doing. If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you'd never find it, simply because it's such a living, breathing thing."

Cruise also weighed in on his feelings about the stunt, explaining that "it's never the easy road" but that he has "a responsibility to audiences" and to everyone in the industry, and at no point would he afford to "compromise the storytelling." As Cruise innately understands his Ethan Hunt, doing the stunt right after filming commenced must have felt intuitively right, providing the writers ample time to incorporate it seamlessly with an evolving story. Ultimately, with Cruise involved, no mission is impossible.