Tom Cruise

When was the last time you heard the name tom cruise in the media and it was actually about tom cruise movies? All you ever hear about now is tom cruise on oprah and tom cruise and Katie Holmes and how tom cruise has gone crazy. The thing about tom cruise is that tom cruise is no longer an actor; he is just a celebrity. Sure tom cruise is in movies but the way they market those tom cruise movies is through tom cruise having personal events with big media coverage. I didn’t even know there was a mission impossible 3 but I did know that tom cruise and Katie Holmes were having a baby with a stupid name. Although tom cruise isn’t the only actor to turn into just a name and a media event, tom cruise is probably the most widely known for his antics. Of course, these tom cruise crazy media events all started at the time War of the Worlds had to be marketed.

 

That film had to be the comeback of the tom cruise movies so tom cruise went out and found another star who needed a comeback and also conveniently had a movie to be released at the same time (Batman Begins) and voila the tom cruise name was reinvented as a crazy scientologist movie star who welcomed the paparazzi because they keep his career alive. Of course we all remember the tom cruise movies we loved back when tom cruise was young and charming and scientology was still just a science fiction novel. Those tom cruise movies like top gun and risky business and even mission impossible showed off what made tom cruise a star. It would be nice if we could remember tom cruise for those tom cruise movies instead of tom cruise on oprah but unfortunately, tom cruise has lost his dignity and that does not grow back easily. Still, let’s look back at the tom cruise movies where we actually bought into the tom cruise smile and the tom cruise devil may care attitude.

 

Just for fun, so we don’t see tom cruise as just a complete waste of space. Even if you have never seen the movie there is not a person out there who doesn’t know that most memorable tom cruise scene from risky business. Of course the risky business scene I’m talking about features tom cruise in nothing but underwear and a dress shirt enjoying the house to himself by lip synching and dancing to “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll”. If there is one iconic young tom cruise scene, this risky business moment must be it. Although no one seems to have re-watched risky business in the past ten years, it is one of the few younger tom cruise movies that people actually remember. In risky business, tom cruise plays a wealthy teenager who has the house to himself. When tom cruise crashes his father’s Porsche into Lake Michigan, however, the plot of risky business picks up as tom cruise has to make money fast. The co-star of tom cruise in risky business is Rebecca De Mornay as Lana, a prostitute, and tom cruise and Lana begin running a call girl ring from his home. In risky business, tom cruise got to be at his best as a wise ass but devilishly charming kid. By top gun movie, tom cruise had definitely established his screen persona for tom cruise movies. The thing about the top gun movie was it was one of the only tom cruise movies not created just to be a vehicle for the smile of tom cruise. What you remember about top gun is not tom cruise but the planes and the excitement of the flying sequences. In the top gun movie, tom cruise plays the same basic tom cruise character and actually the tom cruise romance is probably the most boring part of the movie. Nearly every guy loves top gun but I don’t think many of them could tell you a thing about the character tom cruise plays.

 

That said, top gun movie is one of the best tom cruise movies mostly because it is not really a tom cruise movie. Rather, top gun is a movie about pilots and army jets and it just happens to star tom cruise because tom cruise was a big box office draw and a good way for the male top gun movie fans to get their girlfriends to go see the movie. The only real franchise of the tom cruise movies was the series of mission impossible, mission impossible 2, and mission impossible 3. While I actually did not even know a mission impossible 3 movie was released, mission impossible and mission impossible 2 were not that bad. Again, this is because mission impossible, mission impossible 2 and mission impossible 3 were not created as tom cruise movies but rather action movies where tom cruise happens to play the lead.

 

The stunts in mission impossible, mission impossible 2, and mission impossible 3 are all pretty impressive. The only memorable thing about tom cruise in mission impossible, mission impossible 2 and mission impossible 3, however, is his hair, which remains surprisingly unharmed through all tom cruise stunts. You can actually pin point the exact moment where tom cruise lost the last of his dignity. That moment would be tom cruise on oprah. If you watch the tom cruise on oprah video, you can’t help but shake your head and think of what a sad little man tom cruise has become. The tom cruise on oprah video was a hit but the response was not what tom cruise intended. The tom cruise on oprah video was soon parodied by every comedian and sketch show. Now tom cruise on oprah is a legendary moment. When you ask someone one scene they would think of when they think of tom cruise, I bet many of them would say tom cruise on oprah, as it has come to the point where tom cruise as a crazy celebrity in the media has outshined all memories of tom cruise movies.