Ever since exploding onto the scene in the 1980s, Tom Cruise has remained one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. His personal life was once constant tabloid fodder, but in theaters Cruise always managed to keep us entertained. Whether he's shooting down Russian MIGs, running from or toward danger, or just being handsome and charming, Cruise rarely disappoints.
We figured the time had come to take a look at Cruise's prolific career and pick out his best films. From early efforts like Rain Man to '90s classics like A Few Good Men to more recent favorites such as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Edge of Tomorrow, these are the movies any self-respecting Tom Cruise fan needs to see.
In the interest of keeping this Tom Cruise Top 10 lean and mean we've decided to only pick the best film from franchises - the one that best represents Cruise's strengths as an actor.
10. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Where to Watch: Hulu, Max
One of Tom Cruise's best action movies -- with a name that got overtaken by the tagline, so that the home/digital release has this as Live. Die. Repeat.: Edge of Tomorrow -- takes the classic Cruise formula of "a***hole who gets humbled and redeemed" and cranked it up to 11, having his cowardly Major William Cage die countless deaths as he Groundhog Day's his way through a last-ditch battle against an alien invasion. With the help of a soldier who previously had his reset-the-day power, played by Emily Blunt, Cage transforms from meek to mighty, becoming a super solider who can not only act like a one man army but also crack the mystery of the alien horde's one weakness. Edge of Tomorrow, from director Doug Limon, is a thrilling, creative, and funny take on the time loop genre, with Cruise at his best.
Read our review of Edge of Tomorrow.
9. Minority Report (2002)
Where to Watch: Paramount+
Philip K. Dick was nothing if not a prolific science fiction writer. It's no surprise that so many of his short stories and novels have been fodder for movie adaptations over the years. But Minority Report stands out as one of the few that stuck close to the source material. Even the title stayed the same, which is more than we can say for films like Total Recall and Blade Runner.
In this futuristic sci-fi tale, Cruise plays John Anderton, the chief of a new police division called Precrime. Using a trio of psychically-inclined mutants called Precogs, Precrime is able to arrest criminals before they commit crimes. But when Anderton finds his name is next on the list, he's forced to go rogue and attempt to clear his name before he winds up committing murder.
It's a great premise that allowed for plenty of suspenseful action and scenes of Cruise running, which was becoming more and more his shtick by that point. The biggest change Minority Report made to the source material was in giving viewers a more youthful, attractive protagonist, and we didn't hear anyone complaining about that particular edit. Under Steven Spielberg's direction, Minority Report offered a thoughtful, eye-catching look at the future that was probably more precog than we'd like to believe.
8. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Paramount+
It's pretty rare for a franchise to maintain its quality by the time it reaches the fourth installment. Heck, a lot of franchises fall apart once the first sequel hits and it becomes a franchise in the first place. The Mission: Impossible series is the rare exception. Most fans would agree that the third and fourth films are the best in the series. We're inclined to put the fourth on top, but there's certainly a case to be made for M:I III as well.
Ghost Protocol upped the ante by putting Cruise's Ethan Hunt and his fellow IMF agents on the wrong side of the law. There was a new sense of desperation to their mission as they worked both to save the day and clear their names in the wake of a terrorist attack on the Kremlin. Ghost Protocol boats some of the finest action sequences in the history of the franchise, including Hunt's death-defying climb up a skyscraper in Dubai. Cruise has a habit of throwing himself into his action roles and performing many of his own stunts. That devotion/insanity really elevated Ghost Protocol. The movie also proved that director Brad Bird has a knack for live-action films as well as animated ones. It's little wonder he's on just about everyone's short list to direct a Star Wars movie.
Read our review of Mission: Impossible.
7. Magnolia (1999)
It's rare to see a Tom Cruise movie where the actor isn't front and center the entire time. But Cruise tried something a little different when he joined the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 drama Magnolia. Here, Cruise was one of nine main characters whose stories intertwined in the sort of complex narrative Anderson does so well. Cruise played Frank T.J. Mackey, a handsome but slightly sleazy pitchman for an infomercial about getting laid. It was a much more successful foray into the realm of sex and perversion than Cruise's previous role in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.
Between the ensemble cast and much-maligned three-hour run-time, Magnolia struggled to find an audience at theaters. But as with pretty much every P.T. Anderson film, it had no trouble with critics. In terms of Cruise's role specifically, many likened it to the revitalizing change of pace John Travolta found when he starred in Pulp Fiction. Every so often we need a reminder that Cruise can break the mold, and Magnolia certainly proved that much.
6. Collateral (2004)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Hoopla
Cruise has pretty much earned his doctorate in playing attractive, charming leading men at this point. We imagine sometimes even the most hardcore Cruise fans want to see the actor break the mold and play the bad guy for a change. Collateral wasn't the first time Cruise switched to the dark side, but it is his most memorable effort.
That's not to say the usual Cruise charm wasn't still dialed up to 11 for this movie. Collateral paired Cruise with Jamie Foxx. The latter played, Max, a humble LA cab driver with dreams of moving up in the world. The former played, Vincent, a dapper but ruthless hitman who enlisted the reluctant Max as his driver for a busy night of executions. Collateral showcased director Michael Mann's same strong visual style and love for the LA cityscape that was so apparent in Heat two decades earlier. And Cruise and Foxx enjoyed an intense dynamic as the night wore on and Max's situation became increasingly desperate. Maybe Cruise didn't veer as far from his usual self as he could have in this role, but it was still fun to see his dangerous, unhinged side slip through.
5. Rain Man (1988)
Where to Watch: Paramount+, MGM+, Fubo
Throughout the '80s, Cruise had developed a reputation for starring in comedies and action films, always playing similar shades of the same charming, attractive, capable leading man. But in 1989, Rain Man came along and finally established that Cruise had potential as a dramatic actor too.
Cruise's character was actually a pretty big jerk in the early scenes of this movie. Here, Cruise played Charlie Babbitt, a flashy car dealer who mistreats just about everybody in his life. But after discovering the autistic brother he never knew (played by Dustin Hoffman in perhaps his most iconic performance), Charlie begins a journey of personal growth and maturation. Though Charlie initially tries to exploit his brother's superhuman memory and math skills for profit, he grows to care deeply for Raymond. From there, the movie explores the ethical dilemma of Raymond's situation. Is it better for Charlie to care for his brother and provide him with a real family, or return him to the mental institution where he's lived much of his adult life?
Hoffman was perhaps the more visible actor in this project, but it was really Charlie's story in the end. Cruise brought just the right blend of charm, arrogance, and emotional range to the plate, and he nailed the role.
4. A Few Good Men (1992)
Where to Watch: AMC+
Like a number of Tom Cruise movies, A Few Good Men has that one iconic scene that everybody knows, even if they've never actually watched the entire thing. In this case it's the climactic courtroom showdown between Cruise and Jack Nicholson, where the latter insists, "You can't handle the truth!"
In this movie (which writer Aaron Sorkin adapted from his stage play), Cruise plays a hotshot J.A.G. attorney named Daniel Kaffee. Kaffee is paired with the overzealous investigator JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) to defend two Marines accused of murdering a fellow Corpsman, one who had apparently been prepared to blow the whistle on an international incident at Guantanamo Bay. Pulling the strings of the increasingly dark conspiracy behind the killing is the virulent Colonel Nathan Jessup (Nicholson).
Elements of Cruise's usual leading man persona were still in full force with this role. Kaffee was very much the arrogant young hotshot who cared more for closing cases than seeking real justice. But the complicated courtroom drama and the Odd Couple dynamic between Kaffee and Galloway in this movie allowed his character to grow and Cruise to flex his dramatic muscle.
3. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Where to Watch: AMC+
"Show me the money!"
"You had me at hello."
There certainly isn't a more quotable Tom Cruise movie than Jerry Maguire. In this slightly odd combination of romantic comedy and sports drama, Cruise plays the title character, a professional sports agent who suddenly develops a conscience about the often amoral practices of his industry. It's a move that's good for his self-esteem and bad for his career. But over the course of the movie, Maguire finds new hope thanks to a single mother he falls in love with (Renee Zellweger) and an NFL star (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who may hold the key to putting his career back on track.
Cruise didn't veer that far from the norm in this role, but Jerry Maguire was a movie that suited his on-screen charisma and handsome looks well. The movie was arguably the peak of Gooding Jr's career, netting him an Oscar win and paving the way for such choice fare as Snow Dogs and Daddy Day Care.
2. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Oliver Stone has made a number of questionable directing choices in recent years, but his career was at its height when he filmed his trilogy of films focused on the Vietnam War. Born on the Fourth of July is the second entry in this series, following 1986's Platoon and preceding 1993's Heaven & Earth. In this project, Cruise was tapped to play Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran whose autobiography served as the basis for the script. The movie traces Kovic's painful transition from idealistic young American to embattled soldier to wheelchair-bound anti-war activist.
More than any other movie in the '80s, this was the project that truly established Cruise's potential as an actor. Early on, Kovic is exactly the sort of handsome, charming character we expect from Cruise. But as Kovic becomes increasingly scarred by his experiences (physically and psychologically), we see Cruise tap into his darker side and present a much more tortured protagonist. Even 25 years later, this stands as one of his finest performances. The only reason he didn't walk home with an Oscar that year was because he was up against the juggernaut that is Daniel Day-Lewis.
1. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Where to Watch: Prime Video, Paramount+
In a previous incarnation of this list, 1986's Top Gun was in the number one spot. Well, in keeping with our rule of only including one movie from a franchise on the list -- the best entry from that franchise -- the top spot goes to Maverick now. There might be a touch of "recency bias" here, sure (though the list has films from all eras), Top Gun: Maverick is miraculous decades-later sequel that not only bests the original but thanks to its incredible legs in theaters wound up being Tom Cruise's top-grossing movie of all time, earning 1.5 billion worldwide. Everything has evolved here, from story to stunts to Cruise's acting chops. Maverick is emotional, entertaining, and stands as the perfect encapsulation of Cruise's career.
Read our review of Top Gun: Maverick.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
