More Mission Impossible mayhem means more Tom Cruise motorcycle stunts

It’s the film franchise that keeps shows no sign of ending, which means a seventh instalment of the Mission Impossible series is on the way complete with the ever-adventurous Tom Cruise flinging himself around as Ethan Hunt, often involving motorcycles.

We’ve seen Cruise – now aged 58(!) – take on each film role with aplomb as he throws himself into all manner of different sequences to the extent he could probably double as his own double in many stunt roles.

The last occasions we saw of the film crew was back in winter (pre-lockdown) with some low-fi stunts on wet  cobbles aboard a Harley, while Cruise was then spotted on a BMW G 310 GS as he practised some wheelies, because, you know, it’s cool.

This latest stunt though shared by the Daily Mail sees Cruise go for something rather more ambitious, in what the publication says is one of the most expensive stunts ever to take place on UK soil coming in at a cool £2 million.

While we have to wait until the final edit to see how this fits into the storyline (though we can hazard a guess it’s an explosive chase or getaway scene a la Mission Impossible), we see Cruise on a Honda MX hurtling down a platform before taking off a good 650ft in the air. Fortunately, both Cruise and the motorcycle are tethered so they can get that shot as many times as they want. We presume the motorcycle in the film doesn’t meet a pleasant end. 

Depending on where you stand on throwing yourself off a 650ft platform, we actually think this looks rather fun.

Cruise doesn’t do all of his own stunts though, which is perhaps just as well because a recent fiery mishap could have done all sorts of damage to his money maker.

According to RideApart, a stuntman took off from the bike with the intention of landing on a mat, with the motorcycle going for the boxes. Unfortunately, man and machine hit the mat, which then promptly caught fire – fortunately nobody seems to have been injured, but it shows with even the best preparation with the best staff, some motorcycles just can’t cut it under pressure. 

You know what they say, never do live TV with children, or animals, or motorcycles. Something like that, anyway.