Breaking down how much Tom Cruise runs in every Mission Impossible film

Anyone who has seen any of the Mission Impossible film franchise knows that Ethan Hunt’s unofficial superpower is to sprint full out until way past the breaking point of many a mortal.

It will be no spoiler to say that Tom Cruise’s character will again be pounding pavements in the seventh instalment of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which is released later this month.

To tease the release, film distributors Paramount have released a montage of every scene where Cruise is seen running across the series. And it adds up to almost ten exhausting minutes. It’s enough to make you feel severely out of shape and marvel at the condition of the actor, who celebrated his 61st birthday on Monday.

Dead Reckoning is in cinemas on July 14 and will also see Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Ferguson trying to keep up while series regulars Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are also back to reprise their roles.

Here is how the films compare purely on the amount of time Crusie is seen running. If you want the opinion-based ranking of the merits of each film, see our review here.

Mission Impossible (1996)

Compared with what was to follow, Cruise…errr… hit the ground running with 30 seconds, total, sprinting action. He is seen escaping a tidal wave coming through a restaurant and an enemy above rooftops.

Mission Impossible 2 (2000)

Cruise does not appear out of shape in John Woo’s follow-up but he only gets 24 seconds of running time - and most of it is in slow motion. If you think the filming effect looks dated, it is nothing compared to the long leather jacket and wrap-around sunglasses that Ethan Hunt dons.

Mission Impossible III (2005)

Maybe to make up for the lack of sprinting, under director JJ Abrams, Cruise really hits his running stride here. The clips from this film alone take up three minutes of the compilation’s 9-minute 54 running time, and includes the climactic sprint through Shanghai.

The website Balanced Runner is complimentary of Cruise’s technique here. A 2021 article writes: “The one Tom Cruise running form analysis I could find basically argues that he’s a great runner because he: holds his core so still, keeps his arms tucked in, hands slicing the air instead of flailing, and maintains a high cadence.

“About the high cadence, there can be no doubt. His turnover is blistering, and that more than anything else is what makes any other actor running in the same frame with him look at least a little bit out of shape.”

The article adds: “Cruise is not just a runner, he’s a skilled all-around athlete who does most of his own movie stunts.”

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

The longest ‘run time’ of the lot, at 3 minutes 14.

The fourth film begins with Cruise running through a prison and then the Kremlin. Maybe fans enjoyed the running of the third film because it comes in huge doses here - with Ethan Hunt running to escape mine explosions and a sandstorm. He even runs down a building.

Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Just 50 seconds of pure sprinting action here, but Cruise does go for the jugular on attempting his most daring stunt of clinging onto a plane while it takes off. It makes up for it!

Cruise has become known for a dedicated fitness regime that has helped him stay in better shape than people much younger. “Cruise doesn’t just have the body of a man half his age – he moves like one,” Men’s Health wrote in 2021.

He is said to use three days per week for cardio and three for weights but also mixing in other activities here and there.

Anne Elliott, a sports scientist at Middlesex University, said “Regularly switching up cardio and strength work with something like fencing or climbing – like Cruise – maintains flexibility and balance: the first two things that give your age away.”

Mission Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Ethan Hunt’s most recent mission contains his best running scene - I say in my biased opinion as it contains a full-on sprint along London’s South Bank, with the Tate Modern and Millenium Bridge in the backdrop.

Cruise also jumps to skydive out of a plane and leaps from building to building in London towards the climax. In all, he is running here for a respectable 53 seconds.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

The final minute of the video is clips from the new film, although it is hard to know if this is the extent of his running in Dead Reckoning.

What we do know is that Cruise sprints through a cathedral, a library and leaps from a train that is disappearing over the edge of a cliff.