10 Great Tom Cruise Roles You Have To Watch

Despite controversy concerning his personal life and religious beliefs, Tom Cruise is arguably one of the most iconic movie stars of the past twenty years. Practically unaging in appearance, and being known for playing a wide variety of roles in massive blockbusters as well as independent films, Cruise’s career shows no signs of slowing down. Let’s take a look at Cruise’s top 10 films based on the rankings of the members of Flickchart.

Tom Cruise’s Top 10 Films on Flickchart

10. Collateral

Directed by Michael Mann, Collateral was about a taxi driver (Jamie Foxx) who suddenly becomes the hostage of a contract killer, played by Cruise. A lot of the film’s kudos came from the performances of Foxx and Cruise. Cruise was given heavy praise for his role as the contract killer, and Foxx was nominated for an Oscar for supporting actor. Not just any ordinary thriller, Collateral established characters and relationships before getting into the thrilling aspects of the film. Cruise’s character was a calm, cool and collected killer. Foxx played the bewildered taxi driver who was put in an extremely uncomfortable situation, afraid for his life. Collateral had an attention to detail befitting any well made dramatic story and make this thriller one of the best around.

• currently ranked #848 of all-time
• ranked 397,357 times
• wins 45% of matchups
• 4,775 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 228 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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9. The Color of Money

Starring alongside the late great Paul Newman, Cruise had his work cut out for him in The Color of Money. The film was a drama directed by Martin Scorsese revolving around the game of billiards and hustling players out of their money. What sounded like a movie that was destined to fail became a pretty decent film. Cruise stood his own against the powerhouse of Newman, managing to initiate a chemistry with the legendary actor. The real meat of the film was found in the side plots between Cruise’s character and his girlfriend Carmen played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as well as Newman and his girl Janelle played by Helen Shaver. Each couple had great chemistry which ultimately ended up being more interesting than the main plot of the film.

• currently ranked #822 of all-time
• ranked 44,899 times
• wins 40% of match ups
• 45 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 1 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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8. Mission Impossible

The beginnings of the extremely profitable blockbuster franchise that has kept Cruise with steady work for the past sixteen years and counting, Mission Impossible was a roller coaster ride of action and thrills. While the story made almost no sense, the action and performances by Cruise and the other actors-Vanessa Redgrave and Jon Voight, for instance- more than made up for it. Unforgettable scenes such as the infiltration of the CIA headquarters and the opening sequences in which the infamous NOC list was stolen are just a few examples of the action packed ride that awaited audiences. Three movies later, Cruise is still at it and is slated to continue in a fifth entry in the series.

• currently ranked #809 of all-time
• ranked 484,154 times
• wins 42% of matchups
• 6,240 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 255 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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7. Interview With the Vampire

Before novels such as True Blood and the extremely popular young adult franchise Twilight, Anne Rice’s version of the vampire mythology was all the rage. Interview With the Vampire was based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Cruise starred alongside Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst. The film received mixed reviews, but did get a few nods in the way of nominations. Cruise played a very convincing vampire, proving that even when in such unfamiliar territory, he can pull of a decent acting performance. There was no twinkling in the sunlight for these vampires. The film had a very appropriate brooding and desperation to it. Throughout the film, audiences watched Louis(Pitt) live through centuries before stumbling across LeStat(Cruise), beaten down by the passage of time.

• currently ranked #689 of all-time
• ranked 365,992 times
• wins 44% of matchups
• 5,454 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 278 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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6. Top Gun

One of the classic films that defined the 80’s, Top Gun was an over-the-top action/drama film involving military pilots. Cruise starred as call sign Maverick, a hotshot pilot who wasn’t afraid to take risks on and off the tarmac. He brought his own brand of intensity to the film, making the girls swoon and the boys envious. The film was so popular, it boosted sales of Ray-Ban sunglasses and bomber jackets around the time of the film’s release both on the big screen and home VHS. And who can forget the one-liner: “I feel the need…the need…for speed!”? While Top Gun can be cheesy at times and downright bad at other times, the good parts such as the chemistry between the actors and the enjoyment of watching the intense dogfighting in the air more than make up for it.

• currently ranked #679 of all-time
• ranked 435,309 times
• wins 42% of matchups
• 6,391 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 339 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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5. Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow aka Live. Die. Repeat aka All You Need Is Kill is the latest film from Tom Cruise and has managed to make it on his top 10 list. Already pushing its way to #5, Edge of Tomorrow is positioned above some of the more classic Cruise films. This 2014 science fiction/action film took several cues from Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day and found critical acclaim despite, not doing very well at the box office. The film made almost $400 million worldwide but barely broke $100 million in the United States. The movie was exciting, funny and featured great performances by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. The ending was disappointing to some, but that didn’t detract from the wonderfully interesting ride that the rest of the film offered. Surprisingly, 14 Flickchart users have put Edge of Tomorrow as their number one film of all time. Only time will tell, but this film may end up being a fan favorite of several moviegoers and Tom Cruise fans, in general.

• currently ranked #652 of all-time
• ranked 21,576 times
• wins 62% of matchups
• 101 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 14 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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4. A Few Good Men

Aaron Sorkin’s first foray into film writing, A Few Good Men starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore in a courtroom drama revolving around military hazing that caused a murder in the US Military. This film was a great start for Aaron Sorkin, as A Few Good Men was nominated for numerous awards, garnered positive critical reviews and stayed on top of the box office charts for many weeks. Cruise was a good casting call as the energetic Harvard Law graduate leading the case for the defense. Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson played wonderful supporting roles. Anyone who has seen the film will forever remember the line from Nicholson: “You want the truth!? You can’t handle the truth!!” The film had a great sense of urgency and suspense that kept audiences on their toes. The direction by Rob Reiner brought it all together. He took each great performance and each gripping plot moment and melded it into a seamless film.

• currently ranked #524 of all-time
• ranked 324,616 times
• wins 48% of matchups
• 2,709 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 111 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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3. Magnolia

Cruise picked up his third Academy Award nomination for best actor and his first for best actor in a supporting role in the film Magnolia. Cruise played Frank T.J. Mackey, a self-help salesman for men. The film was a mishmash of interwoven stories that won critical acclaim from critics. While it didn’t do extremely well at the box office, Paul Thomas Anderson – the director, writer and producer – has gone on record saying that Magnolia is the best movie in his opinion that he has – and will ever – make. One can see why when looking at the sheer acting prowess in this movie. Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore and John C. Reilly are just a few of the actors in the film, each wonderful actors in their own right. But it was Anderson who pulled it all together with a self parodied and unrealistic but very well-written script that he started writing while listening to the music of Aimee Mann.

• currently ranked #519 of all-time
• ranked 313,074 times
• wins 51% of match-ups
• 3,118 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 251 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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2. Minority Report

Set in a somewhat distant future in which humans now have the capability to foretell when and where crimes will happen, Minority Report got mostly good critical reviews. The film was knocked by some for its inconsistent ending but was well liked overall regardless. Minority Report had even been compared and contrasted with Blade Runner which is widely considered one of the best science fiction movies ever made due to its well-realized dystopian setting and themes. Cruise played the head of the “pre-crime” division who finds himself accused of a pre-crime. While the film’s positive reviews weren’t due largely in part to Cruise’s performance, he did bring his reliable sense of presence to the film and brought forth the internal struggles of a drug addict whose life turns 180 degrees within a matter of hours.

• currently ranked #513 of all-time
• ranked 535,956 times
• wins 50% of match-ups
• 7,217 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 334 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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1. Rain Man

Winning four Oscars at the Academy Awards, Rain Man was an overwhelmingly critically successful film. Starring Dustin Hoffman as the estranged autistic savant brother of Tom Cruise, the film was a tale of Cruise’s struggle to accept his brother and overcome Hoffman’s quirks and Cruise’s own greed. The movie even had some very humorous moments, which only fortify the audience’s ability to relate to its characters. The direction by Barry Levinson was executed wonderfully as evidenced by the perfect, thoughtful pacing of the plot. He also extracted every bit of talent from Hoffman and Cruise. Hoffman’s depiction of a man with autism was a great example of the acting caliber in this film. Tom Cruise was also credited by some as being the breakout performance of the film, as the greedy, egotistical brother. This is a must-watch film.

• currently ranked #204 of all-time
• ranked 459,484 times
• wins 53% of match-ups
• 7,332 users have it ranked in their top 20 of all-time
• 353 users rank it as their favorite movie of all-time

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Upcoming Roles

After a great performance in Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise has started filming for the 5th Mission Impossible film. Will this be the last entry in the series? Only time, and box office sales, will tell but with Cruise’s resurgence in popularity probably means there will be Mission Impossible films as long as Cruise is willing to star in them.

Cruise is also slated to make a few sequels. One of them – Top Gun 2 – is very interesting. Cruise will be reprising his role of Maverick from nearly 30 years ago and we can most likely expect a lot of dog fighting and maybe even an appearance by The Ice Man himself, Val Kilmer.

The other film that has been announced is a Jack Reacher sequel. The first Jack Reacher was a pretty solid and entertaining film. Keeping with a similar formula as the first movie will be the key to this new film’s success.

What’s Your Top Ten?

Are you a fan of Tom Cruise? What is your favorite Cruise film? Let us know in the comments, and rank your favorite Tom Cruise movies on Flickchart to create your own top ten!