Impossible 2’s Mountain without security cable?
Mission: Impossible 2 opens with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt climbing a mountain, but did he really play that scene without a safety cable?
mission: impossible 2 opens with an incredible sequence where Ethan Hunt climbs a mountain without safety cables, but did Tom Cruise really play the scene without equipment? mission: impossible 2 marked a turning point for Cruise. Prior to the sequel, the actor appeared in a variety of genres, with his star power alone often enough to make a movie a hit. With mission: impossible 2 – which almost saw Ethan fight a monster – he set out to become an action hero, and to that end hired genre master John Woo as director and pulled off several impressive stunts himself.
mission: impossible 2 was a gigantic success in 2000, its soundtrack even becoming a bestseller. Sadly, the sequel hasn’t aged well, and to modern eyes it looks like the oddball in the saga. Either way, the movie sold viewers on Cruise being an action star, and in addition to the Impossible mission sequels, he faced the likes of Minority report and the Jack Reach movies. Since the 2010s, the majority of Cruise’s projects have involved some sort of action element, with marketing often focusing on his stunts.
mission: impossible 2 was the beginning of this trend, especially thanks to Ethan Hunt’s intro scene. In this opening, Hunt – who is on vacation from the IMF – scales a cliff at Utah’s scenic Dead Horse Point. Hunt is free to climb the cliff solo without cables or safety harnesses, and at one point even skids over an overhang and hangs in the air. While Hunt may have climbed without safety gear, Cruise used a harness and – briefly – a double.
How Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 2 Mount Climb Stunt Was Filmed
In a 2000 interview with UKC, mission: impossible 2 experienced cameraman and climber Earl Wiggins broke down the footage. He explained that Cruise trained for Mission: Impossible 2 climbing scene with stunt double Ron Kauk, who would also escort him into position for each shot. The climb was filmed over five days, while winches were also used to get the star into position and out of position for the scene. For when Hunt – who “died” in several Assignment movies – slipping and clinging to the overhang, Wiggins revealed that Cruise’s double Keith Campbell did this particular stunt.
During the filming of this mission: impossible 2 climb, Cruise was still attached to safety cables or harnesses which were later removed in post with CGI. This includes Ethan’s impressive 15-foot jump from one side of the mountain to the other. Cruise performed many takes of this final jump himself to make sure he looked good. While the scene was criticized by experienced climbers for lacking reality, this opening did its main job of making Hunt look like a daredevil who liked to be – in this case literally – on the edge. Even with a safety cable, Tom Cruise’s work in this mission: impossible 2 The streak is amazing and showed his dedication to making things real.
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