Best Tom Cruise Movies Ranked - and 2018 Blockbuster With 'Insane Set Pieces' Is Number 1
Tom Cruise has churned out hit after hit during his career, and it's tough to choose the best of the bunch. 1980s-era fans, for example, might choose Top Gun. Some people might prefer his most serious dramas, like Born on the Fourth of July or Rain Man.
However, an action movie with "insane set pieces" ranked at the top of Rotten Tomatoes' list of the best Tom Cruise movies. It's a 2018 movie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout. "Fast, sleek, and fun, Mission: Impossible - Fallout lives up to the 'impossible' part of its name by setting yet another high mark for insane set pieces in a franchise full of them," Rotten Tomatoes wrote, noting that the movie scored a 98% positive rating, the highest of any Cruise film.
Some Sites Rank the Best Tom Cruise Movies Differently
Which movies round out the top 6 on Rotten Tomatoes' list? They are in order: Top Gun: Maverick; Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1; Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation; Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol; and Risky Business. In case you're curious, Top Gun places 31st on that list.
However, it's a tribute to the depth of Cruise's movie list that other sites are all over the map, with multiple other Cruise movies also being named to the number one spot.
Other lists make a different choice for the best Tom Cruise movie ever. They are:
Stu Loves Movies chooses Magnolia.
Gold Derby choseJerry Maguire.
IMDb listedTop Gun: Maverick in the top spot. AARP agrees with that choice.
MovieFone choseTop Gun.
Vulture scored Interview With a Vampire highest.
Critics & Audiences Loved the Action Sequences in 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout'
Critics loved Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and so did audiences.
"Ironically, the most entertaining element of all may be the star's advancing age; Cruise, well into his 50s, scores numerous laughs as the increasingly confused CIA agent, leaping into one spectacular stunt after another and then wishing he hadn't," wrote J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader.
Many critics singled out the movie's stunts for praise.
"By 2018, a franchise that began with Tom Cruise dangling from the ceiling of a Langley vault was dangling him off a 1,981-foot-high cliff, illustrating how Mission Impossible's stunts have only gotten bigger, bolder and more bonkers," wrote critic Gayle Sequeira.
Fans were equally full of praise on the Rotten Tomatoes site. "My favorite movie on the saga and my favorite action movie, its simply perfect, it has one of my favorite scenes ever, the last fight with Ethan Hunt and Walker, also I like a lot the Solomon Lane thing, a perfect movie," wrote one.
"This is the last truly entertaining movie in the franchise, where original characters remain true and the stakes are not too high. Don't skip it!" wrote another person.
"Mission: Impossible- Fallout is the second best film in the series thus far. Everything is amazing in this movie! The plot is great and really shows that they have got the formula down for these movies," a fan noted. "Best Mission Impossible and one of the best action movies altogether. Non-stop amazing action and an absolutely stunning helicopter sequence,": another fan wrote.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 5:20 PM.