# Favorite Tom Cruise movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944 "2017-06-14T16:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/21 "2017-06-14T22:19:46Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes. Top Gun made my middle school years hell but I grew to like it after a while. Looks like you were [born too soon](http://www.behindthename.com/name/maverick/top/united-states). (FWIW, I was joking–I didn’t think that there was actually someone named Maverick.) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/22 "2017-06-14T22:36:36Z")
A Few Good Men ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/23 "2017-06-14T22:42:08Z")
I would definitely recommend catching Collateral. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/24 "2017-06-14T22:56:45Z")
I’ve enjoyed many of his movies, but I loved _Magnolia_. I’m still impressed that he chose to play his character. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/25 "2017-06-14T23:03:54Z")
Mission Impossible IV and Minority Report are his top movies. [His greatest scene, which I had the thrill of watching unspoiled in IMAX, was this.](https://youtu.be/gqocrvv26eo?t=97) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/26 "2017-06-14T23:08:59Z")
Loved him in **A Few Good Men** and **Collateral** , but **Jack Reacher** is my favorite. Great fun, that one. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/27 "2017-06-14T23:51:58Z")
Definitely _ **Magnolia** _ with _Collateral, Tropic Thunder_ and _Risky Business_ as runners-up. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/28 "2017-06-14T23:59:59Z")
Of his films **A Few Good Men** and **Rain Man** may be the best films he was in and his best work may have been in **Magnolia** , but I have to say, my favorite film of his, both from his performance and the film itself is **Jack Reacher**. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/29 "2017-06-15T00:17:58Z")
Risky Business. I like biographical stories about a person’s breakout role or song. ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/30 "2017-06-15T00:29:06Z")
Not on your list, but my favorite Tom Cruise movie is, without question, Jerry Maguire. I genuinely love everything about this move. Terrific acting, humor, pathos, and heart. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/31 "2017-06-15T00:40:24Z")
Tropic Thunder. The whole film is pure genius, from start to finish and top to bottom. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/32 "2017-06-15T00:59:04Z")
**Risky Business**. Runner up is **Collateral** but I only saw it once, when it first came out so it may not be as good as I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/33 "2017-06-15T02:02:36Z")
I haven’t seen everything but **Vanilla Sky** is the best of those I’ve seen. (And I have seen a healthy chunk of his films, except the ones that seemed clearly to be clones of his other films.) Following that would be Collateral (though, for me, that’s a Michael Mann film not a Tom Cruise film so the casting is incidental). Of actual Cruise movies, it’s a pretty sharp drop from there to **Interview with the Vampire** and then **Legend**. He has a lot of movies that are perfectly good, but they all fall into the territory of “generic Hollywood film”. Most of them are probably better than Legend and equal, from a technical sense, to Interview with the Vampire, but they don’t stand out for me as particularly noteworthy. He’s good at choosing films that have a serviceable script and directors who aren’t going to go off the rails and try to do anything too fancy. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he has some strong language in his contracts that allows him to override Directorial discretion, in favor of producing a money maker. Never seen Top Gun. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/34 "2017-06-15T02:41:04Z")
> [@Jungian\_Camisole](#): > > Not on your list, but my favorite Tom Cruise movie is, without question, Jerry Maguire. I genuinely love everything about this move. Terrific acting, humor, pathos, and heart. Yeah, why is this not on the list? With that said, _Jerry Maguire_ comes in second for me, after _Edge of Tomorrow_. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/35 "2017-06-15T05:23:46Z")
Crap! I would have included _Jerry Maguire_ on my shortlist. So make it four favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/36 "2017-06-15T13:21:46Z")
I despise Tom Cruise, but I’ve seen Rain Man many times. Mostly for Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar winning performance. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/37 "2017-06-15T13:35:39Z")
Jerry Maguire :smack: How the hell did that get left off the list? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/38 "2017-06-15T13:47:58Z")
I’m going with **A Few Good Men**. Most of his work is mediocre, strictly acting-wise; Tom Cruise is the kind of guy who succeeds not because he’s particularly talented, but rather because he’s doing pushups on a hotel room floor _right this very second_, i.e. he’s simply willing to outwork everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/39 "2017-06-15T14:10:54Z")
Here are the ones I liked. Most of the others I either haven’t seen or don’t remember what happened so may as well had never seen. Legend Rain Man Minority Report War of the Worlds Mission: Impossible III Knight and Day Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Jack Reacher Oblivion Edge of Tomorrow Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Probably my favourite is _War of the Worlds_, though I really like _Edge of Tomorrow_ too. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944/40 "2017-06-15T14:59:11Z")
I’m kind of surprised Collateral didn’t do better in this thread. It’s my favorite TC movie. Followed closely by A Few Good Men and Jerry McGuire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-tom-cruise-movie/788944.md?page=3)