There are, as a rule, only so many places you can go as an action movie after leaving Tom Cruise and flinging him
But in the kinetic, headlong world of B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible,B次元官网网址� the pressure to keep upping the ante B次元官网网址� like the filmsB次元官网网址� always-running star B次元官网网址� never stops.
B次元官网网址淓very time we finish a movie, the first thing Tom says to me is: We can do better,B次元官网网址� says Christopher McQuarrie.
McQuarrie, the writer-director of 2015B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible B次元官网网址� Rogue NationB次元官网网址� and the 2018 franchise high point, B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible B次元官网网址� Fallout,B次元官网网址� was working with Cruise on B次元官网网址� (which McQuarrie co-wrote and co-produced) when they started talking about their ambitions for the next iteration of B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible.B次元官网网址�
Their plan was to make not one but two sequels: Back-to-back blockbusters that would feature even bigger stunts B次元官网网址� Cruise envisioned a motorcycle jump-slash-skydive B次元官网网址� and a massive train sequence that McQuarrie pined to realize. The heady experience on B次元官网网址淢averick,B次元官网网址� a pop-culture juggernaut that grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide, only further ratcheted up their aspirations.
B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址楾op Gun: MaverickB次元官网网址� really taught us a lot in terms of character dynamics and the emotional payoff of the movie overall,B次元官网网址� McQuarrie said in a recent interview. B次元官网网址淭o be making movies on this scale, you really need to think about, more than anything, the feeling that the audience is left with going away.B次元官网网址�
A year after the box-office dominance of B次元官网网址淢averickB次元官网网址�, McQuarrie and Cruise are back with another high-flying spectacle of daring-do. Similar to B次元官网网址淢averick,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible B次元官网网址� Dead Reckoning Part OneB次元官网网址� is a state-of-the-art action extravaganza of old-school technique, made with star power, practical effects and stunt work designed to prompt exclamations of B次元官网网址淗e did what?B次元官网网址�
It was also their most nearly impossible mission yet B次元官网网址� and not just because of, according to Paramount Pictures, that Cruise did in preparation for his climactic stunt. B次元官网网址淒ead ReckoningB次元官网网址� was just days away from beginning production in Venice when COVID-19 cases began skyrocketing in Italy, an early epicenter.
B次元官网网址淢ission: ImpossibleB次元官网网址� was one of the first major productions to be shut down by the pandemic. Months later, Cruise and B次元官网网址淒ead ReckoningB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� a globe-trotting $290 million movie so logistically complicated that it for initial plans to blow up a century-old bridge in Poland B次元官网网址� led an industry-wide effort to get movie business back on line during the pandemic. An already high-stress production became even more tense. In December 2020, yelling at two crew members for not obeying COVID-19 protocols.
B次元官网网址淲e are the gold standard,B次元官网网址� Cruise said in the recording. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what weB次元官网网址檙e doing.B次元官网网址�
There were numerous delays and pivots along the way. But McQuarrie says he never thought B次元官网网址淒ead ReckoningB次元官网网址� wouldnB次元官网网址檛 get finished.
B次元官网网址淲e just kept moving forward because if you stopped, if you were trying to find the end of the tunnel, you would just reach a place of such despair,B次元官网网址� says McQuarrie.
McQuarrie and Cruise first collaborated on the 2008 Hitler assassination drama B次元官网网址淰alkyrie.B次元官网网址� McQuarrie, the famed screenwriter of B次元官网网址淭he Usual Suspects,B次元官网网址� was then in proverbial movie jail for his poorly received directorial debut, B次元官网网址淭he Way of the Gun.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hen I met Tom in 2006, I had not directed a film in seven years,B次元官网网址� McQuarrie says. B次元官网网址淚 wouldnB次元官网网址檛 direct a film again for another five years. I had really put any ambitions I had to direct out of my mind. I certainly never imagined being considered an action director, let alone directing four action films.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚n B次元官网网址楧ead Reckoning,B次元官网网址� youB次元官网网址檙e seeing the ghosts of all the movies that I was never allowed to make,B次元官网网址� he adds.
Unlikely as it may be, McQuarrie (whoB次元官网网址檚 also directing the already-shooting part two of B次元官网网址淒ead ReckoningB次元官网网址�) has emerged as the architect of one of the most visceral action franchises.
In B次元官网网址淒ead Reckoning,B次元官网网址� Ethan Hunt faces off with a rogue artificial intelligence, a prescient and well-suited antagonist for a movie universe built less on CGI than practical effects. McQuarrie told Cruise he wanted to wanted to take B次元官网网址淢ission: ImpossibleB次元官网网址� beyond the threat of a terrorist getting hold of a deadly weapon.
B次元官网网址淎nother lesson we took from B次元官网网址楾op GunB次元官网网址� was: What is the audience bringing to the movie? B次元官网网址楾op GunB次元官网网址� came out of Cold War anxieties. I said to Tom in 2019: What anxiety is it now?B次元官网网址� says McQuarrie. B次元官网网址淲hat we didnB次元官网网址檛 anticipate was the level to which it would accelerate.B次元官网网址�
In B次元官网网址淢ission: Impossible,B次元官网网址� what you see is rarely what you get. Hunt and his team of spies are masters of deception. At the same time, McQuarrie and his crew, including cinematographer Fraser Taggart, go to considerable lengths to ensure what the audience is watching feels authentic and immersive.
B次元官网网址淭he challenge normally is hiding the fact that itB次元官网网址檚 not the actor doing it,B次元官网网址� says McQuarrie. B次元官网网址淎nd here the reverse is the case. YouB次元官网网址檙e actually going to great lengths to show that TomB次元官网网址檚 actually doing it.B次元官网网址�
Taggart, who had shot the helicopter sequence in B次元官网网址淔allout,B次元官网网址� says heB次元官网网址檚 never worked with an actor so resistant to stunt doubles as Cruise B次元官网网址� even in the most innocuous of shots.
B次元官网网址淭om wonB次元官网网址檛 do it. He just refuses, even to the extent of youB次元官网网址檒l do an insert of hand,B次元官网网址� says Taggart. B次元官网网址淚t canB次元官网网址檛 be anyone else doing it, as you would on other projects. Tom will insist thatB次元官网网址檚 him.B次元官网网址�
Just as B次元官网网址淭op Gun: MaverickB次元官网网址� strove to get as many cameras in the cockpits of fighter jets, the set-pieces of B次元官网网址淢ission: ImpossibleB次元官网网址� are choreographed to get cameras as close to Cruise and the cast B次元官网网址� here that includes Hayley Atwell, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby B次元官网网址� as possible.
For Taggart, that meant getting his head around often dizzying challenges like shooting a scene involving a train moving 60 miles an hour through a mountainous Scandinavian landscape with uncontrollable weather conditions. He didnB次元官网网址檛 want just fixed cameras.
B次元官网网址淪o now weB次元官网网址檝e got to get a whole camera crew involved and some lighting and weB次元官网网址檒l probably end up with 10 people strapped to the top of a train carriage, including an old-fashioned physical camera up there,B次元官网网址� says Taggart. B次元官网网址淵ou think: Can we actually get 10 people on top of the train doing 60 miles an hour? ThatB次元官网网址檚 the challenge because youB次元官网网址檇 really like all of your crew and actors to survive the shoot.B次元官网网址�
In another sequence with characters inside a falling train cabin, they suspended a camera operator, Chunky Richmond, on stunt wires so he was hanging alongside the actors. For a nighttime chase through the byzantine passageways of Venice B次元官网网址� for Taggart one of the most complex tasks of B次元官网网址淒ead ReckoningB次元官网网址� because of the inherent darkness of the city B次元官网网址� they knocked on doors everywhere along the route to get cameras on terraces and pointed out windows.
For an elaborate car chase in Rome, Taggart used robotic arms on vehicles that were mounted but could also move.
B次元官网网址淲e always try technology but we usually break it all,B次元官网网址� he says.
McQuarrie has said he likes to write B次元官网网址淢ission: ImpossibleB次元官网网址� movies as theyB次元官网网址檙e shooting; B次元官网网址淔alloutB次元官网网址� began without just an outline. Production on B次元官网网址淧art TwoB次元官网网址� has been paused during the promotion on B次元官网网址淧art One,B次元官网网址� and itB次元官网网址檚 unclear if the ongoing writers strike would threaten production on the sequel. But for McQuarrie and company, the only way to make a B次元官网网址淢ission: ImpossibleB次元官网网址� movie is full tilt.
B次元官网网址淓verything weB次元官网网址檙e doing is by the seat of our pants,B次元官网网址� says McQuarrie. B次元官网网址淲e want you to come to the movie and experience it the same way the characters are, which is: I donB次元官网网址檛 know whatB次元官网网址檚 going to happen next.B次元官网网址�
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