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The TerminatorEaster eggs
Hidden details in every movie and series: 40 in total. Tap a poster to see its eggs. Titles you haven't marked as seen stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- ReferenceJim Phelps came from the TV show
On the TV series, IMF leader Jim Phelps was played by Peter Graves. In the film, the role went to Jon Voight.
source ↗ - CameoUncredited Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez shows up uncredited as Jack Harmon, one of the agents on Phelps's team in Prague.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesCoins in his shoes
For the CIA vault scene at Langley, Tom Cruise put British pound coins in his shoes as counterweights to stay level in midair.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSixteen tons of water
The restaurant aquarium explosion used 16 tons of water. Brian De Palma started with a stuntman, then asked Cruise to do it himself, even with the risk of drowning.
source ↗ - SetupAn analyst worth remembering
William Donloe, the CIA analyst who gets sick right in the middle of the Langley break-in, is played by Rolf Saxon. Remember the name: he comes back later.
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- CameoAnthony Hopkins hands out the mission
Anthony Hopkins appears uncredited as Mission Commander Swanbeck, who gives Ethan the assignment. Ian McKellen turned the part down because of a London stage commitment.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFree solo in Utah
The opening climb was shot at Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah, and the studio worried about safety. Cruise tore his shoulder on the jump from one part of the cliff to another.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA real knife
For the final fight, Cruise insisted on a real knife. It was attached to a cable measured to stop a quarter of an inch from his eye.
source ↗ - ReferenceShades of Hitchcock
The plot owes a lot to Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946): an agent sends the woman he loves to get close to her old flame, the villain.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe villain who lost Wolverine
The shoot ran long, and Dougray Scott, who plays Sean Ambrose, was also hurt in a motorcycle accident. That's why he dropped out of playing Wolverine in X-Men.
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- Behind the scenesJ. J. Abrams's debut
It was J. J. Abrams's first feature as director. Cruise offered him the job after watching the first two seasons of Alias.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesTwo directors before Abrams
David Fincher was attached in 2002 and left over creative differences. Joe Carnahan replaced him and quit too, in July 2004.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesEnter Benji Dunn
Simon Pegg debuts as Benji Dunn, the IMF tech. He auditioned back when Carnahan was still set to direct.
source ↗ - ReferenceNo Rollin Hand
Martin Landau, master of disguise Rollin Hand on the TV series, turned down a cameo. He didn't like where the franchise had gone.
source ↗ - SetupWhat is the Rabbit's Foot?
The film never explains what the Rabbit's Foot is, the object everyone is chasing. Remember the name: it comes back later.
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- ReferenceA113, Brad Bird's signature
Brad Bird, coming from animation, hides the A113 code twice: on Hanaway's ring and in the call sign Alpha 1-1-3.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesCables on the Burj Khalifa
Cruise really did climb the Burj Khalifa, but he was attached to the building by multiple cables at all times. Industrial Light & Magic erased them afterward.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIMAX instead of 3D
About 30 minutes were shot with IMAX cameras. Bird chose IMAX over 3D for a brighter image with no glasses.
source ↗ - CameoTwo uncredited cameos
Ving Rhames returns as Luther and Michelle Monaghan as Julia, both uncredited, in quick appearances.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesNo stunt doubles
Paula Patton and Léa Seydoux skipped stunt doubles for the Jane Carter vs. Sabine Moreau fight at the Burj Khalifa.
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- Behind the scenesEight takeoffs on the outside
Cruise hung off the side of an Airbus A400M more than 5,000 feet up, with no stunt double. The plane took off and landed eight times before they got the perfect shot.
source ↗ - ReferenceTurandot at the Vienna Opera
The opera sequence was shot at the Vienna State Opera during Puccini's Turandot. Composer Joe Kraemer worked the aria into three tracks of the score.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSix minutes without air
The underwater scene was shot in one long take with no cuts. Cruise trained to hold his breath for three minutes; stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood says he held it for just over six.
source ↗ - ReferenceIlsa, as in Casablanca
Cruise saw a resemblance between Rebecca Ferguson and Ingrid Bergman. The name Ilsa Faust nods to Ilsa Lund, Bergman's character in Casablanca (1942), and the film itself stops in Casablanca.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe Syndicate started on TV
On the TV series, the Syndicate was a crime organization the IMF went after often in the later seasons.
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- Behind the scenesThe first returning director
Christopher McQuarrie, who made Rogue Nation, became the series' first returning director. Until then, every film had a different one.
source ↗ - Behind the scenes106 jumps for one shot
Cruise did the HALO jump over Paris 106 times, practice included, falling at 200–220 mph from 25,000 to 30,000 feet. Each day allowed only three minutes of filming, near sunset.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe broken ankle made the cut
In London, Cruise broke his right ankle slamming into a wall on a rooftop jump. He finished the scene before admitting he was hurt, and the take is in the film. Production shut down for 7 to 8 weeks.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesHenry Cavill's mustache
Cavill had to keep August Walker's mustache while doing Justice League reshoots. Paramount wouldn't let him shave, so the mustache was digitally removed in Justice League.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe White Widow and the first film
Alanna Mitsopolis, Vanessa Kirby's White Widow, is the daughter of Max, the arms dealer Vanessa Redgrave played in the 1996 film.
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- ReferenceKittridge, 27 years later
Henry Czerny reprises Eugene Kittridge for the first time since the 1996 film, now as CIA director.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe Norwegian cliff jump
To prepare for the motorcycle cliff jump in Norway, Cruise did more than 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps. On the day, he did it six times.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA real train off a cliff
On August 20, 2021, a mockup locomotive was sent off the edge of a disused quarry in Stoney Middleton, in England's Peak District.
source ↗ - ReferenceBuster Keaton on the Orient Express
The train disaster references the climactic train wreck in The General (1926), Buster Keaton's silent classic.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesGabriel was almost Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Hoult dropped out over scheduling and Esai Morales stepped in. Since Morales and Cruise are close in age, McQuarrie saw a way to tie Gabriel to Ethan's past.
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- ReferenceDonloe, almost 30 years later
Rolf Saxon returns as William Donloe, the CIA analyst from the 1996 film. He was exiled to an island in the Bering Sea after Ethan's Langley break-in.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe Rabbit's Foot, at last
The Podkova module was developed from the Rabbit's Foot, the mystery object from Mission: Impossible III.
source ↗ - ReferenceJim Phelps's son
Agent Briggs, who arrests Ethan, is the son of Jim Phelps, the mentor who betrayed the team in the first film.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe invisible biplane pilot
Cruise held on to the wings of an open-cockpit biplane flying upside down. The pilot wore a greenscreen suit so he could be digitally removed.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA burning parachute record
During filming, Cruise set a Guinness World Record for the most burning parachute jumps by an individual: 16.
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Locked. These details give away parts of the title. Mark it as seen to unlock.
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