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 In creating `Lost' and `Alias,' J.J. Abrams has already invented his personal visual style: because the action derives organically from Abrams's very human characters, he chooses a natural, realistic, and gritty approach over stylized, slow-motion, and highly edited fighting sequences.
Legendary action director Vic Armstrong was charged with realizing J.J. Abrams's signature action style on the big screen in “Mission: Impossible III.” “All the initial discussions I had with J.J. were about the style,” stresses Armstrong. “J.J. wanted to put his own stamp on the action sequences; my job as an action director is to copy the style of the director. You need a seamless transition between the action and the rest of the film - it's all part of the same world. Once we had established that, I started looking at the action in the movie and what had to be achieved.”
In order to work out the complicated action shots and sequences, Abrams made full use of the pre-visualization capabilities at his disposal. Pre-visualization is the director's opportunity to describe an action sequence, as he envisions it, to a visual effects editor, who makes a CG representation of it. In this way, each department can see exactly what the specific requirements will be as they prepare to pull it off.
Special Effects Coordinator Dan Sudick explains, “When we sit down with the director and look at a pre-viz for the bridge sequence, for example, we can see the cars driving down the bridge, flipping, rolling, or whatever J.J. wants them to do. We take that information and do it in the real world. We take the cars and rig them to do exactly what is shown in the pre-viz.”
Once the heads of each department can see what the director intends for the sequence, they can begin the intricate work of realizing the sequence on film. Sudick continues the example of the bridge sequence: “There are a lot of cars to rig. Stunt players will drive many of them; each of those cars has to be fitted with roll cages. Then we have to work out how to get the performance from the cars: the rolls, flips, and explosions. It can take weeks to shoot a sequence that will appear in the film for only a few minutes.”
Armstrong - a movie-industry veteran of more than 40 years - says that his experience working with Tom Cruise on “War of the Worlds” prepared him for the actor-producer's well-known enthusiasm for performing his own stunts. “He's 100% hands on, which is ideal, because of his tremendous ability,” says Armstrong. “Having worked with him before really helped, because I designed the stunts with him in mind. We've done some amazing things with Tom; he went above and beyond what I expected him to do.”
For Abrams, achieving the effects in-camera (as opposed to with CGI) with Cruise performing as many of his own stunts as possible was a must. “All the latest CG technology is great - but if you can do something for real - actually have the actor perform the stunt and not rely on head replacement - well, nothing trumps that.”
“For me, it's part of the challenge of making movies,” says Cruise. “You can't take undue risks, but if you can train and perform a stunt in a way that gives the movie credibility - `Wow, that really is that guy doing that' - then it makes for a more entertaining experience for the audience.
One of the centerpiece stunts in the film is a sequence on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. “These are unique moves,” says Armstrong. “At one point, the bridge is blown apart; Ethan has to jump over a fifteen foot gap - he just makes it and hangs on by his finger nails. Tom had to hit the other side hard - people know what an impact looks like when you jump that sort of distance.”
Another impressive stunt on the bridge required Cruise to escape a rocket hit on one of the vehicles; he is lifted and blown across the bridge by the force of the explosion into a parked car. “He hits it so hard he blows out the back window,” says Armstrong. “We controlled the rig - on explosion, we ratcheted him into the side of the car. And he really hit it - he went in horizontally, flying through the air. The impact dented the door on the vehicle. And then, we did the stunt two or three more times. Tom really is game - if any stuntman had that shot on their resume, they would be very, very proud of it.”
Cruise, though, takes it in stride. “It's like being a wide receiver going over the middle - you know that you are going to get stuffed by the middle line backer as hard as he can hit you. I want it to be exciting for an audience; I hope they'll be right with that character at that moment. It had to be real.”
To prepare for the stunts in “M:i:III,” Cruise trained for many months. “When I was releasing `War of the Worlds,' I was training every day while I was traveling. I would do a warm up in the morning, then practice `dynamic movement,'” he notes. Often used by rock climbers, dynamic movement involves movement through momentum, rather than by becoming balanced. This type of movement is high-energy, requiring effort to keep momentum going, but by using an efficient use of a moving center-of-gravity, a person can reach further than by starting standing still. “My goal was to get everything going,” continues Cruise. “I needed that dynamic, explosive speed for what we all wanted to accomplish with the action and the story.”
Another dramatic stunt in “M:i:III” is a jump off an eighty-foot building. “He jumps - and free-falls for about fifty feet,” says Armstrong. “It was essential that Tom perform the stunt - not only do we see the jump and the fall, but Tom acting as the character falling. It wasn't about just having the guts to shut his eyes and jump on a bungee jump; Tom not only had to jump, but act as well. It's one of the most amazing things I have seen an actor do.”
“Tom drops, stopping eighteen inches above the concrete, and I found myself talking to someone else between takes,” says J.J. Abrams. “I realized I had become complacent about having Tom Cruise - who was entirely my responsibility - dangling from a crane, dropping at breakneck speed, stopping just above the ground. I remember thinking: `I have to get back to being terrified.'”
In a third spectacular jump off a building, Ethan Hunt dives from the roof of one skyscraper to another. “After Tom jumps off the skyscraper, he comes to the end of his tether and a pendulum effect starts snatching him in another direction,” says Armstrong. “Crashing down, he is hooked on a lamppost upside down; releasing himself, he finds himself on a busy street with a semi hurtling towards him.
“For this stunt, Tom lay in the street as a jackknifed rig, which is a forty foot truck with a tractor unit on the front of it, drives over him,” continues Armstrong. “If any of those cylinders failed, the truck would straighten out and flatten Tom. To test it out, I laid under it once and felt it go over my head; it was a very scary experience. For the real thing, I was standing on a hill beside one of the cameras and it seemed that the truck was driving straight at him forever before it started jackknifing around. You can imagine how I was feeling.”
“Tom Cruise raises the bar in this movie by doing his most intricate and amazing stunts to date,” says Wagner. “Not only is he a great actor, producer, and the premiere movie star in the world, but he is also a stuntman. He is very precise. When I stand there as a producer and I see Tom with a truck sliding over him, it's a little nerve-wracking, but I know he is totally in control of what he is doing.”
For Keri Russell - who had no major stunt experience before taking on “M:i:III” - Cruise's expertise was essential. “Jumping off a six story building isn't exactly something I had done before,” Russell laughs. “It was very scary the first time - my heart was pounding - but having Tom with me really helped. He said, `It's a breeze, let's do it. Are you excited?' And we jumped.”
 Next Page: About the Locations and Production Design |
  Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) was slated to direct M:i:III but dropped out in favor of another film.
“M:I:III” delivers all of the incredible action and breathtaking stunts that moviegoers expect from the franchise.
In exploring that, the filmmakers created a new life for Ethan Hunt
Writing team took special care to create a villain worthy of Ethan Hunt.
Let's talk about Ethan Hunt's IMF team members.
J.J. wanted to put his own stamp on the action sequences.
The locations were chosen because they were specifically part of the story.
The theme to “Mission: Impossible” is originally written by Lalo Schifrin, the theme sets the stage for all the action and suspense to come.
This is J.J. Abrams's vision, with his voice as a filmmaker.
Tom Cruise has achieved success as an actor and producer in a career spanning two and a half decades.
Ving Rhames, Philip S. Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, Sasha Alexander, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Michelle Monaghan, Maggie Q
J.J. Abrams, Paula Wagner, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Stratton Leopold, Dan Mindel, Scott Chambliss, Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey, Colleen Atwood, Michael Giacchino, Vic Armstrong, Roger Guyett, Dan Sudick.
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