1 of 3 | Tom Cruise celebrates his 64th birthday Friday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Longtime leading man Tom Cruise is celebrating his 64th birthday.
The actor has starred in a wide range of films, from teen comedy Risky Business to the Mission: Impossible action franchise, during his more than four-decade career.
Here are six of Cruise’s action-packed blockbusters perfect to watch over Fourth of July weekend.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
The 2022 action drama is the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 movie Top Gun, both starring Cruise as navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Maverick finds the title character assigned to train Top Gun graduates, including Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his late best friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards).
Also returning is Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, with other new cast members including Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell and Ed Harris.
Top Gun: Maverick is available to stream on Hulu, Prime Video and Paramount+.
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’
The 2018 action spy thriller is the sixth movie in the Mission: Impossible film series and the franchise’s highest-rated entry on Rotten Tomatoes at 98% fresh.
Cruise returns as Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt, whose assignment to stop terrorist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) takes him from Berlin to Paris and beyond.
Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Fallout features a scene of Cruise performing a high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) jump at 25,000 feet as Ethan. Cruise famously performs many of his own stunts.
Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin also star in the film, which is available to stream on Hulu, Prime Video and Paramount+.
‘Edge of Tomorrow’
The 2014 sci-fi action film written by McQuarrie and directed by Doug Liman is based on the Japanese light novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
Cruise and Emily Blunt star as William Cage and Rita Vrataski, two soldiers who become caught in a time loop while battling alien invaders known as mimics.
Also starring Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson, Edge of Tomorrow is available to rent on streaming platforms.
‘Jack Reacher’
The 2012 action thriller also written and directed by McQuarrie is based on the Lee Child novel One Shot, the ninth entry in his Jack Reacher book series.
Cruise stars as the title character, a former Army investigator-turned-drifter who agrees to investigate James Barr (Joseph Sikora), an ex-Army sniper accused of killing five people in Pittsburgh.
The cast also includes Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo and Robert Duvall.
Jack Reacher is available to stream on Prime Video, Paramount+ and MGM+.
‘Collateral’
Cruise takes a villainous turn in the 2004 neo-noir action thriller directed by Michael Mann.
The actor stars as Vincent, a sociopathic hitman who takes a Los Angeles cab driver, Max (Jamie Foxx), hostage as he carries out a killing spree.
Other cast members include Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg and Bruce McGill.
Collateral is available to stream on Prime Video and Paramount+.
‘Days of Thunder’
The 1990 sports action film is directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
Cruise stars as Cole Trickle, a young race car driver who is recruited to race in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Randy Quaid and Robert Duvall play Cole’s race team owner and crew chief, respectively.
Also starring Nicole Kidman, Days of Thunder features a high-speed showdown between Cole and his rival Russ Wheeler (Cary Elwes).
The movie is available to stream on Hulu, Prime Video and Paramount+.
Hollywood star Tom Cruise turns 64
Tom Cruises poses with director Steven Spielberg and actors Jodie Foster and Dustin Hoffman, left to right, after he was presented the 5th annual Artists Rights Foundation John Huston Award during a mock ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on April 17, 1998. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
