WARNING: The following contains spoilers forMission: Impossible Fallout.
Its a good thing Tom Cruise andMission: Impossible Falloutdirector Christopher McQuarrie speak their own language.
We kind of look at each other and go, Yeah?
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Mmhmm, Uh, right, with the thing.
And Rebecca Ferguson is standing there going, You understand that no one else knows what youre talking about.
But to Tom and I, its so completely clear.
Paramount Pictures
After all, they were the only ones who thought it could be done.
Everybodytold [Tom] that it was impossible, but now Im just accustomed to it, McQuarrie says.
Theres always somebody willing to tell Tom Cruise, Hey, you know you cant do that.
Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures
Below, the director takes us through the steps to capturing the scene.
The Challenge
It wasnt just about jumping out of a plane at 25,000 feet.
It was also about lighting, camera technique, and selling the action.
Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures
(Remember: the sequence involves Ethan rescuing Henry Cavills August Walker mid-air.)
We got exactly one take every day.
So all day we would rehearse and then at dusk, youd have one opportunity to get the shot.
(If you cant see Cruises face, how do you knowhesthe one pulling off the stunt?)
Thats not just a prop, McQuarrie points out.
Its a proper life-saving gadget.
A life-saving equipment that could have just as easily ended lives as well.
To avoidthatscenario, the helmets were tested at an even higher altitude of 35,000 feet.
All of it was testedveryrigorously, he explains.
He pauses, then laughs.
It was anotherkindof impossible.
In the end, Cruise did 105 (105!)
Is the HALO jump really better than them all?
Its very difficult to say what is the quote-unquote biggest, he muses.
Theyre all complex, theyre all difficult, and theyre all extremely dangerous.
And then wed get another!
There was just simply too much movie, he concedes, laughing.
