The Tom Cruise Effect: Cinema's Last True Movie Star with Rhys Crook

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On this week's episode of the Fandom Portals
podcast, I sit down withup-and-coming Australian
podcaster Reese Crook.
She's got a show called theCrook Cut and the link to that
will be in the show notes below.
But we sit down and talk abouteverything to do with Tom Cruise
, from his career highs to hiscareer lows, to our personal
favorite films of his, and webreak down why those films are
so impactful to us.
But then we also give somerecommendations for all of you

(00:22):
people out there who are veryfamiliar with Tom Cruise and
some people who are brand new tothe Tom Cruise experience.
We go through it all guys, sodefinitely go and give Reese
Crook a follow.
She was a great guest to haveon a bubbly personality and was
an awesome chat, so we hope youenjoy.

(00:53):
Welcome to the Fandom Portalspodcast, the podcast that
explores how fandoms help uslearn and grow.
In this episode we're going todive into the career of Tom
Cruise, the man that many maycall the last true movie star.
But today I'm not doing italone.
Joining us is Rhys Crook fromthe Crook Cut podcast.
She is a very vibrantpersonality with a deep love for
cinema and we're thrilled tohave her insight on our episode

(01:16):
today.
How are you going today, rhys?
It's good to have you on.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, I'm good.
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
I told you before I'm having a bit of a fangirl
moment because I've beenlistening to your pod, so I'm
very humbled to be here Iappreciate that too, and I'm a
big fan of your podcast too theCrook Cut we were talking before
about your shark episode, butalso you've released some on M
Night Shyamalan and things likethat, and it's just a really
authentic look at cinema throughyour personality and your

(01:41):
viewpoint, which I think isreally awesome, and it's just a
really great place to go andcheck out some really great
movie knowledge and just somereally great opinions on those
movies as well.
We'll link all those in theshow notes below, but did you
want to give the audience alittle bit of a rundown on what
your podcast is, what you talkabout, how you sort of came
about it, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
So, yeah, I had a bit of like an injury a couple of
years ago and I had to be likesitting a lot.
So I got into movies and then Ialways say that like changed my
life.
I don't know, I like startedwatching them and I was like, oh
my gosh, there's a whole worldof like movies out there.
Besides, like you know, my onesI would watch all the time, and
then, with the podcasting stuff, I just needed a place to just

(02:23):
talk about it.
I think my friends and familywere going a bit like stir crazy
with the amount of cinema chatI would have.
So I made it, but I wanted it tobe a little bit different from
like reviews and things, becauseI think that they're a dime, a
dozen and, while I love themmyself, I wanted to be a little
different.
So I try and come up with likea little theme for the episode

(02:44):
and then I pick a couple moviesthat might tie into that theme
and then lately, yeah, like withmy shark episode, I just I feel
like sometimes I have someopinions that might be a little
bit different to the masses.
So I was like testing the watersis the pun to see how it went
and I think that one was prettywell received actually

(03:07):
absolutely but how a bit randomit was.
But anyway, so that's kind ofit.
It's very, it's unscripted,it's very casual.
I try and be like as passionateand like authentic as I can
with what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, so that's basically it yeah, and I think
it's definitely making wavesagain to make a pun.
But, um, I I feel like that'sthe best way to go about this
sort of podcasting thing Because, as you said, film and TV
podcasts they are like there area lot of them and a lot of them
are very good and a lot of them, you know they also cover a lot
of the same stuff.
So the thing that stands youapart is obviously being
yourself, being authentic,because that's kind of the only

(03:40):
individual thing about yourpodcast, apart from the theme
and things like that.
So it's really really a creditto you that you're sort of
diving into that space, becauseit's also really hard to put
yourself out there as yourselfand have people listen to the
things that you're saying whenyou're being authentically you.
Yeah, I commend your braveryfor that because it's really a

(04:02):
it can be a very rewarding space, but it can also be very risky.
Well done.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
That's all good, okay .
So in this episode, guys, rhysand I are going to talk about
Tom Cruise and why he's stillone of Hollywood's most bankable
and enduring stars.
We're going to talk about thehighs and lows of his 40 plus
career in Hollywood, and we'realso going to look at some of
the top Tom Cruise picks andrecommendations from Rhys and I
and some of the movies that arestill on our watch list.

(04:28):
So if you're a Tom Cruise fan,this is the place for you, and
if you're not a Tom Cruise fan,that's okay.
I'm sure we'll probably saysome bad things about him today
too, so it'll go both ways Allright.
So, to start off with Rhys, Iwant to ask you when was the
first time you saw Tom Cruise onyour screen, what were your
thoughts of him and what areyour thoughts of him as a movie
star?
In quotes Okay.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
So I went back through the archives and I
actually think my introductionwas either Rain man or Minority
Report and I would have onlybeen like like 11 or something
Like I would have been prettyyoung, I think.
Rain man I actually think he,kind of like Dustin Hoffman,
stands out more in that film forthe performance, but I was kind

(05:07):
of like, oh, this isinteresting.
And then Minority Report yeah,I was just like like I think
there's some bike sequences.
It's been a while since I'veseen it.
Like he's on a motorbike inthat one as well.
So I remember like wonderingabout.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
That was probably my first time I'd reallyed into
like stunt work and stuff.
And then I remember asking mydad and he was like, oh yeah,
tom cruise does all that.
And I was like, okay, he's apretty, he's a pretty active now
, 63 year old.
But it's amazing to think abouthow many of those stunts that
he actually does that he'sactually now become known for.
But to your point, I alsowatched minority report.
When it came out I was a littlebit older than that.
But yeah, it kind of blew meaway as well, because it was the
first real sort of deep sci-fimovie that I saw.

(05:50):
And then by the end of it I'dnever seen a protagonist go
through a movie and then getlike really injured through the
movie, because you know heobviously sells his eyes and
that one all loses his eyesightand that was just like a real
sort of blow away moment for me.
But the first thing I actuallysaw Tom Cruise in was his
Mission Impossible movie, whichcame out in 1996.
I obviously didn't watch itthen.

(06:10):
I was six years old then to agemyself.
But I watched it probably whenI was around 11 or 12 as well,
on a VHS tape from Blockbuster,which is again aging myself.
But yeah, I was just also blownaway by the mysterious sort of
crime thriller of all of that.
And that was the first filmthat he kind of produced.
So he's already a very muchestablished star at this point

(06:32):
and he'd moved into other roles,into the film industry too,
into producing and things likethat.
So I was just like I loved theensemble, I loved his
performance in it as well,because he did play a very sort
of charismatic leading man inEthan Hunt for that one as well.
After that sort of came out andafter I watched that, I remember
watching Mission Impossible 2and that was a bit of a battle

(06:52):
in my house because when Iwatched that Tom Cruise had just
divorced Nicole Kidman and mymum was very much on the Nicole
Kidman side of the track.
So it was very hard to watch aTom Cruise movie in my house
after that sort of occurred.
But I really liked the factthat Mission Impossible 2 was
filmed in Australia and youcould see a lot of the different
Australian sort of landmarksthrough there, like the Harbour
Bridge and things like that,even though I don't think it's

(07:13):
like a standout movie in hissort of filmography as it is.
Mission Impossible 2 isprobably the worst of the
Mission Impossibles in myopinion.
Yeah, I just liked that it wasfilmed in Australia.
So those were the two that Isort of knew about, and then he
kind of kept popping up on mysort of radar after that until
eventually, obviously, theMission Impossible franchise
just blew him up in that space.

(07:35):
So he's definitely consideredone of the last movie stars.
Have you heard that before,rhys, that he's the last movie
star?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, I read something the other day saying
it was, I think, a headline, andit said Tom Cruise is
single-handedly keeping the artof cinema making, or however
they phrased it alive, which isinteresting.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, yeah, I definitely think that,
especially after the COVIDpandemic sort of happened, there
was a lot of risk happening inthe cinema space and there was a
lot of people that were reallyuneasy about what the cinema
experience would look like afterthat.
So were people going to comeback to the movies after that?
There was a lot of unknowns.
So Tom Cruise, obviously beinga man who he's not really

(08:15):
actually, I don't think he'sever been on a movie that goes
straight to streaming because heis an advocate for the cinema
experience, he loves going tothe movies.
He says it all the time.
There's like a meme that goesaround and I put up on the
Instagram pretty much whenever Isee it and it says you know
what are you going to do thisweekend?
It says I pretty much watch amovie a day, like I love movies,
that kind of thing.
So he's definitely like a movielover and it shows in his work.

(08:38):
So I think the fact that he'sso passionate about the cinema
experience, I can get behind himon that.
And then, yeah, when covid cameout in, obviously in 22, when it
started to ease, he's beencredited as being responsible
for bringing people back to thetheaters with top gun, maverick,
which we might talk about alittle bit later as well, but
he's also one of the last peoplethat you can sort of say that

(09:01):
he's going to be in a movie andthat's the draw card for the
movie.
Because, you know, these daysyou've got the franchises like
Star Wars and Marvel, and ifthat's attached to it then
people will go to watch it.
But if he's in an unknown movieand it's just his name, like
Tom Cruise, draws a crowd, in myopinion, all right.
So after that, let's have alittle bit of a chat about some

(09:21):
early favorites for you.
So when you watched Rain man,did you immediately like it?
Because you obviously said thatDustin Hoffman was the sort of
standout performance for you.
What sort of journey did you goon after that with Tom Cruise?
What do you remember watchinghim in?
What were your thoughts on himafter that, especially in terms
of his, like, off-screen life aswell?

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, so I think like I didn't really know much about
him, to be honest, I beingyounger, like so young, sorry.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
No, that's okay.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
I only just watched Mission Impossible, like two
months ago.
I watched Top Gun, the firstone, and again there's that
weird kissing scene in it.
It's like a really obscure,like weird scene that happens
and that's like all I can reallyremember of that movie.
But I remember thinking like,like it was such I hate using

(10:11):
the term but it's such like aboy's movie, because Tom Clancy,
to me, is such a boy actor, ifthat makes sense.
He's making films for likeblokey blokes, in my opinion,
and with especially like all hisaction stuff.
So I remember watching Top Gun.
But one thing that I think Ialways seem to notice in his
films is it's all like this,like blokey, bloke action.
But then there's always thislike real pivotal moment where
it's like all of a sudden so sador like like there's a big

(10:34):
lesson to be learned here.
And I feel like what'sconsistent in his characters is
like they always have such a bigarc.
I just watched Edge of Tomorrow, like a month and similar thing
like he's such like at thestart you're just like really
dude, and then at the end you'relike rooting for him, you know,
and I found, like all hischaracters, from what I've seen,
to sort of be like that even inRayman, because he obviously

(10:56):
doesn't know that he has abrother and he's a bit of a cool
guy and then at the end likethere's a bit of like acceptance
there, that as well.
Anyway, I don't know much abouthim offscreen outside of
Mission Impossible and him sortof doing his stunts, but yeah,
that's sort of what I think ofhim in those movies and things
like that.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, I think that's a really valid point because
obviously he is thatgenerational star.
So my history with him is verydifferent from your history with
him and I think that those twoopinions are really sort of
valid and really good.
To your point about him beinglike a bloke sort of movie star,
I can definitely agree becausehe has leaned into the action
genre, especially later in hiscareer when he kind of

(11:38):
reinvented himself after a wholelot of scandal in the early
2000s, so between 2000 and 2005,.
His life was a little bit sortof tumultuous and he kind of had
to reinvent himself to becomewhat he is today and he kind of
did lean into the stunt, heavyMission Impossible sort of
movies.
But to agree with you as well, Ido feel like all of his
characters sort of start thesame way and some people really

(12:00):
hate that about Tom Cruisemovies where they'll see him and
he's kind of like arrogant aPeople really hate that about
Tom Cruise movies where they'llsee him and he's kind of like
arrogant, a little bitchauvinistic and kind of
charismatic in like a not sogood way.
But then obviously he's acharacter that has that sort of
deep heart as well and as hegoes on in the movie.
There's the lessons that sortof he learns and then by the end

(12:31):
of it he becomes a sort ofdifferent person and that sort
of transition, that sort ofcoming of age almost, or coming
to a realization, is what I liketo go to the movies for as well
.
So I I definitely think thathe's action heavy in this space
because, looking at his catalogas well, he did dip his toes
into some some dramas and somesort of more sentimental roles
in the late 90s and he wasactually credited as having like
a couple of Golden Globe winsand nominations and things like
that as well.
So he's had three wins in aGolden Globe.

(12:53):
Those were for Born on theFourth of July, jerry Maguire
and Magnolia.
I've only seen two of those.
I haven't seen Born on theFourth of July.
Have you seen any of thosethree?

Speaker 2 (13:04):
I think I saw the first one.
You said Born on the 4th ofJuly.
Have you seen any of thosethree?
I think I saw the first one.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
you said Born on the 4th of July.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
No, I saw one of them , not Magnolia.
What was the other one you said?

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Jerry Maguire.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, I've seen that.
I can't remember a single thingabout that.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah.
So some of the famous lines inJerry Maguire is like you had me
at hello.
Obviously Rene Zalwega at thatpoint says after he comes to try
and win her back you had me athello, show me the money is
another really famous line fromfrom that movie.
And yeah, he, he's basically asports broker and he goes in and
he's the hot shot of his careerbut then through a massive
change in the business he losesall of his candidates except for

(13:39):
one, that is, a.
He's basically a, a very riskycandidate and nobody really
wants to bank on him as a sportsstar.
He's a football player playedby Cuba Gooding Jr, and through
that he's also going on aromance with Renee Zellweger and
he learns through that not tovalue his career as much as he
does as the connections withpeople, and sometimes that can
foster success in career throughyour connection with people as

(14:00):
well.
So he plays a kind ofsentimental character by the end
of that.
That really learns to valuelove, which I like about that
one.
And Magnolia is probably hismost critically acclaimed movie
in terms of like it's his toprated film on on letterboxd and
he he also.
It's kind of an ensemble movieand he plays a small part in it,
but he's his emotionalresonance through.

(14:22):
That is what sort of stands outin that.
But funny fun fact about TomCruise he's had as many Golden
Globe wins as he has had wives,so he's had three.
That's about Tom Cruise.
He's also been nominated forsome Academy Awards.
He's been nominated for threebut he's never won again for the
same three movies Born on the4th of July Jerry Maguire and
Magnolia.
But yeah, he's definitely knownfor his stunts and his career

(14:44):
moves, which sort of started tohappen as he exited or went into
a relationship with kind ofparamount and he started his
mission impossible franchise.
Have you watched all themission impossibles?

Speaker 2 (14:54):
the first one yeah I've only seen the first one.
I was gonna like try and watchthem all before the new movie,
but I this just really wasn'tfor me in terms of like it's
just not a movie I would pickfirst.
But I like his character inthat one as well.
I at the start, when EmilioEstevav like that happens, he's
sort of like you sort of see theturning point kind of early in

(15:15):
the character.
In my opinion I really likethat character, probably more so
than his other characters interms of like he doesn't start
out arrogant in that one yeah,yeah and that's really the tom
cruise stick in my opinion, likehe always is.
So you just like I hate this guyhe's a bit cringe.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
at the start of almost all of his movies uh even
even top gun, like that wasthat was his he sticked through
the whole movie until obviouslyhe goes through that traumatic
turning point as we were talkingabout losing gooseose, which
sort of turned him around.
But by the end of that movie hekind of didn't go through as
much growth as you'd expect fromlosing your best friend, but
also it kind of being quote hisfault, so to speak.

(15:54):
But yeah, I do agree that EthanHunt is definitely his most
famous character and you're infor a treat because as you watch
and if you end up watching therest of the Mission Impossible
movies, he does get more sotoward the vein of valuing his
team and being very charismatic.
And one line he says through alot of the franchise is I won't

(16:15):
let you down, which is almostlike epitomous of the character
of Ethan Hunt.
And he starts to gather aconsistent team around him
through the Mission Impossiblefranchise.
And then I was prettydisappointed actually with the
final one.
I think it definitely peaks atFallout with Henry Cavill.
Have you seen that meme goingaround with Henry Cavill and the

(16:35):
mustache in the bathroom, sortof reloading his arms?

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Maybe I don't know, I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, well, that's like a really famous scene from
it and he's yeah, it's just oneof those action-packed sort of
fight scenes that occur and thatwas like the drawcard for that
movie.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
You sort of feel like as they go on, it's more stunt
heavy for a reason.
Less story Is that sort of.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
I don't really know much about them.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
I know that Mission Impossible 2 is universally
hated, yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Impossible 2 is universally hated, yeah, and
Mission Impossible 3 came out ata really bad time in his career
, so that kind of bombed.
But 3 is my favorite becausePhilip Seymour Hoffman just does
a really amazing performance inthat movie, which he kind of
always does, and it starts intragedy.
But you're absolutely right, asit goes along, the movie's
branding even was verysynonymous with the big stunt
that Tom Cruise would do in thatmovie.

(17:26):
So he climbs the tallestbuilding in the world, he rides
a motorbike off a massivemountain, he hangs off planes
and through his press junketsand things.
There's always questions abouthow he approaches those stunts
and that's part of the way thathe kind of reinvented himself
after the big scandal between2000 and 2005.

(17:47):
Do you know much about thatscandal?
No, I'll happily fill you in onthe goss.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
I was only born during that time.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, this is great, then I'm going to give you a
history lesson.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
I was just going to say about the Mission Impossible
.
I always see that video isalways recycled of him breaking
his foot on the building.
That I always see that video isalways recycled of him breaking
his foot on the building.
That was sort of all I knewabout Mission Impossible pre
this year.
And then I have a mate who waslike, oh, Mission Impossible 8,
I think, and I was like there'seight of these, yeah yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
So eight came out this year.
But yeah, he completelyshattered his ankle and you know
they go on to the bravado sortof quotes.
After that he finished the takeand he looked at the cameraman
and said, did you get that?
And then he finished the movieLike, is that that kind of thing
?
That sort of circulates thatmeme behind the scenes as well.
But yeah, he does put his lifeon the line for cinema, which is
why a lot of people call himthe last movie star.

(18:37):
But yeah, with that sort ofperiod of disgrace you might say
he'd obviously just gotten adivorce from Nicole Kidman.
He'd lost his publicist, whodid a lot of the PR for him,
which really increased histrajectory in the 80s and 90s
into, like, really famous andbankable star.
He lost his publicist, whichmeans he was doing a lot of his
own fielding in terms of pressquestions and things like that,

(18:58):
and a lot of things started tosurface about his connections to
Scientology and then hisrelationship with Katie Holmes
as well.
If you're familiar with that,have you ever seen him jumping
on a couch on Oprah?
I don't think so.
It's been heavily sort ofrecreated through pop culture.
I think they even did a skit onFamily Guy, but that was sort
of like the turning point foreverybody, where they were like
he was celebrating his love forKatie Holmes at the time and he

(19:20):
was sort of jumping on the couchand just really making a
downright fool of himself, andthen everybody was kind of off
him after that.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
He couldn't get a really good movie.
We haven't been a guy who lovessomeone.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh yeah, exactly right.
And you know, looking back onit, you sort of look at it and
think you know what was the deal.
To publicly express that?
Because, for example, I justsaw on my Instagram Benson Boone
literally stood on JimmyFallon's desk and did a backflip
.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
I've seen that video.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
Yeah, what a man.
Right, that man can flip.
But yeah, we digress.
I think that, yeah, for thetime it was kind of outlandish,
especially for his image, andfrom that he didn't really start
to pick up again until hestarted to be in another
Spielberg classic War of theWorlds.
If you haven't seen that,that's probably another one of

(20:10):
my favorites that you shouldprobably check out as well.
It's obviously a remake, butit's it's a spielberg sort of
masterpiece, in my my opinion.
Come that just before missionimpossible 3, he's also been in
some comedic sort of movies.
Have you watched tropic thunder?

Speaker 2 (20:18):
have.
But I was trying to recall hischaracter because I keep seeing
the lately on my feed is theclip of Ben Stiller pretending
to be his stunt double and Ithought it had come out of that
movie but I can't recall whatcharacter he plays.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yeah, so that clip actually comes from like a
Saturday Night Live thing andthat's the reason that Ben
Stiller got Tom Cruise to playthis character in Tropic Thunder
because they had that sort ofcomedic relationship and pairing
together.
You know, the bald guy with theglasses, that's like the boss
of the whole film industry.
His name's Les Grossman.
He's like the angry one that'son the end of the phone and he

(20:54):
dances at the end of the movie.
That's Tom Cruise.
He's completely lost in thatrole.
Okay.
Yeah, he's like MatthewMcConaughey's boss in it and he
has so many cool one-liners init as well.
And, yeah, he just sort of kindof took the piss out of himself
a bit.
So the audiences were just like, okay, this guy's kind of.
You know he's up on the riseagain, but then it wasn't until
2014 when he started in Edge ofTomorrow, where everybody was

(21:17):
like okay, and then Rogue Nationcame after that.
That he was like really backingeveryone's sort of good graces.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
Sort of.
I watched this in year 12 inclass.
My teacher put on the LastSamurai, oh, and I, I don't know
I was half checked in, halfwatching.
Was there any sort of I knowyou're talking about, like the
controversy between 2000 and2005.
I know that that movie probablyhasn't aged as well due to the
fact that he was playing asamurai character.

(21:46):
Did that?
Was any, to your knowledge,sort of controversy about that
one between 2000, 2005 at all?
I?

Speaker 1 (21:53):
think that's sort of like a now thing.
I think that the last samurai.
It was critically acclaimed forwhat it was directed by edward
zirich as well, but I think thatthe controversy sort of came a
little bit later for for thelast samurai, because the
original cut was also reallyreally long and it didn't
perform as well as everybodysort of expected.

(22:15):
But I actually think it's likeit's a decent sort of movie.
I'm surprised that you wereable to watch that in in high
school, because that's like,yeah, this is what my catholic
school.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
In my religion class we had an assignment on how we
used to kind of do things waslike we would have a piece of
media and then like we'd have tofind the god character sort of
thing or like the influence ofgod.
That's just what we had to dowith that in that class.
So we watched the last samurai.
I remember and like I don'twant to get cancelled, but I
remember like not having anissue with it.

(22:46):
Like when I think about it I'mlike probably not the right
casting choice but in terms oflike the movie and that
character, I thought it was likeI was pretty I was only half
watching it, being at school ina room for other people, but
like I found it to be quite likeinteresting and like pretty
good I and it's very Tom Cruisecoded Like.
that's probably the type ofcharacter you would and movie

(23:08):
you would expect him to be in.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, I think you're exactly right there and you know
, when a school or a teacher orsomebody says to you being a
teacher myself when they say toyou you have to watch this and
do an assessment on it, you'reimmediately like checked out.
I don't like not reallyinvolved in this anymore, like
don't tell me what I shouldwatch and how I should think
about it.
So I definitely get that sortof aspect of it as well.
With the Last Samurai, I thinkthat it's like it's I mean, you

(23:34):
could use it in a history classand things like that.
But I think, yeah, the biggestcontroversy came from a white
guy, tom Cruise, such a titlespot in a very Asian-heavy sort
of historical film.
So, yeah, that came out in 2003, right in the middle of that
sort of naughty period, we'llsay from Tom Cruise.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
You're jumping on the couch.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, well, jumping on the couch.
And also he was prettyoutspoken in his views on
Scientology as well, which canbe regarded sometimes as a cult,
which is a pretty big face inScientology, but it's actually a
very it's a recognized religionin the United States but it
does have some pretty outlandishsort of theorems and things

(24:17):
like that.
I won't dive too much into thatbecause, yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
He is nothing, if not opinionated.
From everything I've ever seen,he's got an agenda always to
share his opinion and histhoughts.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Yeah, I can agree with that too.
But I think lately I don't knowhe must have a really good PR
person because he seems likesuch a great advocate for cinema
now, like that's what.
I'm seeing a lot of him lately,like on the, on the social
medias.
I always see him at thepremieres for other actors as
well, like recently for F1 withBrad Pitt.
He's there like chumming upwith him, and then there was

(24:48):
another one that he was standingvery like friendly with Michael
B Jordan from from sinners whenthat sort of occurred.
Can't wait to see those twowork together.
I think that'll be really great.
But yeah, he's just a real sortof champion for cinema now and
as he gets older he's become hisown movie character.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
He's having this character growth.
He's becoming like the lesson'sbeen learned Don't be a clown
in the public eye, exactly right.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
It's like, you know, scale it back, a little bit
humble and champion others andcinema's your friend, that kind
of thing.
So I think that he's on theright path now and he kind of
has to be.
You know, he's 63 years old.
The action movies and thestunts that he's doing.
He says that he wants to dothis forever.

(25:32):
You know how long does hereally have?

Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, I saw that he was like I'll pump out a movie
every year.
I'm like, will you?
I don't know, I'm going to jointo approve that.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Well, that's exactly right.
How long is it going to takefor him to heal from another
shattered ankle for one?
But yeah, his passion isadmirable, but the realism
behind that not too sure howthat would go.
He has mentioned, though, theLast Mission Impossible.
People are wanting that sort offranchise thing to continue in
our day and age of cinema.
He says he won't do it, but ifGlenn Powell wants to jump in

(26:03):
and take over the reins, he'sadvocate for that, because I
think he struck up a really goodfriendship with him in Top Gun
Maverick.
What are your thoughts on GlennPowell?
Have you seen him in a lot?

Speaker 2 (26:12):
I've only seen my introduction was Top Gun and
then Anyone but you.
I think he definitely.
I don't think the rom-com thingis for him.
Obviously Tom Cruise had hismoment with that in Eyes Wide
Shut, from what I like, whatI've seen in my opinion, but
like I think yeah, glenn Powelldefinitely will be the oh and
there's like the Hitman one orsomething which is like a
Netflix original.

(26:33):
Yeah, I think he's probablygonna.
He should go down the route oflike I don't know more action
based things.
I don't know that.
Like scripts such as Anyone butyou with Sidney Sweeney was
really like showing off hisacting chops.
In terms of Mission Impossible,I think my sort of thing is
like when we let the series die,like it's almost like they want

(26:54):
to be the new 007, but 007 hastheir own thing going on and the
reason they can make 20 movieskind of makes sense.
Mission Impossible, even thefirst one, has only like 800,000
people have logged it onLetterboxd.
I'm like it's not that well,universally loved and known, but
I'm surprised they got eightmovies out of it.
I can't really imagine more.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, I definitely think that that mission
impossible franchise was drivenby tom cruise being the first
one that he sort of produced andhis name sort of being attached
to it, he kind of made that his, his cash cow kind of thing.
So that's why it survivedthrough his his bad sort of
period.
But to your point about glennpowell, I definitely agree
because if you haven't already,I definitely recommend watching

(27:37):
twisters because he kind of doesplay like a tom cruise coded
character in that one where hestarts off as a bit of a an
asshole but then through themovie he he gains his humanity
and you know the, the, the loveinterest that he has with daisy
edgar jones, he kind of developsas a really nice sort of human
towards the end of that.
And I'm not sure if you're intocountry music or not, but right
through it, right through the,the movie of twisters, which is

(28:00):
awesome for me who's up here innorth queensland if you're into
that sort of thing.
But yeah, put it on your list Irespect it, didn't they make?

Speaker 2 (28:09):
was it luke combs or someone that made this song for
it?

Speaker 1 (28:12):
yeah, yeah.
The song was called yeah, ain'tno love in oklahoma.
Absolute banger like you can'tnot stomp your feet to that song
.
Yeah, Ain't no Love in Oklahoma.
Yeah, Absolute banger Like youcan't not stomp your feet to
that song, you know.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, it's pretty good.
It is really good.
But Glenn Powell sort of hasthe Tom Cruise-esque character
in Top Gun, maverick actually,because obviously I mean, yeah,
we'll speak about it soon butlike Tom Cruise is kind of
coming into that movie down fromlike the last movie not that
it's by a sequel by any means,time wise, but obviously like

(28:39):
he's not really starting out aslike arrogant.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
He's probably more on the background of that, but
glenn powell's character in thatis very tom cruise because he's
really arrogant at the startand then at the end he like has
his moment, yeah yeah, I thinkthat's too too good of a point
to gloss over, I think, becauseyou're absolutely right.
At the start of the Top GunMaverick movie, glenn Powell is
very much the Tom Cruisecharacter because he's even to

(29:03):
the point where he, like hethrows Tom Cruise out of the bar
at the start of the movie, justlike Tom Cruise sort of sings
to Charlie I think her name isin Top Gun he's supervisor,
basically who's doing thetraining course.
So they both sort of mess withthe supervisor.
And at the very end of themovie, hangman glenn powell's
character comes second torooster and maverick also comes

(29:24):
second to ice man.
So there's a lot of parallelsthere and it's almost like the.
The filmmakers wanted everybodyto see how far maverick had
grown with the hangman characterbecause, like, this is what he
used to be like and this is whatmaverick's like now.
He's mature and focusing oneverybody else now and
definitely not Tom Cruise andhow he usually presents.
So I think that was reallygreat, really great point to
make in terms of Glenn Powelland Tom Cruise's similarities.

(29:48):
Yeah, all right, let's get intonow our uh, our honorable
mentions and then after thatwe'll we'll give you guys
Reese's and my best Tom Cruisemovie in our opinion.
So just to put it out there toeverybody, these are our
opinions.
You might have yours, andthat's perfectly okay.
In fact, comment them if youwant to, or email us at

(30:11):
fandomportals at gmailcom.
That is absolutely fine.
We love that.
But yeah, these are our picksthat we have based on our
history with the, the movies,and some of them obviously we
haven't seen and some we have.
So this is based on thatexclusive list of films that
we've kind of watched.
So if you miss out on yourfavorite and we don't mention
your favorite, we are very sorry, but write in about us in my

(30:33):
feature on a future episode ofbender portals podcast.
So, all right, some honorablementions for you, rhys.
What's on your honorablementions list that didn't quite
make the top spot as your TomCruise film?

Speaker 2 (30:45):
We've obviously spoken about it, but I just
think Edge of Tomorrow is like Idon't know.
I didn't really know much aboutit.
I just stumbled across it onNetflix and put it on and I just
absolutely loved it.
In terms of a like repeat daymovie, I think it's probably one
of the best.
I don't know if that's a boldclaim, but I just enjoyed it.
I was like hooked to it.

(31:06):
Credit to Emily Blunt as well.
I think she always plays a greatcharacter, but I don't know
there's something about thatmovie and I also enjoy the fact
that his journey as a characterin that movie is so not easy.
I feel like sometimes in theserepeat days they kind of come
across like they're learningthis profound thing every day.
But I don't know, it was like afun one to watch come together

(31:27):
in the end and even like, whereyou think they have it, they
don't.
There's always just likepushback, pushback, pushback
right till the very end andsimilarly, like he has to learn
kind of on his own as well, tonot be arrogant and think he's
better than everyone else andeven though he's clearly
learning that every day throughanother person and another
action, it's like you can see,like the character like

(31:47):
intrinsically like changing andmaking better decisions, and I
was just hooked on it.
I'm not a sci-fi fan at all,like I generally don't really
pick it, but that particular onewith the you know the my sort
of things they're wearing andlike the alien things, I loved
it.
I thought it was great yeah,yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
I think Edge of Tomorrow was a really great
choice for him to do.
He comes into us as a as like acowardly, almost character
behind behind this honorableveil of being an officer and
therefore doesn't have to be inany form of combat.
But towards the end, you'reright, he does actually learn to
value people to the point wherehe kind of ends up trying to
protect Emily Blunt's characterby keeping her at that farmhouse

(32:27):
for a little bit longer,because in every iteration that
he's ever lived she didn't getpast that point and he obviously
starts to care about her quitea bit.
So he's getting selfless inthat way, but also very mission
orientated because he knows thatthe stakes are very high.
I actually really love this asa repeat day movie because I
don't know what the hype isabout Groundhog Day with Bill
Murray, but I don't know ifyou've seen that.

(32:49):
It's old for my standards, butyou have.
Well, even compared to that one, I didn't really like Groundhog
Day and repeat day movies.
They don't hook me because it'slike I've seen this.
It has to be something reallyengaging or new to get me
through it and that's why Ididn't watch Edge of Tomorrow
for so long.
But you're right, it did it ina really nuanced way that made

(33:12):
every repeat quite different and, yeah, I really like the
journey that he went on, andEmily Button was just amazing in
that one as well.
So, very good honorable mentionFor me.
My honorable mention will go towe spoke about it before, but
Jerry Maguire.
I think that that is one of thecharacters that he sort of

(33:33):
plays that goes through the mostgrowth in a movie.
He's very indoctrinated intothe business sort of aspect of
his life and as a result of thathe disconnects from anybody
personally and through a verysort of abrasive character,
we'll say through his lastclient in Cuba, gooding Jr, who
is also a family man and valuespeople and he does everything

(33:55):
that he does and tries to makethese hard deals because he's
the one that has to support hiscommunity as an athlete.
So he's making jerry's lifehard or tom cruise's life hard
to make all these deals.
But it's because he's got a lotof these people that sort of
rely on him and jerry mcguirelearns that he can obviously
emulate that by by starting tocare for the community that's
around him as well.

(34:15):
That has also embraced him.
So it's one of those moviesthat he does start as an asshole
and then becomes a betterperson, which is very synonymous
with the Tom Cruise brand, butI really did enjoy that one.
So was there any others on yourhonorable mention list, rhys?

Speaker 2 (34:29):
I did like Eyes Wide Shut, but like for a.
Stanley Kubrick standpoint, notreally like a Tom Cruise or
Nicole Kidman.
It's very weird.
I don't know.
It is very out there.
It's very Stanley Kubrick.
I think his character is solike isolate.
Did you say you haven't seen it?

Speaker 1 (34:47):
No, no, I haven't seen it.
I've read a little bit about it, but I've never watched it.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
It's real bizarre.
His character is like veryisolated in that film and
ostracized throughout it, butit's also stemming from his own
actions and his lack ofcommunication with his wife.
And then he goes down this likereally dark path trying to like
do the right thing rather thanjust have a conversation with
his wife.
Well, that's kind of how I tookit.
Yeah, it's very weird, but Ithink I see the merit in it.

(35:14):
I think at the time, sometimesthese movies you have to put
yourself in the time period.
I noticed that in like a lot ofhorror films as well, like sort
of thing.
Sometimes you have to go backto when they were being released
, what was happening at the time, because I think something like
Eyes Wide Shut doesn'tnecessarily stand the test of
time.
But it's still like a good film, if that makes sense.
But yeah, his characterdefinitely goes through some

(35:35):
weird, weird stuff in that one.
I don't know it's.
It's pretty good though, like Iwould probably watch it again.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Sometimes I think I'm not intelligent enough to
understand no, I think, fromfrom what I've read about it at
least, it was hubrick's lastfilm before he passed away and
he was kind of drawing on theenergy from the relationship
between tom cruise and nicolekidman in that like,
coincidentally or not, two yearsafter that they kind of got a
divorce.
So apparently it was a I don'twant to say toxic, but it was

(36:04):
tumultuous in terms of therelationships between the
characters in that movie andneither one of them kind of
presented in an appropriate way.
And I also think you know, in aday and age now where
communication is highlighted asone of the most important things
in a relationship, it's kind oflike you're yelling at your
screen going why you just talkto her, why don't you just talk
to him?

(36:24):
That?

Speaker 2 (36:24):
was me, one conversation would have saved
this, and now you're in someunderground alley with a mask on
watching weird things go downyeah, I think probably the yeah.
Now that you've said that, Iwould say probably the problem
with the film is the lack ofchemistry between the two leads,
but now knowing that you knowthere was clearly stuff going on

(36:45):
behind closed doors probablymakes more sense.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
Yeah, yeah, and I I can absolutely agree with that,
because it's kind of like thatmoment that you you have in your
real life, where you getyourself into a situation that's
completely unfathomable, butthen you look around you're like
, how did I, how did I get here?
Like what's, what's going on,and then one thing would have
would have saved us.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
I think that that even for that element and
apparently it's like an artisticpiece as well, like is it, is
it kind of like an artistic kindof movie as well being yeah, I
think it's like I would call itlike a clockwork's orange, like
sister, like I think it wantedto kind of be that intense and
you know, out there it's justnot quite.
And I think, like Tom Cruise,it's sort of like, you know,

(37:26):
like Leonardo DiCaprio, youwouldn't expect him to be in
certain roles, brad Pitt, youkind of picture them to be the
characters they've always beenand I think it was a little bit
watching it in 2025, knowingwhat Tom Cruise's you know
filmography looks like, itprobably doesn't really seem
fitting for him to have donethat.
But I guess he was probably Idon't know branching out, trying

(37:47):
to get in different things, butnow he's kind of pigeonholed
himself as the action guy.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, which you know a lot of people as the action
guy sort of trope.
They they go in the reverseorder that tom cruise kind of
went.
They start out as the actionguy and then as they age they
get into more dramatic piecesand something that will, you
know, fulfill their career asthey're getting to be more older
and fragile.
But he's done the opposite.
He's kind of started out asthese artistic kind of pieces

(38:14):
and then he's moved into theaction and I don't know what the
survivability of that is, but Ithink you know he's, he's
remade his name enough to reston his laurels if he's going to
be a meme one day of him withlike an oxygen, like hook up.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
He's like wheeling his own oxygen tank into the
room.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
He's like let's yeah, you should make that meme.
That'll go viral, for sure.
I love that, but one of one ofmy honorable mentions, I will
say and it's not a very wellliked Tom Cruise film, but Night
and Day.
Have you seen that one withCameron Diaz?

Speaker 2 (38:43):
I've never even heard of it okay.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
So I really enjoyed this one.
It was kind of it was fun andit's like a romantic comedy sort
of blend.
It's high octane actionobviously, but Cameron Diaz
gives her all in this sort ofdepartment and their chemistry
is really good.
She, I would say I'd like alittle bit more from Cameron
Diaz's character, but I feellike Tom Cruise just plays a

(39:07):
really sort of playful spirit inthis movie.
He is like a secret agent sortof character as well and I think
that the narrative is basicallythat he's this spy and there's
a bit of a plot, tease andtension where somebody's
developed this awesome fuelsource and he's trying to
project the innocent personthat's done it, but the agency

(39:27):
he works for is trying toexploit them.
But then there's a turnaroundmoment where everybody is sort
of blaming Tom Cruise'scharacter to say that he's the
one that's actually trying toprofit off that source himself.
So there's that moment whereyou as an audience is like wait
a minute, is he a good guy, oris he not a good guy Because he
acts really clumsy and forgetfulat times and you're thinking,
is that put on?
Because when he's in a combatsituation he's very proficient.

(39:48):
So he does seem like a verycapable secret agent, but he's
also like a bumbling sort ofbuffoon in some of these aspects
as well.
So is he a good guy or is he nota good guy?
And that was the kind of zanydifference of tom cruise that I
I really liked in in night andday.
So, yeah, there was that one aswell.
As I said before, war of theworld as well, which I won't go

(40:11):
into very much more because Ithink that one sort of speaks to
itself.
But was there any morehonorable mentions from you,
reese, before we go on to ourfavorite, tom Cruise?

Speaker 2 (40:17):
I'd say last one and his most probably out there like
performance is have you seenRock of Ages?
I love Rock of Ages it's notactually a good movie like it
isn't it's if you just watch itfor what it is.
I love that movie as well.
I think it's like one of themost ridiculous things ever, but
I love his character because itjust feels so like tom cruise

(40:40):
is the only guy who could haveplayed the character I think so
too, and he's just, he's so zanyin that one, and he's just the
ultimate rock star playing stacyjacks in with his shirt off and
his big belt.
I don't know that belt isoutrageous I think it's just
refreshing to see that like hedoesn't need to take on like too
many intense roles or likeaction but I couldn't really

(41:02):
imagine anyone else being that,you know, in that role.
It's just, it's ridiculous, butlike I love that yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
I also liked julianne ho Ho and Diego Bonetta in that
movie.
I feel like they led it quitewell.
In terms of musicals made tomovies, not sure how that kind
of stands up, but I really dolike Stacey Jack's Tom Cruise in
that one, especially the momentwhere he's just so shit-faced
he ends up just falling in thepool, just crazy.
That kind of rock star attitudewhich sort of fit Tom Cruise at

(41:30):
the time when it was made youknow 2012, I think it was, or
2013 or something like that.
Yeah, good honorable mention,good pick.
All right, let's get into ourfavorite Tom Cruise movies.
Did you want to start or didyou want me to start?
Reese?
How do you want to do this?

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Well, you can start, because we haven't mentioned
mine yet, we've teased yours.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
We haven't mentioned mine yet.
Everybody's probably sittingthere going like what about the
movie that we're probably goingto talk about for you?
It's like you haven't mentionedthat one yet.
But yeah, my one is is a veryboy pick and I said that when I
said it to you.
Top gun maverick is probably myfavorite in terms of tom cruise
movies, just for its its history, in terms of it's a 32 year.
What are they called legacysequels?
I honestly think that as far aslegacy sequels go a lot of the
times like when you're watchingstar wars as a legacy sequel,

(42:13):
for example, the, the oldercharacters sort of take a back
seat, like luke skywalker's anold dude and he has, like I
don't know, six minutes ofscreen time and han solo dies
within the first 45 minutes.
Spoiler alert to anyone that'snot seen it.
But in this one, obviouslymaverick sort of takes up that
central sort of space.
But he has more of an emphasisin this movie on teaching others

(42:37):
, which I think is a big pivotfrom Tom Cruise's previous roles
.
But I also think that itpresents the theme of you know,
the past can inform you, but itdoesn't have to define you as an
aspect which I think is reallynuanced for a Tom Cruise
character where he does sort ofhave to let go of the past

(42:57):
without losing the past'slessons.
Obviously, we're referring tohim losing his co-pilot Goose
and then having a fracturedrelationship with his son,
rooster, played by Miles TellerPerfectly cast, by the way.
Looks a lot like the originalactor.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Teller say less.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
I know, I know he actually single-handedly made
that song in that scene.
Just burst up the charts, yeah,where they're playing football.
Obviously, for those of youthat are failing to fill in the
gaps, really great.
And you know, I honestly catchmy partner looking at it as well
.
She's just like, oh, scrollspast it really quickly when I
see her.
But yeah, the same sort ofthing.

(43:36):
And we went to watch that inthe movie cinema and she was not
a tom cruise person, she wasnot a top gun person, she was
not a planes person.
But when she watched that shewas like I like that, that movie
.
So yeah, and I think that withthis one as well, maverick does

(43:59):
kind of avoid growth at the veryend of Top Gun, where he does
go straight into the mission,pretty much straight after
Goose's passing.
But at the start of this movie,maverick, you can see that he's
stuck in that moment, not onlypsychologically, but in his
career he really hasn't advancedas much as he should, and
that's highlighted a lot in TopGun Maverick as well.
He's still flying planes and hehides behind the fact that he
wants to stay in that rolebecause they don't want, he

(44:19):
doesn't, he wants to keep onflying.
But I think a lot of it has toalso do with the fact that he he
doesn't sort of want to move onor move past that moment
because he hasn'tpsychologically moved past that
moment.
And I love the scene where he'swatching Rooster in the bar and
he's playing the song that theyused to play, you know Great
Balls of Fire, and he's on thepiano like his father used to
and there's just so much pain inTom Cruise's eyes as he's
looking through that window tohim and is noticed by Jennifer

(44:44):
Connelly's character as well ashe walks away.
And then I think he really justdoes take a more of a
mentorship role and I think thatwas it's probably my favorite
Tom Cruise movie because I feellike he is acting his age, so to
speak.
That's what he should be doingand I think he is trying to do
for the younger movie stars andwhat he did do in this movie for
the younger pilots he still hadit obviously go through and

(45:06):
beat them all in the plane but Ithink what he really needs to
do and takes value in now isteaching the next generation.
But I really just love the MilesTeller Tom Cruise connection in
that, especially when he saidthe line.
You know, like my dad believedin you.
I'm not going to make that samemistake to the end of the movie
, when they're embracing andmirroring the scene between

(45:28):
Iceman and Maverick, but theysort of go through that
sacrifice and that missiontogether as a way to
progressively move forward butalso heal their fractured
relationship.
So that's my top pick and it'sbecause it's so different from
the usual Tom Cruise movie and,as Steven Spielberg said, he
saved Hollywood's ass in quoteswith that movie because it made

(45:50):
$1.5 billion right out of theCOVID pandemic.
Really, yeah, yeah, the twoyears before that, in 2020 and
2021, I think the highestgrossing movie in 2020 was like
$490,000.
So it was in this financialdecline until Tom Cruise came

(46:12):
out with Top Gun, maverick andmade $1.5 billion.
So he was credited withobviously helping Hollywood
refinance, bring people back tothe movies.
Remember that it was fun againand, yeah, the press junket for
that and the new stars that itbrought through, including glenn
powell, was just yeah, it sortof sent hollywood on another

(46:33):
trajectory.
So that's why it's my favorite.
I think it has a lasting impacthistorically, but also very
different for a tom cruise movie.
All right, do I go throughyours?

Speaker 2 (46:43):
yeah let's go I'll just say like I refuse to watch
that movie in the cinema becauseI was like this is going to
rely off nostalgia to be good.
And then I only watched it likesix months ago and I was like,
oh rats, I should have gone yeah, I think that, um, a lot of
nostalgia sequels or legacysequels very much do that.

Speaker 1 (47:03):
So I don't think that's a like a too far out
opinion to have because, yeah,they they do rely on the, the
fan service of it all.
But I think that they do thisone really kind of well because
they Tom Cruise's character isstuck, but he is also very
different in his role and itconnects to the original just
enough.
So, even down to JenniferConnelly's character being the

(47:27):
Admiral's daughter or theMajor's daughter, that's like a
one-line thing in Tom Cruise'sTop Gun 1, and they sort of
brought it back to say that shewas the character that he sort
of had a fling with, that ownsthe bar near the Top Gun base.
Yeah, yeah, I just thought theway that they did it was really
good.
It made a lot of money in thebox office and it did so by sort

(47:47):
of word of mouth and criticalacclaim and to the point where
it was enough to get people outof their homes and into a cinema
again.
Maybe in another life We'll see.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
Yeah, okay, so my favourite is A Few Good Men.
I think a little bit of bias is.
I love Rob Brunner.
I think he's an incredibledirector, so I think that's
partly to do with it.
Just like I wrote some stuffdown, if you see me looking down
no, you're perfectly fine, allgood I just wanted to sound

(48:16):
really articulate about this one.
I just think, like the like, theexploration of like the ethical
and like moral dilemmas betweenall the characters and then,
like the main thing that happensis like something I've never
seen before.
Like I think it's veryparticularly like in the context
of like military and stuff Idon't know much about, like the

(48:37):
rankings and like how all thatworks, but like to see the
conflict between Demi Moore'scharacter she's trying to fight
for her place, being like awoman and as well and then, like
Tom Cruise is like ah, like hebrushes her aside and then he's
obviously trying to fight, likejack nicholson's character, but
they all try to remain like,respectful to each other, with

(48:57):
the overarching theme obviouslybeing the like, the unofficial
disciplinary action of a codered and stuff like that.
So the whole movie to me isjust like.
It's like have you seen uncutgems?
so yeah, I mean I was gonna saylike, just like real, or
whiplash, just like thestressfulness of those I've seen
whiplash, yeah yeah, I don'tthink it quite gets there in

(49:20):
terms like famously I watchedthe end of uncut gems and
whiplash standing because I waslike really stressed out.
That's so good placing back andforth.
It was really embarrassing.
But I think, like a few goodmen is one of those films where
you're just like stressed outbecause it seems so obvious what
the right path is and all thesecharacters just can't get on
board with each other.

(49:40):
I think Tom Cruise's characterhe's not as much of like he's
arrogant, but I think it's sortof is a bit of a what's the word
, like he's hiding behind thatbecause he knows that he's
pulling rank against like higherup officer again I don't know
what they're all called or likeanything.
So if I sound like I'mfloundering with that, I am,

(50:01):
because I'm not quite sure alltheir names and stuff.
But yeah, and then I also theone scene that sticks out to me
have you seen it?
Yeah, yeah, I love the ending.
Obviously Dawson and Downey arethe ones getting in trouble, and
I love the moment where TomCruise, in a way his character,
sort of takes on like like he'strying to look out for them but

(50:23):
also tell them like you've donethe wrong thing, like this isn't
technically 100% your fault,but you still need to take
accountability.
And I think it's the perfectending where Dawson, like Downey
, says why are we beingdishonorably discharged, like we
were found it wasn't really ourfault, like blah, blah, blah.
And then, like Dawson, like hasthat bit where he's like we

(50:49):
failed our job to defend someoneweaker than us, like that's
what we're here for and that'slike what we messed up.
And then, like tom cruise andhim have this moment of like
mutual understanding that likehe doesn't think they're bad
people, they've made a mistakeand even though, like the
journey at the marines ormilitary or whatever is over,
like you know, there's like amutual respect through all of
them.
I don't think it's the perfectending.
I think Jack Nicholson carriesthe movie.

(51:12):
In my opinion, he's only onscreen for 16.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
I was about to say he doesn't have much screen time,
but boy does he make the most ofit.
Because, as you were saying, inthe end courtroom scene, if
we're just looking at that, it'snot much to look at in terms of
a movie, but you've got liketwo people at the top of their
sort of career trajectories withreally good dialogue and a good
director in Rob Reiner, and thetension is completely built

(51:36):
from what both of them aresaying so and how they're
interacting with each other.
So I think that JackNicholson's performance yeah,
absolutely right Carries thefilm.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
Yeah, and I just love the.
It's like I said, the ethicaland moral dilemma.
But like Jack Nicholson'sunwavering attitude of like this
is how we've always done it.
This is like what we used to doback in the day they'll learn
the hard way.
And Tom Cruise being like well,it's not really.
Yeah, it's kind of like againstthe law, just do it like

(52:04):
assault people and then theydon't have an understanding
across that together, I thinklike his character is like I see
what you're saying, but you'vealso now like someone's died out
of this.
And yeah, just jack nicholson'slike I don't know, I saw him in
the batman when he's joker andhe's like wanting, like it's
scary yeah, it's chalk andcheese really, but you can.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
You can look at the two characters in the way that
sort of he he's from an oldersort of generation of military
personnel who'd seen activecombat, who had gone through
through various different likewarfare situations.
He's obviously the leader ofGuantanamo Bay now and is
responsible for the protectionor in his eyes, the protection

(52:45):
of an entire nation in terms ofhis role at Guantanamo Bay.
To the point where, you know,daniel Cathy, tom Cruise's
character is sort of the newergeneration coming through that
kind of doesn't reallyunderstand the horrors of war
that had come before, that thatreally influenced Jack
Nicholson's character, canappreciate it, but then also
knows that there is this sort ofnew, new way or new business in

(53:06):
terms of respecting someone'shumanity.
You're not just a tool for thegovernment, you're not just a
tool for the military peoplehave rights, that kind of thing
as well whereas Jack Nicholson'scharacter obviously, you know,
probably served in sort ofconscription era where you, you
were told to do it, so you didit, which is what he sort of
tries to progress through thismovie as well.
But I think that the best thingfor me in terms of this movie

(53:28):
with with tom cruise is his, histransition from like not giving
a shit to giving a shit, and Ifeel like that demi moore's
character is really pivotal inthat she's the one that actually
advocates for him to try and bethe man that he should be.
But also, you know, fight thegood fight.
And I love the decision to notmake that a romantic connection

(53:51):
at the end of it, you know,between Demi Moore and Tom
Cruise's character, because Ithink it allows Demi Moore's
character to stand up on her ownas a character that's serving
sort of a moral fortitude in aworld as well that is completely
systematically against her yeahbut I love her character
specifically as well, becauseshe's not only the catalyst for

(54:11):
Tom Cruise but she's also thecatalyst to find the messiness
within the clean-cut militaryoperation that is sort of
occurring.
And the scene that really sortof picks that out to me is at
the start, when you see theMarines sort of moving through
their marching situation wherethey're twirling guns, and you
look at it and it's absolutelyperfect, it's immaculate,
everything is symmetrical, theirshoes are perfectly shined,

(54:33):
their guns are twirling inperfect timing, and that's like
a metaphor for the military asit's perceived.
And then, almost out of nowhere, demi Moore's character just
peels off from the end of it andthen begins to walk towards the
building.
So it's almost like that'ssetting up the fact that this
character is going to then goand expose the true view of what
the military is like.

(54:54):
It's just really clever, Iagree.
I haven't actually seen much ofwhat Rob Reiner does other than
this.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Did you get Stand by Me?

Speaker 1 (55:02):
I haven't seen Stand by Me.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
That is so.
That's criminal.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Yeah, I'm going to put it on my list, I know.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
Watch that movie Stand by.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
Me.
If I do an episode on it forthe pod, I'm going to put it on
my list.
I know, Watch that movie.
Damn by me.
If I do an episode on it forthe pod, I'll be like this is
for you, Rhys.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Yes, thank you, and he also did.
You probably won't watch thisone, but there's a movie called
Flipped.
It's about two kids in year sixwho the perspectives of what's
going on are told by each ofthem.
It'll cut from her perspectiveand then his perspective.
The same thing that happened,and I just like it.
He's done some other thingsthat now I can't remember off

(55:35):
the top of my head.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
He did the Princess Bride.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
I haven't seen that either.
I watched it once when I wasreally young and I don't
remember it and I didn't get it.

Speaker 2 (55:46):
I watched it probably three weeks ago and I was
probably of the yeah, I didn'treally get it either.
It's a storybook.
That's all it is.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
I'm glad that there's another one other than me,
because it's one of my mate'sfavorite movies and, yeah, I
don't know how to tell him.
I'm just like, yeah, like I'veseen it, but it's not in my
memory bank, so obviously itdidn't have an impact.
Yeah, it's fantasy like it's toofantasy, but stand by me is
really good.

(56:14):
Stand by me is, like, reallysad, yeah.
Yeah, I've heard that it's it'sprobably the best coming of age
story sort of created, but interms of a few good men, I I'm
actually like that.
You picked this one becauseit's obviously made in 1992 and
I really liked it.
Being born in the 90s andyou're born in the 2000s,
correct, yeah, so even that likegenerationally, it's appealing

(56:37):
to a lot of different sort ofpeople, so I think that's that's
a really great pick.
I put it on my for the for thepodcast Instagram story rated at
five stars.
I was like thank you for thisone.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
Oh good, re-watch well, I think I like it as well
because I feel like a lot ofmovies when they have a woman
character, like demi moore'scharacter that you really like.
One thing is apparent is thatshe's fighting against her ranks
because she's a woman, butshe's also like coming from,
like trying to get justice forthe santiago who dies.

(57:07):
She's like how can I articulateit?
I've lost my words butessentially these movies tend to
make this about, like the factthat she's a woman and that's
not really what is apparent.
It is a theme in it, but likeher main theme is like seeking
justice for the voiceless andlike those who can't be heard.
And Tom Cruise just comes in andgoes this is too hard, like

(57:27):
we're never gonna win and you'reright.
She's like do better, like getit done.
And I love again as well thatthere's no romance force,
because in all these moviesthey're trying to force this or
again, or this happened becauseshe's a woman, but that's not
really a main theme.
That's like forced into theviewing.
So I think that's why I like it.
It seems pretty real world.

(57:48):
This seems exactly howsomething like this would happen
, especially someone of a lowerrank going against someone of a
higher rank I envision it goingdown like this, not quite having
the same dramatic ending, butsimilar sort of.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
You know themes and yeah, I I definitely agree as
well, especially for the 90s.
I know a lot of femalecharacters in the 90s have been
been horrendously misrepresentedas one thing or another, but I
feel like this, being 1992, is areally good portrayal of Demi
Moore in a female sort ofcharacter, and not only just
making it about her woman-ness,as you said, but just being a

(58:25):
character in a system just likeeverybody else.
So I agree, I think that's good.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
I think it stands the test of time as well.
You probably you watched itrecently, I think it stands up
pretty well in today's.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Oh yeah, absolutely so.
There are definitely somemovies from the nineties that do
not hold up in terms ofproduction, but also just ideals
and things like that.
This is one that really does soif you haven't seen it,
listeners of the Phantom Portalspodcast, definitely go out.
It's the second highest ratedTom Cruise movie on Letterboxd.
I'm not sure where it sits forJack Nicholson, but it's
probably very high as well.

(58:57):
Definitely go and check thatone out.
Great pick from Rhys.
All right, do you want to gointo our Tom Cruise watch list,
one to watch and what werecommend as well, that maybe
one or the other of us haven'tseen, and what we recommend as
well, that maybe one or theother of us haven't seen
Probably all of the MissionImpossibles would be a good
start.

(59:18):
I really want to watch RiskyBusiness Same.
I haven't seen it either.
I think, yeah, risky Businessis what launched him into
stardom.
1983 was a massive year for TomCruise because he did Risky
Business, he did the Outsiderswith Francis Ford Coppola, who
was the director of theGodfather, and he also did All
the Right Moves, which are threemovies that sent him into
critical acclaim, and all threeof them I have not seen.

(59:41):
I think they're on my wish list.
His early stuff have you seenLegend?

Speaker 2 (59:47):
I've never even heard of that.
I'm literally looking throughhis filmography now and I've
basically seen nothing.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
Yeah, yeah, so with Legend, I haven't seen that
either.
I don't know if it's somethingthat I'll sort of pick up.
That's a Ridley Scott film.
But you know, you said youprobably should start with the
Mission Impossible films.
I reckon there's probably, aswe say, a little bit sort of
better ways to go, becauseMission Impossible is obviously
heavy into the action and heavyinto the stunts after that.

(01:00:15):
So I reckon, save yourself sometime.
And maybe I don't know I'mreally curious about Interview
with a Vampire.
I haven't seen that one.
He plays Lestat and apparentlythe author of Interview with a
Vampire, the book.
When she heard Tom Cruise wasbeing cast as lestat and brad
pitt was the other character,she said those two should swap
because you know, they're morelike the other, like tom cruise

(01:00:37):
is more like lewis and brad pittis more like lestat.
But apparently as soon as shesaw tom cruise on film and the
way that he sort of acted inthis sort of manic and
vulnerable kind of way, she wasvery forthcoming and
appreciative that he sort oftook that role.
So that was Anne Rice, theauthor, and that's one that I
kind of want to watch and pickup as well.
So one I haven't seen and Iwant to do Any others from you.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
No, I think Risky Business has been on my list for
so long.
Obviously, everyone's seen thescene of him in his socks and
shirt.
That's all I know about it.
But my brother was watching itone time and I walked in and I
was like what is this?
I was like, as a concept itsounds stupid, but I still want
to watch it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
I think that scene especially is iconic.
So many people in the past inparties that I've gone to have
dressed as that sort ofcharacter, just in a business
shirt and sunglasses andwhatever else and big socks.
It was like as easy costume togo to a costume party in.
But also, you know, probablythe one that sort of put him on
the map, Because I read thatJerry Bruckheimer actually

(01:01:40):
watched him in Risky Businessand that's the reason that he
sort of petitioned for him to becast in Top Gun, which three
years later came out andlaunched his career into the sky
.
So yeah.
I reckon we should do riskybusiness and see what that's all
about.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
Yes, I think I should bump that up the list of things
I should watch.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
Yeah, all right, let's do a sign-off thing, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
I really haven't seen anything Like blurred out is
everything I've seen and likenot blurred out, I've seen
basically nothing.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
I'm not much.
I'm not much.
I'm pretty much almost the sameas you.
I've probably.
On my letterbox it says thatI've seen 12% of his movies.
So he's been in 48 movies andI've seen 12%.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Well, it says I've seen 15.
Oh there you go.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
That's probably one more than me.
Yeah, there you go.
To be fair, I haven't.
I haven't logged any of theMission Impossibles that I've
seen, just the last one andGhost Protocol.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
Well, that would really just bump it up.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
That would bump me right up to 50.
Yeah, all right, let's do oursign-off, say Rhys, where can
the lovely people at the PhantomPortals find you on the
interwebs?

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Mainly threads under my name, but then the podcast
would be just on spotify orapple at the crook cut.

Speaker 1 (01:02:54):
But yeah, that's basically yeah, and we'll link
to those in the show notes foreverybody.
If you want to go and checkreese out definitely a awesome
person and has lots of greatinsights on movies and she is
authentically herself, so go andcheck that out.
It's a great place to go and,on threads as well, really great
space for developing likecommunity.
A lot of authentic people havegot a fan on threads as well.

(01:03:15):
I don't know if you've got asimilar experience there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
Yeah, yeah, probably the safest place on the internet
I've found.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
Yeah, I reckon it's kind of like what you put out is
what you get on threads, whichI think is universal but just
seems to seep in on other sortof social media platforms, but
it hasn't for me on Threads yet,which is good.
So, yeah, we'll link to youRhys in the show notes below.
And, guys, if you have anyrecommendations that we should
watch in terms of Tom Cruisemovies, make sure you email us
at fandomportals at gmailcom, oryou can contact us on Threads

(01:03:43):
or contact Rhys on Threads andwe'll see what we can.
But yeah, all right, Thank youso much for joining me today,
rhys.
I really do appreciate yourtime and I appreciate the
conversation.
It's been really great to talkto you.
Happy to have you on anytimeyou like.
If you watch a movie in thefuture and you want to talk
about it and jump on the podcast, happy to have you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
We'll come back for Risky Business.
I'm really looking forward towatching it.
This is the sign.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
I reckon, I reckon it is All right.
So look out for that one FandomPoddles people Do risky
business and see how that goes.
Okay, all right, see you laterguys.

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