With the Top Gun franchise celebrating its 40th anniversary, there’s no better time to make it a Tom Cruise movie night. And we’ve got just the epic films to make it happen.
Read on for a look at 17 great Tom Cruise movies you can stream right now on Paramount+. You’ll find everything from blockbuster franchises – we’ve got you, Top Gun and Mission: Impossible fans – to high-octane action, and out-of-this-world sci-fi. Ready to hit Mach 10? Let’s go.
Top Gun movies
The Top Gun movies established Tom Cruise as a blockbuster star – and, we’re betting, made you a Tom Cruise fan.
1. Top Gun
What it’s about: A class of elite, hot-shot Navy pilots at the Fighter Weapons School known as Top Gun push their aircraft – and each other – to the limits as they compete to be the best of the best. Tom Cruise stars as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the iconic 1986 blockbuster that defined a generation.
Why you should watch it: From Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” to that slow-motion volleyball scene, Top Gun is pure, high-gloss escapism. The aerial photography, captured with real F-14 Tomcats, still enthralls.
Did you know? Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick are returning to theatres for a one-week-only run starting Wednesday, May 13, 2026. So, stream a Top Gun movie tonight – and then make plans to celebrate the franchise’s anniversary in big-screen style.
WATCH NOW: Top Gun
2. Top Gun: Maverick
What it’s about: More than three decades after Maverick first buzzed the tower, Cruise’s flying ace is back, and working as a test pilot in this Oscar®-winning 2022 film. When the Navy summons Maverick back to Top Gun to train a new generation of pilots for an impossible mission, he must face ghosts of the past, including Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of his former wingman, and his old frenemy, Iceman (Val Kilmer).
Why you should watch it: Top Gun: Maverick is a victory lap for Cruise’s career-long commitment to real-deal stunts and old-school showmanship. And it’s literally Cruise’s highest-grossing film to date.
Did you know? Paramount announced this month that Top Gun 3 is in the works with Tom Cruise.
WATCH NOW: Top Gun: Maverick
Mission: Impossible movies
Through four decades and eight films in the Mission: Impossible series, Tom Cruise’s heroic Ethan Hunt has made a lot of impossible things happen. Like Top Gun, the Mission: Impossible franchise is celebrating milestones this year: The film series is marking its 30th anniversary. Additionally, Mission Impossible III is turning 20 years old.
3. Mission: Impossible (1996)
What it’s about: In Brian De Palma’s reimagining of the same-titled 1960s TV series (now streaming on Paramount+!), Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, a member of the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) who finds himself framed as the traitor. On the run, Ethan assembles a rogue crew — including tech expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and hacker Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) — to uncover the real mole, and clear his name.
Why you should watch it: This is where Cruise’s reputation as a fearless action star soars to the next level. The famous vault-heist scene, which features him suspended inches above the floor, remains a masterclass in tension and stunt coordination. Mark the film’s — and franchise’s — 30th anniversary with a watch (or rewatch)!
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible (1996)
4. Mission: Impossible II
What it’s about: Director John Woo puts his stylish stamp on the franchise’s second outing, turning Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt into a long-haired, slow-motion action icon. In this 2000 entry, Ethan’s mission is to retrieve “Chimera,” a deadly bioweapon stolen by rogue spy Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). Along the way, he falls for professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton), who happens to be Ambrose’s ex.
Why you should watch it: It’s Mission: Impossible by way of Hong Kong cinema — operatic, romantic, and over the top – in the most glorious way. Cruise fully commits, performing cliff-hanging stunts that became instant franchise legend.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible II
5. Mission: Impossible III
What it’s about: J.J. Abrams takes the director’s chair for this darker, more emotional installment from 2006. In it, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, now semi-retired and engaged to civilian Julia (Michelle Monaghan), is pulled back into action when a former protégé is captured by arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). What begins as a rescue mission spirals into a global chase from Berlin to Shanghai, testing Ethan’s loyalty, endurance, and love.
Why you should watch it: Cruise meets his match in Hoffman, whose chilling, soft-spoken villain raises the franchise’s stakes. The Vatican break-in sequence and the helicopter chase through wind turbines are unmatched adrenaline, but it’s the emotional weight — Ethan fighting to save his fiancée — that grounds the spectacle. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, M:I III marks a turning point in tone for the franchise. From this point on, the films will balance their high-octane action with genuine heart.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible III
6. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
What it’s about: Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) injects playful momentum into the fourth Mission: Impossible film, released in 2011. When the IMF is disavowed after being implicated in a Kremlin bombing, Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his team — including Benji (Simon Pegg), Jane (Paula Patton), and newcomer Brandt (Jeremy Renner) — must operate off the grid to prevent nuclear disaster. Their mission leads to one of the most vertigo-inducing sequences ever filmed: a climb up Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
Why you should watch it: Cruise’s Burj Khalifa climb remains jaw-dropping proof of his commitment to stunt work, and Bird’s animation sensibility makes every set piece feel precise and kinetic.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol
7. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
What it’s about: Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) takes the helm of his first Mission: Impossible movie. In it, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt faces off against the Syndicate, a shadow network of rogue agents determined to bring down the IMF. Partnering with British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Ethan races from Vienna to Morocco to London in a globetrotting blend of espionage, elegance, and chaos.
Why you should watch it: The 2015 movie opens with Cruise clinging to the side of a real Airbus A400M during takeoff — no CGI, just sheer nerve. That raw energy carries through the entire film charged with sharp dialogue, and a captivating chemistry between Cruise and Ferguson, and even more practical stunts.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
8. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
What it’s about: After a mission to recover stolen plutonium goes wrong, Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his team — Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) — race to stop a nuclear catastrophe orchestrated by the anarchist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Joined and complicated by CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill), Ethan finds himself facing impossible odds as well as moral dilemmas.
Why you should watch it: 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout is action filmmaking at its most jaw-dropping. In the second entry from director Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise’s Hunt performs a high-altitude parachute jump (HALO jump) from 25,000 feet, breaks his ankle mid-chase, and pilots a helicopter through a mountain range. So, yeah, just another day at the office – that you should totally check out.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible – Fallout
9. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
What it’s about: When a sentient algorithm known as “The Entity” begins to manipulate global power systems, Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his IMF allies (played by Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and franchise newcomer Hayley Atwell) must race across continents to stop it. Along the way, Ethan drives a motorcycle off a cliff, and by Ethan, we mean Cruise, who, of course, drove the motorcycle off the cliff six times to get the shot just so.
Why you should watch it: Director Christopher McQuarrie’s 2023 film fuses espionage and existential dread, with jaw-dropping sequences set aboard a speeding train and atop an Austrian mountain range. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is Cruise at his most fearless.
WATCH NOW: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
10. Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning
What it’s about: Picking up right where Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning left off, 2025’s Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning sees Tom Cruise return as Ethan to finish his business with the evil, sentient AI being that threatens the end of the world.
Why you should watch it: This is the film that features Cruise’s fiery parachute jump from a plane – a stunt that was filmed a staggering 16 times. The eighth installment in the M:I franchise threatens to be the last, and knowing how the story (potentially) ends for Ethan Hunt makes this one well worth the watch.
WATCH NOW: Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning
Tom Cruise thrillers
Tom Cruise is much more than Maverick and Ethan Hunt. Through the years, he’s also thrilled in several standalone, well, thrillers.
11. Collateral
What it’s about: In Michael Mann’s sleek, nocturnal thriller from 2004, Tom Cruise flips his hero persona on its head to play Vincent, a contract killer who hires a Los Angeles cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him to a night’s worth of assassinations.
Why you should watch it: It’s one of Cruise’s most eerie performances — calm, methodical, and merciless. The silver hair, the tailored gray suit, the quiet philosophy about life and death — it’s a full character transformation. Collateral proves Cruise can be a scary villain when he stops running from danger, and starts embodying it.
WATCH NOW: Collateral
12. Vanilla Sky
What it’s about: Cameron Crowe’s dreamy, psychological 2001 thriller casts Tom Cruise as David Aames, a wealthy New York publishing heir whose seemingly perfect life unravels after a horrific car crash. Torn between his devoted lover Julie (Cameron Diaz) and the enchanting Sofia (Penélope Cruz), David struggles to distinguish reality from illusion as his world tilts into surrealism.
Why you should watch it: This is Cruise at his most vulnerable, shedding his
action-hero shell for a role that’s as introspective as it is unsettling. Crowe’s unsettling imagery — especially that empty Times Square shot — turns New York into a dreamscape of regret.
WATCH NOW: Vanilla Sky
13. Minority Report
What it’s about: Steven Spielberg’s futuristic 2002 thriller casts Tom Cruise as John Anderton, a top cop in a near-future Washington, D.C., where the “PreCrime” division arrests murderers before they commit their crimes. When the system predicts that Anderton himself will kill a man he’s never met, Anderton goes on the run. Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and Max von Sydow round out the cast.
Why you should watch it: It’s smart, spectacular, and scarily relevant. Plus, the jetpack chases, spider-bot sequence, and that nightmarish eye-surgery scene deliver prime Spielbergian tension.
WATCH NOW: Minority Report
14. The Firm
What it’s about: Based on John Grisham’s bestselling novel of the same name, 1993’s The Firm stars Cruise as Mitch McDeere, a newly minted Harvard Law grad seduced by a Memphis law firm that promises wealth, prestige, and success. But when Mitch discovers the firm’s clients are mob-linked and its lawyers keep dying mysteriously, Mitch becomes a target from both the FBI and his own employers. Sydney Pollack directs. Gene Hackman, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Holly Hunter also star.
Why you should watch it: In the early ’90s, legal thrillers ruled the box office, and The Firm set the standard. Cruise’s tense foot chase through the Caymans, the shredding of incriminating files, and that jazz-infused Dave Grusin score make the film feel timeless.
WATCH NOW: The Firm
Tom Cruise action movies
But of course, Tom Cruise wouldn’t be Tom Cruise if he wasn’t delivering action – and doing it beyond the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible movies.
15. Days of Thunder
What it’s about: Directed by Tony Scott, this high-octane 1990 drama reunites Tom Cruise with his Top Gun team in a new kind of race: the NASCAR circuit. Cruise stars as Cole Trickle, a talented but headstrong rookie driver who must learn teamwork, humility, and patience under the guidance of veteran crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall).
Why you should watch it: Think Top Gun on wheels — but with more heart. Cruise’s on-screen chemistry with Nicole Kidman (whom he later married in real life) ignites during their hospital scenes. On the track, the roar of the engines combined with Hans Zimmer’s pulsing score, creates a full-throttle experience.
WATCH NOW: Days of Thunder
16. Jack Reacher
What it’s about: In this 2012 adaptation of Lee Child’s bestselling novel One Shot, Cruise plays Jack Reacher, a former military investigator turned drifter who arrives in a small city to probe a suspicious sniper attack. Teaming up with defense attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), Reacher uncovers a conspiracy that extends deep into
the criminal underworld. Director Christopher McQuarrie stages a bold, methodical thriller that emphasizes intelligence over flash.
Why you should watch it: Cruise’s portrayal of Reacher nails the character’s calm menace and strategic brainpower. And the car chase through Pittsburgh is a standout — a gritty, tire-squealing ballet that Cruise performed himself.
WATCH NOW: Jack Reacher
17. War of the Worlds (2005)
What it’s about: Director Steven Spielberg reimagines H.G. Wells’ alien-invasion classic through the eyes of an everyman. Tom Cruise plays Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker struggling to reconnect with his kids (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) when extraterrestrial tripods rise from the earth and obliterate everything in sight.
Why you should watch it: Spielberg and Cruise deliver one of the most terrifying blockbusters of the 2000s – a film made all the more impactful by arriving just a few years after the 9/11 terror attacks.
WATCH NOW: War of the Worlds
Availability of titles is subject to change.
The Movie Club Collection
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