Tom Cruise is a legend and one of the few stars left who can reliably haul in a good crowd to the movie theater. His on-screen charisma has landed him roles in movies by some of the most successful directors of all time, including Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. Whether he’s playing the hilarious movie agent in Tropic Thunder or doing his own stunts as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise has repeatedly proven his range as an A-list performer.
Cruise has been in so many great movies that his most rewatchable ones are effortless viewings. Whereas films such as Eyes Wide Shut and Born on the Fourth of July are some of his best work, the former’s eerie mood and the latter’s tragic story might steer most people from returning to them often. Cruise’s movies generally showcase his versatility in stories that are geared toward wider audiences. Whether they ask him to be funny, emotionally vulnerable, tough, or surrounded by action (or all four), Tom Cruise’s most rewatchable movies not only highlight but match his charisma in ways that make people want to come back for more.
10‘Tropic Thunder’ (2008)
Directed by Ben Stiller
Tom Cruise steals every scene he’s in as Tropic Thunder‘s Les Grossman, an irritable Hollywood producer with large hands and no filter. This is not at all the typical Cruise role, so it’s especially fun to see him overweight, balding, and very hairy-chested. Even over a video chat, Les Grossman has the power to order someone else to punch the director in the face. What would this war comedy be without Cruise’s character? Not half as good, and the actor absolutely nails him.
Other highlights include parody trailers and Jack Black‘s wild energy. Then there’s Robert Downey Jr.‘s unexpected and Oscar-nominated role as an Australian actor who goes full Method for a character he’s got no business playing in the first place. Tropic Thunder is a film with big egos that lack self-awareness, and Tom Cruise helps keep it all together by embodying Hollywood’s cutthroat business culture. This mid-2000s satire isn’t for everybody, and not all of it works, but Cruise’s dancing alone merits multiple watches.
9‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (2022)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
With an opening sequence that basically flies all the way back to its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick promises to include lots of nostalgic moments for its target audience. That is, people who saw Top Gun back in 1986. It’s got photographs, sunglasses, the jacket, “Danger Zone,” “Great Balls of Fire” (which triggers a flashback to the original movie), and more. Perhaps most notably, the volleyball match from Top Gun is replaced by a “dogfight football” match.
Maverick has just a few weeks to train the best pilots in the country for an extremely dangerous mission against…some other country. Anyway, Maverick pulled Rooster’s (Miles Teller) application from the Navy a while back, and Rooster’s been bitter ever since. Top Gun: Maverick has the stylistic flare of its predecessor but carries an emotional heft the long-beloved characters couldn’t really have when they were young. With a sense of humor and a great soundtrack, this sequel can even appeal to those who haven’t seen the original.
8‘Risky Business’ (1983)
Directed by Paul Brickman
In Risky Business, a goody-two-shoes member of his high school’s Future Enterprisers club turns into probably the youngest pimp in recorded history. Early on, Joel (Tom Cruise) has a very funny dream about the police stopping him from having sex with a babysitter. Those first-person shots of his uptight, upper-class parents talking about stereo equipment and SATs make for excellent satire. Joel is very worried about his reputation and future but gradually gets over the fears of sex and having a stain on his record.
Tom Cruise dances around his empty house to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll,” welcomes sex workers to Muddy Waters’s “Mannish Boy,” and has an interview with Princeton during an extremely (and illicitly) busy night. The clock that ticks backward by one minute is one of many amusing details, and a certain car scene rivals the one in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Lana (Rebecca de Mornay) and Joel’s relationship is surprisingly nuanced, functioning as the heart of what is largely considered Cruise’s breakout movie and should be viewed as one of the best teen comedies ever made.
7‘A Few Good Men’ (1992)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Tom Cruise versus Jack Nicholson? Of course, it’s a good movie! Directed by Rob Reiner, A Few Good Men is one of the most memorable court dramas out there. Cruise stars as Lieutenant Kaffee, the defense attorney for two Marines tried for murder. Nicholson, who was Oscar-nominated for his intimidating portrayal, plays Colonel Jessep, who gives an iconic speech at the end of this film and barks the famous line, “You can’t handle the truth!”
Nominated for Best Picture and three other Oscars, A Few Good Men is as riveting as a courtroom drama can get. It also has a pretty solid supporting cast, including Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollack, and Kiefer Sutherland. It’s very refreshing to see that Kaffee’s partnership with Lieutenant Commander Galloway (Demi Moore) doesn’t transition into another cliché romance, and the climax unfolds a remarkable standoff between Kaffee and Jessep. Cruise delivers another strong performance that helps bring one of Aaron Sorkin‘s best screenplays to life.
6‘The Color of Money’ (1986)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
The Hustler is one of the best movies nominated for Best Picture in the 1960s, and a sequel was released about two and a half decades later. The Color of Money sees Paul Newman reprising his role as Eddie Felson, the now-aging pool hustler who takes on an equally talented protégé (Tom Cruise). This film is stylistically more conventional than Martin Scorsese’s usual fair, which kind of makes it easier to recommend for a casual movie night than, say, Raging Bull.
The Color of Money has so many cool shots that it makes the viewer want to rack ’em up and give the sport a try themselves. The visuals on display are gorgeous, and Cruise does a great job of playing the cocky up-and-comer who’s extremely talented but has to pretend not to be (if he’s going to make a living out of it). The student-teacher dynamic keeps things rolling smoothly, and even viewers who don’t shoot pool will find it rewatchable.
5‘Mission: Impossible VII—Dead Reckoning’ (2023)
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
One of the highest-grossing movies of 2023, Mission: Impossible VII—Dead Reckoning is jam-packed with action and practical effects. It’s enough to make one’s head spin at this point, as Christopher McQuarrie refuses to stop finding new and more elaborate ways of almost killing Tom Cruise. Though it’s long and only half of a whole, Dead Reckoning is still a whole lot of fun to watch.
The device that Ethan Hunt and his team focus on this time is a key made of two halves, one that threatens the world as they know it. The Entity embodies a nearly unstoppable piece of artificial intelligence (a villain that grows more relevant every day). Among other things, Ethan winds up riding a motorcycle off a cliff and hanging from a train. What else can Tom Cruise possibly do to wow audiences for the final installment in the franchise? Fans will have to wait until 2025 to find out.
4‘Mission Impossible VI: Fallout’ (2018)
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
The sixth entry in the Mission Impossible franchise gets Henry Cavill in on the action, and he doesn’t disappoint. Mission: Impossible VI—Fallout features his immortal arm pump in an excellent action scene that gets better with every rewatch. The way Ethan and August Walker (Cavill) get pummeled in a public bathroom by one extremely dangerous man is both hysterical and thrilling at the same time.
Staying true to the title, Ethan eventually falls out of a moving plane (on purpose). This is the kind of thing a man needs to do when the villain is plotting to wipe out a third of the world’s population. He also has to go on a hectic helicopter chase in the climax, which undoubtedly goes down as one of the greatest sequences ever done. Along with making good use of one of the most iconic masks in film history and some well-placed humor, Fallout is arguably the best MI installment yet, ensuring its legacy as an evergreen action extravaganza.
3‘War of the Worlds’ (2005)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
2005’s War of the Worlds is Hollywood’s best adaptation of H.G. Welles‘s late-nineteenth-century novel. Tom Cruise plays a divorced dad named Ray who has to drive his two kids to their mother’s in the middle of a terrifying alien invasion. The guy hasn’t exactly been the best father, and his kids (a fantastic Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) are well aware of that. Who knew Rachel was allergic to peanut butter? Along the way, Ray learns to be a responsible parent—and Cruise’s performance makes the transition real.
As in most Steven Spielberg movies, the special effects are superb. Likewise, the intensity of the chaos is unquestionable. Of all the times we’ve seen Tom Cruise run away from something, it’s probably never done better than in War of the Worlds‘ early scenes. Ray witnesses these giant killing machines emerging from the ground and runs home while everyone around him gets beamed into dust. It’s astonishingly realized, as is the rest of the story, and Ray’s character arc is movingly realized by the end. With some narration by Morgan Freeman and a memorable cameo from Tim Robbins, War of the Worlds is an easy rewatch.
2‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996)
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire is an emotionally satisfying and funny romantic comedy that has been making viewers smile for almost thirty years now. Tom Cruise got an Oscar nod for his role as a sports agent who starts an agency after getting fired from his high-profile job. Dorothy from accounting (Renée Zellweger) joins him, and they fall in love. In the meantime, Jerry essentially has to rely on his NFL client (Cuba Gooding Jr. in an Oscar-winning role) to stay afloat.
“You complete me,” and “You had me at hello” are among the most famous quotes in cinema, and they’re both in Jerry Maguire. “Show me the money!” is another one, repeated in a scene in which Tom Cruise really showcases his comedic prowess. There are so many endearing moments, like when Jerry and Dorothy swing her son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki) together in the airport while she tells him she liked his memo. “Help me help you” is yet another famous quote from a film that audiences can’t help but watch over and over again.
1‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014)
Directed by Doug Liman
Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt kick an endless amount of ass in 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow. Cruise plays Major William Cage, a full-blown coward who is sent into battle against a formidable alien race that has invaded Earth with superior firepower and a significant time advantage. When Cage kills one of the alien army’s leaders, he finds himself in a time-loop, returning to the same day (and battle) no matter how many times he dies. It’s not fun for him, but it is for the audience.
Tom Cruise is hysterical as this man who gradually comes to terms with the fact that he’s going to have to win this war almost single-handedly. Emily Blunt, meanwhile, is absolutely stellar as a famous soldier who went through the same phenomenon he’s experiencing. She mentors him but has to meet him all over again every single day. Cage’s character arc is wonderfully realized, and the action is, too. Edge of Tomorrow is one of the best time-loop movies by far and, fittingly, the most rewatchable Tom Cruise movie around.
