In an era where most actors can no longer sell movies by their name alone, only a few Hollywood personas have enough charisma and on-screen presence to draw in an audience by themselves. Though there’s still a handful, none have stood the test of time like Tom Cruise. Of course, stars don’t happen overnight. There is a certain formula to becoming a Hollywood Icon. Cruise spent most of the 80s perfecting it; going from small thankless roles in Endless Love to supporting roles in quality films like The Outsiders and finally leading hit films like Top Gun.
While it’s easy to write him off as another pretty-faced actor, Cruise is far more calculated than some notice. In the 80s he gained audience trust, making a point of being in crowd-pleasing four-quadrant films while still working with respected directors like Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and Francis Ford Coppola. This cemented Cruise as a serious Thespian and box office draw. By the end of the 80s, there were no longer merely movies with Tom Cruise but Tom Cruise movies. Audiences knew any movie starring Mr. Top Gun himself would be good whether that was true or not. That’s the true testament to Cruise’s ’80s legacy.
12‘Losing It’ (1982)
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Cruise’s reluctant first leading role as a teen who goes to Tiawana with his friends to lose his virginity was so lackluster even he didn’t want to star in it, only agreeing to participate after being convinced by his agent.
This underwhelming movie fails to deliver on the Porkies-like raunch or the outrageous comedy delivered in its first fifteen minutes. That said, it does highlight Cruise and Cheers alumni Shelly Long’s immense talent with their surprising ability to emote depth and have fun chemistry, even in a movie as bare as this.
11‘Cocktails’ (1988)
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
In what’s essentially Top Gun with a bartender, a selfish hot-shot bartender changes after being humbled by life. While not remembered fondly these days, this hit was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1988 and helped introduce Middle America to the rise in trendy bar culture.
As strange as it sounds, some films are entertaining purely for their nostalgic nature. Cocktail features lots of 80s hits, big hair, greed, and cheesy dialogue that Cruise and the rest of the cast committed to no matter how mellow dramatic making this a fun time capsule. While fans may have fun laughing at this film, there are exciting moments between Brian and his frienemy Doug where fans can see the smart and edgy drama it was aiming to be.
10‘Legend’ (1982)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott’s dream-like fantasy about a vagabond who attempts to rescue a princess was a box office failure and one of Cruises’ rare badly reviewed performances. However, it’s recently been lauded for Ridly’s breathtaking cinematography with many confused about how something filmed in a studio in the 80s can look so good.
While having the campiness of a 80s kids’ movie, Legend did what most fantasy films of the day would not: take fantasy seriously. There are a lot of subtexts about the duality of people; nightmarishly creepy creatures including Tim Curry as Satan, and an uncharistically imperfect fair maiden. The set design and costuming are also taken seriously, feeling more like Lord of the Rings than the typical 80s childs-fair. This has led some to call Legend an imperfect masterpiece.
9‘Endless Love’ (1981)
Directed by: Franco Zeffirelli
Tom Cruises’ first feature, about a teen girl whose parents forced her to break up with her boyfriend, was controversial because it depicted real teens having sex as well as the director twisting a teenage Brook Shields toe during a sex scene to get the reaction he wanted.
This movie starts like a sweet teen romance, but the tone dramatically shifts as the mother gains a crush on her daughter’s boyfriend and these teen’s unceremonious split causes him to become obsessed. What’s interesting is the film views this as youthful love instead of disturbing like the novel and critics of the time. This makes this film and its protagonist unintentionally creepy and fascinating.
8‘All The Right Moves’ (1983)
Directed by Michael Chapman
Tom Cruise’s first leading dramatic role may have come and gone, but fans cite this gem as being the first sign that Cruise had bigger aspirations than being another Hollywood pretty boy. It also shows how Cruise would be instrumental behind the scenes of his films, with him convincing the director to remove one of the nude scenes after Lea Thompson threatened to quit.
This hidden gem looks at the grim outlook of teens from small mining towns in the 80s. The setting and characters suck the audience into this dreary small town, so audiences can feel their angst or fear about escaping. Cruise gives a heartbreaking performance as an aspiring football player who desires more from life than working in the coal mine. While the movie is not perfect, Cruise’s acting prowess and the movie’s surprisingly realistic look at small town life make this film a diamond in the ruff.
7‘The Outsiders’
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Believe it or not, this cult hit would never exist without a school librarian writing Francis Ford Coppola with a signed petition by the children in her school asking him to make a movie out of the classic novel. Coppola’s film adaptation, about a gang of greasers, also stars up-and-comers like Cruise, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, and Diane Lane, with many considering it the first Brat-Pack film.
The Outsiders could have been and probably should have been a standard teen drama. However, in typical Coppola fashion, he tries to make an art film with odd pacing, interesting camera shots, and quiet, reflective moments. To his credit, this makes the movie stand out all these years later and brings depth to these characters and the film.
6‘The Color of Money’
Directed by Martin Scorsese
It’s Ironic, this movie is about a pool hustler going back to pick up what he left behind in life since acting legend Paul Newman developed this sequel, even picking Cruise and Martin Scorsese so he could play a character he left behind and finally nab that elusive Best Actor Oscar.
Similar to The Hustler before it the layered and complicated characters are what make this film so interesting. Everyone is morally gray as Scorsese slowly reveals what motivates and drives these personalities. This leads to an interesting power shift between the exploitive Eddie and the naive Vincent, who goes from being hustled to the hustler.
5‘Taps’ (1981)
Directed by Harold Becker
Apparently, Tom Cruises’ onscreen intensity is nothing new with him showing it in spades as a crazed machine gun-wielding cadet who helps his classmates take over their military school.
It’s safe to say Taps makes Lord Of The Flies look like child’s play. The cast may be younger, but they have an intense presence and delivery of actors twice their age as their characters are forced to grow up overnight. The film has children wielding machine guns and grenades like water guns, warning of the dangers of military schools preparing kids for war over making good decisions.
4‘Top Gun’ (1987)
Directed by Tony Scott
If Risky Business put Cruise on the map, then this film about an arrogant pilot in a prestigious naval academy made him a full-blown star. His maverick is so admirably arrogant that 40 years later, fans would rush to theaters to see him back on the big screen in Top Gun Maverick resuscitating a sluggish post-pandemic box office.
This quintessential 80s action flick took Cruise to new heights with its crowd-pleasing nature. From real-life plane sequences for action junkies to comedy, even Romance, this film has something for everyone, making it hard for anyone to feel left out. While Valkilmers hesitancy to make the film because of its silly dialogue is understandable, Top Gun wouldn’t be the same without it. More importantly, it has Cruise being the magnetic action star fans would come to love.
3‘Born On The Fourth Of July’ (1989)
Directed by Oliver Stone
Despite Cruise starring mostly in action flicks these days, he was once known for searching for challenging roles to prove himself, like in this drama film about a disillusioned Vietnam War vet. Ironically, Oliver Stone originally could not see the clean-cut Top Gun playing a gritty dramatic role. However, the idea of seeing America’s golden-boy morph into a wild-shelved veteran helping drive the point of the movie home convinced him otherwise.
Cruise proves he’s more than just a pretty face and stunts in his transformative and career-changing performance from Suburban Boy next door to an angry handicapped war veteran. While most films focus on the insanity of the Vietnam War, this film focuses on its aftermath and how many veterans felt lost and unappreciated. While in most hero journeys, the protagonist finds himself, by the end of the movie, neither the viewer nor the hero recognizes who he is, leaving the audience shaken.
2‘Risky Business’ (1983)
Directed by: Paul Brickman
Every Hollywood icon has that first film and performance that puts them on the map. For Cruise, it was this teen comedy about a high school virgin who starts a brothel while his parents are away. Believe it or not, Cruise’s stellar performance helped this movie become the tenth-highest-grossing film of 1983 stateside.
It’s easy to see why this film turned Cruise into a star, with his character being the avatar for what every teenage boy wishes he could do when his parents are away. Relatable scenes like a school-weary Joel dancing in the house alone in his underwear endeared him to fans because of how relatable it was. However, this is no average teen flick. It aims to be high art. The director has several unconventional story beats and stylistic choices that make everything feel surreal and meaningful, elevating it far above the other raunchy 80s teen comedies.
1Rain Man (1988)
Directed by Barry Levinson
Most films can’t make a scene of two men silently on an escalator a classic scene in cinema. However, this drama about a selfish businessman reuniting with his older brother he didn’t know existed is just that immersive.
If one person can play lovable and arrogant, it’s Cruise. He turns a movie about a selfish man kidnapping, mistreating, and exploiting his brother into hilarious and heartwarming. While Dustin Hoffman gives a career-high performance as an autistic shut-in, it’s Cruise’s self-absorbed and money-hungry character, Charlie, learning to care for someone else that goes through the most growth in one of his more underrated performances.
