Curated for Prowell-Tech • Updated May 14 2025
He dangled off the Burj Khalifa, clung to a departing Airbus A400, and is about to dash up the side of the International Space Station for an upcoming Universal picture. On May 23, Cruise returns to multiplexes in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, a film the actor and director Christopher McQuarrie promise is not the last in the franchise AP News.
A four-decade résumé can be intimidating, so we whittled it down to 10 career-defining titles. The ranking below blends critical response, box-office clout, cultural after-burn, and sheer re-watch value. We’ve also added up-to-the-minute U.S. streaming info so you can cue up a Cruise marathon before the next fuse lights.
Contents
10. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
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Why it still rips: a 62-year-old Cruise does 7.5 g vertical turns in actual F/A-18s, proving practical daredevilry can still out-muscle CG set pieces.
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Receipts: $1.496 billion worldwide — the second-highest gross of the decade so far Box Office Mojo
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Where to watch: Paramount+; digital rental or purchase JustWatch
9. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
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One-line pitch: Groundhog Day meets Saving Private Ryan with power-armored exosuits.
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Box office: $370.5 million worldwide Box Office Mojo
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Status update: Warner Bros. has a finished script for the sequel, now retitled Live Die Repeat Again.
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Where to watch: digital stores only; no subscriber deal in 2025 JustWat
8. Rain Man (1988)
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Cruise factor: Tom’s frustrated Charlie Babbitt lets Dustin Hoffman win the statuette, but carries the movie’s emotional arc.
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Box office: $354.8 million on a $25 million budget Box Office Mojo
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Where to watch: MGM+ or any major PVOD outlet.
7. Jerry Maguire (1996)
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Legacy: four catch-phrases, two Golden Globes, and endless meme life.
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Box office: $273 million worldwide JustWatch
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Where to watch: Prime Video and Paramount+ (subscription), or any PVOD service JustWatch
6. Tropic Thunder (2008)
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Scene-stealer: Cruise’s latex-swaddled Les Grossman essentially invented TikTok’s “dance-off CEO” meme 17 years early.
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Box office: $195.7 million JustWatch
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Where to watch: fuboTV or Paramount+; digital rental everywhere JustWatch
5. Collateral (2004)
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Hook: Michael Mann turns L.A. into a digital noir playground; silver-fox Cruise flips his hero persona to chilling effect.
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Where to watch: Paramount+ or PVOD JustWatch
4. Minority Report (2002)
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Prescient tech: gesture-controlled interfaces and predictive-policing ethics debated long before the iPhone era.
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Box office: $358.4 million worldwide Box Office Mojo
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Where to watch: Paramount+ or Pluto TV (ad-supported) JustWatch
3. Magnolia (1999)
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Oscar moment: Cruise dismantles toxic bravado in a 15-minute bedside confession — still the rawest acting of his career.
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Where to watch: currently digital rental only; Criterion Channel streams it each December for PT Anderson month JustWatch
2. A Few Good Men (1992)
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Why we can’t handle the truth: Aaron Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue meets a courtroom showdown that even non-moviegoers can quote verbatim.
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Where to watch: buy or rent on any major PVOD platform JustWatch
1. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
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Kubrick’s swan song: a Christmas-lit odyssey through jealousy, masks, and secret societies that gains relevance every re-watch.
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Where to watch: available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and others; occasionally cycles through Max JustWatch
How we ranked them
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Performance range — times Cruise stepped outside “invincible hero” mode earned bonus points.
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Cultural & meme longevity — if Gen-Z can quote it, it jumped the queue.
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Box-office vs. budget efficiency.
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U.S. streaming availability in May 2025. Hard-to-find titles slipped.
What’s next for Cruise?
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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opens May 23 in North America AP News
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A Doug Liman-directed ISS spacewalk movie is penciled in for late 2027, pending NASA and Axiom approvals.
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