Last Updated on September 6, 2024
Tom Cruise needs no introduction. This intense actor has a versatile resume that includes drama, comedies, action, psychological thrillers and more. To showcase his talent, we have gathered his Good Guy roles as well as his Dark Guy movies – and everything in between. So, if you are a fan of Tom Cruise, then grab that bowl of popcorn and press play on any of these excellent movies.
1. Rain Man (1988)
Charlie Babbit needs money and when he learns that the majority of his father’s estate went to a mysterious brother he never knew he had, Charles hatches a plan. His brother, Raymond, is autistic and lives at a special home and to get the inheritance, Charles takes custody of his brother.
During a road trip, Charles discovers that Raymond is a gambling savant and he starts hitting the casinos. But as he grows fonder of Raymond, Charles realizes that family is more important than quick riches.
2. Top Gun (1986)
Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is a superb fighter jet pilot stationed aboard the USS Enterprise. But he has a reputation for reckless flying and abandoning teamwork in the air to hunt the enemy alone. These flaws earn him both distrust and admiration when he attends TOPGUN, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar.
When a fatal exercise at the school claims a close friend, Maverick has to regain his confidence to give his strongest TOPGUN rival life-saving backup during a real combat situation.
3. War of the Worlds (2005)
Ray Farrier gets his two estranged kids for the day but family time is interrupted by the arrival of a strange storm. As Ray and other bystanders look on in horror, ancient alien war machines start to rise from the earth.
Ray is caught in a terrifying race against time to save his children as the invaders begin to slaughter people en masse.
4. Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Based on the Anne Rice novel by the same name, this dark and complex story follows vampires Louis (who is being interviewed in modern-day San Francisco) and Lestat, who turned Louis into a vampire in 1791.
After becoming one of the undead, Louis takes on the role of Lestat’s companion but they couldn’t be more different. Lestat is a remorseless killer while Louis suffers from remorse and empathy. When they turn a little girl into a vampire, the pair turn on each other and Louis flees to Paris in search of other vampires. But when their French counterparts learn that Lestat appeared to have been murdered by Louis, the consequences are spectacular and painful in a way that will please any fan of gothic horror films.
5. Tropic Thunder (2008)
In this unique comedy, Cruise teams up with great actors like Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. The movie revolves around a fading action star named Tugg Speedman who is cast in a movie that is based on a war hero’s life.
But when Speedman and his fellow actors keep messing up the director’s orders, the latter decides to film them in a jungle with hidden cameras to get more natural sequences. Unbeknownst to Speedman and his fellow actors, who believe everything around them is staged, they are dropped off in a jungle riddled with real mines and drug dealers, with hilarious results.
6. The Mummy (2017)
When soldiers in Iraq discover the tomb of a mummy, things start to go wrong. The soldiers, Nick and Chris, with the help of archaeologists, transport the mummy back to Britain. But during the flight, the undead Princess Ahmanet comes back to life and causes the plane to crash.
Nick miraculously survives but his fight against Ahmanet’s zombie army has just begun. They want to take over London so that she can resurrect the dark Egyptian god called Set. Nick has to make a terrifying decision that could save everyone but also change his life drastically forever.
7. Valkyrie (2008)
Based on an incredible true story, the movie follows a group of high-ranking Germans who want to stop Hitler from destroying Europe. After being wounded in WWII, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg becomes so disillusioned by Hitler’s tyranny that he readily joins the German Resistance when he is recruited.
Stauffenberg suggests that they trigger Operation Valkyrie, a state of emergency during which Germany’s Army takes control of the country to maintain order. Planning to use this to take control away from the ruling party, Stauffenberg first has to attempt to kill Hitler with a bomb.
8. Vanilla Sky (2001)
David Aames has it all. He is a good-looking man living off a profitable business that he inherited and his girlfriend, Julie, is beautiful and in love with him. One day, he makes a fateful decision when he falls for a girl, Sofia, at a party not realizing that Julie followed them as they left to have more privacy. Unaware that she knows of the affair, David accepts a ride when Julie offers to take him home.
The ride ends in a suicide-murder attempt that changes his world – literally. Things take a strange turn when David’s horribly scarred face comes and goes and the dead Julie reappears in his apartment. When he finally discovers the truth, he has to make a life-changing decision.
9. Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ethan Hunt and his team of operatives are ambushed in Prague when they attempt to stop someone from stealing a CIA list that holds the names of all their non-official cover operatives. But the mission was a trap, killing his entire team and leaving Hunt as the sole survivor.
After he learns that the mission’s true purpose was to draw out a mole in his own organization – and that he is suspected of being the traitor – Hunt sets off on an action-packed chase to clear his name and uncover the real mole.
10. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
In this erotic mystery psychological drama, a couple sinks deeper into the world of infidelity that never quite reaches the point of crossing the line. After Bill’s wife, Alice, confesses that she almost had an affair a year ago, he embarks on a 2-day pity-fest that leads him down a strange path.
After he learns of a secret society holding sex rites, Bill disguises himself and gains entry into the exclusive building. When he is discovered, he learns a harsh truth – clandestine organizations will go to great lengths to keep their secrets.
11. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Jerry Maguire is a sports agent who can no longer stand the shallow relationships he has with his clients. After he writes a piece about dishonesty in the sports management business, he is fired from his job. But Jerry has one chance at salvaging his career and that is Rod Tidwell, a professional football player who becomes the only client who decides to stick with him.
When Jerry leaves his company, single mother Dorothy Boyd leaves with him, believing that he will make it big and that he has been treated unfairly. Their romance blossoms but is severely tested by Jerry’s commitment to his only client and the fast-paced world of sports agents.
12. Collateral (2004)
Cab driver Max is on night duty when he delivers a delightful young woman to her office. She hands him her card and he realizes that she’s a lawyer but think nothing of it further. His next fare is a man called Vincent who offers him a large amount of money to drive him to five places.
Things go seriously wrong when Max realize that Vincent is a cold-blooded assassin tasked with killing four witnesses to a crime and the lawyer involved in the case – which happens to be the woman he had met earlier. Determined to save her life, the quiet Max has to find his inner warrior to withstand Vincent’s brutal plans.
13. Legend (1985)
In this epic dark fantasy, Tom Cruise plays Jack the green man of the forest. But when he falls in love with a princess and takes her to see a pair of unicorns, the fate of the world is plunged into darkness. Because the pair distracted the animals, who are the keepers of Light, the Lord of Darkness managed to kill the stallion.
Jack must embark on a dark journey of his own to save both unicorns from permanent death and to lift the eternal winter that has fallen upon the world.
14. Taps (1981)
When Bunker Hill Military Academy announces to its cadets that the school will be closing, the students’ reaction is unexpected. Raiding the armory, they take over the school and demand to negotiate to keep the Academy open. But as the police and National Guard arrives, things take a bloody turn.
15. The Firm (1993)
Mitch McDeere seems to have struck it lucky. Freshly out of law school, he is offered a great job at Lambert & Locke, a boutique law firm in Memphis, Tennessee. But he soon realizes that the firm likes to get its hands dirty and that he is expected to take part in the illegal activities. Soon, McDeere is trapped between the FBI and the dangerous world of the mob.
