Mission Impossible 7’s Train Scene Was Originally 1.5 Hours Long in the Original Movie Cut
The seventh part of the eagerly awaited Mission Impossible movie franchise, Mission Impossible: Death Reckoning Part 1, is currently playing in theaters. The much-loved spy, played by Tom Cruise, Ethan Hunt is back, and fans are going crazy for him. This movie features more dangerous stunts and action ever seen than before. With a $235 million global revenue in its first week alone, the movie is a financial success.
The movie’s train scene was the most exciting part. The action-packed sequence is fairly long, but it appears to have been considerably longer in the original edit. And by considerably longer, I mean one and a half hours. [Spoilers ahead]
Action-packed train sequence of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1
Jaw-dropping stunts were an integral component of every Mission Impossible film, and Mission Impossible 7 is no exception. Actually, the seventh entry in the franchise has significantly riskier stunts than before. Tom Cruise has performed the most daring stunts that are extremely dangerous and, if not done carefully, can be fatal, such as jumping off a plane, riding a motorcycle off a cliff, and speed flying.
The most exciting scene in this particular movie is believed to be the train sequence. Ethan Hunt, who has returned for duty, is shown engaging in combat aboard a moving train. In the third act of the movie, there is a struggle between Esai Morales’ Gabriel and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt on the top of a train as it speeds down a track at 60 mph.
The train crashes down a bridge one carriage at a time, setting the scene’s dramatic climax. As they return up through the train, Ethan and Grace portrayed by Hayley Atwell clutch to one other for dear life. It’s a horrifying sequence that is certain to stay with the audience forever.
The 1.5-hour-long scene was cut short
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 has an incredible train scene! One of the most thrilling movie sequences ever filled with action. But guess what? The scene’s original cut was a whopping 90 minutes long! Can you picture Tom Cruise racing, jumping, and hanging off a moving train for an hour and a half? Because it’s Tom Cruise, who wouldn’t love to watch him doing what he does best—action, stunts, and just about anything—nobody would have objected, in my opinion.
But a 90-minute sequence is excessive. It was so long that it could have been its own movie so it had to be trimmed down by the film’s editor Eddie Hamilton and director Christopher McQuarrie. Editor Hamilton said that the trick to cutting the train scene was to make sure that the action was non-stop when they eventually reduced it to 50 minutes. The part of the carriage falling off was itself three minutes long so Hamilton said, “If it’s three minutes, it’s too long.” In order to make it even tighter, they carefully looked through each shot, determining whether or not it needed each frame.“Can we cut this any tighter?” they would say while cutting down the sequence.
And oh, did they succeed in doing so! As a result, during the heart-pounding train sequence, you’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire time. You could even feel a little worn out after seeing it because of how exciting it is.
Source: CBR
