Summary
- Mission: Impossible – Death Worth, the first part had a dangerous scene in which the actors risked their lives, but it was not included in the final cut.
- Director Christopher McQuarrie explained that the originally planned mounting system didn’t work, so the actors had to practically act out the scene.
- Despite efforts and risks, the scene was eventually removed from the film after test screenings met with mixed reactions.
A scene from Mission: Impossible: The Wage of Death, Part One, in which the actors risk their lives, was cut from the film. As Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) works desperately to ensure that artificial intelligence doesn’t become a superior weapon, the latest version of Mission: Impossible incorporates all the gimmicks and risks the series is known for, garnering the highest reviews for the series and achieving modest success in rental.
Christopher McQuarrie detailed the secrets behind the stunt scene cut from Mission: Impossible: The Wage of Death Part One during a special Empire Spoiler podcast. The final cut of the film includes a train scene that sums up the sequel perfectly, but this particular stunt didn’t quite work as the writer/director showed that the test screenings left audiences unmoved, leading to the scene being deleted. where actors risked their lives for a stunt. Here’s what he said:
It had to be something we did with a reset setup where things could be very predictable and none of our attempts worked, so the actors ended up having to risk their lives and basically do it. (After test screenings) the train scene was a bit like the car chase scene in Jack Reacher, where we couldn’t figure out why we kept getting that note of length. Finally, I cut Jack Reacher’s car chase scene, and she taught me all about action filming. With the train scene, I kept thinking, “Is this a shot?” And we still dragged on, but we kept getting the note and we finally figured out what it was. The work that was done to curb the sequence was extraordinary, it took several days, it was difficult and very risky. We removed it and the scene worked just fine.
Deadly Stunts in Mission: Impossible
Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible: Deadly Reckoning, Part 1.
Mission: Impossible is a series known for achieving the impossible and getting the best reviews from critics and audiences when it lives up to its name. Many of the stunts in Mission: Impossible: Death Wages Part One and throughout the series are actually performed by actors rather than using stunt doubles or computer-generated imagery. In particular, the motorcycle jump in Wages of Death Part One is an extremely dangerous move considering Cruz actually pulled off this miraculous stunt.
“Mission Impossible. The Wage of Death, Part One is not the only film in which life is endangered. Even in Rogue Cruise, Cruise was in danger of drowning while filming the blockbuster’s iconic underwater scene, and clinging to the side of a plane during takeoff in the film’s opening scene. In the second installment of McQuarrie-directed Mission: Impossible: Fallout, Cruz hanged himself from a mid-air helicopter, and production was delayed when the actor broke his ankle while filming a scene involving jumping between rooftops.
That Mission: Impossible: Death Worth Part One included an extremely dangerous scene isn’t much of a surprise given that this has often happened before on the show. The real surprise was that McQuarrie decided to cut out any part of the train scene given the difficulty of filming. As actors risk their lives to get the perfect stunt, it would be interesting to see a clip of the cut stunt from Mission: Impossible: Death Worth Part One.
Source: Empire
Main release dates: