An impossible jump off a cliff, a wild car chase across the city of Rome, wriggling out of a train falling off another cliff. In Mission:Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, Tom Cruise has gone where no man dares. Still reeling from the effect of watching Cruise do his own stunts, we pick five edge-of-the-seat action sequences that make this M:I film directed by Christopher McQuarrie worth a repeat watch on the big screen.

Ethan and Grace escape from a collapsing train

The spectacular train collapse sequence in the climax of Mission:Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One leaves one marvelling at its execution. Hayley Atwell’s Grace and Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt negotiate a series of train compartments snapping one after the other on the edge of a cliff after the bridge connecting it has been blown up.

It reminded us of Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan surviving a similar situation in Pathaan; only here it is twice the scale in terms of danger and detail. The scene where Ethan and Grace move up the slippery floor of the train’s pantry with hot broth and oil spilling over from trays and pans and get close to being crushed by a falling piano is simply hair-raising.

Ethan revs up his motorcycle and jumps off a cliff

This was the moment of truth M:I fans had been waiting for — Tom Cruise pulling off his riskiest stunt ever. The promotional campaign for M:I — Dead Reckoning Part One focused heavily on Cruise’s motorcycle jump off a cliff, and for good reason. Director Christopher McQuarrie skillfully captures this death-defying stunt from multiple angles, immersing us in Cruise’s freefall and then him parachuting into a train compartment, knocking out an adversary through the opposite window and saving Grace.

Ethan’s fistfight atop a running train

After this miraculous landing, Ethan engages in a fierce hand-to-hand combat with his arch-nemesis Gabriel (Esai Morales) on top of the speeding train. This is the climactic fight of M:I — Dead Reckoning Part One and Ethan is driven not only by his mission to retrieve a powerful key but also by his rage to avenge the killing of his long-time associate Ilsa Faust.

The car chase in Rome

One of the most breathless sequences in M:I — Dead Reckoning Part One, the car chase in Rome where Ethan and Grace are being tailed by both Gabriel’s assassins and the US police has a bit of everything. There are vehicle swaps, multiple skillful drifts, cars rolling off stairs, an intense shootout and a funny situation involving Ethan and Grace’s cuffed hands.

Ilsa Faust’s sword fight with Gabriel

Ilsa and Gabriel cross swords on a bridge over a canal in Venice and after a round of sharp, smooth moves, Gabriel’s steel pierces her heart. The fight scenes are alternated with shots of Ethan running and racing against time to stop what he and we have been dreading.

Ilsa’s sword fight with Gabriel is reminiscent of her knife fight in Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation and her confrontation with Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) in Mission: Impossible — Fallout. And given the fine fighter that she is, Ilsa Faust’s death in a duel is hard to accept.