The Ultimate Ranking of Tom Cruise Films: From Top Gun to Mission Impossible

After many months of watching Tom Cruise movies, I have finally gone through his entire filmography. So, I thought it would be fun to share my ranking of all 43 movies Tom Cruise has been in. I am only counting movies where he has at least a recurring supporting role, so cameos like Austin Powers do not count. This was a bit of a tough ranking to do as there are so many movies and they are so different. I would also like to note that I am ranking by the quality of the movie not the quality of the Tom Cruise performance. With that being said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the 43 Tom Cruise movies. 

43. Legend

Legend is one of the rare Cruise misfires. It has everything to be a great movie, Tom Cruise, director Ridley Scott, and a fantasy world but the story is largely incoherent as it feels like it was cut to pieces in the editing room. So much of the story feels like it is missing and that a better version of this story exists somewhere. 

Score: 4/10 Grade: D+

42. Losin' it

Losin' It is exactly what you would expect. It is a low-budget mid-80s teen sex comedy that gave Tom Cruise his start in Hollywood. The acting isn't great and the humor is pretty raunchy. It also doesn't have much in terms of plot or characters but is still moderately entertaining. 

Score: 4/10 Grade: D+

41. The Mummy

The Mummy was so bad that it killed Universal's Dark Universe before it even started. This movie is too concerned with setting up an extended universe than it is telling an actual good story. The story makes very little sense, the villain is really bad, and the main characters are not likable. This movie needs to be sent back to the depths where it belongs. 

Score: 4/10 Grade: D+

40. Lions for Lambs

This is a movie that really missed its mark. It had great Oscar talent in Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise, some Oscar-worthy speeches but it forgot to come up with a good story to tie all of these things together. I waited the whole movie to see what these characters and scenes had to do with each other but it never happened. 

Score: 4.5/10 Grade: C-

39. Days of Thunder

Days of Thunder is one of the more forgettable Tom Cruise movies. It feels like your generic racing movie where the main character is at the top of his game, gets hurt, and then comes back from his struggles to be good again. We get to see some fun moments between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman but beyond that, there isn't much to say about it. 

Score: 5/10 Grade: C

38. All the Right Moves

This is another pretty generic Tom Cruise movie. This time it's a generic sports star story. Tom Cruise is fun as this football star and Lea Thompson has some sweet moments with him but there isn't a single thing that is memorable about this movie.

Score: 5/10 Grade: C

37. Rock of Ages

This was a very odd addition to Tom Cruise's filmography. There is some novelty to seeing big stars sing a bunch of rock songs. Tom Cruise is a surprisingly good singer. This is an adaption of the Broadway show of the same name and that is what it feels like. The story doesn't feel like it was written to work for a movie as it was written for the stage. 

Score: 5.5/10 Grade: C

36. Cocktail

Cocktail is my mother-in-law's favorite movie and I find it to be a fun yet very flawed film. The bar-tending aspect of the story was fun but the movie kind of loses interest in that and just becomes a generic rom-com story. If it would have stuck with the bartending tropical vibe, I think the movie would have worked much better. 

Score: 5.5/10 Grade: C

35. Mission: Impossible 2

Mission: Impossible 2 is the weakest of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It doesn't have as much fun of a story or mission and just stylistically feels different than all the other films. It feels like a John Woo movie, not a Mission: Impossible movie which hurts it in the end. 

Score: 5.5/10 Grade: C

34. Taps

Taps is another early Tom Cruise movie. This movie centers around a group of students who take over their military school and use guns to defend themselves against the actual army. This movie is so absurd but has some value of entertainment to it. It isn't a great movie but it was entertaining enough to watch once. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

33. Far and Away

Far and Away is an early Tom Cruise historical epic with questionable Irish accents from both Cruise and Nichole Kidman. I thought the story was interesting enough with the two characters trying to make a new life in America. However, the plot itself is a bit too clunky and the runtime is a bit too long to really be a great film. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

32. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

This is the lesser of the two Jack Reacher films Tom Cruise has starred in. While it does have some solid action moments and a decent idea for a plot, it ends up being a fairly generic fugitive on the run story. It also had a decent theme of family going on that it just kind of did nothing with by the end of the movie. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

31. Knight and Day

Knight and Day is a current-era Tom Cruise action movie that really misses the mark. It has some fun moments but the movie makes the odd choice to have one of the characters unconscious during the most interesting parts and causes the audience to miss it. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

30. Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky is a very intense thriller that doesn't quite land the ship at the end. The first 2/3rds of the movie are very interesting with the movie causing you to wonder what is going on in this world and why Tom Cruise's character is seeing things. However, the final act just goes way off the deep end and doesn't end the movie satisfyingly enough to get a positive rating. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

29. Oblivion

Oblivion is the first of these movies that I'll go positive on. This was an entertaining enough Sci-Fi story. It had a big twist that I wasn't expecting out of a movie like this. The world-building was interesting. The story itself just didn't stand out that much and I thought Morgan Freeman was a bit underutilized. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

28. War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds is the first of the two Steven Spielberg films on this list. This movie has some pretty high highs but also some very low lows. When it goes for these intense alien attack sequences or the thrilling hiding sequences, it works very well. However, most of the characters are pretty poorly written and just make some incredibly stupid decisions that just knock the movie back for me. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

27. The Outsiders

The Outsiders is another early Tom Cruise movie. The story itself is decent enough. There isn't too much wrong with it. It just follows the book pretty heavily that it starts to feel like an audiobook where the characters are just reciting exposition from the book. If I wanted to feel like I was reading the book, I'd just read the book. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

26. Interview with a Vampire

Interview with a Vampire contains a very unique role for Tom Cruise where he is this very chilling vampire. I thought seeing life through the POV of these vampires was interesting but there wasn't anything great in the movie to really write home about. It was interesting enough but not as good as those higher on the list. 

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B- 

25. Mission: Impossible 3

Mission: Impossible 3 is where this franchise starts to go more action and stunt-focused. The mission aspects were a lot of fun and Phillip Seymore Hoffman is great as the villain. I also thought it was cool that it gave Ethan an attempt at a family life. What keeps it lower is just that the middle section is a bit lackluster in terms of story. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

24. Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder was a lot better than I expected it to be. It is a very self-aware movie that pokes fun at movie-making, actors, and war movies. All of the actors are a lot of fun in it with Robert Downey Jr. being the standout. While I did find it funny, I don't think I was that funny to really deserve a higher spot on this list. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

23. Jack Reacher

This movie was also quite a bit better than I was expecting. I really like the whole investigation aspect of the story. I liked watching Jack Reacher trying to uncover clues to figure out who did this shooting. What keeps this movie a bit lower for me is that it cheats a little bit at the end to get the plot to resolve how it wants. I also felt that Tom Cruise was greatly miscast as Jack Reacher. Jack Reacher is supposed to be this big 6' 5" 250 lb guy and Tom Cruise is not that. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

22. American Made

American Made is one of the new Tom Cruise films. I liked the 1970's feel that this movie gives off. I also thought the story was crazy and fascinating especially because it was true. What keeps this movie lower, is that I wasn't quite on board with the storytelling style. It is unique but I felt it to be a bit scatterbrained at times. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

21. The Firm

The Firm is the first of two Tom Cruise lawyer movies on this list. The Firm does a great job of being this intense thriller. It keeps you on the edge of your seat as Tom Cruise tries to uncover what this law firm is actually up to. There are some aspects, especially in the second and third acts of the movie that didn't quite land for me which is what keeps it from the top 20. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

20. Top Gun

I may get some flack for this placement but I think Top Gun is more iconic than it is a good film. There are a lot of cool plane sequences and great songs and it leaves you swelling with American pride. However, it runs more as a Navy recruitment ad than as a movie. The plot meanders a good bit and is really clunky when transitioning between sections of the movie. The movie is saved more by its nostalgia than its quality. 

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

19. The Color of Money

The Color of Money is Tom Cruise's collaboration with Martin Scorsese. I thought that Paul Newman and Tom Cruise were both great in this movie. I also thought the pool aspect was pretty interesting and the whole idea of hustling to win money. I thought that it lost a bit of steam once Tom Cruise leaves towards the end but this is still a solid Martin Scorsese film. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

18. Mission: Impossible

This is one of the career-defining movies of Tom Cruise. I really like the idea of this spy organization and think the CIA building mission was very cool. However, this movie is quite dated and just doesn't have the polish of the other Mission: Impossible films. It is also quite a bit slower than the other 6 films. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

17. Magnolia

Magnolia is a film I appreciated more than I enjoyed. This movie features great performances from its entire cast. Tom Cruise plays such a different role than he normally does. I also thought it was interesting how all of these different stories are loosely tied together. However, this type of movie just isn't really my kind of thing. I can appreciate the craft but wish it was a little more streamlined in the plot. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

16. Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut is another film that I appreciated more than I enjoyed. I thought the film had this interesting thrilling and mystery aspect to it as we follow Tom Cruise on edge from this organization he encountered. However, this story is just a little too erotic and sexually charged as the entire plot is driven by this man coping with his wife potentially having an affair. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

15. Born on the Fourth of July

Born on the Fourth of July is probably Tom Cruise's best acting performance. We get to see him dive deep into the character of a deeply scarred Vietnam vet. The movie does a great job of showing the post-war traumas of wounded soldiers. I felt the plot was a little lacking at times but the performance is so good, it kind of offsets. 

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

14. Valkyrie

Valkyrie is one of the better historical films Tom Cruise has done. This film follows a group of German officials as they try to overthrow Hitler. It has quite a few thrilling moments as well as a lot of interesting moments. I also thought the somber ending was very well done. The main issue I had with this movie was the false sense of stakes it has. As a real story, we obviously know it Hitler hasn't been overthrown yet and their mission is doomed to fail. 

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

13. Collateral

Collateral is one of the best Thrillers Tom Cruise has done. Both Jamie Fox and Tom Cruise are great in this movie. Tom Cruise gives a very chilling performance. I also thought the idea of the taxi driver having to drive this killer around was really interesting. The only issue I had with this film was that the Mark Ruffalo character felt a little unnecessary. 

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

12. Minority Report

Minority Report is the better of the two Steven Spielberg films on the list. I really like the cop aspect and all the world-building that goes on with this film. I thought the idea of pre-crime was really interesting. What keeps this out of the top 10 is that the movie loses a bit of steam in the second half and I wasn't as big of a fan as I was of the first half but it is still a very good movie. 

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

11. Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is essentially a sci-fi version of Groundhog Day and does it very well. It plays a bit like a video game where you die, reset the level, and try again which I thought was a very fun direction to take. Both Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are great in the movie. I don't really have any issues with the film. I just don't enjoy it as much as the top 10. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- 

10. The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai is the best of Tom Cruise's historical epics. This movie dives deep into Samurai ideas and training. It also has some huge battle sequences and is really epic in scale. I also thought Tom Cruise's character had a great arc throughout the story. Ken Watanabe was also great in this movie. This is really an underrated Tom Cruise movie. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

9. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is where Tom Cruise begins to go all in with his stunt career. This film has so many great moments with the Dubai Tower sequence being a standout. The film is very exciting and just keeps me on the edge of my seat. I also enjoyed the addition of Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg as members of the main team. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

8. Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire is one of Tom Cruise's more iconic films. Of course, there is the iconic line "Show Me the Money" but Tom Cruise also just gives a great Oscar-worthy performance. I thought the sports manager aspect of the film was really interesting. The Cuba Cooding character is also a lot of fun and just steals every scene that he is in. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

7. Risky Business

Risky Business is Tom Cruise's breakthrough film. This movie manages to be a teen sex comedy that doesn't feel cheap or sleazy like so many do during this time. The story itself is really interesting and quite funny. The movie also has many iconic moments with the Old Time Rock and Roll scene being a standout. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

6. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

This film is a prime example of the Mission: Impossible franchise getting better as the movies go on. This movie manages to reach the highs of the last film while managing to have an even more compelling story and probably the best villain in the franchise. The character of Ilsa is just so complex and is a great addition to the story as well. 

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

5. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

This is the newest Tom Cruise and is one of his best. This film is at the peak of the Mission: Impossible franchise and Tom Cruise's career with great stunts and a really interesting story. This movie also manages to do part 1 of a story right without having to leave the movie on some unresolved conclusion. I am very interested to see where the franchise and Tom Cruise go from here. 

Score: 9/10 Grade: A

4. Rain Man

Rain Man is a great movie that features fantastic performances from both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The journey that the two brothers go through is so great with so many sweet moments. We see the Tom Cruise character grow quite a bit and get a great understanding of how the Dustin Hoffman character operates. This was one of the few worthy Best Picture winners. 

Score: 9/10 Grade: A

3. Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is the most crowd-pleasing movie that Tom Cruise has made. This movie is better than the original Top Gun in every single way. The characters are better written and the plot is more streamlined. The new characters are great and really fit well into the story. Every time I watch this movie I like it just a little bit more. 

Score: 9.5/10 Grade: A

2. A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men is the best of the Tom Cruise lawyer movies. This movie manages to make something as boring as a court hearing appear really entertaining. It has so much well-written dialogue and great performances from Tom Cruise and Jack Nicolson. It also manages to be quite thrilling when it needs to be and keeps me engaged from beginning to end. 

Score: 9.5/10 Grade: A

1. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

This is by far the best Tom Cruise movie and Mission: Impossible story. The stunts are all top-notch. Unlike the other films, this one doesn't really have any weak points. The third act is just so well done and exciting. It keeps me on edge even though I have seen it multiple times. Overall, this movie cements why I like Tom Cruise so much. 

Score: 9.5/10 Grade: A