Tom Cruise jumps off a plane over 100 times for HALO stunt in 'Fallout'
'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' release is right around the corner. Meanwhile, you could take some time off to appreciate Tom Cruise's determination and spirit as he performs the gut-wrenching HALO jump in a brand new featurette.
High altitude, low open (HALO) is a military-style parachute jump that is intended to get troops on the ground quickly and undetected, according to skydivehigh.com. As part of this exercise, a jumper at a very high altitude attempts a freefall towards the earth at an incredible speed and opens their chutes only at the last moment. The delay in opening the parachute is to minimize visibility.
The stunt could have easily been faked using computer generated graphics but, Cruise being Cruise, it doesn't come as a big surprise that he went on to perform the jump over a 100 times just to get it right. Cruise is the only actor to have pulled off a HALO on screen.
What makes the entire performance even more fascinating is the fact that the jump could be performed only once each day in order to get the best natural lighting possible. This meant building a gigantic wind tunnel and several rehearsals until the exact shot was achieved.
Watch the impressive featurette, detailing the risks and the mammoth task undertaken by Cruise below. The clip was released as part of the behind-the-scenes glimpses by Paramount Pictures.
Explaining the biggest fear involved with shooting the HALO jump, director Christopher McQuarrie says: "He is falling at 200 miles per hour, and he’s to position himself so he lands exactly three feet away from the camera, with 20,000 feet beneath him. We were really concerned about the risk of a midair collision.”
Mission: Impossible - Fallout finds Ethan Hunt along with some familiar allies "in a race against time after a mission gone wrong". Alongside Cruise, the film also stars Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby.
The film hits the theaters on July 27.
