Proof That Tom Cruise Didn't Fake That HALO Jump in 'Mission: Impossible -- Fallout'

A glance at the office calendar says that we're supposed to be nine weeks away from the long-awaited release of "Top Gun: Maverick."

But the universe had other plans for us, and for Tom Cruise, so we sit and wait.

The internet has a void to fill, and it's coughed up some incredible behind-the-scenes footage from Cruise's last movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout." The movie's HALO jump was one of its centerpiece action scenes, and someone from the production shared a clip that reveals exactly how Tom (and a camera operator) made that jump.

The footage showed up on Reddit's r/movies board with no information as to where it came from or who might have posted it.

How the HALO jump scene from MI: Fallout was filmed. The cameraman also jumped with Tom Cruise. from r/movies

The side-by-side presentation reveals that there are actually two cameras running here, the one that captured the footage shown in the movie and the second one that captured the footage we're watching. HALO jumps are complicated and terrifying enough on their own. This clip shows just how much planning and thought went into the scenes you'd eventually see in the theater.

The men and women who play the Avengers are sensible people. They understand that computer graphics can make anyone seem like they're performing the most incredible stunts, when all they actually did was fly around with some wires in front of a green screen.

That's not going to cut it for our man Tom Cruise. Word from the set of "Top Gun: Maverick" is that he (as the movie's producer) required the young actors to film their flying scenes in the air after learning to handle the G forces that Navy jets generate.

They weren't actually flying those planes, but they weren't faking it with a pretend cockpit on a gimbel in front of a green screen, either. You can't play an aviator unless you feel the need to barf.

Paramount previously released a clip that detailed the HALO jump that gives some context to the raw footage above.

And here's the complete scene from "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout."

"Mission: Impossible -- Fallout" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and EPIX.

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