In 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One', Tom Cruise performs a speed flying stunt. This is similar to paragliding but far more dangerous. Cruise navigated multiple rocky surfaces to pull off this feat

The real deal - In 'Mission Impossible: 2,' Dougray Scott's villain Sean Ambrose tries to sink his very sharp knife into Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt. The knife could easily have been substituted with a fake prop, but Cruise insisted on maximum realism

The second film of the franchise opens with a spine-chilling free climbing sequence. It seems Ethan Hunt enjoys daredevilry even during his time off. Cruise hanging off the red rocks is quite literally - a cliffhanger

In 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol,' Tom Cruise literally scales the impossible. The movie captures him climbing the Burj Khalifa and even smashing through one of its windows during a daring chase

Tom Cruise started riding motorcycles at the age of 10. Thus, it is no surprise that bikes often feature in the franchise's thrilling stunts. Here, Hunt engages in a chase along the Casablanca highway 

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is full of life-threatening stunts. With this helicopter free-fall jump, Tom Cruise became the first actor in history to film a HALO (High Altitude, Low Open) skydive. A year of preparation went into this stunt

Cruise landed himself in some hot water with this one. During this underwater stunt, the actor held his breath for a total of six and a half minutes. He underwent training to actively slow his heart rate so that he would require lesser oxygen

Tom Cruise hangs by a thread in this maddening MI: Rogue Nation stunt. The airbus had to be flown for 48 hours until the perfect shot could be locked

While the stunts in the first Mission Impossible are relatively tame compared to what followed later in the franchise - they are not without its climaxes. In this, Cruise fights off a villain on top of a  bullet train, jumps onto a helicopter that explodes and then jumps back onto the train. Yes, we don't know how he does it either

Ethan Hunt has no qualms about this exploding aquarium stunt - despite the obvious dangers of the life-threatening force of water or the shattering glass

Tom Cruise was 60 when he rode a motorcycle off a cliff and base jumped to the bottom. Shot in Norway, this stunt had been a childhood dream of the actor -- and is arguably one of the most dangerous in not only MI but cinematic stunt history

In Mission Impossible: Fallout, Cruise misjudges the distance while leaping from one building to another and broke his leg in one of contemporary cinema's most famous stunt accidents. Even the master goes wrong sometimes

During the Mission: Impossible - Fallout helicopter chase stunt, Hunt finds himself on a rope hanging from a moving helicopter -- all that is stopping him from plummeting to death is a harness. It's dangerous how closely the two helicopters pass by each other

The bikes are back! Tom Cruise dangerously sped through crowded Parisian streets in this high-speed chase