David Aames (Tom) wakes up in his posh apartment and heads out to the street in his car around nine, but the streets are absolutely empty of people. He panics when he sees Times Square empty and gets out of the car and starts running, and running, as neon signboards flash past, till he wakes up with a start in bed.
It has to be that glorious run through Shanghai as Hunt tries to locate where his wife Julia is being held hostage by Owen Davian, with Benji giving him directions on the phone.
It is impossible to single out one sequence from the Mission Impossible films but if we had to choose one from the first film, it would have to be Ethan Hunt aka Tom Cruise trying to outrun the gush of water that floods out of the aquarium-themed restaurant where he meets Kittridge. We love how he beats the water nipping at his heels.
It might not be a great movie but it had a solid Tom Cruise sprint. This time, as Roy Miller, he is running over rooftops in Salzburg after being betrayed by Cameron Diaz and chased by CIA agents for a special battery that he is in possession of.
Young lawyer Mitch McDeere runs a lot in this film, but the one that sticks out is where he gets the warning that the firm has found out about his association with the FBI and he runs through the firm’s offices, jumps out of a window and down the road all the while wearing a long coat and a suit, with a briefcase in hand.
The whole movie is one long Cruise run. Every time he dies in a battlefield in France while fighting aliens called Mimics, his time restarts. And with every cycle he makes a little more progress across a battlefield till he defeats the Mimics. Well, we finally see him complete the whole obstacle race in full armour. It’s way too much fun.
Ray Ferrier makes a run for his life along with other bystanders as the roads crack and heave and collapse and the first tripod appears on Earth in this sci-fi film. And then there is the trying-to-stay-alive dodge and run as the tripod starts to open up and fire.
Ethan Hunt probably clocked the maximum run-time in this MI film and the scene that wins hands down is set in Dubai where he gives chase to Kurt Hendriks, who makes off with the launch codes, just as a giant dust storm casts a dark shadow on the city. The chase continues inside the belly of the storm as well, as Hunt whips on some goggles to protect his eyes, snatches a scarf to cover his mouth and nose but loses Hendriks at the end. Also worth mentioning is the scene where Cruise runs down and then across the side of the Burj Khalifa (above).
A dapper Vincent runs through the corridor of a building down some stairs, into a garage, into another building up some stairs, down an escalator, into a subway station before jumping across the tracks onto a train. Phew!
Only Hunt can run along a field and jump onto the wing of a moving Russian plane and keep on running till he latches on to the door of the craft! Of course it is followed by him hanging from the said door while the plane takes off, but that is another story.
6 OTHER EPIC MOVIE RUNS
Rocky
If you are in need for some inspiration, all you have to do is sit and watch the training montage which ends with Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) running with incredible speed along the docks and up the stone stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum and doing a victory punch.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
A film about an athlete is bound to have many iconic running scenes and they were made even more attention-worthy because Farhan Akhtar was the man doing the running. The training montages are the winners.
Forrest Gump
Young Forrest breaking out of his leg-braces and outrunning bullies on bicycles, as a young Jenny encourages him to “run, Forrest, run”, will always be iconic. Then there is grown-up Forrest (Tom Hanks) who “just felt like runnin’” and ran across America for 3 years, 2 months and 14 days.
Chariots of Fire
It is a movie about athletes, so of course there are some fantastic races, but what remains iconic is the opening montage of some young men “with hope in their hearts and wings on their heels” running on a beach and happiness on their faces, as the theme plays in the background.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
If there is an Indian man who has made running sexy, it is Shah Rukh Khan. He did it in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai too, but this introduction sequence of K3G with a billowing jacket and briefcase in hand wins.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The dashing Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) steals a golden statue from a booby-trapped cave in Peru and of course every trap is triggered that he has to outrun to get out alive, especially the massive boulders that come crashing down.
Which is your fave run scene from the movies? Tell t2@abp.in
