30 Years Later, The Best Modern Action Franchise's First Movie Is Almost Unrecognizable

30 years ago, Tom Cruise created an unstoppable movie franchise in 30 perfect minutes

Usually, the Cruise Jerk would find redemption and true heroism by the end of the movie. Maverick in Top Gun is the cartoon version of this, while Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man is the more nuanced read. In the early days, in more cynically minded pictures, he would sometimes double down on his jerkdom (The Color of Money) or the movie would sort of shrug its shoulders at it (Risky Business). Later, there were cunning twists on the theme. In A Few …

30 Years Later, The Best Modern Action Franchise's First Movie Is Almost Unrecognizable

Paramount PicturesJust like people, very few movie franchises resemble what they were decades ago. Maybe, to keep audiences interested, they’ve had to raise their stakes to ludicrous heights. In 2001, Paul Walker infiltrated a gang that was stealing TVs with built-in VHS players; eight Fast and Furious movies later, two stars went to space. Or maybe the sheer number of installments has produced an impenetrable tangle of lore; Saw, a lo-fi horror…

30 Years Ago, One of the Greatest Action Franchises Ever Started (& Its Future Is Unclear)

By the time the mid-’90s rolled around, Tom Cruise had long cemented his place atop Hollywood’s A-list. Thanks to exemplary work in films like Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, and A Few Good Men, he was one of the top actors of his generation. But even by his lofty standards, 1996 was truly a banner year. That was when he headlined Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, earning an Oscar nomination for his turn as the titular sports agent. In ’96, C…