By Carol Huang www.thenational.ae
DUBAI // Newly released clips of behind-the-scenes footage show just how daring Tom Cruise’s Burj Khalifa stunts were.
First released online by www.msn.co.uk and later by television’s Entertainment Tonight, the outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol reveal what was involved in the three and a half weeks of filming in Dubai last October.
“We’re a mile and a half above the Earth in the tallest building on the planet, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai,” Brad Bird, the film’s director, tells the camera – although the tower is really only about half a mile tall at 828m.
“We’re filming a scene where Tom Cruise is climbing on the outside of the building,” Bird continues. “This is just another day at work on Mission: Impossible.”
A camera crane and a film crew in a helicopter follow Cruise’s moves as he swings across, climbs up and rappelles down the Burj Khalifa’s exterior.
In the most dramatic scenes, at the 56-second mark, Bird yells “action!” as Cruise, 49, takes a flying leap from an open window several hundred floors up, before running sideways across the building’s exterior.
Bird is best known for writing and directing Pixar’s The Incredibles, which grossed more than US$600 million. He has also worked on The Simpsons.
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol begins with an explosion at the Kremlin in Moscow. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his Impossible Missions Force are informed that they will be held responsible for the blast, but are allowed to escape so they can track down the real culprits. More info
