Thrill of the stunt

IT could be his last ever Mission: Impossible. Tom Cruise is back in action with new film The Final Reckoning - the eighth in the blockbuster series - and taking on terrorists as super spy Ethan Hunt. And the pint-sized powerhouse, 62, is still doing all his own stunts. His new movie features a death-defying sequence that sees him hanging off the wings of a biplane, 8,000ft in the air. But does it come close to the craziest stunts in cinema history? Here MEG JORSH takes a walk on the wild side...

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IT could be his last ever Mission: Impossible. Tom Cruise is back in action with new film The Final Reckoning - the eighth in the blockbuster series - and taking on terrorists as super spy Ethan Hunt.

And the pint-sized powerhouse, 62, is still doing all his own stunts. His new movie features a death-defying sequence that sees him hanging off the wings of a biplane, 8,000ft in the air.

But does it come close to the craziest stunts in cinema history? Here MEG JORSH takes a walk on the wild side...

LAYING DOWN THE LAW

MARTIAL arts legend Jackie Chan is famous for his acrobatic performances.

But his antics came close to ending his career on 1985 film Police Story.

The movie's climax, right, sees Chan, playing cop Ka-Kui, launch himself from a sixth-floor guardrail in a shopping mall and slide down a pole.

He smashes through lights and a glass kiosk ceiling in a desperate attempt to catch mob boss Chu Tao, played by Chor Yuen.

Chan filmed the sequence in one take, then launched into a killer fight scene - despite having injured his spine and dislocated his pelvis. He also suffered second-degree burns from the pole, which was roasting hot due to a lighting error.

FALLING OFF THE WAGON

STUNTMAN Joe Canutt was almost trampled to death in front of his dad while filming 1959 epic Ben-Hur.