It was a lofty mission, and the Defense Department chose to accept it.
As Paramount Global and famed actor Tom Cruise put together their eighth installment of the "Mission Impossible" franchise, "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning," the studio once again reached out to DOD to use its many military assets to create cinematic magic.
Hollywood has a long-standing relationship with the department, both to ensure military stories are depicted accurately and to keep sensitive information from being disclosed. For the latest — and possibly final — Mission Impossible movie, heavy-duty assets from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps were needed.
In fact, what the film's fictional defense secretary says to its fictional president might sum it up best: "You gave him an aircraft carrier?"
Advising on Accuracy
On the Air Force side, two U.S. Special Operations Command CV-22 Osprey helicopters based at Souda Bay, Crete, were flown to Long Cross, England, to film scenes. They're only depicted in the film for a few minutes, but to make the scenes as accurate as possible, a dozen Socom Osprey crew members worked with the actors in an advisory role.
"They worked with the two actresses portraying pilots to make sure they had the dialogue correct … giving them a better feel for what their role is," explained Sara Francis, the project officer for the Air Force Entertainment Liaison Office. "You could tell the actors were grateful for the help, and the more personalized guidance shows through in the scene."
During some scenes, Francis said the movie's director, Christopher McQuarrie, would even look to her for input. "He kept turning around at the end of each take and looking at myself and the CV-22 crew members and yelling, 'Does that look good to you guys?'" she recalled.
At one point, the film crew needed more time with the Ospreys than they were given, so they simply built their own fuselage to match. "When you see it, you'll be like, 'Yep, that's a plane.' But nope! It's a stage. The attention to detail was incredible," Francis said.
Two Missions, One Deployment
The Ospreys, manned by aircrew from the 352nd Special Operations Wing, were also filmed flying in and around the Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. The ship played the most prominent role of all military assets in the filming, hosting the movie's cast and crew for a few days in late winter 2023 — as the ship neared the end of its six-month deployment off the coast of Italy.
The carrier was defending U.S., allied and partner interests in a busy, conflict-focused environment at the time. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Stroup, the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group lead for support to the film, said all parties were very cognizant of the risks associated with filming then.
"We knew that if we had something pop up at a moment's notice, we were going to drop everything we were doing on the film and do what we needed to do," Stroup said. "The admiral and the captain of the ship were very clear with us but [also] with Tom [Cruise] and McQuarrie and the rest of the team. They understood it."
Several scenes were filmed aboard the ship, including aerial flight sequences, a scene on the navigation bridge, one involving the landing of a C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft on the flight deck and — of course — the scenes with the Ospreys.
Stroup said no major stunts were filmed on the vessel. However, like with the Osprey scenes, the film crew made painstaking efforts to ensure the sets and acting were authentic to the Navy.
"We worked with their costuming department to make sure the patches that they had looked right, that their uniforms looked right, how you would get on board a ship [was right]," Stroup said. "Overall, there was a ton of back and forth."
Several of the ship's crew members took part as extras, particularly in the flight deck and navigation bridge scenes. "They're all real people doing their normal jobs … making sure we get where we needed to go safely and on time," Stroup said.
During filming, Cruise visited with sailors and even led a viewing of "Top Gun: Maverick" — another recent Navy-associated blockbuster — in the ship's hangar bay. Stroup said the film crew's visit had a positive impact on the ship's exhausted sailors.
"The level of interest that [the film crew] had in what we were doing … it was an incredible opportunity," he said.
Meticulous Submariners and Marines
The film also used exterior shots of the Virigina-class submarine USS Rickover — even though, in the film, the ship is called the USS Ohio, another vessel that's currently in use in the U.S. Navy.
"The Ohio has both the old school periscope, and then it's got the new photonics [mast] like what you'll see on a Virginia-class," explained Navy Cmdr. David Daitch, the project officer for the submarine portion of filming. "So, in this case, we could use a Virginia-class for the exterior shots that we needed."
All other shots pertaining to the submarines were either added digitally or filmed on sets the film crews built, including a massive water tank.
"The tank is gargantuan, and … the set [was] literally submerged into the tank," explained Eric Jendresen, who co-wrote the movie. "It was an incredible feat of engineering. Visiting the set at that time was like visiting NASA."
Actor Tramell Tillman, who plays the role of the USS Ohio's Capt. Bledsoe in the film, worked closely with submarine captains to learn his role and get it right, Daitch said.
"[Tillman] didn't get overly excited [in the role] because the job of a submarine captain is to not lose your cool," Daitch said. "That's what we train our captains to be able to do."
Navy Adm. Bill Houston — the director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program who commanded Naval Submarine Forces when the film's production agreement was made — recently applauded the movie's focus on accuracy.
"The movie does a great job showcasing how our U.S Navy powers maritime dominance and delivers peace through strength for our nation," Houston said. "[It] accurately highlights the dedication and resolve our submarine commanders and crew bring to the fight every day."
Some of the actors in the submarine scenes portrayed Special Forces reconnaissance Marines, which meant the Marine Corps was also brought in to represent the corps as authentically as possible.
"We want to make sure that even the littlest details uphold the standard that we carry," said Oscar Castro, the deputy director of the Entertainment Media Liaison Office of the U.S. Marine Corps, which consulted on the set, mostly with the costume department regarding uniforms.
"They had the [actors] in camouflage cargo pants with tan belts on. And I was like, 'These are supposed to be specialized Marines. It's not realistic that they would be wearing tan belts,'" said Castro, who was an active-duty Marine at the time of the filming. "They were very accommodating and understanding."
Castro said it was easy to acclimate to a professional filming environment.
"It literally felt like I was on a military operation, to an extent, because of the fact that there is a chain of command. Everybody has somebody that they have to respond to. Everybody is on the clock," he said.
Ahead of the movie's opening in theaters, Cruise and McQuarrie met with Gold Star families, wounded warriors and service members before a private viewing of the film in San Antonio.
This isn't the first time DOD has worked with Cruise and Paramount. The department used a lot of assets during the filming of "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning," the previous movie in the franchise, as well as the aforementioned "
Top Gun: Maverick."