Tom Cruise, before showcasing his bravado with those breathtaking stunts as Pete Mitchell in Top Gun or as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible films, was not very fond of a couple of projects he was, unfortunately, a part of.
Considering he did the film in the early days of his career, Cruise had no control over any production-related aspects. It was a year later when he started cruising at the speed of sound flying an F14 that he became more assertive of his choices.
With a personality that suave, he was never fit for certain fantasy-based roles, and when he turned his life around with action flicks, he ended up changing the cinema experience forever.
After the film had been completed, he went on to do anything possible to forget the harrowing drama that he was subjected to.
Tom Cruise Wants To Forget This $23M Ridley Scott Banger
Mythical projects by Ridley Scott have always shown his detail-driven directing style and his ability to brilliantly make use of majestic set pieces and natural settings.
After experimenting and finding success with exotic sci-fi projects like Sigourney Weaver led Alien (1979), and Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner (1982), Scott went on to create a mystical adventure for Tom Cruise.
With a bland script and screenplay, Legend (1985) opened to extremely negative reviews and the media had its fun.
“First of all, the press kind of took that and blew it out of proportion. It’s a movie-movie,” said Cruise in an interview with Rolling Stone.
He further added –
“I’ll never want to do another picture like that again.”
Tom Cruise has admitted on multiple occasions that he never even wants to remember the hard flop of his career and that his mistake has made him choose better projects.
Negative Reviews Weren’t The Only Problem For Legend
Changes in release dates, production delays, multiple reshoots during post-production, and a massive fire that broke out on the set – take your pick!
In any project that Tom Cruise had been a part of ever since Legend, he has had some or major control over the film’s production and release.
Not to mention, he had to face the heat from the media asking all sorts of problematic questions. Although Cruise went through a distressing time during the film, he wasn’t quite upset about the experience.
When asked about his on-set experience, Cruise stated –
“It’s stunning and gorgeous and poetic and most of the time I would be looking at a piece of black tape and having to imagine all of it.”
The only relief, according to the critics, was the film being a Ridley Scott production as he can realize a fantasy-driven set piece like no other. But, with an absurdly thin storyline, even Tom Cruise couldn’t save it from the impending disaster.
Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet
