Tom Cruise Speed-Flying at Over 50 Miles per Hour Left ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Crew in ‘Absolute Terror’: One of the World’s ‘Most Dangerous Sports’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Riding a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff is not the only death-defying stunt Tom Cruise pulls off in the upcoming “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” A new featurette on the making of the Paramount action tentpole reveals Cruise learned how to speed-fly, which director Christopher McQuarrie calls “one of the most dangerous sports in the world.” “While it may look similar, speed-flying is not skydiving,” the filmmaker said. “Skydiving is fairly predictable.

Speed-flying is very unpredictable.” Speed-flying is more akin to paragliding, although the flyer is meant to stay closer to the slope as to pick up more speed.

Staying closer to the slope increases the chance of collision with land, which is why the sport is so dangerous. Flyers race down mountains with their feet closer to the ground. “It’s a very beautiful and delicate sport,” Cruise said of speed-flying. “We’re gonna do spirals, and we’re landing at an incredibly high speed, over 80 kilometers an hour.” While McQuarrie agreed that speed-flying looks beautiful, he added, “Behind the scenes we were all in absolute terror.” While Cruise risked his life racing down the sides of mountains while speed-flying, the infamous motorcycle stunt remains the most death-defying act in “Dead Reckoning Part One.” Cruise rode a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff and parachuted to safety on the first day of filming.

The actor wanted it that way, as his survival would’ve determined the rest of filming on the $200 million tentpole. “Well we know either we will continue with the film or we’re not.