Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning: 'Terror' of Tom Cruise's Lake District stunt

A pilot has said he was impressed by Tom Cruise's skill in speed flying which is featured in the latest Mission: Impossible film.

It is similar to paragliding but with a smaller canopy, allowing speeds of about 50mph, inches above the ground.

The star was seen parachuting into the Buttermere area in September 2021 but the footage has just been released.

Gordie Oliver, who has run speed flying courses for 10 years, said it was "one of the world's most dangerous sports".

The movie team agreed saying it was "incredibly unpredictable".

Cruise was spotted in Cumbria in September 2021 sky diving out of a helicopter - it was just one of a number of stunts carried out on the Lakeland Fells.

The actor has played secret agent Ethan Hunt in six Mission: Impossible films, the first in 1996.

After completing paragliding training in France, the 61-year-old said he had been training "for a few years" in speed flying, describing it as a "very delicate and beautiful sport".

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie said: "While it may look similar, speed flying is not sky diving. Sky diving is fairly predictable, speed flying is incredibly unpredictable."

"Flying close to rocks looks quite beautiful but behind the scenes we were all in absolute terror."

The filming above Buttermere saw the actor fly about two to three times faster than paragliding with rapid spirals and drops.

Mr Oliver, from Bassenthwaite, told BBC Radio Cumbria it was a "great way to get down a fellside".

"So rather than floating around above the Lake District mountains it allows us to skim down the hillsides at a great rate of knots and inches above the ground," he said.

"The Mission: Impossible guys aren't bigging it up when they say it is one of the world's most dangerous sports, to be flying at 50-60 mph trying to get as close to the ground as you can, hitting bits of grass as you fly down the mountains, it's highly dangerous.

"If you get it wrong it's going to be a messy outcome."

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One is out on Monday.

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