We are weeks away from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Fans will be soon treated to a new set of high-octane action sequences performed by Tom Cruise in the most picturesque locations. The franchise takes a globe-trotting turn as it takes fans from monuments of Rome to deserts to Abu Dhabi along with Ethan Hunt and company in the new mission. Both Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie got too ambitious with the death-defying stunts in the upcoming sequel. A new featurette sheds light on what went behind the making of the epic train sequence.

Shot in Norway, the fight sequence on the top of the train was done practically with Cruise and the team and was a challenging shoot indeed. “When we started talking about this movie in terms of a sense of adventure and action sequence on a train was something we know we always wanted to do,” explains Cruise. “We wanted to build upon the previous films apply all of that knowledge to something practical and real.”

How Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie Shot The Train Wreck Sequence?

The writer-director always wanted to wreck a train in a movie and Dead Reckoning seemed like the perfect opportunity. “It brings the train sequence to another level. There wasn’t a surplus of trains available to be wrecked. We had to build the train, if we wanted to destroy it,” McQuarrie revealed. To shoot the grilling sequence practically was extremely challenging as he explained, it’s not just to execute “but also to design all different train cars that could actually function on a rail track.”

“No one in the world is doing this level of practical filmmaking and it may never be done again,” McQuarrie notes. While Cruise doing his own stunts is one thing, his co-stars often also end up doing their own stunts with him. Hayley Atwell, who plays Grace in the franchise has done a couple of them with Cruise; and in the latest feature, after the handcuffed car chase sequence in Rome, the duo also did the train sequence, “When you’re hanging off a train carriage Tom is a great person to have beside you. Not only he’s fearless, he’s always looking how its gonna land for the audience,” shares Atwell.

While the top of the train chase was shot in Norway, wrecking the train was shot in Darlton Quarry, UK, “Crashing the train involved multiplying factors of difficulty. Every single camera had exactly one shot to get it right,” revealed McQuarrie. Further elaborating on the need for these stunts he said, “Everything you’re seeing in this spectacular train sequence is done to invest the audience in these characters.”

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will hit theaters on July 12. You can check out the new featurette below:

via Collider