Tom Cruise's Greatest Nemeses
AMC Movie List

Tom Cruise's Greatest Nemeses

It's almost impossible to keep Cruise down, but these guys try. Which of Cruise's foils do you love (or love to hate)?

rank title points votes your vote
1 Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson), A Few Good Men
Jessup doesn't care what you think, and he certainly doesn't appreciate Cruise questioning the manner in which he provides freedom. 45 93
2 Iceman (Val Kilmer), Top Gun
The aviator-clad Iceman is a typical eighties villain: so cool it hurts and devoted to making Maverick (Cruise) look foolish. 42 96
3 Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Mission: Impossible III
Leave it to Hoffman to make a campy villain lovable. He's an evil arms deal, and he loves every second of it. 23 81
4 Adolph Hitler (David Bamber), Valkyrie
One of history's greatest villains, played in terrifying fashion, manages to get the best of Cruise in the end. 14 68
5 Darkness (Tim Curry), Legend
He's cloven, horned, big, red, and evil: he's pretty much the Devil. He's also got the dulcet tones of Curry, which is no small advantage. 0 62
6 Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), Minority Report
Like most Cruise nemeses, Burgess eventually fails, but not before he unleashes an elaborate scheme that nearly frames Cruise for murder. -2 62
7 Alien Tripods, War of the Worlds
These aliens wreak havoc on humanity, wantonly killing much of the population. Even Cruise and his family barely escape. -2 74
8 Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), Jerry Maguire
Sugar is everything Maguire was and initially wanted to be again: the cocky pretty-boy agent of the biggest fish in the athletic pond. -4 70
9 Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman), Eyes Wide Shut
Cruise's onscreen and real-life wife at the time, Kidman goes toe-to-toe with Cruise in a very bizarre marriage. -11 63
10 Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), Cocktail
Originally the master bartender to Cruise's young protege, Doug becomes Cruise's rival behind the bar and with the ladies. -13 59