New Mission: Impossible 7 clip reveals Tom Cruise’s sandstorm secrets

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneIt has been released digitally, and a 4K Blu ray will be available later in October. The home video push comes with various behind-the-scenes how-did-they-pull-that-off features — always a must for a movie with this many huge action sequences and complicated stunts.

The Polygon exclusive premiere of two short clips reveals some of the specifics of an intense battle sequence in the early part of the movie, when rogue Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), who is always on the move, shoots and runs through a desert town that’s disintegrating during a blinding storm, to reach fellow rogue Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson).

The clips show how the film’s desert town was built — like so many blockbuster-movie sets that need to support an entire complex run-and-gun fight from a variety of angles, it really is an actual small town, built from scratch in the desert. Gary Freeman, the production designer, explained that he and the crew constructed the set in five weeks. However, the COVID-19 quarantine halted production for several months.

“In a way, it did me a favor, with the winds blowing all the sand in and aging the buildings beautifully in the sun,” Freeman says in the clip. “Over months, it only made the set look better.” That isn’t time most productions could afford, at least apart from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series, which built the Hobbiton set nine months before shooting in order to let the surrounding gardens and greenery grow in naturally, making the place look just as warm, homey, and lived-in as the Dead Reckoning: Part One Desert set looks abandoned and weathered.

In a second clip, SFX supervisor Neil Corbould reveals the secret to creating a properly intense-looking sandstorm for Tom Cruise to navigate during the shootout: “First thing that sprung to mind was, I had this jet engine in the back of my workshop,” he says.

That isn’t something most people can boast, but the engine certainly created enough wind to make convincing sandblasting shots. In this video, you can see the engine being used in one shot, in between more tranquil shots of Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie setting up the scene on the set.

Note to self: Don’t throw away that spare jet engine, it might come in handy later.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Digital purchases are now available on Amazon, VuduYou can purchase digitally on a variety of platforms. With digital purchases, you can access all the bonus content. Dead Reckoning: Part OneThe 4K Ultra HD SteelBook will be released on October 31. It is also available on Blu-ray and DVD.