HOLLYWOOD A-lister Tom Cruise has pulled off some spectacular stunts before but this time he’s managed a mission impossible – moving an entire country hundreds of miles across Europe.

Because although much of new movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One ostensibly takes place in Austria, the most remarkable clifftop action scenes were actually filmed in Norway.

© 2023 Paramount Pictures

In the action film, which opened this week, Cruise performs what is considered one of the biggest stunts in cinema history – a motorcycle jump off the 1,246 meter tall Helsetkopen mountain cliff into a base jump!

The crew spent months preparing for the stunt that takes place in Hellesylt, which is located in Western Norway close to the UNESCO-listed Geirangerfjord in Sunnmøre. The largest city in the area is Еlesund.

© 2023 Paramount Pictures

“This is by far the most dangerous thing we’ve ever attempted,” says director Christopher McQuarrie. “Tom did the stunt himself. He wanted it to be perfect, so he did the incredible stunt six times in one day!”

The movie poster displays Norwegian nature and the epic stunt so little wonder that tourists can now join a guided hiking tour to Helsetkopen, or rent a bike down in the valley of Hellesylt to see the mountain from a safe distance.

Rauma Railway © 2023 Paramount Pictures

Another action scene in the film also takes place in Norway. Cruise and Esai Manuel Morales Jr. fight on the roof of the train on Rauma Railway, which has been named Europe’s most beautiful railway line.

In one hour and 40 minutes, it takes you from the wild mountains surrounding Dombеs to the fjord in the mountaineering capital of Еndalsnes.

Kylling Bridge: Visit Norway – Johnny Olestad

In the movie they also blow up the Kylling bridge (it translates as chicken bridge but doesn’t sound so dramatic). But tourists need not worry because it wasn’t blown up for real.

It’s is not the first time the Mission: Impossible film crew has filmed in Norway.

Preikestolen © 2023 Paramount Pictures

Further south you can hike to Preikestolen, the iconic Pulpit Rock that was the scene of the cliffhanger finale of Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

And that was set in India!

Longyearbyen, Svalbard: Visit Norway

Dead Reckoning – Part Two is already filming, with the crew set to return to Norway, this time to the polar islands of Svalbard for their icy Arctic surrounds.

Feel like exploring for real? The good folk at Visit Norway have put together a guide to the Mission: Impossible locations, together with tourism and travel advice, here.