At 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world. Ethan needed to climb from the 130th floor to the 134th, in order to break into the server room. Did he have an industrial grade pulley system, or a harness, or a Marvel-like superpowers allowing him to shoot up to the level? No, all he had was malfunctioning adhesive climbing gloves and the same upper body strength that allowed him to climb Dead Horse Point in Mission: Impossible II, just now in an older body.
The overhead shots of Cruise gingerly climbing the picturesque glass window with nothing but an 1,800 feet drop below him is enough to suffocate anyone watching with anxiety. You knew he was not going to die because you saw Cruise do interviews for the movie. But, the stunt it so death-defying that for a split second, when he’s dangling from one arm because one of his gloves short-circuited, you believed this was the last time you’d ever see this daredevil again. Oh, and the man also ran across the glass windows and swung from one floor to the next.
All of that, and it wasn’t even the climax of the movie. But, it surely is the most memorable part.
