When Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher in the big-screen adaptation of author Lee Child’s hugely popular book series – twenty books in, and still going strong – fans were initially concerned, and for good reason. Reacher in the novels is a hulking, six-foot-tall monster of a man, while Cruise is, well… not. Despite this, 2012’s Jack Reacher ended up being a slick, first-rate thriller with Cruise more than making up for his shortcomings. And now (as is the case with most Hollywood films based on an existing property that make a reasonable box office return), Reacher is back!

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back finds the disillusioned, military policeman-turned-drifter once again demonstrating his uncanny knack for stumbling onto trouble when he returns to his former Army base in an attempt to find closure. What he finds there instead is Major Susan Turner (Smulders) – the new commanding officer of the military police – under arrest for espionage. Never one to leave injustice unredressed, Reacher sets out to clear her name, but soon finds himself having to clear his own too.

Reuniting with his Last Samurai director Edward Zwick, Cruise once again proves fantastic as Reacher: part vigilante, part postmodern cowboy, all badass. Much like Reacher himself, Never Go Back is as straightforward and no-nonsense as can be. Forget lengthy backstories or complex motivations; I’ll take a simple lone ranger riding into town, cathartically righting wrongs and sorting out bad guys in a good, old-fashioned thriller any day. What more could you possibly want on a Friday night?

Strike the match, light the fuse, and cue the theme music… Mission: Impossible is back on the big screen at the ANU Film Group for its 20th anniversary!

Released in 1996, the film marked Tom Cruise’s first foray into the world of big-budget action blockbusters – and he went all in. In addition to breaking all the rules by performing his own death-defying stunts, Cruise also served as a producer on a project for the first time. This proved a winning formula that made the film a record-breaking success and turned him into a bona fide action superstar, a role he has demonstrated a particular affinity for ever since.

In the one that started it all, Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt, one of a crack team of Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agents headed up by veteran agent Jim Phelps (Voight) who are assigned to retrieve the IMF non-official cover list when it is stolen and placed on the black market. When the mission goes horribly wrong and Hunt is implicated as a traitor, he sets out to uncover the real mole and clear his name by any means necessary.

Directed by modern master of suspense Brian De Palma (Scarface, The Untouchables, Carrie), Mission: Impossible has it all: a twisty, tense plot; a top-notch international cast; and spectacular set pieces galore, from the iconic CIA vault heist to the finale atop a high-speed train and everything in between. Make no mistake: your mission – and you should choose to accept it – is to see this film and close out one of the last screenings of our 50th year with a bang!