‘Collateral’, a jaw-dropping, suspense building crime drama – a hit man, played by Tom Cruise, takes Max an LA cab-driver, hostage as he makes his way around the city taking out people on his hit list. Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’, clearly has many similarities with Sam Mendes’, ‘Skyfall’. With similar lighting, locations and effects, it becomes clear that ‘Collateral’ may have influenced certain scenes within the well-known Bond sequel. With the high rise buildings and low light used to cover Cruise’s victim, this scene resembles Bond’s journey to hunt down his victim amongst the dim flashes of light coming from the billboards on the surrounding high-rise buildings.
With cruise being the number one star of his generation within Hollywood, audiences see reflections of the famous Errol Flynn, known for his roles in ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Captain Blood’. Both of the actor’s looks are extremely similar, with slick-back hair and a strong complexion. With their athleticism skill, they have managed to land themselves with certain acting roles, with Flynn as Robin Hood and Cruise as Vincent, a hit man. Fitting within the Hollywood Star Machine, both are able to step up to any role and make it their own; however with struggles from Flynn, and also Cruise, as they give off a strong, masculine persona, they have both managed to give up that persona to star in a different genre of film – the romance genre. In 1949, Flynn stared in ‘That Forsyte Women’; however in 1937 he tried out his first comedy role in ‘The Perfect Specimen’, finding another one of his fortes. With Flynn showing that he can adapt his acting to any role that requires, in 1996, Cruise ditched his love for action packed thrillers and adapted his role to play the main actor within ‘Jerry Maguire’, a romantic comedy. Playing the character of sports agent suggests that he couldn’t ditch his love for athletics this time, as he tried out a new role.
Although similar in appearance, both actors differ in terms of their personalities. With Flynn, being seen as a hero, rescuing poor Lady Marion from the tower in ‘Robin Hood’ and within ‘Collateral’, Cruise is seen as a cold, blooded murderer, showing no remorse for his actions. With both similarities and differences, both role models have been seen to try out their love for acting within many different films, possibly showing that Cruise is now an Errol Flynn of his time.
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