15 Most Epic Movie Moments Of 2018

3. Hunt Vs. Walker - Mission: Impossible - Fallout

The sixth Mission: Impossible film is absolutely jam-packed with eye-popping, pulse-raising set-pieces, but nothing quite tops the barmy finale in which Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) chases down the villainous August Walker (Henry Cavill).

As Walker flees with the kill-switch to a 15-minute nuke countdown, Hunt climbs aboard the payload of a decoy helicopter and uneasily makes his way aboard the vessel. After eliminating the occupants, Hunt incredulously starts piloting the chopper and continues to pursue Walker.

Walker meanwhile responds with a huge machine gun, basically carving holes in the mountainous surroundings, until the two choppers crash in the air and leave the pair on the same vertiginous crevasse.

Walker, whose face is now scarred by hot engine oil, battles Hunt as the countdown reaches its final phase.

His mission fails, however, when they're both left hanging cliffside and Hunt manages to drop a gigantic metal hook into his head, dragging him down the mountain to his fiery demise.

The fact that Cruise reportedly spent thousands of hours learning to pilot the chopper for real makes this sequence so much more visceral and exciting, because a green screen can't ever produce quite the same result.

Can the Academy just make a Best Stunt Oscar and give it to Cruise already?