Tom Cruise has been so many hit movies throughout the years that it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. That's definitely the case for one historic movie from the Mission Impossible star, but UK viewers can catch up on the movie now that it's streaming for free.
I'm talking about Born on the Fourth of July, from 1989, which has been overshadowed by the likes of Top Gun three years prior and A Few Good Men three years later. But it earned Cruise his first ever Oscar nomination, for Best Actor, and so needs to be seen.
As of Tuesday, July 1, Born on the Fourth of July is now streaming on Tubi. This is one of the best free streaming services as it has a wide library and requires no account to watch, and its new batch of July uploads also includes As Good As It Gets and Death Becomes Her.
(Living in the US? Good news, Born on the Fourth of July has just been added to Netflix).
Directed by Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic, based on his autobiography. It follows the man over 20 years through his childhood, his stint during the Vietnam War, which led to paralysis, and his post-war life which saw him become an anti-war activist.
According to Stone, Cruise nearly didn't get the movie due to his previous Top Gun being a pro-war movie, and several actors including Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen were in contention after original pick Al Pacino fell through.
The movie was a commercial and critical hit, despite its anti-war message being divisive at the time. As well as Cruise's Oscar nomination it bagged the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Film Editing, and also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound. It was embroiled in a battle with Driving Miss Daisy for many of the top spots.
Tom Cruise has been constantly in the news recently, as Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning ushers in the end of an era for the actor and fans speculate on what the legendary actor will do next. He's set to be part of the ensemble cast of The Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu's next film, which releases on Thursday, October 2, alongside John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, Emma D'Arcy and Burn Gorman, but after that it's anyone's guess.
