Tom Cruise Has A Small Cameo In One Of The Most Rewatchable '80s Westerns

20th Century Studios

"Young Guns," the 1988 film written by John Fusco and directed by Christopher Cain, is an '80s film that simultaneously feels well-known yet underdiscussed. Its fame is thanks to its ingenious idea of casting buzzy young stars as the notorious Billy the Kid and the Regulators, who raised a ruckus in and around New Mexico during the late 1870s. The Regulators gang was played in the film by Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko. The idea was to give these Old West legends a modern resonance by pointing out parallels between their outlaw nature and the rebellious "Brat Pack" youth the actors unwittingly represented. Nowhere was this comparison more apparent than in the man cast as Billy the Kid, Emilio Estevez.

Cain was certainly thinking of Estevez for Billy, thanks to having worked with the actor on their 1985 adaptation of S.E. Hinton's "That Was Then ... This Is Now." In fact, Estevez was already seasoned as a Hinton veteran when he made that movie, having played Johnny Collins in Tim Hunter's 1982 film "Ted" and Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 version of "The Outsiders". Another up-and-coming male star in that movie was one Tom Cruise, who portrayed Steve Randle. Having struck up a friendship while auditioning for that movie, it's no surprise that Cruise got to visit the "Young Guns" set while the film was shooting. What is surprising is that Cruise himself actually has a small cameo in the movie as a result. Although we're talking about an actor who's one of the most recognizable people in the world, his appearance in "Young Guns" is ironically very hard to spot.

Paramount Pictures

Although there's no official explanation for how Tom Cruise came to appear in the climactic shootout in "Young Guns," it seems likely the cameo was not preplanned. However it happened, Cruise can be seen as an anonymous corrupt U.S. Army soldier in the employ of the dastardly rancher Lawrence Murphy (Jack Palance). During the shootout, Cruise's soldier catches smoke from Charlie Bowdre (Casey Siemaszko). While it's difficult to see the actor's face underneath his cowboy hat and thick facial hair, if you pause at the right moment or go frame-by-frame, you can tell that it's Mr. Movies.

After Cruise died on-screen in an Emilio Estevez film, it was only right for the latter to return the favor. Perhaps neither actor was thinking of "Young Guns" when Estevez was cast as Jack Harmon in Brian De Palma's "Mission: Impossible," the first movie to star Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. That said, even though all of Ethan's team from the beginning of the film end up doomed, it's Jack who dies in especially grisly fashion. He's trapped on top of an elevator as it careens upward toward a bunch of mean-looking spike-like protrusions. What's more, like Cruise in "Young Guns," Estevez chose to go uncredited for the film, despite having a character name, actual dialogue, and more than one scene.

While the joys of "Mission: Impossible" are well celebrated on this site and elsewhere, one hopes that "Young Guns" and its sequel, "Young Guns II," will receive a little more recognition going forward. Secret cameos or not, they're a couple of the most enjoyable and rewatchable Westerns ever made.