Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 and The Final Reckoning mark the final chapters of the incredible movie saga starring Tom Cruise.

Dead Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie made headlines at the start of June 2023 after involving actor Cruise in an incredible stunt on the first day of filming. The stunt was billed as the most death-defying of Cruise’s acting career to date and sees his character, Ethan Hunt, launch his motorcycle off the edge of a huge vertical cliff and then base-jump to safety whilst avoiding a catastrophic collision with the discarded, non-parachuted motorcycle.

It goes without saying that no ordinary motorcycle would do for such a ‘first’. Kieran Clarke, who has worked as a stuntman across the entire Mission Impossible franchise, knew that there could be no compromise when it came to the machinery, and so turned to Midori Moriwaki and MIE Racing, who collaborated on producing the highest performance and specification stunt motorcycle ever built. The “Ethan Hunt - IMF Prototype Motorcycle: KCX - CRF250R”, codenamed The Roczen Bike for its A-kit factory status, was designed, built and tested for the purposes of free-riding. The Honda CRF250R served as the base, with the addition of top-tier components such as Showa suspension, Nissin brakes, Keihin systems and a Termignoni exhaust. The motorcycle is operated singularly without a stunt-double and/or special-effects rig and is styled with bespoke carbon-fibre bodywork. The wording ‘KCX Midori’ features on the tank. 

Moriwaki was personally invited by Cruise to attend the Japanese premiere of The Final Reckoning in Tokyo this month and takes the opportunity to share her unique perspective on what it means to have contributed to the biggest stunt in cinema history.

Midori Moriwaki:

“I cannot explain what an honour it was to be part of this mega movie; I really appreciate the opportunity. With this film, I believe Tom Cruise and everybody involved have waved a huge flag for motorcycling, helping to bring our world to the wider public. At the beginning, when Kieran explained the whole concept of the film and particularly the stunt sequence, I couldn’t have imagined the reach and publicity it would have, all of which helps to promote motorsport. I really think this movie opens a door, shining a positive light on the motorcycling world. 

As for the technical partners involved, I am fortunate to have forged long-term relationships with them all, which means they were quick to say yes when I called them about the project, despite not knowing any of the details!

It was priceless to be able to attend the Japanese premiere and watch Dead Reckoning Part 2 alongside Tom Cruise, the cast and all the production crew, and I even had chance to meet Tom briefly. 

I want to thank Kieran for his friendship, professionalism and for the great working relationship we have developed. This is one of the highlights of my career, to be just a small part of all this, and it is down to Kieran. When I first met him, many years ago, we had no idea that we would one day work together on a Mission: Impossible movie. I guess you never know what the future will bring!”

Kieran Clarke - stuntman:

“The preparation for this stunt was intense: 500 helicopter base jumps, 13,000 motocross jumps, and over 2,600 laps on an 80ft tabletop test track. The final rig was engineered to test and perfect the perfect bike separation needed for the scene.

My background in racing taught me that we couldn’t compromise on machinery. To build the perfect motorcycle for this stunt, I partnered with the brilliant Midori Moriwaki. Trust and respect are vital within our core team, and Midori’s achievements are vast, representative of the third generation of a motorsport dynasty. She is a talented engineer, beyond her proven pedigree in management and business. It was vital that I used the best motorcycle model as a starting point to develop this project, so we started with the best base: the Honda CRF250R. To this we added top-tier components such as Showa suspension, Nissin brakes, Keihin systems, and a Termignoni exhaust. This gave us the perfect canvas to produce the ultimate stunt motorcycle.”