Tom Cruise said goodbye to the “Mission: Impossible” franchise in electrifying fashion at the Cannes Film Festival, where “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” earned a five-minute ovation thanks in part to Cruise’s commitment to putting breathless and death-defying practical stunts on the big screen. The Cannes premiere was a massive event, with a 40-piece orchestra welcoming guests into the theater with the franchise’s iconic theme before the screening.

The audience lapped up the film’s special effects but the long run-time left some theatergoers bleary-eyed and exhausted. In the final stretch of the film, featuring death-defying acrobatics from Cruise, a handful of attendees got up and fled the Palais.

Though Cruise’s willingness to risk his life for “Mission: Impossible” has been covered relentlessly, what the Cannes audience did not expect was how much he was willing to bare all.

The 62-year-old survived a three-minute knife fight...