Tom Cruise re-creates his entire film career for James Corden

If you were of movie-going age in 1983, the year “Risky Business” came out, Tom Cruise and James Corden’s live re-creation of the movie star’s top films is a walk down memory lane. If you weren’t, well, consider it CliffsNotes for when “Career of Tom Cruise” is a midterm question in CNTV-101.

Cruise hit “The Late Late Show” on Wednesday night, when a routine promotional sit-down turned into a prop- and wardrobe-filled blue-screen adventure.

Witness that scene from “Tropic Thunder.” That scene from the first “Mission Impossible.” That scene from “Risky Business.” And that scene from “A Few Good Men,” in which Corden delivers a performance to make Jack Nicholson proud. Or at least to make Nicholson crack up just a bit.

There’s also an absolutely perfect cameo that comes in when the sketch needs it the most, shortly after the three-minute mark.

“If you’re gonna do it, lemme do it right,” the mystery guest tells Corden as he takes the mic and shows him — how it’s done.

What a pleasant way to hear that Cruise’s second Jack Reacher movie opens Friday.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.

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