'Earth at its most fantastic': Mission: Impossible stars rave about New Zealand

Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames in a scene from Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Photo / AP

The stars of the latest movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise have raved about New Zealand calling it one of their favourite filming locations.

The cast and crew of Fallout, which stars Tom Cruise, spent about five weeks in the South Island filming scenes for the film which is due for release on August 2.

During an interview with AP while promoting the film, Henry Cavill named New Zealand as his favourite of all the locations they filmed at.

"New Zealand was stunning, absolutely amazing and I got the wonderful advantage of viewing New Zealand from the open doors of a helicopter.

"It was very cold but beautiful," he said.

Actor Henry Cavill attends the US premiere of Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Photo / AP

Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote, produced and directed the film said each location was great in their own way but New Zealand stood out.

"New Zealand was amazing, except cold, it was very, very cold there."

British actor Simon Pegg said London was a hit for him because of the proximity to his home but New Zealand's natural beauty impressed him.

Pegg said New Zealand was "earth at its most fantastic in terms of the scenery and natural beauty".

Cruise also seemed to be in awe of the New Zealand landscape with behind-the-scenes footage showing him gasping in awe as he flies around the region.

While filming in Queenstown Cruise took his death defying antics to the next level by performing his own helicopter scenes.

One stunt sees him hanging from the high-flying chopper.

The film's stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood told Empire magazine the helicopter stunt sequence was completely Cruise's idea and that he'd been planning it since 2012.

Cruise trained to become a helicopter pilot prior to filming and worked for hours to reach the level of skill needed.

Fallout is the sixth film in the popular Mission:Impossible franchise.