There are many ways to rank the works of Tom Cruise. One might consider the quality of his performance, the overall caliber of the production, or the skillfulness of the action sequences. Those are all valid measurements, but I prefer to judge them according to what really matters: the uncanny beauty of Tom Cruise’s hair.

Like driver-side airbags in a new car, certain features come standard in every Cruise movie. He’s definitely going to run at least once (or thirty times). Flashing that million-dollar smile is basically guaranteed. And Tom Cruise will almost certainly sport a majestic mane of hair. Over his nearly 40 Hollywood features, Cruise has consistently presented one outstanding collection of locks after another. Sure, he’s had his stumbles; no one is perfect (Looking at you, Lions for Lambs). But at 53, he’s still cranking out A+ hair work (see the brand-new Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation) for proof of that.

For more than 30 years, Cruise has maintained a nigh-unblemished record of follicular excellence. No matter the role or film, he’s got nary a hair out of place (unless it’s supposed to look that way, in which case they’re perfectly out of place). But which Cruise hair is the best Cruise hair? ScreenCrush polled a team of fashion experts, stylists, cinematographers, dermatologists, tailors, and barbers to create the definitive ranking of the Cruise-hair oeuvre, which you’ll find in the gallery above.

Okay, fine, so it was actually just me. But I put a lot of thought into this. And if I could, I would totally have the cut from Mission: Impossible II. That thing is good.