I honestly think it was even closer than that. It was something insane like 1/4 inch. I rememeber reading about it. The actor playing the badguy was scared to death of hurting Tom but Tom kept being like "It's ok. Just do it. Go as hard as you can. It'll be fine." Apparently Tom had to reassure him multiple times across multiple takes because he kept pulling his power at the last second. Finally, after
many reasurances, the guy went full force and that's the one we got in the movie.
I just don't understand how he can be so utterly fearless. Even though the knife was attached to a steel cable and bolted to a steel beam overhead, there's just no possible way you'd ever get me to take Tom Cruise's place in that scene. The thought of getting stabbed in the eye because of some freak snappage is just too overwhelming.
He's gotta have King Kong-sized balls. The dude is just
awesome.