Top Gun:Maverick

[Jedi Marso]

Saw this last night at an early access premiere screening.

9/10

Follows the original fairly closely in form, with a lot of callbacks. Not woke in the slightest.
Some of the aerial scenes are just retina detaching. You'll be on the edge of your seat the whole third act.
Needed just a bit more oomph in the soundtrack department.
Third best sequel ever made, behind Aliens and The Empire Strikes Back. IMO.

Recommendation: Go see it on the biggest screen with the best sound system that you can manage. You will NOT be disappointed.

 

[thribs]

After 2 years of waiting, the film is finally out. I really enjoyed it. The flight scenes were really well done and the characters were pretty entertaining. I’m glad they didn’t have Rooster hate Maverick over his dad’s death but have it be something a bit more personal to him. It also wasn’t overplayed which could have derailed the movie somewhat.
I also liked the ending; with Maverick being shot down. Part of me did think that he would sacrifice himself to save his pilots which gave that scene some believability that he might be dead. The stuff that came after it with Rooster coming to his aid and saving him from those evil Canadians (I’m guessing. Could have been anyone), leading them to steal a F14 to escape was nicely done as well.
My only confusion I had with the plot was why did the baddies (whoever they were) have superior planes to that of the US Navy? I don’t think that was explained.
They also had Maverick on a sailing boat and he seemed clueless on the nautical terms. I know he’s a pilot but you’d think being a naval officer he would know the basics.

I’ll go with a A- for this one. It’s not the same without Lloyd Bridges.

 

[Skipper]

My only confusion I had with the plot was why did the baddies (whoever they were) have superior planes to that of the US Navy? I don’t think that was explained.

What I understood from the film: it would ideally be a mission for the F-35s (Maverick also mentions this) which would currently be the most advanced fighter, but since the bad guys use some kind of GPS jammers the good guys are forced to use the older F-18.

 

[thribs]

Is that the case? I must have missed that line.
Couldn’t they change the GPS with the ones from the F-18?

Speaking of the fighters, was anyone else thinking of Threshold with the Mach 10 test plane?

 

[Captaindemotion]

I was never a particular fan of the original but went to see this with a friend who really wanted to see it. I much preferred it to the original. It really does lean into the nostalgia and serves up huge dollops of cheese and corn. But, it’s such tasty cheese and corn and the film is just so entertaining. Loved how they handled Val Kilmer’s Ice-Man and the story with Goose’s son was nicely, if predictably handled.

I also thought they’d off Maverick at the end, a la Han Solo/Luke/Captain Kirk, but I was glad they went for the upbeat ending.

I have it a B, possibly a little conservative on my part. If you’re a big TG fan, it’s probably A+ material.

 

[Skipper]

Is that the case? I must have missed that line.
Couldn’t they change the GPS with the ones from the F-18?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

The stuff that came after it with Rooster coming to his aid and saving him from those evil Canadians (I’m guessing. Could have been anyone), leading them to steal a F14 to escape was nicely done as well.

It doesn't really matter, and the filmmakers went out of their way to not identify any particular country, but, if you want to take a guess based on what was shown in the movie, I would guess Iran for the following reasons:

- Iran is the last operator of F-14s in the world, having some left over from their per-Revolutionary days when they had good relations with the US. They've been spotted flying escort for Russian cargo planes into Syria as of a few years ago, so they're still active.

- Iran is notably eager to develop nuclear weapons, so the uranium enrichment facility being theirs makes sense.

- Iran is extremely mountainous and snowy in parts.

- The carrier was able to strike from the ocean without the planes needing to refuel, meaning the target was likely in a coastal nation like Iran.

- Iran recently asked Russia if they could purchase some of the Su-57 Felon fifth generation fighters seen in the film. Russia refused, for now, but in a few years, who knows? Alternatively, just as the Iranians flew escort duty for the Russians in Syria, it's entirely possible Russian pilots could be providing security for Iran's uranium enrichment facility. Normally Russia would try and discourage Iran's nuclear program, but if the wake of NATO expansion due to the Ukraine situation, they may reevaluate that stance.

- Iran doesn't typically operate Mi-24 Hind helicopters, but they did capture some of Iraq's during the Iran-Iraq War and after many Iraqi military forces defected to Iran during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and have one on display in their military museum, so it's possible they kept a few in flying condition, cannibalizing parts from others.

- In the first movie, the nameless bad guys went after a ship that drifted off course in the Indian Ocean, which borders Iran. Another reason Maverick may have been approved for this mission was his experience facing the same enemy before, if they were in fact the same enemy.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Is that the case? I must have missed that line.
Couldn’t they change the GPS with the ones from the F-18?

They had to come up with an excuse for not using F-35s in the film because the Navy wouldn't let them use them, and they needed planes with a two-seat variant so they could film the actors in an actual cockpit (with a real F/A-18F pilot up front) with the real sky and terrain behind them reacting to the g-forces and turns and the way it contorts your face, makes you almost (or totally) lose consciousness, and makes it hard to breathe. The Super Hornet has two-seaters, the F-35 does not (so far, though Israel reportedly wants a two-seat version).

Plus, they wanted to keep the pilot and RIO (back-seater) dynamic from the first film for some of the air crews.

 

[thribs]

Interesting that the navy wouldn’t let them. I would imagine these movies would get a lot of people to enlist. They’re good promoting tools for them.

 

[Saul]

This movie was gods damn amazing. I've never seen anything like it.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm a fan of the original Top Gun, and I think it's one of the top 15 movies I have seen in my life. I saw it as a kid and it just looked really cool, and the soundtrack was amazing. I was hoping that Top Gun Maverick would respect the original and be a quality movie.

This movie exceeded all my expectations. From the opening where they actually recreated the opening of the original to just the story this was well worth the 2 year delay because of the pandemic. I loved the theme of ageism, trying to let the past go and if Maverick has worn out his welcome. The idea that he never let go of Goose's death and how it drove him and his relationship with Rooster was really nice and served as the story to the film.

I also loved how emersive this film is. Cruise said he wanted to make it authentic and I think he and the crew succeeded. The flying was amazing, and my only regret was not seeing this in XD or Imax. I think if i go see the film again, I will see it with better sound quality. It reminded me in a way of Gravity, where you had to see that film in 3D to really get the full experience. I think you need to see this movie in a theater to appreciate the experience.

The soundtrack was also amazing in this movie. Yeah a lot of it was from the original film, but I never saw Top Gun in the theaters. To hear the Top Gun anthem in theaters made 4 year old me feel all nostalgic and just put a huge smile on my face. The music struck an emotional nostalgic tone that I really did appreciate.

Spoiler: Charlie

I think my only quibble was I wanted a line of dialogue about Charlie. They had a line about Gooses's wife, but I kind of feel like they should have threw something in about McGillis. She was basically all I thought about during the love story scenes.

 

[thribs]

You should try 4DX. That was a lot of fun for this movie

 

[Skywalker]

I grew up on the original movie, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. I loved it so much that at one point--despite being an Air Force brat--I actually considered joining the Navy, which would have seriously ticked off my dad.

That said, when this movie was first announced, years ago, I actually wasn't very enthusiastic about it. I guess I felt like the original was kind of like lightning in a bottle, and where could you really take the story from there? The world of military aviation is so different now. But I'm very happy to say that they alleviated all doubts I had about this movie, and it definitely exceeded my expectations.

I do have to say, the F/A-18 just isn't as cool as the F-14, and I'm a little surprised the Navy didn't want them to feature their shiny new F-35, but maybe they were concerned about accidentally giving away classified intel. But the action scenes were outstanding, and IIRC every stunt was performed with real jets with minimal CGI.

I still think the original movie is slightly better--I feel like it had more heart--but I really enjoyed this. I just hope, since this movie is going to make mega-bucks, that Paramount doesn't try to force another sequel.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I do have to say, the F/A-18 just isn't as cool as the F-14, and I'm a little surprised the Navy didn't want them to feature their shiny new F-35, but maybe they were concerned about accidentally giving away classified intel.

The cockpit interior of the F-35 has been shown to the public before, so it wasn't so much a classification issue as the fact that the F-35 only comes in a single-seat version and Cruise wanted to show the actors with the actual sky and terrain backgrounds behind them and having genuine reactions to the g-forces, which necessitated an aircraft with a two-seater version, hence the F/A-18F.

Even though Cruise is an accomplished pilot and likes to do all his own stunts (and flew the P-51 in the film), they were not putting him in a multi-million dollar F/A-18 without a real Navy or Marine Corps pilot in the front seat doing the flying.

Say what you will about Cruise, you have to admire his commitment to giving the audience a quality film with practical effects and putting himself on the line to do the stunts on his own so it looks as real as possible.

The nostalgia factor makes it difficult for me to say I like this movie better than the original even though it's a better made film, but we'll call it a tie. This was a joy to behold and a celebration of flying. A+.

 

[Aragorn]

The Asylum made a movie called Top Gunner to coincide with the 2020 release, but they can't afford to hold their product back so it had to come out. Now they've made a second movie (I wonder if anyone from the first one is even in it). Two movies to ride the coattails of one.

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[thribs]

That manoeuvre the baddies did by spinning their plane was very similar to what the great Topper Harley did in Hot Shots.

 

[Skywalker]

The cockpit interior of the F-35 has been shown to the public before, so it wasn't so much a classification issue as the fact that the F-35 only comes in a single-seat version and Cruise wanted to show the actors with the actual sky and terrain backgrounds behind them and having genuine reactions to the g-forces, which necessitated an aircraft with a two-seater version, hence the F/A-18F.

Even though Cruise is an accomplished pilot and likes to do all his own stunts (and flew the P-51 in the film), they were not putting him in a multi-million dollar F/A-18 without a real Navy or Marine Corps pilot in the front seat doing the flying.

Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. I knew there had to be some practical explanation for it.

And I think Cruise actually owns that Mustang they used in the movie. Or, at least, I seem to remember reading that.

 

[John Clark]

Just back from seeing it. Enjoyeed it a lot.

 

[Skipper]

By the way, finally we know how the heck Maverick is still flying and is still a lieutenant. Ice protected him. Literally the moment after he was dead, they were quick to tell Maverick "Thanks you can go. Ah, You'll never fly again. Goodbye."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Apparently, at Cruise's insistence, all of the cockpit scenes were shot 'live' - the actor is in a real plane, in flight, reacting to the turns and G-forces just like a pilot would. (The actors aren't actually flying the planes, though. All of the fighters are two-seaters, with the actor in one and the unseen pilot in the other.)

And although Cruise is an accomplished pilot himself, I don't think he did his own flying.