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• DVD & Streaming

Top Gun: Maverick

• Action/Adventure

Content Caution

In Theaters

• May 24, 2022
• Tom Cruise as Maverick; Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin; Miles Teller as Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw; Monica Barbaro as Phoenix; Val Kilmer as Iceman; Glen Powell as Hangman; Jon Hamm as Cyclone

Home Release Date

• August 23, 2022
• Joseph Kosinski

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Positive Elements   |   Spiritual Elements   |   Sexual & Romantic Content   |   Violent Content   |   Crude or Profane Language   |   Drug & Alcohol Content   |   Other Noteworthy Elements   | Conclusion

Movie Review

After 30 years in service, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is still a captain in the U.S. Navy. A highly decorated and honored captain, but a captain, nonetheless.

Now you might suggest that he’s been passed over for promotion because, well, he’s as obstinate and troublemaking as his callsign would suggest.

And yep, that would be as true as the sky is high.

If, however, you ask Maverick himself, he’d probably admit that his lack of rank upgrades afforded him one special perk: It kept him flying. He held promotions and subsequent desk work at bay and kept his backside in a cockpit. And that’s where he feels most like himself.

Of course, his attitude and varied choices haven’t necessarily earned him many friends among the higher ranks. They’d rather see him pack his reckless, order-ignoring ways into a small bag and leave their view as soon as possible.

His sort tends to cause problems. 

But unfortunately (from a commanding officer’s perspective) his sort tends to get results, too. And they need him for one more important mission dealing with … his sorts.

Maverick is ordered back to the Top Gun program he left scores of years before, a program designed to train the cream-of-the-crop US Navy pilots. There, he’ll have a mere three weeks to teach a group of crackerjacks to take on what amounts to an impossible mission. How impossible? Flying-through-a-narrow-winding-canyon-at-Mach-speed-while-100-feet-off-the-ground-then-up-over-a-mountain-to-hit-a-target-a-few-feet-wide impossible.

Maverick has no desire to do any such thing. He’d much rather stick with his job as a test pilot, pushing a plane up to Mach 10 or 11.

But here’s another thing about staying a captain for 30 years: Admirals don’t give a hoot about your desires. “You fly for Top Gun, or you don’t fly again,” his new commanding officer tells him.  

So, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is back on familiar turf. He’ll do what it takes to get these young hot shots up to speed.

And it won’t be a laidback trip.

Positive Elements

One of the young pilots in Maverick’s group, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw is the son of his former co-pilot, Goose. And because of that history—and Maverick’s part in Goose’s accidental death—things are pretty tense between Rooster and Maverick. But a large part of this film is dedicated to Maverick not only earning Rooster’s respect but turning the whole self-focused group of pilots into a team that would sacrifice anything for the man (or woman) next to them. Several of these pilots do just that. Heroics abound.

Later, we find out that Maverick’s connection to Rooster was almost parental in his mind—trying to see the young man’s mother’s wishes through and keep him safe from harm. “I was trying to be the father he lost.”

When back into the Top Gun fold, Maverick reconnects with an old flame named Penny, who owns and runs the local bar. The two of them grow closer. And in light of the changing things in his life, Maverick declares that he wants to make things more long-term with Penny. Penny’s young daughter pointedly tells him, “Just don’t break her heart again.”

Spiritual Elements

After saving his fellow pilot’s lives, a guy joking radios them to say, “Good afternoon gentlemen, this is your savior speaking.”

Sexual & Romantic Content

Harkening back to the original Top Gun movie, the group of pilots all play football while shirtless and sweaty. (The single female pilot in the group wears a tank top.) We also see Maverick among that bare-skin crew, and he goes shirtless another time while running on a treadmill.

Maverick and Penny hug and kiss. The camera cuts away, implying further intimacy. The next scene features Maverick with his shirt off and Penny in a kimono in her bed.

Violent Content

As you might imagine, there is a lot of peril mixed into this action adventure. All of the pilots here risk life and limb with daredevil flying at Mach speed as they prepare for the mission on hand and engage in dogfights with an enemy force of high-tech jets. (The live-action- and CGI-blended dogfight battles are shot meticulously and are very realistic looking.)

Planes and helicopters get shot down in balls of flame by jets and surface-to-air missiles. We see one jet crash after being hit by a flock of birds and catching on fire. A jet traveling at Mach 10 begins to fall apart and then self-destructs at altitude.

During a flashback, Maverick remembers his friend, Goose’s, death from 35 years before. Maverick tries to aid a bleeding Goose after their plane crashes in the ocean.

A pilot passes out from the force of a high-G maneuver and almost crashes his jet. A military helicopter takes aim at a pilot running on the ground, ripping the scenery up with its high-caliber weapons. An underground nuclear plant explodes.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word and 20 s-words are joined by uses of “b–ch,” “h—” and “a–.” We hear one use of “d–khead.” Jesus’ name is misused once and God’s name twice (once in combination with “d—n”).

Someone uses an offensive hand gesture.

Drug & Alcohol Content

We see lots of locals and pilots drinking beer at Penny’s bar on several occasions.

Other Noteworthy Elements

A commanding officer makes it clear to Maverick that he isn’t as concerned about who dies during the mission on hand as he is that the job is accomplished. “Every mission has its risks. These pilots accept that,” the officer states. “I don’t, sir,” Maverick replies.

Maverick defies orders twice in the course of the story. But in each case, his choice is designed to help others under his command.

After 35 years and some four release date pushbacks (thanks to COVID lockdowns) you might have an inkling that Top Gun: Maverick isn’t going to exactly ignite your metaphorical afterburners. But in fact, this is an almost picture-perfect sequel to its iconic ’80s predecessor.

Viewers get lots of callbacks to the original pic here, including familiar music riffs, a surprisingly young-looking Tom Cruise racing on a motorcycle and sweaty shirtless pilots playing ball on the beach.

Then there’s the afterburner-ignited action, incredibly filmed dogfights, and a dash of lightly sensual romance. The only real hard-deck issue with this pic is the occasional salty language coming from its new crop of flyboys and one flygirl. It’s probably not as bad as it could have been. But that concern is likely still strong enough to keep younger wannabe pilots grounded.

Oh, and there’s one other problem I can personally guarantee will pop up on your post-filmgoing radar: When heading home from the theater you will drive too fast.

Sorry, it’s gonna happen.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Top Gun: Maverick

In “Top Gun: Maverick,” the breathless, gravity and logic-defying “ Top Gun ” sequel that somehow makes all the sense in the world despite landing more than three decades after the late Tony Scott ’s original, an admiral refers to Tom Cruise ’s navy aviator Pete Mitchell—call sign “ Maverick ”—as “the fastest man alive.” It’s a chuckle-inducing scene that recalls one in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” when Alec Baldwin ’s high-ranking Alan Hunley deems Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, “the living manifestation of destiny.” In neither of these instances are Cruise’s co-stars exclusively referring to his make-believe screen personas. They are also (or rather, primarily) talking about the ongoing legacy of Cruise the actor himself. 

Truth be told, our fearless and ever-handsome action hero earns both appraisals with a generous side of applause, being one of the precious remnants of bona-fide movie superstardoms of yore, a slowly dwindling they-don’t-make-’em-like-they-used-to notion of immortality these days. Indeed, Cruise’s consistent commitment to Hollywood showmanship—along with the insane levels of physical craft he unfailingly puts on the table by insisting to do his own stunts—I would argue, deserves the same level of high-brow respect usually reserved for the fully-method sorts such as Daniel Day-Lewis . Even if you somehow overlook the fact that Cruise is one of our most gifted and versatile dramatic and comedic actors with the likes of “ Born on the Fourth of July ,” “ Magnolia ,” “ Tropic Thunder ,” and “ Collateral ” under his belt, you will never forget why you show up to a Tom Cruise movie, thanks in large part to his aforesaid enduring dedication. How many other household names and faces can claim to guarantee “a singular movie event” these days and deliver each time, without exceptions?

In that regard, you will be right at home with “Top Gun: Maverick,” director Joseph Kosinski ’s witty adrenaline booster that allows its leading producer to be exactly what he is—a star—while upping the emotional and dramatic stakes of its predecessor with a healthy (but not overdone) dose of nostalgia. After a title card that explains what “Top Gun” is—the identical one that introduced us to the world of crème-de-la-crème Navy pilots in 1986—we find Maverick in a role on the fringes of the US Navy, working as an undaunted test pilot against the familiar backdrop of Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone.” You won’t be surprised that soon enough, he gets called on a one-last-job type of mission as a teacher to a group of recent Top Gun graduates. Their assignment is just as obscure and politically cuckoo as it was in the first movie. There is an unnamed enemy—let’s called it Russia because it’s probably Russia—some targets that need to be destroyed, a flight plan that sounds nuts, and a scheme that will require all successful Top Gun recruits to fly at dangerously low altitudes. But can it be done?

It’s a long shot, if the details of the operation—explained to the aviator hopefuls in a rather “It can’t be done” style reminiscent of “ Mission: Impossible ”—are any indication. But you will be surprised that more appealing than the prospect of the bonkers mission here is the human drama that co-scribes Ehren Kruger , Eric Warren Singer , and Christopher McQuarrie spin from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks . For starters, the group of potential recruits include Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw ( Miles Teller , terrific), the son of the dearly departed “Goose,” whose accidental death still haunts Maverick as much as it does the rest of us. And if Rooster’s understandable distaste of him wasn’t enough (despite Maverick’s protective instincts towards him), there are skeptics of Maverick’s credentials— Jon Hamm ’s Cyclone, for instance, can’t understand why Maverick’s foe-turned-friend Iceman ( Val Kilmer , returning with a tearjerker of a part) insists on him as the teacher of the mission. Further complicating the matters is Maverick’s on-and-off romance with Penny Benjamin (a bewitching Jennifer Connelly ), a new character that was prominently name-checked in the original movie, as some will recall. What an entanglement through which one is tasked to defend their nation and celebrate a certain brand of American pride …

In a different package, all the brouhaha jingoism and proud fist-shaking seen in “Top Gun: Maverick” could have been borderline insufferable. But fortunately Kosinski—whose underseen and underrated “Only The Brave” will hopefully find a second life now—seems to understand exactly what kind of movie he is asked to navigate. In his hands, the tone of “Maverick” strikes a fine balance between good-humored vanity and half-serious self-deprecation, complete with plenty of quotable zingers and emotional moments that catch one off-guard.

In some sense, what this movie takes most seriously are concepts like friendship, loyalty, romance, and okay, bromance. Everything else that surrounds those notions—like patriotic egotism—feels like playful winks and embellishments towards fashioning an old-school action movie. And because this mode is clearly shared by the entirety of the cast—from a memorable Ed Harris that begs for more screen time to the always great Glen Powell as the alluringly overconfident “ Hangman ,” Greg Tarzan Davis as “Coyote,” Jay Ellis as “ Payback ,” Danny Ramirez as “Fanboy,” Monica Barbaro as “ Phoenix ,” and Lewis Pullman as “Bob”—“Top Gun: Maverick” runs fully on its enthralling on-screen harmony at times. For evidence, look no further than the intense, fiery chemistry between Connelly and Cruise throughout—it’s genuinely sexy stuff—and (in a nostalgic nod to the original), a rather sensual beach football sequence, shot with crimson hues and suggestive shadows by Claudio Miranda . 

Still, the action sequences—all the low-altitude flights, airborne dogfights as well as Cruise on a motorcycle donned in his original Top Gun leather jacket—are likewise the breathtaking stars of “Maverick,” often accompanied by Harold Faltermeyer ’s celebratory original score (aided by cues from Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe ). Reportedly, all the flying scenes—a pair of which are pure hell-yes moments for Cruise—were shot in actual U.S. Navy F/A-18s, for which the cast had to be trained for during a mind-boggling process. The authentic work that went into every frame generously shows. As the jets cut through the atmosphere and brush their target soils in close-shave movements—all coherently edited by Eddie Hamilton —the sensation they generate feels miraculous and worthy of the biggest screen one can possibly find. Equally worthy of that big screen is the emotional strokes of “Maverick” that pack an unexpected punch. Sure, you might be prepared for a second sky-dance with “Maverick,” but perhaps not one that might require a tissue or two in its final stretch.

Available in theaters May 27th. 

Tomris Laffly

Tomris Laffly is a freelance film writer and critic based in New York. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), she regularly contributes to  RogerEbert.com , Variety and Time Out New York, with bylines in Filmmaker Magazine, Film Journal International, Vulture, The Playlist and The Wrap, among other outlets.

• Tom Cruise as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell
• Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw
• Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin
• Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Cyclone
• Glen Powell as Hangman
• Lewis Pullman as Bob
• Charles Parnell as Warlock
• Bashir Salahuddin as Coleman
• Monica Barbaro as Phoenix
• Jay Ellis as Payback
• Danny Ramirez as Fanboy
• Greg Tarzan Davis as Coyote
• Ed Harris as Rear Admiral
• Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky
• Manny Jacinto as Fritz
• Chris Lebenzon
• Eddie Hamilton
• Christopher McQuarrie
• Ehren Kruger
• Eric Warren Singer

Cinematographer

• Claudio Miranda
• Hans Zimmer
• Harold Faltermeyer
• Lorne Balfe

Writer (based on characters created by)

• Jack Epps Jr.
• Joseph Kosinski

Writer (story by)

• Justin Marks
• Peter Craig

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Top Gun: Maverick First Reviews: The Most Thrilling Blockbuster We've Gotten in Years

Critics say the long-awaited sequel is a must-see on the big screen and not only potentially better than the original, but also one of the best tom cruise movies ever..

TAGGED AS: Action , blockbusters , Film , films , movie , movies

Tom Cruise returns to the cockpit in Top Gun: Maverick , the long-awaited follow-up to the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun . And if you’re not already feeling the need for speed — again — then you might want to reconsider, because the first reviews for this legacy sequel are clear of the danger zone. In fact, many are even calling it a better movie than the original, and maybe even one of the best Tom Cruise movies of all time.

Here’s what critics are saying about Top Gun: Maverick :

Will Top Gun fans be happy?

On the whole, this is a thrilling sequel which is bound to delight fans of the first film. – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

It’s a follow-up that will thrill every Top Gun fan. – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

Mainstream audiences will be happily airborne, especially the countless dads who loved Top Gun and will eagerly want to share this fresh shot of adrenaline with their sons. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

This follow-up, directed by Joseph Kosinski, deals in the same unexpected-itch-scratching bliss: it’s crammed with images you didn’t know you were desperate to see until the second you see them. – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph

In the opening moments… you don’t know if you’re watching the original 1986 Top Gun or a new one. – Brian Truitt, USA Today

Tony Scott’s admirers may miss that disreputable edge, the unrepentantly vulgar sensibility that made the original Top Gun a dreamy, voluptuous hoot. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

(Photo by Scott Garfield/©Paramount Pictures)

How does it compare to the original?

Top Gun: Maverick improves on the original. It’s deeper, it’s not corny, and it has thrilling effects. – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The dogfights, chases, and mid-air sequences are truly remarkable — far clearer and far more intense than anything in the original Top Gun . – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

A superior sequel. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

If Top Gun was a fun film because it invented Tom Cruise, Maverick is a great film because it immortalizes him. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Maverick ideally would be less formulaic – and for the record, it doesn’t quite match the magic of the OG Top Gun . – Brian Truitt, USA Today

Is it a worthy legacy sequel?

Few Hollywood reboots can boast this blend of nostalgia, freshness and adrenaline. You will want to high five someone on the way out. – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

The film is a true legacy sequel. In the tradition of Star Wars: The Force Awakens , it’s a carefully reconstructed clone of its predecessor, tooled not only to reflect changing tastes and attitudes but the ascendancy of its star Tom Cruise to a level of fame that borders on the mythological. – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

The sequel follows the original beat for beat, to a degree that’s almost comical. And yet, as formulaic as it is, there’s no denying that it delivers in terms of both nostalgia and reinvention. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Tom Cruise remains deeply ambivalent with the notion of passing the torch to a new generation onscreen and so Top Gun: Maverick remains focused on Maverick and his story, sometimes to the detriment of the young cast. – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)

Is this one of the best blockbusters we’ve gotten in recent years?

Top Gun: Maverick is as thrilling as blockbusters get. – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

Top Gun: Maverick is the most fun I’ve had watching a big dumb Hollywood blockbuster for a while. – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

Takes to the skies as no blockbuster has before. – Peter Debruge, Variety

The movie soars – a reminder of how good Hollywood can be at popcorn entertainment when it sets its mind to it (and Cruise is involved). – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

It is unquestionably the best studio action film to have been released since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road . – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph

How does it rank against other Tom Cruise movies?

We have surely arrived at the Cruisiest film he’s yet made. – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph

It’s not a Tom Cruise movie so much as it’s “ Tom Cruise: The Movie .” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

In terms of performance, this is one of Cruise’s best pictures. – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It fully surrenders to the grandiose fun that’s marked the best of Cruise’s recent star vehicles. – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

Cruise finds new ways to add depth to his signature character (sorry, Ethan Hunt) without sacrificing any of his essential qualities. – Brian Truitt, USA Today

How is Val Kilmer’s return as Iceman?

Kilmer’s brief cameo, in what has the feel of a swan song, carries far more weight than anything directly related to the story. – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The film’s most moving element comes during the brief screen time of Kilmer’s Iceman. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

If there’s one scene that really takes your breath away, it’s his. – Brian Truitt, USA Today

In one fictional moment, he gives us something unmistakably, irreducibly real, partly by puncturing the fantasy of human invincibility that his co-star has never stopped trying to sell. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Are there any other standouts in the cast?

Miles Teller [gives] an oddly alluring performance that really shouldn’t work as well as it does. – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

Teller, with his best turn since Whiplash, factors in as a worthy emotional foil. – Brian Truitt, USA Today

Jennifer Connelly brings a lot to a thankless role. – Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

Does Top Gun: Maverick deliver as an action movie?

It [has] what is surely one of the most impressive plane-based action scenes ever committed to film. – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

The real draw here is, of course, the action, and Kosinski asserts his gift for large-scale filmmaking across the film’s runtime. – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The commitment to filming practically-everything practically feels like the cutting-edge equivalent of Howard Hughes’ history-making Hell’s Angels . – Peter Debruge, Variety

You have a series of character-driven, heart-in-your-throat dogfights more vivid than anything in the first previous film. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Breathtakingly balletic, and grounded in the increasingly rare pleasure of the tangible… it’s a true feat for director Joseph Kosinski to make something this ambitious look this effortless. – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

The action scenes [have] a breathtaking beauty and urgency: the play of light and gravity on the actors’ faces, and the way the landscapes spin and drop away balletically through the canopy glass, puts other blockbusters’ green-screened swooping to shame. – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph

The best thing this movie does is boost visceral analog action over the usual numbing bombardment of CG fakery. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Are there any major criticisms?

One would have appreciated a slightly more effective female-centric subplot. – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

The film, unfortunately, doesn’t extend as much of a loving hand toward the women of Top Gun . – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

Women are few and far between, and even the more prominent ones get mostly perfunctory treatment. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

It would’ve been nice to see Meg Ryan return as the widow/mom, but the rules are cruel when it comes to aging female actors. – Peter Debruge, Variety

Do we need to see this on the big screen?

This is definitely a film that benefits from the IMAX experience, and the big-ass soundscape that comes with it. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

This movie needs the big screen, preferably as big as you can find. I saw it in an IMAX theater, and now I have some idea of what it would feel like to take off in a fighter pilot from an aircraft carrier. – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The result is the most immersive flight simulator audiences will have ever experienced, right down to the great Dolby roar of engines vibrating through their seats. – Peter Debruge, Variety

It’s the kind of edge-of-your-seat, fist-pumping spectacular that can unite an entire room full of strangers sitting in the dark and leave them with a wistful tear in their eye. – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent

Will it leave us wanting more?

One can imagine future spinoffs involving any of these characters. – Peter Debruge, Variety

[It’s a] launching pad for a potential second or even third sequel with its young cast at the center of new adventures. – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

Top Gun: Maverick opens in theaters on May 27, 2022.

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‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Review: Tom Cruise Takes to the Skies, Literally, in Barrier-Breaking Sequel

Reteaming with 'Oblivion' director Joseph Kosinski, the perfectionist producer-star insists on flying his own planes in this stunning follow-up.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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The world is not the same place it was in 1986, when “Top Gun” ruled the box office. In Ronald Reagan, America had a movie star for a president, and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson as its honorary ministers of propaganda. The same year that “Platoon” challenged the United States’ militaristic track record, “Top Gun” sold a thrilling if narrow-minded fantasy of American exceptionalism — of boys and their toys, of macho-man bromance and what it means to be the best. Three years after Tom Cruise flipped the bird to a Russian MiG fighter plane, the Berlin Wall fell. Two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.

One could argue that our new, post-Cold War world didn’t need a “Top Gun” sequel. (Tom Cruise himself once insisted as much.) But one would be wrong to do so. Building on the three-parts-steel-to-one-part-corn equation that director Tony Scott so effectively set 36 years earlier, the new film more than merits its existence, mirroring Cruise’s character, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, in pushing the limits of what the machine could do — the machine in this case being cinema, which takes to the skies as no blockbuster has before.

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Hardly anything in “ Top Gun: Maverick ” will surprise you, except how well it does nearly all the things audiences want and expect it to do. Orchestrated by Joseph Kosinski — the dynamo who collaborated with Cruise on “Oblivion” and first worked with Miles Teller on 2017’s terrific, underseen firefighter drama “Only the Brave” — to appeal to veterans and neophytes alike, this high-performance follow-up sends Maverick back to the Topgun program, where he won the heart of Charlie (Kelly McGillis) and lost best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards).

Popular on Variety

Flashbacks notwithstanding, neither of those actors is in this movie, though the screenplay — a tag-team effort between Christopher McQuarrie (Cruise’s guy), Eric Warren Singer (Kosinski’s guy) and Ehren Kruger (yikes) — just about resurrects Goose via his now-adult son, Bradley Bradshaw (Teller), call sign “Rooster.” (“Phoenix” would be more apt, but that tag goes to Monica Barbaro, playing the lone woman in this testosterone pool.) The resemblance between Rooster and his late dad is uncanny, courtesy of a goofy moustache, some hair gel and a scene in which the young pilot pounds out “Great Balls of Fire” on the Hard Deck piano, the way Goose once did.

The Hard Deck is now operated by a character from Maverick’s past, Penny Benjamin ( Jennifer Connelly ), although she was only referenced in passing before: In “Top Gun,” Maverick is chewed out by his superior officer for having “a history of high-speed passes over five air control towers — and one admiral’s daughter!” Penny is that daughter: strong, independent and responsible for a daughter of her own (not Maverick’s, and too young to be his love interest). Cruise’s character has matured on the womanizing front, and the movie provides a shallow yet satisfying romantic subplot between him and Penny, which gives him something to come home for, since his daredevil tendencies otherwise give off strong kamikaze vibes.

In theory, Maverick should have graduated Topgun and gone back to teach what he’d learned to other Navy pilots. But after losing his flying partner, the character wound up being more of a loner — or so we learn, catching up with him all these years later, working as a test pilot and stuck at the rank of captain. Following a nostalgia-baiting aircraft carrier landing montage, wherein “Top Gun” theme “Danger Zone” blazes once again, Kosinski tracks Maverick to the Mojave Desert, still living up to his nickname when he takes a multimillion-dollar piece of government equipment — a supersonic, SR-71 Blackbird-style (fictional) Darkstar jet — out for a speed test.

Showing up as none-too-amused Navy brass, Ed Harris arrives just in time to eat a face full of sand as Maverick takes off at rocket speed, gently pushing the plane to Mach 10. (As a point of reference, the F-14s seen in “Top Gun” top out around Mach 2.) It’s a glorious scene, and one that melds everything Maverick once represented with Cruise’s own off-screen personality — which also explains all the self-driven motorcycle rides. The stunt nearly gets Maverick kicked out of the Navy. His only option: Go back to the training academy, where Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer) is now filling Tom Skerritt/Viper’s shoes.

The script incorporates Kilmer’s throat cancer, such that Iceman has just one scene, communicating mostly by keyboard — but it’s a smart one, paying off the way the dynamic between these two ex-rivals has evolved. Considering the importance Goose and Rooster play in this next mission, which involves a near-impossible airstrike on a uranium plant, it would’ve been nice to see Meg Ryan return as the widow/mom, but the rules are cruel when it comes to aging female actors. Meanwhile, we can talk about all the cosmetic ways Cruise and Kilmer’s faces have evolved, although there’s only one change that matters: Cruise has perfected that little jaw-clenching trick that signifies “This is a really tough call.”

He won’t get an Oscar for pantomiming such swallow-your-pride stoicism, though Cruise deserves one for everything else the role demanded of him: If the flying scenes here blow your mind, it’s because a great many of them are the real deal, putting audiences right there in the cockpit alongside a cast who learned to pilot for their parts. The idea here is that Maverick has been grounded, relegated to coaching a dozen top-of-their-class hotshots, though he takes to the skies right away, trumping all of these aces in a series of adrenaline-fueled drills. Not a one of these students is convincing as a Navy pilot, though their personalities win us over all the same (even Glen Powell’s alpha-male “Hangman,” who serves as this movie’s Iceman equivalent), and once can imagine future spinoffs involving any of these characters.

“Top Gun” has always been “The Tom Cruise Show,” and no one believes for a second that Maverick won’t maneuver his way into flying the climactic mission. But he can’t do it alone: The operation calls for perfectly coordinated teamwork among six pilots, recalling the group air battle that bonded Iceman and Maverick in the original movie.

These days, videogame-styled blockbusters rely so heavily on CGI that it’s thrilling to see the impact of gravity on actual human beings, pancaked to their chairs by multiple G-forces. Sophisticated movie magic makes their performances seamless with the exterior airborne shots, while the commitment to filming practically everything practically feels like the cutting-edge equivalent of Howard Hughes’ history-making “Hell’s Angels.” The result is the most immersive flight simulator audiences will have ever experienced, right down to the great Dolby roar of engines vibrating through their seats (while the score teases cues for Lady Gaga’s end-credits anthem “Hold My Hand”).

Early on, Ed Harris’ character warns Maverick and his team that “one day, they won’t need pilots at all,” by which he means, drone technology is not far from allowing the Navy to do all of its flying by remote control. Cinema seems to be moving in that same direction, replacing actors with digital puppets and real locations with greenscreen plates — but not if Tom Cruise has anything to do with it. Engineered to hit so many of the same pleasure points as the original, “Top Gun: Maverick” fulfills our desire to go really fast, really far above ground — what the earlier film unforgettably referred to as “the need for speed.”

Still, this buckle-up follow-up also demonstrates why we feel the need for movie stars. It goes well beyond Cruise’s rah-rah involvement in what amounts to a glorified U.S. military recruitment commercial (the 1986 film might have been as perfectly calibrated as a Swiss watch, but it wasn’t subtle about its GI Joe agenda). It’s the way we identify with the guy when he’s doing what most of us thought impossible. Turns out we need Maverick now more than ever.

Reviewed at AMC Century City 15 (Imax), May 10, 2022. In Cannes Film Festival (Out of Competition). MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 130 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount Pictures release of a Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation of a Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production. Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison. Executive producers: Tommy Harper, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson.
• Crew: Director: Joseph Kosinski. Screenplay: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie; story: Peter Craig, Justin Marks, based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. Camera: Claudio Miranda. Editor: Eddie Hamilton. Music: Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer, Hans Zimmer.
• With: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Charles Parnell, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Greg Tarzan Davis, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer.

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Top Gun: Maverick review: A high-flying sequel gets it right

The need for speed comes with a fresh young cast, but the Cruise control remains.

In Top Gun: Maverick 's opening scene, someone makes the mistake of asking Tom Cruise to take his fighter jet to Mach 9. He pauses, then flashes that megawatt Cheshire grin. Never mind that it's a practice run; there is only one Mach he knows, and it is 10 (or maybe 10.2). That's because he's a maverick, the Maverick — Captain Pete Mitchell of the United States Navy, a rogue's rogue for whom clouds part and Hans Zimmer synths soar.

He's also 36 years older than the cocky young lieutenant he played on screen in the 1986 original , a bare fact that the sequel (in theaters May 27) both elides and celebrates in a movie whose bright stripes and broad strokes feel somehow bombastic and tenderheartedly nostalgic at the same time. Imagine a world where motorcyclists scoff at helmets, all bars burst into jukebox singalongs, and the U.S. military is simply an unblemished agent for good. A few decades ago you didn't have to, because you lived in it; Top Gun: Maverick can because it never left.

Inevitably, a few things have changed: Lady Gaga is on the soundtrack now , and there's a whole new class of lion-cub recruits. But that's still Kenny Loggins' " Danger Zone " chugging over the title credits, and Maverick is still the fastest man alive in an F-14, even if he's never managed to exceed the lowly rank of Captain. "You should be at least a two-star admiral by now, or a Senator," Ed Harris 's Rear Admiral grouses early on, before grudgingly sending him off to the Top Gun base in San Diego. Maverick's constant insubordination and looming obsolescence should have gotten him discharged years ago, he reminds him; instead, he's been saved by an old friend, Iceman ( Val Kilmer ), now an admiral himself.

There's a reason for that intervention: a uranium plant in a heavily guarded secret bunker that needs to be eliminated before it becomes operational for the enemy. (What enemy? Don't ask, don't tell.) And only jets can infiltrate it, if the Academy's ten best recruits can be taught to thread the needle and get out of there alive. Leading the team is Maverick's new job, though the bossman there (a scowling Jon Hamm) is not exactly overjoyed to welcome him — and a promising young pilot called Rooster ( Miles Teller , in a kicky little mustache) even less enthused. That's because Rooster's parents were Goose and Carole (Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan, who appear only in misty flashbacks), and all he knows is that Pete had something to do with him getting pulled from the fast-track flight program years ago.

Otherwise, Rooster's main rival amongst the new hopefuls is Hangman ( Hidden Figures ' great Glen Powell), a fellow pilot whose smirky antagonism recalls the last movie's Iceman rivalry in everything except the frosted tips (Powell is a more natural kind of blonde, but the square-jawed swagger and resting smug face play the same). Director Joseph Kosinski ( TRON: Legacy ) revels in the sonic-boom rush of their many flight scenes, sending his jets swooping and spinning in impossible, equilibrium-rattling arcs. On the ground, too, his camera caresses every object in its view, almost as if he's making a rippling ad for America itself: The unfurling snap of a boat sail; the gleaming Formica in a desert rest-stop diner; golden bodies playing touch football in the California surf while a magic-hour sun goes down.

That nationalistic glow extends to Maverick's courting of a former paramour, Jennifer Connelly , but there's a bittersweet sentimentality in their reconnection, the kind of unhurried adult romance that doesn't make it on screen much anymore. (A brief interlude with Kilmer, who has largely lost his voice to cancer , is also surprisingly moving.) Kosinksi, of course, has to make his Maverick work with or without the context of the original, and the script, by Peter Craig ( The Batman ) and Justin Marks ( The Jungle Book ) toggles deftly between winking callbacks and standard big-beat action stuff meant to stand on its own. Teller and Powell are breezily appealing, actors at the apex of their youth and beauty, though the movie still belongs in almost every scene to Cruise. At this point in his career, he's not really playing characters so much as variations on a theme — the theme being, perhaps, The Last Movie Star. And in the air up there, he stands alone. Grade: B+

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Review: Tom Cruise flies high — again — in the exhilarating ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

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“If you think, you’re dead.” That’s one of Tom Cruise’s more memorable lines from “Top Gun,” a cautionary reminder that when your engine flames out or an enemy pilot locks you in their sights, hesitation means death. Inadvertently, the line also suggests the best way to enjoy Tony Scott’s immortal 1986 blockbuster: Best not to think too long or hard about the dumb plot, the threadbare romance, the fetishization of U.S. military might or the de rigueur plausibility issues. The key is to succumb, like Cruise’s high-flying Maverick himself, to a world of unchecked instinct and pure sensation, to savor the movie’s symphony of screaming jets and booming Giorgio Moroder, not to mention all those lovingly photographed torsos and tighty-whities.

Jets still scream and muscles still gleam in the ridiculous and often ridiculously entertaining “Top Gun: Maverick,” though in several respects, the movie evinces — and rewards — an unusual investment of brainpower. I’d go further and say that it offers its own decisive reversal of Maverick’s dubious logic: It has plenty on its mind, and it’s gloriously alive.

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A lot of consideration and calculation have clearly gone into this long-aborning blockbuster sequel, insofar as Cruise (one of the producers) and his collaborators have taken such clear pains to maintain continuity with the events, if not the style, of the first film. That’s no small thing, more than 30 years after the fiery young Maverick lost Goose, made peace with Iceman and rode off into the annals of fictional U.S. Navy history. And rather than let bygones be bygones, the director Joseph Kosinski and a trio of screenwriters (Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Cruise’s favorite auteur-wingman, Christopher McQuarrie) have resurrected those threads of rivalry, tragedy and triumph and spun them into uncharted realms of male-weepie grandiosity.

Some of this continuity is a matter of basic story sense, rooted in a shrewd understanding of franchise mechanics and an equally savvy appeal to ’80s nostalgia. But it also has something to do with the 59-year-old Cruise’s close stewardship of his own superhuman image, a commitment that speaks to his talent as well as his monomania. And with the arguable exception of “Mission: Impossible’s” Ethan Hunt, few Cruise characters have felt as aligned with that monomania as Maverick. From the moment he entered the frame in ’86, sporting flippant aviator shades and riding a Kawasaki motorcycle, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell announced himself as a signature Cruise creation — a precision-tooled amalgam of underwear-dancing sex symbol (just three years after “Risky Business”) and the envelope-pushing, heights-scaling action star he would become.

These days, the need for speed still persists for both Cruise and Maverick, even if the latter does more flying than running. But for all the barriers he’s broken and all the miles he’s logged in his career as a Navy test pilot, Maverick occupies a state of self-willed professional stasis. Unwilling to be promoted into desk-job irrelevancy, he is a captain by rank and a rebel by nature. The opening sequence finds him playing Icarus with one of the Navy’s shiny new toys, thumbing his nose in the process at the first of the movie’s two glowering authoritarians. (They’re played by Ed Harris and Jon Hamm.) Old habits die hard, but so do the ghosts of the past, and Maverick, for all his reckless abandon in the cockpit, will soon find himself breaking his own rules by thinking more carefully, and tactically, than he’s ever had to do before.

Called back to the elite Navy training school where he flew planes, defied orders and irritated his peers with distinction, Maverick is charged with preparing the program’s best and brightest for a stealth attack on a far-flung uranium enrichment plant owned by some conveniently unidentified NATO-threatening entity. As impossible missions go, it makes the Death Star trench attack look like a grocery run — a tough assignment for Maverick’s 12 brilliant but still-untested pilots, played by actors including Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez and a terrific Glen Powell as a smug, know-it-all Iceman type. And then there’s the hotheaded Rooster (Miles Teller, sullen as only he can be), whose candidacy is complicated by the fact that his late father was Maverick’s wingman and best friend, Goose (the great Anthony Edwards, seen here in brief shards of footage from the first “Top Gun”). Talk about chickens coming home to roost.

Rooster’s background is a ludicrous contrivance. It’s also the perfect setup for the kind of rich, thorny cross-generational soap opera that — as much as its aspect-ratio-fluctuating flight sequences and its climactic surge of Lady Gaga — is this movie’s reason for being. Those planes may be powered by fuel, but “Top Gun: Maverick” runs on pure, unfiltered dad energy. Try not to smile whenever Cruise’s Maverick flashes a mischievous avuncular grin beneath his helmet and chases his young charges in F/A-18s all over the Mojave Desert, teaching them new moves while wasting no chance to reassert his own superiority. Back on the ground, Maverick and Rooster’s surrogate daddy-son tensions flare into the open, exacerbated by guilt, resentment and their recognition of their shared stubbornness.

The drama might have taken on an intriguingly Oedipal edge if the filmmakers had thought to bring back, say, Meg Ryan as Carole, Goose’s wife and Rooster’s mother. But here, with the exception of Monica Barbaro as one of Maverick’s most gifted proteges, women are few and far between, and even the more prominent ones get mostly perfunctory treatment. With no sign of Kelly McGillis as the Navy instructor who once took Maverick’s breath away, it falls to another flame, Penny (a lovely, underused Jennifer Connelly), to mix a few drinks, provide a flicker of romantic distraction and snuff out the first film’s lingering homoerotic vibes. Not that there are many such whiffs here, and more’s the pity: Kosinski, who previously directed Cruise in the shiny, empty science-fiction drama “Oblivion,” is a skilled craftsman with none of Scott’s horned-up filmmaking energy. (He does salute the original with an opening blast of “Danger Zone” and a rousing game of football in the surf, though the latter is more team-building than steam-building exercise.)

Scott’s admirers may miss that disreputable edge, the unrepentantly vulgar sensibility that made the original “Top Gun” a dreamy, voluptuous hoot. There’s some compensation in Kosinski’s fight and flight sequences, full of face-melting ascents, whiplash-inducing loop-de-loops and other airborne stunts that prove considerably more transporting and immersive than what the first “Top Gun” was able to accomplish. That’s only to be expected, given the more sophisticated hardware involved. Like any proper commercial for the military-industrial complex, “Top Gun: Maverick” teases the latest cutting-edge advances in aeronautics and defense technology, a field that has evolved roughly in step with an ever more digitally subsumed movie industry.

At the same time, thanks to Cruise and Kosinski’s unfashionable insistence on practical filmmaking and their refusal to lean too heavily on computer-generated visual effects, their sequel plays like a throwback in more than one sense. But the era that produced the first film has shifted, and “Top Gun: Maverick” is especially poignant in the ways, both subtle and overt, that it acknowledges the passage of time, the fading of youth and the shifting of its own status as a pop cultural phenomenon. The original was a risky, relatively low-budget underdog that somehow became a perfectly imperfect movie for its moment, soaring on the wings of its dreamy eroticism and recruitment-commercial aesthetics, a mega-hit soundtrack and an incandescent star. It ushered in a new era of decadence for its producers, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and for the many gung-ho American blockbusters they would keep cranking out.

“Top Gun: Maverick” is a longer, costlier and appreciably weightier affair, and its expanded emotional scope and heightened production values (including a score by the original film’s composer, Harold Faltermeyer) give it a classy, elegiac sheen; it’s like a hot summer diversion in prestige-dinosaur drag, or vice versa. As a rare big-budget Hollywood movie about men and women who fly without capes, it has a lot riding on it. Once set for a summer 2020 release but delayed almost two years by the pandemic, it arrives bearing the hopes and dreams of a tentatively resurgent industry that could use a non-Marvel theatrical hit. And as such, everything about its story — from the intergenerational conflict to the high stakes of Maverick’s mission to the rusted-out F-14s collecting dust at the periphery of the action — carries an unmistakable subtext. Is this movie one of the last gasps of a dying Hollywood empire? Or is its emotionally stirring, viscerally gripping and proudly old-fashioned storytelling the latest adrenaline shot that the industry so desperately needs?

It’s hard to consider any of this apart from Cruise, whose attention-grabbing actions during an earlier phase of the pandemic — shooting a video of himself going to see “Tenet” in a packed London theater , verbally lashing members of his “Mission: Impossible” crew for flouting COVID-19 protocols — suggest a man who’s placed the weight of an entire troubled industry on his own shoulders. His endless search for the perfect action vehicle has sometimes felt like a quest for some elusive fountain of Hollywood youth, and it’s led to gratifying highs ( “Edge of Tomorrow” ) and inexplicable lows ( “The Mummy” ). Like Maverick, to whom someone wise once said, “Son, your ego is writing checks that your body can’t cash,” Cruise just won’t quit, won’t give up, won’t listen to anyone who tells him no. As a sometime fan of Cruise’s egomania, at least when he’s dangling from a helicopter or literally running to catch a plane, I’m not really complaining.

And so there’s some irony and maybe even a hint of self-awareness in the fact that while Cruise owns just about every moment of this movie, another star winds up stealing it. As Iceman, Maverick’s old adversary turned wingman, mentor and ally, Val Kilmer haunts “Top Gun: Maverick” from its earliest moments but enters it surprisingly late, anchoring a perfectly timed, beautifully played scene that kicks the movie into emotional overdrive. Watching Ice as he greets and counsels Maverick, you may find yourself thinking about the actor playing him, about the recent toll on his health and the rickety trajectory of his own post-’80s and ’90s career, subjects that were illuminated by the recent documentary “Val.” In one fictional moment, he gives us something unmistakably, irreducibly real, partly by puncturing the fantasy of human invincibility that his co-star has never stopped trying to sell.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Rated: PG-13, for sequences of intense action, and some strong language Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes Playing: Starts May 27 in general release

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Top Gun: Maverick review – a full-throttle, action-packed nostalgia machine

Only one man can deliver in a world that desperately needs heroes – Tom Cruise! Stand up and cheer, ladies and gentlemen. Top Gun: Maverick is a full-throttle, action-packed nostalgia machine that delivers the supersonic thrills we all have been clamoring for.

This review of the film Top Gun: Maverick does not contain spoilers.

We currently live in a time perceived to have more villains than men or women we want to champion. This was no different in the 80s, an era reflected in movies with big villains, big action, and the intended consequences of creating victors that produced megastars. Well, here we are. In a world that desperately needs heroes, Hollywood returned to the one man who can deliver – Tom Cruise! Stand up and cheer, ladies and gentlemen. Top Gun Maverick is a full-throttle, action-packed nostalgia machine that provides the supersonic thrills we all have been clamoring for. 

Tom Cruise reprises the role of Maverick, who is a Captain in the United States Navy. He should be an admiral by now, which is what Radm. Chest “Hammer” Cain, who is about to discharge him dishonorably, points out. However, Mav now has a reprieve from his friend, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer). How? He is currently an Admiral. Kazansky assigns Maverick to train Top Gun graduates, the Navy’s top aviators, on an impossible mission (sound familiar?). He needs to prepare and pick six pilots to help bomb a site producing nuclear weapons. (The country is left to be ambiguous, but according to reports like Screenrant , the speculation is Iran because of the F-14s flying in the film).

One of the pilots he trained was Rooster ( Miles Teller ) , the son of his best friend Goose. If you remember, he was one of the great action film supporting characters. He was killed in the original when Maverick continued to push the limits of his training and the plane. It still haunts Maverick, triggered when Rooster plays the same song his dad did at the piano when they sang as a family. (Unfortunately, there will be no Meg Ryan or Anthony Edwards cameo in the film, while the latter would be difficult). Pete has a new love interest in the movie, Peggy (Jennifer Connelly), an old flame he left three years prior. While fighting his demons, Maverick must make believers out of his new boss, Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (Jon Hamm), and his star recruits. 

Director Joseph Kosinski ( Only the Brave ) and a script from a team that includes Ehren Kruger, Kosinski collaborator Eric Warren Singer, and Mission: Impossible Cruise team member Christopher McQuarrie do a great job here. What the film does well is establish respect for the original. They revisit the film and fold in Maverick’s backstory. You have a wonderful mix of action and humor and the film’s top-quality production. Without being ripped from a comic book movie, this old-fashioned blockbuster is a retrofit for a new generation with spectacular action with today’s special effects. Whatever you think of the plot, it seems like far-fetched nonsense when most bombs can now be sent by satellite. Everything feels real, tangible, and raises the stakes to suspenseful new heights.

My big concern with this sequel was if it would just be a carbon copy of the original. It has a few of those scenes, but when it goes back to the well, Kosinski and company camouflage them so they’re hardly noticeable. They also make sure it works well within the story. For instance, when Maverick is thrown out of the bar by his new students, they have no idea he is their instructor. This plays off the original  “You Lost that Loving Feeling,” scene with Kelli McGillis. Dogfight football is essentially the famous volleyball tournament but now teaches teamwork. While the romanticizing piano scene with Miles Teller hits home, it evokes the memory of the beloved character. Even Jake “Hangman” Seresin is your quintessential Ice Man character, but Glenn Powell is such a welcome presence it is hardly objectionable. 

The performances are good here. Cruise is having a lot of fun revisiting a role that made him a worldwide megastar whose wattage has lasted for decades. I came to appreciate Teller’s Rooster more and more as time went on. In comparison, Connelly is always a fine addition to any film. (Even though her ringing the bell repeatedly for different reasons, and patrons deciphering it has different meanings, was head-scratching). And with all the bravado, arrogance, and high-stakes drama, the scene with Val Kilmer is moving. The actor has been going through significant health issues for the past couple of years. The scene with Cruise is a moment that will put a lump in your throat. 

Top Gun: Maverick hits all the right notes of a big-time summer action spectacular that has become an American film tradition. It’s an all-encompassing entertainment. One of the best action movies in years that has just the right amount of sentimentality to go along with its Hollywood trappings.

What did you think of the film Top Gun: Maverick? Comment below!

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Movie Review: Top Gun Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is an almost picture-perfect sequel

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Top Gun: Maverick is a danger zone of summer movie perfection

A sequel to the era-defining 1986 classic, Top Gun: Maverick soars past its legacy as an almost-perfect immersive thrill ride.

The key to Top Gun: Maverick isn’t soaring higher and faster. It’s flying low and at pace.

Here’s the mission: An underground uranium lab that shouldn’t exist is vulnerable at a target three meters wide. It lies between the steepest mountain peaks you’ve ever seen, lined by anti-air missiles that seek jets like magnets seek metal. Flying too high means certain death-by-missile, and flying at near 90-degree verticality means enduring the maximum G-force the human body can take. Weight pressure increases. Your breathing slows. You black out. Living to tell about it means threading the needle while drowning in the haystack.

Precision, skill, and a breathless experience are all that define Top Gun: Maverick , now in theaters. Over 35 years after Tom Cruise felt the need for speed in Tony Scott’s bombastic 1986 classic, Cruise once again takes flight, this time with Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski at the helm.

Not unlike Cruise’s collaborations with Mission: Impossible ’s Christopher McQuarrie , who has screenwriting credit on Maverick , Cruise/Kosinski’s team-up is textured with unmistakable realism and eye-popping immersion. Maverick is truly one for the ages in its deliverance of a distilled summer blockbuster whose thrills are strong enough to inspire highs totally indistinguishable from narcotics. Beware, and welcome to the Danger Zone.

Over 35 years after Top Gun , Tom Cruise returns to the cockpit in Top Gun: Maverick .

In Top Gun: Maverick , Captain “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is just a little over the hill. He’s of undetermined advanced age yet still a captain. Those of his era, sturdy men played by Ed Harris and Jon Hamm, raise eyebrows about why he’s not yet moved on. He could be a politician, one points out. To keep flying as Maverick does — he starts the movie risking his life to fly at an impossible 10.0 mach speed — is a young man’s game. But there’s still a need for men like Maverick.

“Textured with unmistakable realism and eye-popping immersion.”

With a script by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and McQuarrie, Maverick is built on functionally sturdy grounds. The aforementioned uranium lab will be a threat to the world in a few weeks’ time so Maverick is recruited to school the best naval pilots. One of them is Lt. Bradley (“Rooster”), son of Maverick’s fallen partner “Goose” (Nick Bradshaw in the first film). Rooster is played by a beefy, mustached Miles Teller.

We quickly learn there’s resentment from Rooster towards Maverick, for reasons the film carefully but simply unravels across its lean two-hour runtime. Their narrative load blows a little early, however, leading to a technically suspenseful but emotionally risk-free climax that could have used more oomph from their emotionally-charged tensions.

In Maverick , Tom Cruise’s Maverick returns to school a new class of Top Gun pilots — including the son of his fallen partner, call sign “Rooster” (Miles Teller) — for a dangerous mission in enemy territory.

The story Top Gun: Maverick tells is at once impactful in its romance for the past, and only sometimes contradictory. “No time to think about the past” is uttered at least once in a movie replete with loving nods to 1986, down to Cruise’s improbably running Kawasaki Ninja 900 (now a vintage piece) and another thirsty montage of sweaty, marble-chiseled bodies playing on the beach, all framed by cinematographer Claudio Miranda in golden sunset tones.

Maverick cherishes its past, while still moving its narrative forward. That is best exemplified by Val Kilmer’s brief but reverent return as “Iceman.” His ethereal presence is weighted by the actor’s real-life struggles and our wishes to see him live peacefully. Analogous to the past, Iceman is echoed in Rooster’s own rival, Glenn Powell’s similarly beefcaked “Hangman.” However, Top Gun ’s history gets a slight tweak with Jennifer Connelly taking over for Kelly McGillis as Maverick’s new love interest. Playing Penny, a bartender and single mother, Connelly is as much a vision McGillis was, framed in close-ups with intimate underpinnings.

Much of the movie’s thematic contradictions can be summed up by an early exchange when Cruise’s Maverick is dismissed as an “old relic.” He will one day be phased out by the future’s automation. With a Hollywood smirk only Cruise is capable of, he retorts, “Not today.” It’s applause-worthy bravado with a whiff of sad futility. Even Maverick knows the future is coming.

“Maverick is truly one for the ages.”

But nothing of Maverick ’s B-story can hold back an A+ spectacle. Whereas the original Top Gun wrote the playbook for the modern summer blockbuster, transforming cinema into rollicking Navy propaganda, Maverick nimbly jockeys around expectations (yes, there’s a “Danger Zone” needle drop, and yes, it’s still a banger) by succeeding through unbelievable immersion.

In an ecosystem ruled by weightless superhero effects, Maverick stands apart with tactile, “we-did-it-for-real” practicality that has long been Cruise’s appeal. The A-list actor’s eagerness to push arbitrary limits he alone sets in the Mission: Impossible films are cranked up as meta-text in the Top Gun sequel.

For Maverick , IMAX cameras were rigged inside real aircraft that are flown for real. The end result is nothing short of extraordinary.

It’s impossible not to feel the thrills Maverick and his classroom of cocky millennial pilots experience, thanks to the camera’s frequent placement inside the cockpits. While there’s surely some VFX at play, Maverick’s realistic textures come through in its marriage of cutting-edge filmmaking tech with the legitimacy of flights performed in-camera. IMAX cameras have evolved to such a point they can now be rigged inside the cockpits of F/A-18 Super Hornets, which are flown for real in Maverick .

“Nothing of Maverick ’s B-story can hold back an A+ spectacle.”

To put it mildly, the end result is awe-inspiring. The movie magically generates anticipation for its own set-pieces, with every scene on the ground full of the same pregnant suspense that you experience on rollercoasters before the first drop. If dying and going to heaven can ever be captured on camera, it might look like scenes from Maverick .

When Top Gun: Maverick hits, and it does often, it strikes with supersonic booms. It isn’t an exercise in nostalgia as much as it is an attempt to reconcile remembrance for what happened before and excitement for what’s possible now. For all its flaws in the script — and for me personally, a waste of The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto — there are riches on the ground and heavenly perfection in the skies. It is escapist entertainment at its best, and in an era of overly-busy, high concept Hollywood releases, Maverick shows flying to the heavens isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Instead, at the right speed, keeping close to Earth can still take your breath away.

Top Gun: Maverick is now playing in theaters.

This article was originally published on May 27, 2022

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Soars Above the Original With One of the Best Blockbusters in Years | Review

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In many ways, Maverick’s ( Tom Cruise ) story in 1986’s Top Gun feels like a story told with the hindsight of an older man reflecting on the foolishness of his youth. The original Top Gun is two hours of machismo, sweaty showoffs, and toxic personalities, centered around a careless character who eventually learns the dangers of his cockiness and shenanigans. Top Gun is the kind of story that one could imagine an older character sharing with the younger generation, a cautionary tale about how life isn’t all hot dogging in planes, oiled-up volleyball, and Kenny Loggins songs. It’s not hard to imagine an older Maverick telling people that he used to be a real piece of shit.

Maverick made choices back in his 20s, choices that still have reverberations to this day, that haunt him, that inform his decisions almost forty years later. With Top Gun , we saw Maverick as a selfish character who put himself before everyone else, and while he still lives up to his name, now, he’s more interested in what’s best for the group as opposed to what’s best for him. In Top Gun: Maverick , the staggeringly great sequel from director Joseph Kosinski ( Oblivion , TRON: Legacy ), Maverick has been living in the shadow of the choices that younger Maverick made, and now, 36 years later, this character is back, ready to confront the danger zone of a past that has haunted him since the first film.

The changes in Maverick are apparent from the very first action sequence. The former hotshot pilot is trying to prove that he can take a plane to Mach 10 in order to prove that a plane with a living, breathing person behind it is more effective than an unmanned drone. The Maverick we last saw in Top Gun would’ve attempted this feat simply to boost his own ego, an attempt to prove that he’s the greatest pilot in the world. Yet in this sequence, Kosinski shows us that this isn’t his focus anymore, but rather, if he succeeds, it’ll be better for his team, who will likely lose their jobs if he fails. This selflessness is a completely different Maverick than the character we’ve seen before.

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But that doesn’t mean Maverick doesn’t still have the same daring and desire to push his boundaries. It’s this type of attitude that has left him at his current captain’s rank. As Vice Admiral “Cyclone” ( Jon Hamm ) tells Maverick, he can’t get promoted, he won’t retire, and he refuses to die. At the end of Top Gun , Maverick wanted to be a teacher, but after two months in the classroom thirty years ago, Maverick also couldn’t maintain that position. But Admiral Cyclone gives Maverick a choice: either he trains a group of Top Gun graduates for a highly-specialized mission, or Maverick will never fly again for the Navy. Maverick agrees, and heads back to Top Gun, where he trains an elite team of pilots, including the cocky Hangman ( Glen Powell ) and Rooster ( Miles Teller ), the son of Maverick’s late best friend, Goose.

As Maverick trains Hangman, Rooster, and the rest of these Top Gun graduates, Top Gun: Maverick finds a way to pay homage to the iconic moments of Top Gun , but in a way that doesn’t feel frivolous and serves a purpose in this new, more urgent story. For example, the sun-drenched beachside game this time around is used as a team-building tool, whereas this new gang getting together and singing at a bar leads to one of the film’s surprisingly emotional moments—of which there are several. Maverick finds a way to pay tribute to the past, but in a way that builds upon the film we know and adds weight to these moments.

Similarly, with Cruise returning as Maverick, Top Gun: Maverick feels like a character and an actor reliving their glory days in the most joyous way possible. Through Maverick, Cruise gets to explore one of his most infamous characters, but in a way that now has a significant amount of emotional heft. As Maverick, we get a reminder of just how many things Cruise does extremely well as an actor, and in some of these aspects, we’re seeing parts of Cruise in this role that we haven’t seen in years. Of course, Top Gun: Maverick allows Cruise to show that he remains one of the greatest living action stars, who—like Maverick—is willing to push his limitations to their breaking point. But Maverick also shows Cruise’s gifts at playing a compelling leading man, an effective romantic lead—alongside an equally wonderful Jennifer Connelly —a comedian with excellent timing, and an actor who can really make a film’s emotional moments sing.

Maverick , with its screenplay by Ehren Kruger , Eric Warren Singer , and Christopher McQuarrie , knows how to tap into that nostalgia for the original and find the emotional moments that would hit Maverick’s character hard, and Cruise plays these scenes with grace and power. There’s a clear love that Cruise, Kosinski, and this team of writers have for these characters and this story, and thanks in large part to Cruise’s performance, this love really shines through, especially in scenes where Maverick has to explore his past and the decisions that led him to where he is today.

The growth that this film shows over the original is arguably at its clearest with the new squad of pilots. Of course, there's still the arrogant pilot who thinks he's the best in Powell's Hangman, but especially with Teller's Rooster, we're seeing a character like Maverick, who is haunted by the legacy of this father and with something to prove, but without the smugness and pride. Through Teller's performance, we can see the weight of Maverick's past in human form, the pain he's caused, and the wrongs he wishes he could right, and some of Maverick 's best scenes involve Rooster and Maverick having to reckon with this difficult past. It's also exciting to see a new crew with more diversity and more character than we're genuinely excited to spend time with.

Kosinski does all this in what also is likely to be the best action film of 2022, a tense and continuously exciting epic that knows exactly how to escalate the tension of every impressive action sequence. Top Gun: Maverick might contain some of the best plane scenes in the history of film, and soars over the stunts of the original. This is the type of white-knuckle, awe-inducing action film that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible, with an audience stuck at the edge of their seats. Yet again, Top Gun: Maverick doesn’t include action for action's sake, each remarkable action sequence serves a narrative purpose, and expands what we know about these characters when they are in their element in the skies.

When talking about Top Gun: Maverick , it’s hard not to sound hyperbolic, but this is the rare case where it absolutely deserves all the massive praise. Top Gun: Maverick improves upon the original in every conceivable way (well, the soundtrack doesn’t have Berlin, so that’s one strike against it), and does so in a way that might make this one of the greatest sequels ever made. It’s also hard not to say this might have some of the most exciting action scenes to ever hit the skies, and gives Cruise one of his best performances by returning to the role that made him a star. Top Gun: Maverick is a marvel of a film, one that will truly take your breath away.

Top Gun: Maverick opens in theaters on May 27.

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Top gun: maverick.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 55 Reviews
• Kids Say 136 Reviews

Parents Say

Based on 55 parent reviews

Parent Reviews

From a navy fighter pilot - amazing. absolute must-see..

This title has:

• Great messages
• Great role models

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Feel good action film.

• Educational value

Great sequel to an awesome well loved classic!

Out of the park excellent, intense and riveting film has language.

• Too much swearing

Lord’s name taken in vain and that is not listed under language

Wholesome and perfect movie for 13+.

• Too much violence

Not Good, but the Best Aviation Movie EVER made. Surpasses the original.

A fun and rollicking ride, what to watch next.

American Made

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

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Top Gun: Maverick

The story involves Maverick confronting his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission. The story involves Maverick confronting his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission. The story involves Maverick confronting his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission.

• Joseph Kosinski
• Jack Epps Jr.
• Peter Craig
• Jennifer Connelly
• Miles Teller
• 4.3K User reviews
• 439 Critic reviews
• 78 Metascore
• 108 wins & 235 nominations total

Top cast 97

• Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

• Penny Benjamin

• Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw

• Adm. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky

• CWO4 Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman

• Adm. Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson

• Adm. Solomon 'Warlock' Bates

• Lt. Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace

• Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd

• Lt. Reuben 'Payback' Fitch

• Lt. Mickey 'Fanboy' Garcia

• Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

• Lt. Neil 'Omaha' Vikander

• Lt. Billy 'Fritz' Avalone

• Lt. Callie 'Halo' Bassett

• Lt. Javy 'Coyote' Machado

• Lt. Brigham 'Harvard' Lennox

• Lt. Logan 'Yale' Lee
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• Trivia At the insistence of Tom Cruise , minimal green screen and CGI aerial shots exist in the film, and even the close up cockpit shots were taken during real in-flight sequences. This meant that much of the cast had to undergo extensive G-force training sessions to withstand the physical demands of G-force pressures during flights.
• Goofs At 1h12'10" Coyote is in G-LOC, releases the stick and his aircraft falls towards the ground. Super-hornet are equipped with auto GCAS (automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System), which would react to the situation and take control to climb and level at a safe altitude with no obstacles.

Rear Admiral : Maverick. Thirty-plus years of service. Combat medals. Citations. Only man to shoot down three enemy planes in the last 40 years.

[Cain looks through pages of Maverick's records]

Rear Admiral : 'Distinguished.' 'Distinguished.' 'Distinguished.' Yet you can't get a promotion, you won't retire, and, despite your best efforts, you refuse to die. You should be at least a two-star admiral by now, if not a senator. Yet here you are: Captain. Why is that?

Maverick : It's one of life's mysteries, sir.

Rear Admiral : This isn't a joke. I asked you a question.

Maverick : I'm where I belong, sir.

Rear Admiral : Well, the navy doesn't see it that way. Not anymore.

Rear Admiral : These planes you've been testing, Captain, one day, sooner or later, they won't need pilots at all. Pilots that need to sleep, eat, take a piss. Pilots that disobey orders. All you did was buy some time for those men out there. The future is coming, and you're not in it.

[Cain faces the officer by the door]

Rear Admiral : Escort this man off the base. Take him to his quarters. Wait with him while he packs his gear. I want him on the road to North Island within the hour.

[surprised look on Maverick's face]

Maverick : North Island, sir?

Rear Admiral : Call came in with impeccable timing, right as I was driving here to ground your ass once and for all. It galls me to say it, but... for reasons known only to the Almighty and your guardian angel, you've been called back to Top Gun.

Maverick : Sir?

Rear Admiral : You are dismissed, Captain.

[Maverick proceeds to leave Cain's office]

Rear Admiral : The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.

[Maverick turns around]

Maverick : Maybe so, sir. But not today.

• Crazy credits "Top Gun 001: Tom Cruise" is listed among the other pilots who worked on the film.
• Connections Featured in Conan: Tom Cruise (2019)
• Soundtracks Danger Zone From Top Gun (1986) Original Soundtrack Written by Giorgio Moroder & Tom Whitlock Performed by Kenny Loggins Courtesy of Columbia Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User reviews 4.3K

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• May 26, 2022
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• What is the strange-looking black-colored aircraft Maverick is test-piloting at the start of the film?
• Is there a post-credits scene?
• Is it realistic that Maverick would still be in the Navy on active duty as a captain (O6) 36 years after the events of this first film?
• May 27, 2022 (United States)
• United States
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• Phi Công Siêu Đẳng Maverick
• Eldorado National Forest, California, USA (Forested mountain aircraft staging area)
• Paramount Pictures
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• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $170,000,000 (estimated)
• $718,732,821
• $126,707,459
• May 29, 2022
• $1,495,696,292

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 10 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• IMAX 6-Track
• 12-Track Digital Sound

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Parents' guide: Is 'Top Gun: Maverick' OK for the kids to see?

By john clyde for ksl.com | posted - may 27, 2022 at 2:48 p.m..

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Tom Cruise portraying Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a scene from "Top Gun: Maverick." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

FIGHTERTOWN, USA — It's been 36 years since Pete "Maverick" Mitchell last hopped into the cockpit and flew across cinema screens around the world, but now he's back and it's better than ever.

" Top Gun: Maverick " is an insanely entertaining and satisfying movie that's perfect for the summer movie season. For more details on why "Maverick" is such a good time, check out Dave Clyde's review .

But what is in the movie? It's rated PG-13, but why? What kind of language and violence is in there? Do we have another "Take My Breath Away" montage with flowing curtains and awkward silhouettes?

I'm here to fill you in on what you can expect to see from a content perspective in the latest "Top Gun" movie so you can make the decision if it's right for you and your family.

I am not here to tell you that you should or should not take your kids to this movie or if you, yourself, should check it out. Only you can make that call. I'm here to tell you what is in the film — without spoilers — so you can make your own decisions.

I recently rewatched the original "Top Gun" and realized I had forgotten how uncomfortable that intimate scene was. It wasn't necessarily graphic, but I personally did not like the way it made me feel. I'm happy to say there are no swaying drapes or songs by Berlin in this movie. When it comes to sex, the movie is really tame.

There is a shirtless football scene on the beach, done in an effort to pay homage to the first film's volleyball scene. This moment includes a lot of shirtless men slathered in baby oil and at least one woman in a sports bra. The scene is meant to show off the impressive physiques of the actors, but it's more comical than anything.

There is one scene that alludes to sex, but nothing is shown other than two characters kissing and then later in bed — but they're fully clothed, except for the man who has his shirt off. That's about it for this category. There aren't many sexual jokes or terms I can remember, either.

I would say 99% of the film is closer to a PG rating when it comes to profanity, other than a sequence toward the end when I think a majority of the curse words in the film are used.

There are some words you usually hear on broadcast television sprinkled throughout the two hours and 11 minutes of run time, but it's fairly tame. Toward the finale, there is an intense sequence when several S-words are used and there is one utterance of the F-word. This moment is probably where "Top Gun: Maverick" actually earned its PG-13 rating.

Review: 'Top Gun: Maverick' is an action-packed sequel well worth the 36-year wait

There really isn't a lot of violence in the film. Much like the original, most of the action scenes are in a training function and not actual combat. With that said, once combat does start, there are plenty of explosions and a few deaths. Still, there's nothing graphic and we never see any bodies. We just see the carnage of a fighter jet exploding in mid-air. For a movie about Navy fighter pilots, it is very low on actual violence.

This is where "Top Gun: Maverick" earns its stripes. From the opening scene, the intensity of the film starts hitting Mach speeds and refuses to let go. There are plenty of white-knuckle moments that keep you on the edge of your seat. It's the exact thing you want in a fun, summer popcorn flick, but it may be too much for some audiences.

The stakes are often high and lives are constantly on the line, which makes for a fair amount of stress. The fact that real fighter jets were used for the aerial footage adds to the overall intensity. Your mind knows it's real as you watch it, and that makes it feel even more intense as you see these jets fly at insane speeds.

Will kids be bored?

After rewatching the first film, I'm surprised I watched it so much as a kid because it's fairly slow. I do remember, as a child, hating certain scenes and just desperately waiting for them to get back into the air. "Maverick" is not that kind of movie.

There is so much action going on that you barely have time to take a breath before you're in the air again flying all over the western United States. I wouldn't worry about kids losing attention during the movie.

What ages is it appropriate for?

This is a tough one. If not for that one moment of language, I would say "Top Gun: Maverick" could be close to a PG. It's a tamer PG-13 than much of what we see these days. I think kids of all ages will be entertained by the spectacular aerial sequences, but the content may be a little much for younger kids.

Editor's note: "Top Gun: Maverick" is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and some strong language.

More parents' guides:

Parents guide: Darker 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' earns its PG-13 rating

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10 Behind-the-Scenes Facts You Might Not Know About ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Alison foreman.

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“It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot.” When Miles Teller’s Rooster spits out that gem of a line toward the end of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the second-in-command action star certainly isn’t talking about Hollywood awards season. And yet, it’s an apt metaphor for the blockbuster Best Picture nominee and its spectacular ascent to Sunday’s Oscars.

A sequel to one of cinema’s most iconic fighter pilot movies was always flyable as a business idea: the metaphoric plane, if you will. But after the death of original “Top Gun” director Tony Scott — who passed in 2012 with his own unrealized vision of a follow-up in the works — recruiting the right people to pilot the tentpole for Paramount Pictures grew complicated. Not only did eventual director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer face the uphill battle of evolving a beloved property, but they also had to convince Cruise to come back as Maverick.

“We wanted to bring out a movie purely designed as entertainment,” said Bruckheimer in an interview with IndieWire . “It’s what I’ve been doing my whole career. Tom Cruise felt the same way: when entertaining audiences you hope to get the best story, characters, and scenes, and the best people behind and in front of the camera.”

As producer-star, Cruise was an essential linchpin from beginning to end: even vehemently advocating for a theatrical release when “Top Gun: Maverick” almost got relegated to Paramount+ . He’s not up for Best Actor this year, but Cruise could help collect the statuette for Best Picture should the fan-favorite win over “Avatar 2” and the category’s more traditional fare.

The crowd-pleasing sequel also received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song (Lady Gaga and BloodPop’s “Hold My Hand”), Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. It won big at the box office too, with “The Fabelmans” director Steven Spielberg even quipping that it “saved Hollywood’s ass” at an Academy Awards luncheon in February.

It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot. Here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts to know about Best Picture contender “Top Gun: Maverick” before the 95th Academy Awards.

Check out 10 behind-the-scenes facts you might not know about “The Fabelmans” next.

The Flight Scenes Were Shot Around Real Navy Operations

To get A-lister/notorious daredevil Cruise onboard, Kosinski agreed to shoot “Top Gun: Maverick” using real jets. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda discussed the aerodynamic challenges of “Top Gun: Maverick” with IndieWire, and said, “Since my Navy technical guys had all seen the original ‘Top Gun,’ they got behind the idea of pulling out a lot of gear. We ended up fitting six cameras in the cockpit, including one that had about two-and-a-half inches clearance.”

During pre-production, Miranda and a small crew joined the USS Abraham Lincoln on a training mission. They captured jet take-offs and landings, as well as the flight deck and other ship details. Miranda consulted extensively with original “Top Gun” cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball to better understand the obstacles facing him aboard an aircraft carrier. 

“Kimball had issues where he couldn’t turn his carrier around,” Miranda explained. “I found the right people to talk to, and they would just spin the boat around for me. It doesn’t cost them anything. To be super clear, we were shooting around their missions — they weren’t launching jets for us. And I couldn’t aim towards the sun. But we could turn it this way or that way to get our shots.”

Shooting High-Speed Jets Required Predicting Weather Up to 50 Miles Away

Not only did Miranda have to account for Navy scheduling and the extreme physics of flight, but he also had to contend with changing coastal weather. To get those flight sequences, Miranda had to set his camera exposures before takeoff, and hope they’d prove the right choice in the air.

“I had to guess what the weather was 50 miles down the road,” he said. “I would look to the east where they were flying and see some clouds and maybe open up a third. Then wait, hold on, they’re going away. Or are the jets going 50 feet down into a canyon? Then go with this exposure. I have to say, I didn’t miss.”

Miranda also needed three days to capture the shot of Maverick on his motorcycle, racing down the runway, because it was “too overcast.” 

“We got one in the can,” the Academy Award winner said. “But we decided to go back. It had to be at a certain time of day so the jet crosses right through the sun.”

Another scene, in which Penny and Maverick go sailing, presented problems too when there wasn’t enough wind. Two attempts were made in San Diego and San Pedro, before the final version was captured in San Francisco.

“I was just sitting on the boat rocking with Tom,” Miranda laughed of the failed shoots. “The third time in San Francisco was great. I had one camera on the side of the boat in the front, I operated another camera on the boat next to them, and we had a helicopter as well… I was operating, and [Kosinski] was hanging onto the seat. It was a pretty massive day. We blew a spinnaker. We flooded the Libra head. We had the camera department running out panicking.”

The Darkstar Flyover Scene Was Shot Just Once and Destroyed a Set

In the scene where Maverick reaches Mach 10 in the Darkstar, he flies over Ed Harris’ Hammer right as he’s pulling up to the base gate. As the jet takes off, you can see the roof fly off the guard station: a perfect middle-finger moment that wasn’t planned. The stunt destroyed the set, and the only take Kosinski got is the one used in the film. 

“That’s kind of the entire point of what we did,” VFX production designer Ryan Tudhope told IndieWire of the film’s largely practical approach. “If you look at the other pathway, with probably a group of really talented visual effects designers, who are creating all of the shots in the computer, it ends up lacking a little bit of the happy accidents because it’s overly designed.”

He continued, “There’s all kinds of pitfalls to going down that methodology. Whereas by the very nature of having a real pilot in a real jet being filmed by another real pilot and a real camera operator and another real jet…you end up with these beautiful imperfections.”

Val Kilmer Had the Idea for Iceman to Share His Illness

Val Kilmer’s Iceman is an intrinsic and unforgettable part of the original “Top Gun,” and a sequel wouldn’t have been the same without him. Kilmer has battled complications from throat cancer for some time, and it was the actor’s idea to have the character share his illness onscreen. An AI-generated voice was used for his dialogue, and was fed hours of old footage of Kilmer to capture his tone and speaking cadence.

“Obviously, the idea of Iceman being an important part of Maverick’s journey was something we all wanted, but didn’t know what Val’s health struggles were,” Kosinski told IndieWire. “This was five years ago, so this was before the documentary [‘Val’]. ”

Kosinski explained, “[Producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer] and I met with Val. He came over to Jerry’s office and we sat down with him and just told him of our desire to figure out a way to get Iceman into the film. It was Val who came up with the idea that Iceman was sick too, so he could integrate into the story in a way that felt authentic and not something that we were trying to hide. And then this notion of Iceman being a guardian angel for Maverick, from the moment they have that handshake at the end of the first film, this idea that Iceman would rise through the ranks as the ideal Navy officer, which he was.”

Tom Cruise Regularly Consulted on Sound

Doubling as producer and star, Cruise consulted heavily across “Top Gun: Maverick” but spent extra time sharing his insights on the mixing stage. Supervising sound editor James Mather, who also works with Cruise on the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, told IndieWire that the actor’s lived stunt experience played a critical role in shaping how they layered the sounds pilots hear — from their own breath to the clicking of joystick manipulation — with explosive jet engine booms.

“On this one, in particular, it was such a personal project for him,” said Mather. “The responsibility and the pressure, I guess, for the success of it was pretty heavy on his shoulders. And I think he came to see us every other day. He’d be training in the day doing jumps and motorbike stunts for ‘Mission: Impossible,’ and then he’d come and sit with us [to edit ‘Top Gun: Maverick’]. He can use his memory of what it was like in [the cockpit], and so there are probably certain nuances, sounds that for him were important that maybe he wants to focus on. When he hears or feels the sound, depending on the volume of it, he has to trigger the same response that reminds him of that experience at the time.”

There Were Multiple Versions of the Beginning and Ending

Though the flight sequences were undeniably challenging, both Kosinski and Miranda told IndieWire another proved more difficult to get. The opening scene in Penny’s bar was filmed twice to establish a stronger relationship between Cruise and Jennifer Connelly’s characters. 

“[Joseph Kosinski] wanted a little bit more history between Penny and Maverick,” Miranda explained. “I wasn’t happy about my lighting on the first one. Instead of a bar packed with extras, for the second we could take people away. That let me use a little more side light and move it differently.” 

The ending was shot multiple times as well. In the final version, Maverick returns to his desert hangar and is joined by Rooster, Penny, and Amelia. 

“I actually shot a version where Phoenix was there too, and Phoenix is talking to Amelia about airplanes, and they’re looking at plane models and having this nice moment together,” Kosinski told IndieWire . “We had versions where Hondo [Bashir Salahuddin] was there, so it was more like a big family. At the end, we narrowed it down to just Rooster and Amelia.”

He continued, “At first, Maverick goes to the bar and Penny’s [Connolly] not there, which was a scene we played with both in and out [of the film]. I’m so glad we put it in, because it’s a great way to reveal Penny at the end of the film with Maverick. It just felt like the right ending. We open the film in the hangar and Maverick is alone, and we end with him in the hangar and he’s surrounded by family, a new family. That’s the journey we wanted to take Maverick on.”

Glen Powell Injured Himself Playing Football

Asked about his most memorable day on-set at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Kosinski told IndieWire , “One that I get asked about a lot, which was a very memorable day, was when we shot the beach football scene,” Kosinski said. The fan-favorite scene is an homage to the original’s campy beach volleyball sequence. 

“The actors were in a very kind of stressed out state, they’d all been working so hard to get ready for that scene,” he continued. “They were under pressure, the weight of the original scene being so iconic. I remember Glen went out 110 percent on the first play and hurt himself, but he was able to recover quickly and we were able to get a great version of it.”

The football scene was also reportedly shot twice at Cruise’s insistence. Powell was also in the running for Rooster (Miles Teller’s part), before getting cast as cocky fighter pilot, Hangman.

Miles Teller Got Sick from Jet Fuel in His Bloodstream

“Top Gun: Maverick” was so intense to shoot that Glen Powell told IndieWire he left out certain details about his training and filming out when talking to his mom. But it was Miles Teller’s family who were given serious reason to worry when the film’s second-lead suffered from blood poisoning after a flight. 

“We landed, and I thought, ‘Man, I’m not feeling too good,’” Teller revealed on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” in June 2022. “I was really hot and I just started itching like crazy. So I got out of the jet. I’m just covered in hives. Head to toe. I go to a doctor. I do a blood analysis. I’m in an oatmeal bath that night. I have sensitive skin anyway, truth be told, Irish-Scottish skin. No dyes, no nothing.”

Teller continued, “I go to set the next day and Tom‘s like, ‘How did it go Miles? What did they find?’” Teller continued. “I was like, ‘Well, Tom, it turns out I have jet fuel in my blood.’ And without even skipping a beat Tom goes ‘Yeah, I was born with it, kid. So that was a very Tom moment for me.”

Joseph Kosinski Claims the Unnamed Enemy to the U.S. Was… Canada?

“The answer is it’s Canada,” Kosinski joked with IndieWire, when asked about the film’s unnamed foreign adversary. “We didn’t want to make this a movie about geopolitics. It’s a competition film. It’s a film about friendship, about sacrifice. It’s a rite-of-passage story. It’s all those things. It’s not a movie about the current state of world events which, by the way, have changed so much from when we made the film. If we had even decided [a country when we made it], it probably would’ve been outdated. The idea was always to make the enemy faceless and nameless.”

The director continued, “That’s why in designing this third act, I put it in a world that was not identifiable as, I think, any of the places people are guessing. I liked the idea of putting it in a snowy region, so we shot it in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state to also invert the ‘Top Gun’ aesthetic, to get away from the San Diego sunsets and flip it on its head. To me, that was an exciting way to really change the feeling of the film and make it feel like we were somewhere far away. I know people look at the F-14 [enemy fighter jets] or the fifth-generation fighter jets or the landscape and try to piece it together, but it really is nowhere.”

Test Audiences Didn’t Have to See “Top Gun” to Love Its Sequel

In the same interview with IndieWire , Kosinski said he was relieved to learn audiences unfamiliar with the 1986 original were as onboard with its decades-in-the-making sequel as longterm fans. 

“We did a little bit of audience testing,” he said. “What was a surprise to us was, whether or not you had seen the first film, people were rating the film exactly the same. There was no difference between ‘Top Gun’ fans and non-‘Top Gun’ fans. I could have never anticipated that, but I do think people could potentially get more out of it if they’ve seen the first film.”

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TOP GUN: MAVERICK

"reconciling the past to save the future".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Resentment but it’s overcome, intense rivalry but it’s overcome, and military bureaucracy is sometimes stifling, but it’s overcome.

More Detail:

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a great sequel to the popular 1986 hit starring Tom Cruise, where Tom’s character, an expert Navy fighter pilot named Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, is demoted and ordered to train a group of elite Navy pilots for a deadly mission to take out a uranium enrichment facility in a foreign country. TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a terrific movie, with emotionally powerful scenes, exciting action and a strong Pro-American, patriotic, morally uplifting worldview, but it’s marred by many obscenities and three strong profanities.

The movie begins by setting the stage for what’s to come, by showing some American fighter pilots taking off from a naval carrier. Cut to Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell preparing to take a supersonic fighter jet up to Mach 9. Just as he reaches the takeoff site, he’s informed that Admiral Cain is shutting down the program. Cain thinks unmanned jets are the future, and Maverick is a relic from the past. Maverick has had multiple run-ins with military higher ups during his 30-year career. Later, viewers learn that Maverick’s career as a test pilot and fighter pilot has been kept alive by his former rival from the Top Gun flight school in San Diego, and now friend, Ice, who’s become an admiral.

Admiral Cain is driving to the base to inform them formally about his decision, but he’s late. The supersonic jet program’s manager tells Maverick that the Navy wanted the jet to hit Mach 10, but Maverick isn’t scheduled to test that for a couple months. “If they want Mach 10, let’s give them Mach 10,” Maverick says. Okay, the manager says, but don’t push the jet to 10.1 or 10.2. Of course, Maverick doesn’t listen and, after becoming the “fastest man alive” at Mach 10, he pushes the jet for Mach 10.1 and above. However, when he reaches Mach 10.3, the jet starts to break up, and Maverick must bail out or die.

Back at the base, Admiral Cain reads Maverick the riot act. He wants to retire Maverick, but Ice has come through again, and Maverick is assigned for a dangerous special mission, with training to begin at the Top Gun school. Maverick thinks he’s going to train as one of the fighter pilots, but Ice really wants him to train 12 volunteers and pick the best six pilots and navigators to complete the mission.

When Maverick gets to the Top Gun facility, he comes across two obstacles. First, his old flame, Penny, now owns the Hard Deck Bar that’s frequented by the Top Gun pilots in training. Second, the son of his friend, Goose, who died in the first TOP GUN movie when he and Maverick had to bail out, is one of the 12 candidates. Making matters worse, the young man, whose name is Bradley Bradshaw and call sign is “Rooster,” resents Maverick for delaying his career as a fighter pilot by four years. At a major point in Bradley’s training, Maverick decided Bradley wasn’t ready to become a fighter pilot, a decision that was supported by Bradley’s mother, who didn’t want to lose her son like she lost her husband, Goose.

Maverick’s personal issues make for a very emotional story. Also, the mission to destroy the uranium plant appears to be almost impossible. The plant is surrounded by anti-aircraft missile installations with radar, meaning that the American pilots must fly older F-18 fighter jets 100 feet aboveground along a twisty canyon. Also, the American pilots only have two minutes and 30 seconds to destroy the target with four bombs before nearby foreign pilots, who will have newer, swifter jets, start engaging them.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a terrific, powerful, exciting movie. It’s full of high drama and impressive, heart-pounding action scenes. This role was made for Tom Cruise, and he gets great support from Miles Teller as Rooster and Jennifer Connelly as Maverick’s romantic interest, Penny. The other actors playing the pilots and officers are excellent as well. In addition, there’s a poignant scene between Cruise and Val Kilmer as Iceman. MAVERICK also has some funny scenes to relieve the dramatic tension. For instance, in a few scenes, someone says to Maverick, “Don’t give me that look,” and he replies, “It’s the only look I’ve got.” Director Joseph Kosinski takes a well-structured script and does a brilliant job weaving together all its parts to deliver one of the most entertaining movies in recent years.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK has a strong moral, Pro-American, patriotic worldview. The movie celebrates American fighter pilots who risk their lives to serve their country. Maverick clearly is committed to train the pilots under his command well. When his CO at the Top Gun school tells the pilots how dangerous their mission is and that some of them might not come back alive, Maverick objects, saying he wants to do whatever he can to ensure that everyone comes back alive. Maverick must show the pilots, however, that the mission plan will be able to do just that. And, he risks his own life twice to do it.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK also tells a strong redemptive story. Maverick still feels guilty for Goose dying. He thinks Goose’s son, Bradley, blames him for Goose’s death, but Bradley resents Maverick for setting his career back for four years by telling the Navy he wasn’t ready to be a Top Gun fighter pilot. Eventually, their conflict is resolved by sacrifice and forgiveness, which lead to reconciliation.

Most American viewers will respond positively to this movie’s patriotism and make TOP GUN: MAVERICK a big hit. Moviegoers outside the United States probably will respond positively well to the characters and the action, though some patriotic movies don’t do as well overseas as they do in the United States.

That said, TOP GUN: MAVERICK is marred by lots of foul language, including about 45 obscenities, one or two “f” words and three strong profanities. Also, Maverick eventually rekindles his romance with Penny and ends up staying overnight at her place one evening, right before the mission is set to occur. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong caution for adults and extreme caution for teenagers.

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Screen Rant

Tom cruise's maverick story proves how ridiculous the original top gun ending really was.

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Glen Powell’s Amazing 2024 Complicates Top Gun 3 After Maverick's Tom Cruise Replacement Setup

Fox mulder's 10 best quotes from the x-files, jason statham's lowest-rated movie with just 4% on rt has the best cast he's ever worked with.

While 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick improved on Top Gun ’s story, its plot also proved that the original movie’s ending was more than a little ludicrous. Top Gun is a silly movie. From its campy beach volleyball sequence to the decision to keep the nationality of its faceless enemy combatants a mystery, the Navy drama does not ask to be taken seriously. Star Tom Cruise’s breakout movie is a cheesy cult classic, the sort of corny ‘80s movie that is enjoyable precisely because of how silly it is. However, Top Gun: Maverick ’s returning heroes made the original movie darker in retrospect.

Glen Powell's amazing 2024 is great news for the star, but may complicate Top Gun 3's plans for the franchise's future hero after Top Gun: Maverick.

Top Gun ’s ending portrayed Maverick as a victorious hero who won the day and got the girl, but 2022’s long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick complicated this depiction. The movie introduced a downtrodden Maverick who never overcame his distaste for authority, languishing as a test pilot while his old friend Iceman rose through the ranks. Although Top Gun: Maverick ’s ending redeemed Maverick and gave him a chance to forgive himself for Goose’s death, the sequel proved it wasn’t all smooth sailing after the original movie's ending. This made one element of Top Gun ’s sunny optimistic ending particularly ridiculous upon a re-watch.

Top Gun: Maverick Highlights The Big Problem With Top Gun's Ending

The original movie ended with maverick becoming an instructor.

After the events of Top Gun: Maverick, Maverick deciding to become a TOPGUN instructor in Top Gun’ s ending seems bizarrely misguided . When given his choice of assignments, Maverick opts to stay at his school and teach new recruits the ropes. At the time, this looked like just another uplifting part of his story. Not only did Maverick get the girl and end up fire-forged friends with his old rival Iceman, but he also heroically saved the day, got over his guilt around Goose’s death, and became one of the very teachers he spent the preceding movie arguing with and ignoring.

This was all too good to be true, and Top Gun: Maverick made Top Gun ’s ending terrible upon a re-watch as soon as the sequel made it clear that Maverick and Charlie didn’t last. The follow-up doubled down on this sad surprise by revealing that Maverick didn’t make it as a TOPGUN instructor, presumably due to his dangerously unconventional flying and his hair-trigger temper. Although his choice of assignments made his reticence to working as an instructor in Top Gun: Maverick ironic, this detail was also believable. Maverick’s uncertainty underlined how much he had changed since Top Gun .

Why Top Gun: Maverick Was Right To Ignore Maverick's Top Gun Ending

Tom cruise’s character seemed ready to work as an instructor.

It was sad that, over three decades after taking on the role of TOPGUN instructor, Maverick was an insecure teacher in Top Gun: Maverick . However, this just proves that the sequel was right to ignore the original movie’s ending. Top Gun: Maveric k’s story showed that Maverick struggled to teach recruits decades later, meaning he was certainly too young and inexperienced for the job at the end of Top Gun . It is only after Iceman’s Top Gun: Maverick death that he can truly embrace his mentor role, allowing Top Gun: Maverick to give Top Gun ’s hero the ending he always deserved.

Released 36 years after Top Gun , Top Gun: Maverick earned just under $1.5 billion at the box office.

Top Gun: Maverick

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