Top Gun: Maverick is the latest film from Hollywood’s first true superstar, Tom Cruise. The movie was supposed to release in 2019, but the pandemic had other plans for the movie.
Recently, I caught a show of Top Gun: Maverick on the Star Cineplex, and this is why you should watch Top Gun: Maverick on the biggest screen you can find around you.
Before talking about Top Gun: Maverick, let’s first discuss how Top Gun, the original film of 1986, was quintessential in shaping an entire generation of marines and navy pilots.
Top Gun was released on May 16, 1986. Initially, the film received mixed reviews from film critics as it was a completely different film from the other films that came out in 1986, including the likes Aliens, Blue Velvet, and Pretty in Pink. The Karate Kid Part II and Ferris Bueler’s Day Off.
Despite being vastly different than other films and initial mixed critical reaction, the film was a huge commercial hit, grossing $357 million against a production budget of $15 million. In fact, Top Gun was 1986’s biggest hit!
Top Gun: Maverick – A sequel that was 36 years in the making
Top Gun: Maverick came out 36 years later after the first film. Many were skeptical about how it would connect to a newer audience and how people would receive a sequel of a highly inspirational film that came out 3 decades ago.
The release for Maverick was pushed back several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon asking him about streaming, he said – “That was not going to happen ever,” Cruise said. “That was never going to happen.” And rightly so. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed non-comicbook movies like this for a long time. Thanks to Tom Cruise and Top Gun – I got the feeling back after a long time!
Soaring High with Top Gun: Maverick
Boy, I was wrong! Top Gun: Maverick just crossed $800M worldwide, collecting an enormous $800M worldwide with great reviews from critics and audiences alike. Crossing that milestone, the movie ranks as the highest-grossing film in Tom Cruise’s career. The movie has even grossed more than Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.
The most memorable part of Top Gun: Maverick is the scenes of flying planes. As you probably know – every plane scene, dogfight, and tactical maneuvers of the pilots. Tom Cruise has shot his stunts himself, like always. They shot about 800+ hours of footage, the same as 3 Lord of the Rings movie footage.
This movie’s best part is easily putting practical effects to the forefront with visceral analog action over the usual numbing of CG fakery. A choice that saw having the actors in the airborne cockpits during shooting.
However, the movie itself tells a compelling story. It makes you nostalgic about the past movie but doesn’t overdo it. It takes just the essential parts to get the story going. Mike Teller as Goose’s son, “Rooster,” is a very well-written character. Jennifer Connelly, as his love interest, was also excellently portrayed.
If you were wondering why there’s no “Take my breath away” of Berlin in Top Gun: Maverick like me — the director gave a plausible answer —
Take My Breath Away is an incredible song, but it’s really connected with that relationship (between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis), you know? So for Maverick and Penny, we needed something new. Lady Gaga wrote this song for us that, as you said, from the first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Well, this is just a classic song. It’s got a great melody.’ And when Hans Zimmer heard it, he was like, ‘I can build the love theme of the movie off this.’ That’s why you see Lady Gaga has a credit with Hans and Harold (Faltermeyer) at the beginning, because that song became the melody for the love theme used orchestrally throughout the film.
I loved his explanation. The movie’s third act is incredible, with a splendid background score from Hans Zimmer that keeps you wondering what will happen next.
I think Top Gun: Maverick is an incredible feat with practical effects, a fantastic story, a well-written script, and, best of all – an incredible screenplay! You don’t have to worry about spoiling the movie and can say, “It’s a movie like the last one,” yet it packs a magnificent punch with background score, script, screenplay, action, cast choice, and overall direction!
Tom Cruise: Hollywood’s last real movie star
While the CGI business has improved significantly in the last decade, showing us nothing is impossible – it also makes things somewhat boring. For example, if the plane scenes were shot in CGI – you would have never caught the “errors” that one’s face makes when you are in high altitude.
Tom Cruise’s commitment to practical effects has made him a franchise himself. When you go into a Tom Cruise movie, you know you expect real stuff – as real as it gets, and you expect Tom to do them. And he does it every fu#!ing time! He delivers!
The absolute obsession about making things as authentic as possible is what makes Tom Cruise, in fact, Tom Cruise – Hollywood’s one of the dying breeds of true superstars.
And if you haven’t watched Top Gun: Maverick at the cinema yet – go and watch it. Once this movie is out of its run from theaters – you might never be able to feel magic the movie was able to create.
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