Top Gun Maverick review thread with SPOILERS *DANGERZONE*

[Jake899]

Well there are 38 pages of people commenting on this film very kindly without spoiling anything for other people. But it's been out a few days now, a lot of people have seen it, so perhaps it's time to make a separate thread where we can really tear into it.
I honestly think it is the most I have enjoyed a film in many years, fantastic considering the hopes I had before hand.
It was a lesson in how to make a sequel, huge nods to the first film but not so much it felt like a remake. A different plot, and as promised, a real love letter to aviation. TGM really showed there is still value in cinema.
Ok here we go:
One theme I think it dealt with really well was the feeling of aging and seeing a younger generation come up. I think it portrayed those feelings really well, especially when Mav hears Rooster playing the piano. The strange friendship that springs from rivalry, a beautiful touch that Ice has been looking after Mav all these years.
The amusing but ridiculous trait of Mav just doing whatever the heck he wants and authority accepting and rewarding him.
The idea you could bail out at ten times the speed of sound without getting atomised is stupid but the resulting diner scene was great. Cool to see the LM Skunk Works branding, they obviously got behind the film. Some basic satisfaction from the hypersonic scramjet engines.
Amusing to see the F35 being ruled out because of, what was it? GPS denial? Is it that easy to counter Americas biggest defence purchase in history?
The whole premise of the mission is nonsense but results in such incredible footage that I really don't care. I'm sure a Predator drone could have done the job from a high altitude out of the range of the SAMs, or there's always a MOAB from a B2 option. Come to think of it, how did a job like this get handed to the Navy anyways?
The Mav/Rooster shoot down scene was great, especially when Mav pushes Rooster over and starts yelling at him. Mi-24s are really scary looking aren't they?
Best bit of the film for me is the Tomcat scenes; just nostalgia at its finest, with a little flyby of the tower too. Plenty of plot holes, but ZERO complaints. I am so grateful this film was made.

[Jake899]

Yeah the F-35 would have negated the "team" ethos of the backseater, and there's no way to film it, and really the footage of the actors in the jets is what makes the movie.
I actually didn't mind the stealing the Tomcat scene, for me the F-14 is as much a star as Kilmer or Cruise so it was great to see it reappear. And as they are still flying in Iran, it's not such such such a stretch.
I have often used the "just walk calmly and look like you belong" approach in life and it generally works for me when I'm doing naughty things like skateboarding somewhere I shouldn't so I think the sight of two pilots running for their aircraft after a raid wouldn't actually attract too much attention.
It's a crime there isn't a more complete Tomcat available for taxiing/flying but it is the fact that Iran still have them that has necessitated grounding and decommissioning the American fleet. Parts for Tomcats are being aggressively hunted by Iran via shell companies. Actually the fact that they have kept the old Cats flying and indeed upgraded them is worth a thread on its own. Then the 5th gen (surely Su-57s) fighters interception scene was really cool, blowing the lead plane away before turning into the wingman. Despite the Top Gun movies, the F-14 was never a dogfighter really, being far too large and designed to rely on the long range Phoenix missiles to make a kill beyond visual range and well away from the fleet.
The cockpit really does look old fashioned now though with that tube radar screen and hundreds of relays and fuses. Loved the analogue rounds counter on the gun too. Nice touch.

[Jake899]

Radec said:

I said this on the other thread as well after seeing it, this film has a lot of things that you could pick at if you want to.

However what it does brilliantly is make you say fk it, don't overthink it and switch off your brain and enjoy the ride.

Like all those brilliant films from the 80's it recaptures that same feeling where most of the film you are just excited to see what happens next.
The throwbacks may be a bit OTT but it doesn't matter, it ties itself to the first film yet can still stand on its own.

I think it might actually be better than the original.

As soon as that first bell toll kicks in at the start you're already smiling.

I'm no expert on the navy or the types of planes/weapons or tactics used or even if what they did was possible but it doesn't even matter.

What this film is, is an epic blockbuster, a proper 80's type film in the modern day and needs to be seen on the biggest screen with the best sound system at least once if you can. Very rare in today's age.

yeah not everything can be done on Netflix, there's life in the old cinema yet. Totally agree at grinning like a loon as soon as the "golden hour" intro comes in... love it. Im still buzzing five days later.

[Jake899]

2fast748 said:

The US military has a long, rich history of effectively sponsoring Hollywood output to get it's message across.

I would say every applicant for US naval aviation in the last 35 years has seen the original and thought "yep I'll have a piece of that please"

...and also probably quite a significant proportion of international military aviation worldwide too.

Going along with the original movie was probably the best recruitment decision the USN have ever made.

[Jake899]

Scabutz said:

Apparently Viper was filmed in the Iceman funeral but didn't make the final cut. Don't understand why you'd bother getting him there to film and then not use it.

No jester either, I think Michael Ironside and Jerry Bruckheimer don't get along

Woohoo, Jester's dead.

[Jake899]

jimmyjimjim said:

I enjoyed this enormously. However, it is in many ways predictable (though this isn't a bad thing!). Having not watched the later trailers, and avoiding all reviews, I had no idea of the plot. But. The moment they said 'they even have some old F-14s', I immediately thought:

"Right, so that's the mission roster decided then; Maverick and Rooster in the single-seaters, so Maverick can get shot down, protecting Rooster. Then Rooster will get shot down trying to save him, and they'll steal an F-14 to escape. Maverick will get two kills at some point to make ace".

Equally, the Mi24 shootdown and the final Su-57 shootdown were the same scene, just different pilots, complete with orders not to engage just before they ignore and get stuck in regardless.

But who cares, I loved it

As many above have said, it's very easy to find faults in the film, but what's great is how few people want to. Things get so ravaged online, it's so nice to see so many people choosing to just go with it and enjoy the movie for what it is. In reality the mission would not be flown like that, and I see no reason why such a mission would even be given to the Navy, isn't there a separate branch of the military who just fly planes who could take care of this? An Air Force if you will?

Also the lack of fleshing out the characters, etc, if you think about what the scriptwriters were given, they have blended everything into the time available very well. Having done a bit of script and editing work, it's very hard to do effectively. Having such a strong link to the original must have made so many headaches and discussions about how much of a link to the original was appropriate.
The film needs to update the audience with the Maverick character, where he is now, what he's been doing, but it also needs to introduce the character to potentially (as if) an audience who may not have seen the original. Then it needs to introduce the actual plot for the new film, the new mission, get you invested in the characters, create the threat, overcome the threat, tie a bow on it, all the while satisfying those who want throwbacks to TG and those who want something fresh. It's a lot to fit in, and a very fine line to walk.
Really, for all it's flaws, I can't think of a better way to do it, a scene that I should have added or a scene that should have been removed and still made the run time. All the compromises that are naturally made making a film were spot on.

The themes I saw that no one has mentioned yet were quite a tender touch on the realities of aging, Hangman calling Mav "Pops" and "oldtimer" Tom getting his shirt back on asap after the beach Hand Egg game, the much softer above the neck bedroom scenes, as ridiculously youthful as 60 year old Tom Cruise is, it didn't shy away from him aging and needing to grow up and accept that he is gonna have to make some changes and settle down a little, albeit 30 years after most of us reach the same conclusions.

Another theme was that it was a actually laid out a lot like a sports movie. The camaraderie, the rivalry, the training, the gelling as a team, the common goal achieved by people playing their separate roles, the anonymous bad guys, the final victory and the celebration.

The flying sequences are almost incidental, in that most of us would have been happy if the cut had gone: Carrier golden hour intro>Let's see what you got>final mission. That on its own would be a great movie and would run for over an hour. All the plot and story just hangs around that.

Such a wonderful film i'm close to watching it for the third time this weekend.

[Jake899]

TorqueVR said:

Or when she's in bed with Maverick her daughter presumably didn't notice Maverick's motorbike parked outside the front door!

I can confirm from experience that most people don't pay attention to what's parked around their house. We do, because we are car people. Our girlfriends mums' or in this weird case, daughters, not so much.