Top Gun: Maverick

Having now seen “Top Gun: Maverick” three times it is obvious why it has earned over $1B and counting; it is a great movie and easily superior to the 1986 original “Top Gun”. From the opening scenes showing the precision moves of the crew launching F-18 Super Hornets from a carrier deck set to the familiar Harold Faltermeyer anthem, to the closing credits, this sequel hits all the right notes. It is sentimental, it is patriotic, it is inspiring, it is exciting, and it has Tom Cruise along with the loads of charisma he brings to the screen. The cinematography and flying sequences are like nothing audiences have ever seen and they are spectacular. The actors were really in those jets and pulling G’s; Cruise demanded to have as little CGI footage as possible. What is CGI are the experimental ‘Darkstar’ aircraft in the beginning of the story and the F-14 Tomcat at the end as well as the missiles and gunfire; regardless it is all superbly done and looks pretty authentic. Other than Cruise, the only returning cast member from the original ‘TG’ was the ailing Val Kilmer as ‘Iceman’ which was a nice touch. New characters include Jennifer Connelly playing Maverick’s love interest Penny Benjamin who is mentioned in the last film but never seen. Jon Hamm as Admiral Beau ‘Cyclone’ Simpson is ‘Maverick’s’ nemesis in the story. Miles Teller as ‘Goose’s’ son, Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw, bears a strong resemblance to Anthony Edwards (‘Goose’ in “TG”) and does a fine job as the pilot with a chip on his shoulder. Sure, some of the plot is pretty derivative such as the special mission taking out the uranium enrichment facility in an undefined ‘rogue state’ being lifted from the Rebel alliance takedown of the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie circa 1977. Also the surprise escape from enemy territory is very reminiscent of the 1982 Clint Eastwood film “Firefox”. Ultimately, who cares? The writers make it work and that’s all that matters to the viewer. Personally, I could have lived without the beach football scene but I get how it’s supposed to be a team building exercise; it was just too much like the infamous beach volleyball game in the original. I also question CAPT Mitchell’s career longevity; I don’t know about the Navy, but in the Air Force if you make it to O-6 you can serve 30 years then you have to retire. If you have prior enlisted time it doesn’t count against your commissioned service so you could go over 30 but ‘Maverick’ wasn’t enlisted so he should be retired by now. Also, what’s the deal with ‘Hondo’? Do USN O-6’s get their own personal Warrant Officer to follow them around on their assignments and TDY’s ? It is amusing to read some of the 1 & 2-star reviews posted here; one person complains that there’s not enough flying in the movie which is ridiculous considering over half (probably closer to 2/3) of the film takes place in the air. Then there are those who don’t think the flying was realistic enough despite most of it being filmed in actual F-18’s flown by Navy pilots. Another guy didn’t like the way the closing sequences featuring ‘Maverick’ giving Penny a ride in his WW2 P-51 Mustang fighter were shot which is crazy because both the plane and the scenery are beautiful. One reviewer’s gripe is that there wasn’t enough character development for Penny’s daughter Amelia…uh, dude the name of the movie is “Top Gun: Maverick” and not “Top Gun: Amelia” so the supporting characters back stories are going to be light. There are a few military ‘haters’ who give it 1-star dismissing it as nothing more than a recruiting tool and Pentagon propaganda and of course people who dislike Tom Cruise who weren’t going to enjoy the movie anyway. Bottom line; I loved “Top Gun: Maverick” and my retired Air Force wife who has a little F-16 time riding in the back loved it too. “TG:M” was worth the wait and I hope Hollywood resists the temptation to try and make another sequel and lets ‘Maverick’ fly off into the sunset once and for all.

Like many others, I eagerly awaited auditioning this film on my home theater system. As anticipated, the disc certainly demonstrates that image and sound quality at home can rival or exceed that obtainable in a standard theatre, or even one with more advanced imaging and sound systems. Having some hearing impairment, I now find it preferable to view films at home, where I can engage the subtitle system. This sequel to the original “Top Gun” is a technical triumph, with a groundbreaking array of high resolution cameras placed in a jet plane to allow the actors to be photographed while undergoing rather strenuous aerobatic maneuvers. Mr. Cruise, in producing this film, insisted that no computer graphics could replicate such footage, and he was right. The actors are to be complimented for their willingness to undergo such demanding activities! I do presume there was plenty of computer graphics employed to provide the scenes of the jets in the climactic escape sequence following the bombing of the nuclear reactor, and if true, it was certainly of comparable image quality to make its visibility rather difficult to distinguish from the “real” scenes. The storyline is simple, particularly if you are familiar with the first film. I understand Mr. Cruise’s apparent intention to avoid excessive profanity, and the very limited employment of explicitness in the love scene with Ms. Connelly made it possible to achieve a film rating allowing a general audience not to be offended. The massive success of this movie at the box office might make such content decisions more popular in the future. In summary, if one wants to have a demonstration disc for extraordinary aerial photography, this presentation fits the bill for sure, and more than overcomes its shortcomings as an in-depth character study.

In an era of horrible sequels--I'm looking at you, Star Wars franchise--it was refreshing to watch something that honored the original story and characters. I found a lot to like about TopGun Maverick. I like the way the characters were handled. Their stories, motivations, and emotions were honored. I like how the different relationships between Maverick and other characters (Iceman, Penny, Rooster...) were handled. The Pete/Penny arc seems like a mature relationship (despite him jumping out the window at one point), not just love story filler. (Yay!) The flying sequences were, of course, amazing. I liked that their unnamed adversary included accomplished pilots who were a legitimate threat, but they weren't portrayed as inherently evil. Shooting down other planes was necessary for survival, but the respect for their adversaries was obvious and seeing a(n) (enemy) pilot eject to safety was pretty cool. As an aside, I did watch a review done by actual fighter pilots. They had pretty strong opinions about the mission itself as well as why certain pilots would not have been selected to go.....but they liked the movie anyway....and so did I.

En definitiva es una película que vale la pena ver aunque no sean fan de los aviones o de la cuestión militar en general cuenta con una historia fácil de digerir y de esas películas donde no se usa tanto la famosa pantalla verde .No tengo nada en contra de la pantalla verde.Pero hay muchos películas con pantalla verde que veo y son buenas lo que quiero decir con pocas palabras que esta película tiene de todo y es bastante buena valió la pena de haberla esperado 30 años .En el apartado sonoro es fenomenal yo compré la película 4K pero desgraciadamente no incluye un Blu-ray convencional así que yo recomiendo si no quieren gastar mucho dinero compren la versión Blu-ray convencional no quiero decir que la versión 4K no es buena es muy buena pero por el costo del 4K nos podemos ahorrar unos cuantos dólares o pesos y nos llevamos un increíble producto

Me gusto la película, no es precisamente del estilo de la primera, es bastante entretenida, pero se me hace excesivo el precio casi mil pesos mexicanos

Súper iper excelente lo maximo Te va encantar

excellent movie and fast service getting it to me.

Excelente compra para una película excelente!!!!!!