Top Gun: Maverick
Feel the need... The need for speed.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Production
Budget
$170 000 000
Revenue
$1 488 732 821
Director
Scenario
Justin Marks
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Tom Cruise
Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell
Miles Teller
Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw
Jennifer Connelly
Penny Benjamin
Bashir Salahuddin
Wo-1. Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman
Jon Hamm
Adm. Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson
Charles Parnell
Adm. Solomon 'Warlock' Bates
Monica Barbaro
Lt. Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace
Lewis Pullman
Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd
Short description
Top Gun: Maverick returns to Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, who has spent more than three decades as a Navy aviator and test pilot. He has avoided promotions that would take him out of the cockpit, and after one more act of defiance he is sent back to the Top Gun school. There he must prepare a group of recent graduates for a mission more demanding than anything the current pilots have faced. Among the trainees is Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late friend and radar intercept officer, Goose. The assignment forces Maverick to reckon with his past while turning a group of individual fliers into a team.
The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski, his fourth feature after TRON: Legacy, Oblivion and Only the Brave, and the first of two films he directed in 2022. Tom Cruise stars and produces alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Christopher McQuarrie; the screenplay is by Ehren Kruger, McQuarrie and Eric Warren Singer. Miles Teller plays Rooster, with Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Bashir Salahuddin and Charles Parnell in supporting roles.
Made for about 170 million dollars, the film earned roughly 1.5 billion dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.2 out of 10 from around 850,000 votes, and on TMDB 8.2 from over 11,000. A critics' rating stands at 8.2 from 475 reviews, in line with the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to Miles Teller, the actors had to choose their own call signs. He personally chose the call sign “Rooster” because his father’s character had the call sign “Goose.”
- Cinematographer Claudio Miranda, director Joseph Kosinski, and Tom Cruise worked closely with the Navy. To prepare the actors for filming in the roles of pilots in two F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers, six cameras were installed, and piloted by actual pilots. All equipment that could be removed from the aircraft cockpits was dismantled to install digital '6k Sony Venice' cinema cameras with ultra-lightweight lenses. The cameras needed to be installed so as not to interfere with ejection, powered by their own batteries to avoid draining the aircraft's energy, and able to withstand impacts, vibration, and 7.5 G-forces. The filmmakers were able to capture not only the actors' actions, but also the effect of maneuvering during turns, which was reflected on their faces.
- According to Miles Teller, the actors in the film had to choose their own call signs. He personally chose the call sign “Rooster” because his father, played by Anthony Edwards in Tony Scott’s (1944-2012) “Top Gun” (1986), had the call sign “Goose.”
- The film's release date, originally scheduled for July 12, 2019, was postponed due to the complexity of the visual effects and aerial filming.
- Tony Scott planned to direct this film, but committed suicide the day before his scheduled meeting with Tom Cruise.
- Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell were considered for the role of Bradley Bradshaw, but Powell impressed Cruise, the producer, and studio executives so much that he was cast in another role that was specifically expanded for him.
- Cinematographer Claudio Miranda, director Joseph Kosinski, and Tom Cruise worked closely with the Navy. To prepare the actors for filming in the roles of pilots, six cameras were installed in two F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers, piloted by real pilots. All equipment that could be removed from the cockpits was dismantled to install 6k Sony Venice cameras with ultra-lightweight lenses. The cameras had to be installed so as not to interfere with ejection, and also be able to withstand impacts, vibration, and 7.5 g-forces.
- Admiral Tom Kazansky, played by Val Kilmer, is dying of throat cancer. During filming, Val Kilmer himself had throat cancer and was unable to speak.
- The use of green screens and digital technology was minimized at Tom Cruise’s insistence, and even a close-up of the aircraft’s instrument panel was filmed during flight in a real plane. This is why a significant portion of the actors involved in the film had to undergo training beforehand to act under real G-forces.
- In the scene where Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly's characters sail into windy weather, the actors performed the scene themselves, without stunt doubles.
- Admiral Tom Kazansky, played by Val Kilmer, dies of throat cancer. During filming, Val Kilmer himself had throat cancer, and it had progressed so far that he was even unable to speak. This is why his character prints his lines and orders, and only speaks three lines aloud. Even these lines, however, are voiced by a speech generator programmed to reproduce Kilmer's voice.
- The film features a P-51 Mustang aircraft from World War II, owned by Tom Cruise.
- The beach football scene had to be reshot because Tom Cruise didn't like the first take. According to Glen Powell, Cruise requested a reshoot about a week after filming the first take, so the actors had to work out again.
- Tom Cruise’s involvement in the film was due to the use of real airplanes and flights, rather than computer graphics.
- No one expected the roof of the structure next to Ed Harris’s character to lift off when Maverick’s plane flew by, but that’s exactly what happened, and that take was included in the film. Considering the Darkstar was a mock-up and therefore couldn’t fly, a real plane was used for the flight and filming.
- No one expected the roof of a structure next to Ed Harris’s character to lift off during Maverick’s (played by Tom Cruise) flyby, but it happened, and that take was used in the film. Considering that 'Darkstar' was just a mock-up and therefore couldn’t fly, a real airplane was used for the flight and filming, after which its image was removed from the frame and replaced with the image of 'Darkstar' using digital technology.
- Almost 800 hours of footage were shot. Director Joseph Kosinski suggested in an interview with Empire that they shot as much footage for this one film as Peter Jackson shot in total for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
- Almost 800 hours of footage were shot for the film. Director Joseph Kosinski suggested in an interview with the monthly magazine “Empire” that they shot as much material for this one film as Peter Jackson shot in total for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy films (2001, 2002, and 2003).
- Tom Cruise approached Ridley Scott with the question of whether he would like to direct the film, because the first film in 1986 was directed by Scott's brother, Tony. Ridley Scott once directed Tom Cruise in 'Legend' (1985), but now declined the offer. According to Ridley Scott, action films like this, with a fast-paced plot and constant tension, are not really his forte. After that, he compiled a list for the actor of directors whom he thought might be interested in such a proposal.
- The beach football scene had to be reshot because Tom Cruise didn't like the first take. According to one of the actors, Glen Powell, Cruise demanded a reshoot about a week after filming the first take, so the actors had to get back in shape, as they were playing with bare torsos, as in the first film, and needed to look perfect, since a similar scene from the first film had long become iconic.
- Tom Cruise approached Ridley Scott with the question of whether he would like to direct the film. Ridley Scott refused. According to Ridley Scott, action films of this kind with a fast-paced plot and constant tension are not really his forte. After that, he compiled a list for the actor of directors he thought might be interested in such an offer.
- After intensive training on the ground, the actors, along with professional pilots, began to make flights, each lasting 90 minutes, several times a day, and while in the air, they were to remember to perform all the actions that on the ground during filming are always performed by other members of the film crew (checking lighting and makeup, turning cameras on and off, etc.). This meant that cinematographer Claudio Miranda, who usually uses the sun as the main light source, had to study route maps and weather charts every day in order to properly configure the cameras before takeoff.
- According to Miles Teller, three out of six of the new actors were vomiting every day during the filming of the flight scenes.
- Miles Teller was cast as 'Hangman', with Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell also vying for the role. All three were sent to Tom Cruise’s home, the lead actor, to determine who would be the best on-screen partner for Cruise. Ultimately, Powell was given another role in the film – he had impressed Cruise, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and staff at 'Paramount Pictures' and 'Skydance' so much.
- The actors playing the pilots had to film themselves, turning the camera on and off, paying attention to their own makeup, setting up the lighting, and remembering the sound. Sometimes the director had to sit for hours at the edge of the runway waiting for the actors to return with the footage. The footage was reviewed, comments were made, and the actors had to go back and reshoot the scene.
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2019
8.4/10
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