1986’s Top Gun
Over 36 years ago, the original Top Gun film hit theaters and stole the hearts of movie lovers worldwide. Inspired by a California magazine article entitled Top Guns that published three years earlier, the film stars Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Tom Skerritt!
Cruise took on the top role of Lieutenant Pete Maverick Mitchell, a young naval aviator who was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. After he and his Radar Intercept Officer LTJG Nick Bradshaw are given a chance to train at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, their lives are turned upside down with high-speed missions that have life and death hanging on the line.
The original film was an enormous success, and it grossed over $356 million worldwide against an original budget of $15 million! The soundtrack to the film is also one of the most popular movie soundtracks ever, being one of the rare few to have reached the 9x Platinum Certification.
Top Gun was so popular that it has also been selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry, meaning that it was found to be either culturally, historically or aesthetically significant—adding even more hype to the sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick
Despite his talents in the cockpit, Pete Mitchell managed to avoid advancement in rank even after 30 years of service. When his lack of advancement means he gets put in charge of training a group of Top Gun graduates, he’s forced to confront the parts of his past that he’s been trying to ignore—and it’s no coincidence that among the class is Bradley Bradshaw, the son of his now deceased friend Nick.
With Cruise reprising his role, Miles Teller playing Bradley Bradshaw and with Jennifer Connelly playing Maverick’s love interest, Top Gun: Maverick promises to be just as thrilling as the first film—especially if seen in D-BOX!
Though the film is yet to hit theaters, there’s more than just the long buildup that makes this release so exciting!
Lady Gaga wrote the theme song
After winning an Oscar for her work on the soundtrack of the film A Star is Born, Lady Gaga is back to composing for movies and is the one to have written the theme song for Top Gun: Maverick!
In a post on her Instagram account, Lady Gaga confirmed that her new single Hold My Hand will serve as the theme of the movie, and that it has been in the works for a very long time—calling it a “love letter to the world during and after a very hard time.”
Tom Cruise potentially flies his own plane
Not only does Cruise play the role of a pilot, but he’s actually held a pilot’s license since early in 1994!
While he’s rumoured to own 3-5 personal planes, his favourite is said to be his P-51 Mustang, which is a single seat fighter plane with origins going back to World War II.
According to IMDB—when he flies a P-51 in the film, it’s rumoured to be his actual personal plane!
Limited to no CGI in Top Gun: Maverick
Since you evidently cannot have a Top Gun movie without Cruise, production takes the time to listen to the star’s requests—and he reportedly insisted that he would not participate in the sequel if there were plans to have the entire fleet of planes be computer-generated!
This means that the vast majority of the planes seen on-screen are real aircraft flown for aerial sequences, and that a lot of the cast had to undergo extensive g-force training to be able to withstand the very physical demands of flight!
Top Gun: Maverick is a movie sure to match the hype
With an Oscar winner behind the theme song, no CGI for the main flight sequences, Cruise potentially flying his own plane and with this all coming 36 years after the original movie, there’s no doubt that Top Gun: Maverick is going to be one of the biggest and most successful films of the year!
As of today, the movie is estimated to gross anywhere from $95 to $135 million in its opening weekend alone.
To really take this long-awaited movie to the next level, be sure to see it in D-BOX—you’ll feel as if you’re the pilot undergoing dangerous missions and training the latest graduates.
