In just over six months’ time, we will be treated to a film some 34 years in the making. Can you believe that it has been 34 years since Tom Cruise first stepped into the Danger Zone in the original Top Gun? Top Gun: Maverick has now completed principal photography and is now in post-production getting ready for its summer 2020 release. This week, we’ve already been treated to a new poster, trailer and awesome behind the scenes featurette, so we thought we’d put together a feature looking at 5 specific things that are getting us excited about the high octane sequel.
Tom Cruise – back in the fighter jet
The first one is an obvious one – we get to see Tom Cruise ‘back in the saddle’ of his fighter-jet hot seat. When I saw the new trailer this week, and although we were treated to an initial teaser a few months ago, I was getting shivers up my spine seeing the big man back in action as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. I grew up on the action flicks of the 1980s and specifically the output of Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson during this period and leading into the early nineties with the likes of Bad Boys, The Rock, and Con Air, three movies that Top Gun provided the template for.
Top Gun and ’80s fever is back!
Nostalgia is a massive draw in terms of box-office with not just the movie industry wanting a piece of the action. Everything from video games and mobile apps, to books, toys and online slots cashing in – there are even free spins no deposit casinos out there using not just the Top Gun name, but other brands reminding you of perhaps the greatest ever decade of the 20th century. Nostalgia is a big trend in Hollywood with films like Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Bill & Ted Face The Music – two movies based on ’80s properties – also due for release in the summer of 2020. We’re absolutely fine with that continuing – just as long as the studios hand over something worthy of the originals and don’t just cash in on the names of our beloved titles from our childhood. From what we’ve seen of Top Gun: Maverick so far, it doesn’t look like we have to worry as the filmmakers clearly have the audience as their number one priority.
Real stunts – real action
One of the key takeaways from the footage we’ve seen so far, and from the jaw-dropping behind the scenes featurette posted earlier this week, is the mind-blowing stunts that the cast and crew are putting together. Tom Cruise is known for doing his own stunts, and it looks like he’s been doing the same here. In the two minute long feature you can see just how close the planes are flying to the ground and up against one another. The cameras on the ground literally shake as a fighter jet flies just feet above them. Then there are the FIVE IMAX cameras fitted in the cockpit with Cruise to capture his reactions as he flies.
Maverick goes stealth?
One of the final shots in the most recent trailer sees Maverick seemingly flying an actual stealth jet, a huge upgrade from the F-14 Tomcat he pilots in the original Top Gun. Obviously, at this stage, we don’t know how this fits into the plot of the film, but wow, what an image to leave us with at the end of the first promo.
The talent in front and behind the camera
One of the biggest things we’re excited about with Top Gun: Maverick is the talent involved with putting the film together. Not only do we have Jerry Bruckheimer back producing (Don Simpson sadly passed away back in the 1990s), but we have the very gifted filmmaker Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) directing, and a screenwriting team consisting of Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie penning the script. Kruger is behind the likes of the recent Dumbo, three of the five Transformers movies, the Ghost In The Shell Hollywood remake, and personal guilty pleasure, Reindeer Games. Eric Warren Singer has credits that include American Hustle and Only The Brave, while McQuarrie is most recently known for the last two Mission: Impossible movies and the first Jack Reacher, all starring Cruise.
In front of the camera are the likes of Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris and Miles Teller who will be playing the role of Bradley Bradshaw, son of Maverick’s late co-pilot Goose.
We’re sure you’ll agree that Top Gun: Maverick is set to be one of the films of 2020. Will many months between now and release, we’re sure that there will be more promotional material shared in the run-up. We’ll bring you it all on these pages.
