These are fun off the cuff discussions on movies and streaming series, both new and old together will attempt to bridge the gap between Hollywood industry insider and the casual viewer. This is Alec and I’m Ben and you're listening to the Cinema, A to B podcast. Welcome, everybody. It's Cinema A to B podcasts. I'm Alec I’m Ben and we're here to talk about movies like we always do, and you get to listen in, which is fantastic.
So today's is going to be Top Gun Maverick, the 2022 film sequel of Top Gun. And so we start off, Ben, thoughts. What a what a fun movie. I mean, really, what a fun movie. This was a date night movie. And I think I think Gwen really enjoyed it along with me. And we saw it on the biggest screen we could, which was this was another one of those those movies that that I think I would would have recommended that somebody have caught on a really, really big screen and loud sound and just a fun ride.
Like I'm impressed that they were able to deliver kind of on the hype, the hype train expectation of doing a sequel to a movie this old. Mm hmm. Pretty, pretty gutsy. And it's kind of odd to me that we've we seem to be getting good sequels on the handful of times they decide to do this because the other one was like Blade Runner 2049, which just came out of nowhere that nobody saw.
Sadly, really hardly anybody watched it. But really, really good sequel to a movie that, you know, that has a cult following. Obviously, Top Gun is like the mainstream movie of the eighties. I mean, this was my favorite movie growing up until I think I was like nine or ten whenever whenever the original 89 Batman came out or Yeah, that I made my parents drive me to, you know, relentlessly.
But Top Gun was it like I saw Top Gun when I was like, I don't know, five and what's not to like frickin F-14 fighter jets. So for them to come up with a sequel that was this entertaining, they did they picked the right ways to push push the envelope with with how they shot it and best the original in that way. I don't know that they bested the original with the story idea. I think, in fact, I'm going to probably rile some people up. I think the original is the better movie.
There are people who think Maverick is the better movie. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure. I'm sure Have comments. Yeah, No, I'm sure we'll have comments. You're on YouTube on the the Mavericks the better film and they'll say things like, well, was Top Gun nominated for best picture? No. Was Maverick. Yeah. But I think there's a good reason for that.
I mean, I think the fact that the theater industry is struggling and Hollywood knows this and they know they need to nominate, that's why it's why Avatar Way of Water got an Academy Award nomination for best picture is is they want people to tune in to the Oscars. Yeah. And have some movies nominated that they've actually seen. If Top Gun Maverick wins, I'm going to be. No, no, you won't. But. Okay, it won't. But I enjoyed it. Like it was fun. I didn't get to see it in theater.
I saw it on the 65 inch we have, you know, But we watched it right? I mean, so I didn't get the same aspect that you did, like the same atmosphere, so that some of that could have been with it. But it's it's basically the same story. Like for the most part, it's the same story just with slightly different characters, you know, because Rooster is not the best fighter pilot. He's got to get over some stuff, but then he becomes the pilot, much like Maverick. Oh, you know, so like, not
again. It was enjoyable to watch. It was solid like, I mean, you know, but there were definitely flaws in it. So, I mean, I like they call back with Jennifer Connelly's character being the the admiral's daughter that he slept with or whatever idea. Yeah. I mean, that was wrong. I'll take Jennifer Connelly in any movie ever. Like, just throw her any. Yeah, I'm happy. But I think she's fantastic. I mean, I think she's a great, you know, actor.
I think she just knows how to work a camera as well and kind of keep the focus on her. But especially when you're playing opposite Tom Cruise, who I think is probably one of the most brilliant film stars of all time, of just being able how to control people, looking at the camera. I mean, he's still doing this kind of stuff as old as he is now and still doing it well. So, you know, and you could tell you could tell Cruise was having a lot of fun with it, too, with the role.
But he was genuine and he he always seems to be enjoying himself. And the guy's name a more passionate person in Hollywood than Tom Cruise. I can't go. I can't. I can't I it oozes from him. And it and it comes through on screen. And so clearly, he's having a good time. I mean, my favorite I want to first ask you, like, do you have a favorite, like scene or moment in the movie? I think it's probably the bar scene when he's watching all of the new recruits in the bar at the beginning.
So when he goes like like he doesn't know any of them, they're all coming to Top Gun. He's kind of Top Gun. They don't know it and kind of I just enjoy that kind of him viewing them and starting to already kind of judge them or place them in boxes and that kind of thing. And then obviously Rooster comes in second would be all of the great plane shots. I mean, it's obviously those are fantastic is for the most part outside of the the changing of the plane. Those are real life shots.
You know, they just digitally changed a plane because, you know, you don't have F-14 Tomcats anymore like you had. You know, those, what, retired like almost 20 years ago. So, you know, you don't have those liners. We had to digitally bring those in, but it was it's definitely a marvel of what you can do still with practical effects or with actually just filming it and doing it and stuff.
So, yeah, though it did get there is a big article that dropped probably a month ago revealing that, oh, by the way, there are 2000 visual effects shots in Top Gun maverick but and they didn't but and part of the marketing was they didn't want people to think that the thing had been manipulated that much digitally.
They wanted there was a whole narrative in the kind of the behind the scenes press that ran in the lead up as part of the marketing campaign of how they were acquiring all this in in-camera with these IMAX approved digital cameras placed in the cockpit, which is true, But there's a lot of compositing work. I mean, there's a lot of shot splicing that's invisible. And that's actually it's my favorite kind of visual effects is is real high and compositing work where you you can't tell.
Yeah. And but I guess the visual effects team really I mean they get credited in in the film but they weren't allowed to market none of their visual effects houses were allowed to market what they had done on it because Paramount was like part of our marketing campaign is that we, we just put cameras in aircraft and then edit it together. And that's that's the final result. It's let pissed a lot of people off in the visual effects community which I completely understand.
But now if you have like a comedy like Ticket to Paradise, the George Clooney one that's got 2000 via, you know. Oh yeah.
And it was well probably it's dead last but okay I'm again going you know everything's been touched up for sure and stuff that you would never notice but yeah this one was was a lot heavier a work load than I think people realized and but that's great and I love that the final picture like I can't tell I knew watching the 14 and then those like what fifth or sixth gen I don't know you're supposed to I don't if you're supposed to tell what country they were or if it was Russia
or China or whatever it was, it was mostly it was Russia. Yeah. Even though the only the only country that has the fly Zia, 14, is is Iran. So it's like, did it get shot down in Iran? And then that didn't make sense but and this was would be pretty sweet last economy so this would be pretty spoilery. Yeah sorry. Yeah well and apparently Iran's got like some of the best surface to air missile technology I've ever seen on the Russian.
Like, can we, you know, Iran. But what I can't get past is that and sorry yeah this will be kind of a spoiler heavy episode. It's just fine. We said that we make the rules and this is the rules too. But basically this the third act was well, no, not the third act, but lead up to can we acknowledge that Tom Cruise and the rest of them were just doing the original Star Wars trench run. So, in fact, the on magic because they're like, it's what, three meters wide.
Yeah. Is what the Yeah that the target but even even the writers made the target they here is the same with as the the exhaust port the thermal exhaust port was I think two meters then two meters maybe. Yeah. Maybe they made it. I don't remember when I used to. Bullseye definitely was my back home. Yeah. Sorry. I don't. Well yeah, I mean I was very disappointed to not see a womp rat in frame when they were flying through the canyons. But yeah, I was like, oh, this is. This is great. This is.
This is Star Wars with F-18s. This is tremendous. But no, it's it's it's a marvel. It's a marvel of like in camera.
And I really I really feel like that they they should they owe a lot of credit to that to Dunkirk for seeing what you could get if you had more IMAX cameras on on Spitfires, because it reminded me a lot of I felt like a lot of the filming techniques, it looked like they had taken a lot of the things that were learned on Dunkirk and and then did it with more cameras on faster aircraft. But yeah, it's a blast. It's an absolute blast. It's not going to I mean, again, I enjoyed it.
It's not a fair picture of 22. It's I'll tell you, I'll watch Top Gun again before I watch Top Gun Maverick again, because I there's again, I feel like it's very derivative of the first one, pretty much just almost the same movie with just a different character. It's slightly different characters and, you know, other things going on.
So, I mean, even jokes about the hard deck and do you know Gumball The hard deck, you know, it doesn't kind of your build the hard deck like I'm like, really like we've already done this. Yeah, I it's like in awakens it's like, yeah, let's do the movie. Just with the new technology we have, it's very you're right. And that's a really good reference. It is very similar to The Force Awakens, but I enjoyed The Force Awakens. I did too.
I think I appreciate that Top Gun Maverick knows what it is like. It didn't feel like it tried to be anything it wasn't. And frankly, the original movie doesn't have a plot that's like a mile deep. But it's but I, I do find the emotional beats in the original movie more compelling, like I do the you know, the reality, though, is the original movie, the first half, the four Goose Dies is a really sporty, testosterone fueled, like romp. Hmm. And then he dies.
And it's a very different movie from that point on. And so Top Gun Maverick couldn't be what the first half of Top Gun was as far as the mood and the tone. Like, they couldn't do it. They couldn't get away with it. It had to have it had to acknowledge, like some of the more somber elements of what had taken place.
And so it kind of I thought they rode that line well, that it kind of sits in the middle tonally of like the beginning, the first half and the second half of of the original, because you get my favorite scenes when the first day that he trains them, he's just frickin smoking them. Yeah. And the soundtrack's blaring and, you know, he's just cutting up between them. I was just I had a big grin on my face during that whole scene. You know, where he's where we're. Cruz is talking to himself.
Okay, Maverick, let's try not to kill anybody the first day or or lose your job or whatever. And the interplay between him and Jon Hamm was pretty funny. Yeah. When they're just like they just look down on him because he's not, you know, he's just purposely not trying to make rank. So that but that was the more interesting stuff because you're right, the rest of it is just like Roosters. Rooster might be the son of goose, but he's basically following the path of Maverick.
Yeah, I mean, and I like Miles Teller. Like, I think he did a great job in the role, I think, and he definitely is believable as Goose's son, like 100% Like I was like, Dun. Yeah, he's. But Miles Teller is capable so much more than what that role offered. Yeah, but I don't think it's you take a Yeah but I think they asked for that. I don't think they like pushed him to do that.
I think they got exactly what they wanted so and he was smart for taking it because you know when Tom Cruise comes calling and offers you a role, you say yes. Every time you say yes. There's another thing with Cruise is the guy just doesn't make terrible movies. No, he doesn't. It blows my mind. Even a movie that was kind of wasn't ridiculed, but a movie that people were like, I wasn't that great. Which was what with the one with Morgan Freeman, the sci fi picture Oblivion
movie. I really enjoyed it. So did I. But it didn't. Not everybody liked it. But like, you can't point to these stinkers that Tom Cruise makes. He just doesn't mess with them. He doesn't even touch stuff like that. Like, I don't know, he's still taking he still takes risks, but he's very particular with what he's going to attach himself to. So, yeah, Yeah. And you and, you know, they'd been wanting to make a sequel to Top Gun forever. Definitely like forever.
And so but he I don't think the script was ever right. And then, and then Tony Scott dies and once he looked like it was it looked like it would never happen. I mean, and I thought they did a good job of kind of honoring his visual style quite a bit. So, yeah, it was it's a blast. So I'll watch it again. I want you again. Yeah, I haven't seen it a second time, but I just have to get in the mood to, to watch that stuff. But yeah, it's Hollywood.
You should just let Tom Cruise keep making this stuff because that's the movies he opts to make. Or what? Get butts in seats. Him and him and James Cameron can run the show on what? On who how to make this stuff that people are going to turn out for and actually spend the money to take their family to go watch, because it's become in some ways it's become cost prohibitive.
I mean, if you have a especially with a big family like going to the movies, you spend $100 by the time you buy tickets and candy and all that. So you better be watching something that's more like this. That's a big, big movie meant to be watched on a on a big screen. And they know they aren't all they aren't all made that way. And they're not all we're seeing in the big I mean, now we're seeing the big screen, but, you know, not spending all that money.
I mean, we did the the unlimited pass with Regal or whatever. I got to see a lot of movies and that was great. But I also was like paying, you know, 15, 20 bucks a month to see all these or whatever. I forget what I was paying. But but it was worth it because, yeah, it was like, not like and then you see why that program didn't last. Well, that, that was movie. MoviePass was like ten bucks or something like that.
That particular star, I don't know, Regal Unlimited was something more like 25 bucks. Makes sense. But but also movie has done because you could go to any theater. They had to pay to theater. At least Regal doesn't have to pay itself. They're just like, You're already paying this money. You know, Now we're just losing a possible seat, which we usually only went like Monday through Thursday anyways, because people don't either in the movies now or and haven't for a couple of decades.
But I don't really enjoy it. But but going back to Top Gun Maverick, like again, it's good, it's solid. It doesn't doesn't push the envelope at all in anything like it's just a it's just a popcorn flick kind of enjoyable of Tom Cruise doing being Tom Cruise, you know? Yeah, but it's done and it's done really well. Yeah. Yeah. And but I did notice that the there's not really anything in the original movie that happens that I'm like, all that couldn't happen.
The whole the original movie is super believable from start to finish, I mean in every conceivable way except for them flying around in what were those f fours fives calling them MiGs. I always and always drove me nuts. But now Maverick, there's some suspension of disbelief in that final act. And when it happened, I was like, Oh, okay, okay, this is where we've gone to. Like, you have to suspend disbelief in the first act when he blows up the Dark Star.
I mean, I'm sorry. Like. Like. Like how you're just a little bit singed from guys that just. I still love the theory that he actually died there. That. All right. The rest of it is, is the millisecond that his brain, before his brain shuts down with the rest of the movies taking place in his mind as he dies, a dies a horrific death in a dark star accident. But yeah, so it's like when that happened, I was like, he walks into that diner or whatever. I'm like, Really?
I mean, I'm not a pilot, but I'm thinking, What? What? He hit Mark Ten or not Mark nine or whatever. I know it was sponsored some absurd number and the plane disintegrates around him like you. You don't eject from that and then are able to stroll into a, you know, in the old diner, you know, But the only thing that they referenced and I don't think anybody's ever talked about there's I just know because I'm obsessed with the ESR 71 Blackbird aircraft. But there was an S.R.
71 pilot that survived a midair disintegration of the aircraft. And, you know, he wasn't going Mach three, but he was well over Mach one or two. And it and literally the aircraft did just falling to pieces. Yeah. And he but it was a miracle that he survived. Yeah. And he didn't have any I don't think he had any like severe injuries or anything like that.
But that was the only thing that they probably could have reference to say, wow, this cabinet at Mach six or eight or nine or whatever it was, I forget what it was. But I love the theory that he's dead. He's actually dead. That's just all. It's like it reminds me of the theory that the that lost was just that that Labrador dreaming and then waking up and running into the wall. Oh, that's one of my favorite YouTube videos of of that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So true.
Just because yeah it makes sense then I'm like, oh, it's just the random thoughts of dreams. Perfect. Perfect perfection. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, I enjoyed Maverick. Probably will watch it again at some point, but I'm not itching to do it. Not itching to, to go see it again. Again, if I want to watch Top Gun or when I watch, you know, airplanes flying around blowing each other up, I'm going to watch Top Gun, the first one.
So, you know, the only but but I will see if you go back and watch Top Gun because I I've caught it on TV since I've seen Maverick. It it is a little weird watching the shots when they cut to them in the cockpit with the fact that Maverick, you see them pulling all these G's and their faces contorting. It is it is different watching the original where it's just obvious that they're up against like a I don't even think it was blue screen.
I think they just had like a blue backdrop behind a cockpit and, you know, their faces aren't contorting. And of course, I think when even when I was little watch that I knew they weren't really flying in those jets like it just the way it looked. But you can forgive that.
But I would say that that is something really just one of those touches of realism that the sequel did right is you just forget how even pull in like two G's your face is going to start shifting, let alone, you know, what they're capable of before they pass out. So once again, though, nobody gets a better recruitment film than the Navy. I mean, nobody go Navy. Yeah, I feel I always feel bad for the Air Force.
They just stuck with Iron Eagle, which with Chappie and I love I love Iron Eagle, but it is definitely not. Yeah, 100%. It's not tough. Go. No, no, I do not recommend if you did not grow up with Iron Eagle to go back and watch it. It does not hold up. No, it does. It know that it doesn't. Oh fun. It's part it doesn't hold up. It's part of my childhood. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing again. Yeah. If you didn't grow up in the eighties watching it, you don't know.
We're not going to be we're not going to be telling people to like, Oh, man, you got to really sit down and focus in the screening irony. Go in Washington. Watch this guy once watched you. Yeah, just watch Louis Gossett Jr just out act everybody else in that movie. I mean everybody Louis got me I said I can't believe I got his name wrong of shame on you. I know, I know. He's the he's the he's such a better SVM than anybody else that shows up in that. Oh, man. Robbie Rist is in irony.
I totally forgot that there's a look up who plays his the guy's girlfriend in Iron Eagle. It's going to surprise you. I just can't remember her name right now on someone. Hmm. You're the character's name. It's B. Is it a girl from the office? Yeah. Or not Girl from the office. But the boss. It's. It's Jan. Jan? Oh, yeah. This. I do not. Jan, this is Jan. Plays his girlfriend in Iron Eagle. It's great. That's crazy. I love going back and seeing stuff like that
where I just took an actor for granted. Hmm. Yeah, it's great, man. So. All right, well, any, any final thoughts on on shouldn't be on best picture nominee. I'm just going to say that I mean enjoyable film. I recommend watching it, but it's not the best picture name cause like. Yeah, but again, I think I think the rationale was if they expanded it to ten, you can tell there's four or five on that list that were the big tentpole movies.
And so it's almost Hollywood's the Academy's way of acknowledging our industry doesn't survive unless we continue to make these big films. Yeah. And so and then who's who's going to watch the Oscars when nobody you've seen anything that's nominated? True, True. I mean, and it's been like that for like almost 15 years, probably give or take the especially was it was a shorter list. There are a couple of years in there the average person in seen any of that stuff.
Yeah mainly because they don't live in a city big enough where that was screened. Yeah we don't have you know we'll have 15 different movie theaters and some can be those specific indie films. What's cool now is with the proliferation of streaming services and then, you know, the rest of it is, you know, we're able to tell people, hey, if you haven't watched, you know, everything everywhere all at once, they'll watch it
and they're not going to have a hard time going and finding it and watching it. So by the way, for for those of you listening, it's like first time listening. They'll watch our episode on everything everywhere all at once. Yes. But watch the movie first. We don't spoil it. Please watch it. But anyway, back to Maverick. My only question is like it made so much flipping money. Are they going to make Top Gun three? Like, are they going to do it?
Can you do it or is this or is this the end of the line? Like, I don't I don't know. I don't know. And I don't think a title card in opening title card of Top Gun Rooster has the same ring to it. I mean, I know Teller. I think he can do it, too. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you can. I don't think you can call it Top Gun Rooster. Now, you can't. And I. I'm as much as I really like Miles Teller. I don't think you can trade. You're not going to get the draw that you do with Tom Cruise. You know.
No, but if you're going to do a third one, cruise is still going to be in it. But I don't I don't think you can rehash where he's still flying like he's going to truly have to be relegated to some mentor role. So that tells me right there, there there is no Top Gun three. So yeah, but that's it's if they had a decent script, everybody is going to would go watch it especially if the Navy gave them clearance to shoot with F-35s. Oh no that's not gonna happen. No it's not. You know, it's not.
Well, I think that about wraps it up on on, on Top Gun Maverick, though. Yeah. Good flicks. Good, good. Big tentpole popcorn flick. I, I definitely think there's a place for those I, I enjoy watching them Don't everything has to be a really deep, contemplative plot points and you know I don't always want to roll into the theater to watch that either. There's sometimes I want to be escape and just dive into a movie and not think, Yeah, yeah, I want to do less brain work.
When I sit back, there's stuff, there's totally and that and that's what this is, is it's not going to make you have to think, but it's it's a blast. All right. Until next time. Thanks for listening to cinema A to B. Alec to Ben Very short, very small. From me to you.