It’s been over three decades since Top Gun came out, so even though we’re reuniting with Tom Cruise’s Pete Mitchell later this year in Top Gun: Maverick, a lot’s going be different. Not only is Cruise surrounded by mostly new faces, but the moviemaking process itself has improved in many regards compared to our last outing with the actor traveling down the highway to the danger zone.
Recently speaking about how Top Gun: Maverick will be worth the wait for fans, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who also worked on Top Gun, said the following:
Technology has advanced, so a lot of things we couldn't do before that we can do now, especially with the aerial footage. And Tom is an aviator, so he can fly anything we have in the movie, from helicopters to jets to prop planes.
The above comment Jerry Bruckheimer gave to Yahoo isn’t the first time Top Gun: Maverick’s use of technology has been praised. Last summer, Jon Hamm talked about how the movie was shot in 6K and described the captured aerial footage as “mind-blowing.” Furthermore, while it would have been easy enough for Maverick to incorporate a lot of CGI, Tom Cruise specifically requested that the crew primarily rely on practical effects, making the sequel feel even more realistic.
This included having Tom Cruise actually being able to fly aircraft for Top Gun: Maverick, as working on the original Top Gun led him to falling in love with aviation. Cruise also paid for one of his Maverick co-stars to go through real-life fight training, as well as put all the actors playing pilots through a “grueling process” he designed himself that prepared them for the G-force they’d endure while in the skies.
It just goes to show that Top Gun: Maverick isn’t holding back on delivering quite the spectacle to audiences. The sequel first entered development approximately a decade ago, and by 2017, it started making significant progress getting off the ground… so to speak. Whether Maverick will end up being better than its predecessor or not will depend on the viewer, but with so much time having passed since Top Gun, it’ll be interesting to see just how much on the technical side of things will be flashier and just altogether better.
In addition to Tom Cruise leading the charge again, Top Gun: Maverick will also see the return of Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, while the new faces include Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Monica Barbaro, Charles Parnell, Danny Ramirez and Manny Jacinto. Oblivion’s Joseph Kosinski directed the flick, and Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie wrote the screenplay with Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on December 23, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates. In the meantime, keep track of what other movies are supposed to arrive later this year with our 2020 release schedule.
