By Nathan Wertheimer
Independent Movie Reviewer
Altamonte Springs, FL – The biggest movie to hit this summer is Top Gun: Maverick, which was produced by Paramount Pictures Studios and directed by Joseph Kosinski. Before seeing this movie it is recommended watching the first Top Gun movie from the 1980’s. This will give viewers of comparing and contrasting of the character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. This film is rated PG-13.
It is advised to buy your tickets online and avoid the long line for the movie box office. I purchase my ticket directly from AMC Theaters. Here’s the link www.amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/orlando-daytona-beach/amc-altamonte-mall-18 . Note the end seats are usually purchased weeks in advance. On the day of the show, I purchased my tickets and was about 75% full at the time. My recommendation is to pick seats to the middle to back of the theater.
The few front rows in front of the movie screen were most available and had empty seats. Some moviegoers sitting in these seats may have a stiff neck after watching.
On Saturday, May 27, 2022, I arrived to the theater early to avoid the rush and to find my seat. I sat on Row K, seat 21 in the Imax Theater. My seat was positioned more to the left side of the screen. Everyone has a great view. During the preview of this movie, they showed a US Air Force recruiting commercial. One would think the US Navy would be recruiting too. This is what you call cross branding.
Below is a summary of the movie. Don’t continue reading on unless you want to know about this movie. Here are a few of the movie’s cast. They are Tom Cruise as Captain Pete Maverick Mitchell, Val Kilmer – Admiral Tom Kazansky (Iceman), Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin (Bar Owner), Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Rooster), Glen Powell as Hangman, Monica Barbaro as Phoenix, Lewis Pullman as Bob, and much more. The cast costumes and uniforms looked as real as possible.
The movie introduction starts with a US Navy Aircraft Carrier scene on the flight deck with the background music by Kenny Loggins “Danger Zone.” This will bring back memories from the 1st Top Gun movie.
The plot of this movie is to train a squadron of pilots for a secret mission of destroying an Iranian nuclear site. The US Navy selects the top pilots for this assignment. Within this new squad there is conflict and drama. Plus, there are flashbacks from the past movie of video footage and still images.
Here are some highlights in the movie. There are a few scenes of the P51 Mustang that Maverick works on and flies. There is some drama at the bar, which Penny Benjamin owns. Look for a few bar scenes. Plus, there’s love interest going on with Maverick and Penny. Maverick gets thrown out of the bar when song “Great Balls of Fire” is played and reflects on the past.
After the squadron completes the day training some of them do push-ups for errors that they made in flight. It doesn’t look like they are having a great time.
One can’t forget the beach scene with the squad playing beach football similar to the volley scene in the last film. Val Kilmer has a short roll as (Iceman) Admiral K. with Maverick interaction. Eventually, Iceman dies and is laid to rest. What a sad moment that was. Iceman was always protecting Maverick.
Another interest fact about this movie is that Maverick pulled the application paper from the US Naval Academy on Rooster. This was a request from Rooster’s mother. Rooster never forgave Maverick. This became part of the drama in this film. In the end they overcame this drama.
During the movie, the dogfights seemed intense. While there are scenes in a tight canyon where pilots are doing flight maneuvers. This might make some viewers dizzy. The camera will go through a montage of shoots.
On one of the dogfights that went down, there were two F-18 Hornets which were flown by Maverick and Rooster. One might think they died during the movie, but they both survive. Then they end up walking through the snowy wilderness to make it to bomb out Iranian base. Once there, they steal an old Iranian F-14 Tomcat from the hanger they get it ready for flight. Both Maverick and Rooster get this aircraft airborne to head back to the carrier. Then they end up encountering a couple of 5th Generation Migs in the air, which were trying to shoot them down. Eventually Hangman was there is save the day by shooting the other enemy aircrafts.
While watching this movie, the sound was awesome. One could feel the vibration from the jets on the carrier deck along with the dogfight. The sound was realistic as being at an air show with the aircraft going overhead.
Finally, the closing of this movie shows Maverick and Penny in a love scene. This is set at Maverick’s jet hangar then rolled the credits with the cast and crew. Many people were moved and clapping at the end of the movie. Overall, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes Naval Aviation, action adventure, and drama. It is a must see movie.
When leaving this movie, I ran into a local radio personality with her husband who watched the same movie at the same time. She explained to me that she watched the original movie before seeing this one. Another thing she mentioned that she laughed and cried in some of the scenes. She overall liked this movie.
In the future, I hope Rooster takes the lead in the next Top Gun movie, which it ended. Will there be another one? That is the question. This movie is in theatre across America right now. For more information on this movie please visit www.skydance.com/film/top-gun-maverick/
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Source of information – First hand experience, amctheatres.com, skydance.com, and google.com
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