Tom Cruise is back in the Danger Zone and reaching for Mach 10 in Top Gun 2 CinemaCon footage. Cruise’s star reached new heights with the release of the original Top Gun in 1986. The film went on to gross $357 million at the box office.
Decades have now passed since Top Gun first sent Cruise to the Danger Zone and in some ways very little has changed. Cruise is still a global superstar and he’s still pushing the envelope when it comes to action filmmaking. Now Cruise is set to return to the skies in Top Gun: Maverick, which picks up the story of Captain Pete Mitchell 35 years after the events of the original film. Cruise is joined in the long-awaited sequel by Miles Teller as Rooster, the son of Maverick’s dead co-pilot Goose, together with Jennifer Connolly, Ed Harris, Jon Hamm and others. Val Kilmer is the only other returning cast member from the original Top Gun.
Trailers have already given audiences a glimpse of Cruise’s new Top Gun thrill ride but attendees at this year’s CinemaCon trade show in Las Vegas were treated to a longer look that proves Cruise isn’t ready to slow down. The footage shared by Paramount is from the opening of the film, and proves that Maverick hasn’t lost his need for speed, as he climbs into a test plane and goes for a new air speed record of Mach 10. For the record, the actual current speed record for a plane is only Mach 6.7, so Maverick is really trying to shatter that particular mark. Read the full footage description in the space below:
Opens with the classic music and text explaining what the Top Gun program is in the Navy. First shots are of jets preparing to take off from an aircraft carrier at sunrise, it seems. Music immediately changes to Danger Zone as the jets take off. Then we see some jets land back on the carrier - all set to Danger Zone, while the film's credits roll on screen. Fade to black, then cuts to the Mojave Desert, CA, with Maverick coming out of a room and walking into an airplane hanger, sitting down and eating. Then it shows him working on the classic plane we see from the poster/trailers. We see shots of characters from the original film on photos, particularly Goose and his family, with the last photo being of Rooster. Maverick puts on his leather jacket, grabs his keys, and rides on his motorcycle - then the shots of him on his bike from the trailer - this part is scored to the original theme, but a slowed-down version. Maverick arrives at another hanger and an officer tells him, "We've been ordered to stand down. They say we're falling short. They want Mach 10." Maverick responds, "Mach 10? Today is Mach 9." Officer says, "That's not good enough." They discuss the secret test project of the plane from the end of the trailer. "Well, he isn't here yet. Mach 10? Let's give them Mach 10." Shots of Maverick going through fitness tests and getting prepared to test the jet. One of the officers says, "It's Mach 10. Not 10.1, not 10.2. Mach 10." Then we see shots of Maverick prepping for taxiing and launch. [Continued below]
Right before takeoff, officer says it's not too late for Maverick to stand down. He says, "You know what will happen to you if you do this." Maverick says, "I know what happens to everyone if I don't." As he takes off, he says to himself, "One last ride." Then he takes off and we see the final shot from the previous trailer, of him flying over Ed Harris' Rear Admiral Kane. Kane walks in and says to the officer, "I'm early. So are you. Care to explain?" He orders the officers to tell Maverick to return to base. They joke about a communications issue. Maverick continues to fly and hits Mach 8.4, and climbing. Officer says, "He's the fastest man alive" once Maverick hits Mach 9. We hear a rousing score as Maverick climbs from 9.1 to 9.2, 9.3, etc. Wide shot from high above over the jet and we see its tail smoke, showing its path. When he reaches 9.8, the people in the control room get warning alerts of temperatures rising. Maverick: "Come on, just a little more. Come on!" Then he hits Mach 10. Everyone applauds, and one of the officers tells the admiral, "Put that in your budget." Maverick looks at the 10.0 on the screen and thinks about going faster. The officer says, "No, don't do it." He hits 10.2. Kane says, "You got some balls [something]." Maverick gets several alerts, and the screen cuts. The officers lose comms and then we see the plane coming down from a far distance. Next shot is of Maverick walking on the road in his gear and arriving at a diner. Everyone stares and him and he takes a glass of water from the waitress. Then he asks, "Where am I?"
Clearly Top Gun: Maverick does not shy away from tapping into nostalgia as the entire first sequence is filled with references to the original movie including Maverick’s love of riding motorcycles, not to mention the presence of Kenny Loggins’ "Danger Zone" on the soundtrack. The real danger here of course is that, after Archer’s comedic use of "Danger Zone," an earnest employment of the song might come across unintentionally funny. Cartoonish exaggeration may also be a problem with the movie’s test pilot story line, which seems like something right out of The Right Stuff (the presence of Right Stuff actor Harris only adds to these echoes of the classic ‘80s astronaut movie). There’s even a training montage which is without doubt the most ‘80s thing imaginable.
The footage described above definitely makes it sound like Top Gun: Maverick is going hard after fans of the original movie and '80s action films in general. It also sounds like stroking Cruise’s ego is high on the bill, with lines like “He’s the fastest man alive” as he defies death in a test plane. And while test piloting perhaps is the logical way for Maverick to go career-wise given that air combat isn’t much of a thing these days, even flying experimental aircraft is far from the glorious pursuit it was during the days of Chuck Yeager (unless one is a billionaire riding a rocket). Top Gun 2 might indeed flirt with hilarity more than danger by turning Maverick into some kind of gung-ho throwback to the era of The Right Stuff. But then again, maybe Cruise and company can pull it off without looking too ridiculous.
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August 27, 2021 at 12:39AM
