By the way, guys, I really like Top Gun. In case I wasn't clear about that.

This, and Armageddon - both of a similar ilk - seem like they're super cool to hate on now. I'll admit plenty of faults in both (more so in Armageddon), but damn it if I don't unabashedly love each one; to the point where I'm genuinely sad Hollywood hasn't made a movie like either in I don't know how long. That needs to change. Normally, I'd be right there with you guys sh*tting on Hollywood's lack of originality, but NOT when it comes to TG2. I'll be first in line opening day.

I'm with you, TT. Top Gun is still one of my favorite movies of all time and I'll stop channel surfing to watch it if it comes on.

I celebrate the cheesy parts - I hate it when she does that! - and love the fighter scenes.

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Maverick ultimately ends up being the mentor to Goose's son, they fly together, etc.

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So, it's Iron Eagle set in the Top Gun universe? Hope they dust off Jason Gedrick for a cameo.

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Maverick ultimately ends up being the mentor to Goose's son, they fly together, etc.

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So, it's Iron Eagle set in the Top Gun universe? Hope they dust off Jason Gedrick for a cameo.

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I've often thought I would like to see a reboot of Iron Eagle with either a video gamer military brat flying the jet with backup from hacker buddies using drones or totally using drones for the plot.
PS- I'm betting Top Gun 2 goes straight to laser disc.

I can't remember the exact scenario, but something goes down internationally and Maverick is needed. Problem is, he's retired and no one knows where he is... except one man: Ice Man. Who now walks with a limp/cane. Not like an old man, but because he was injured somehow. Anyway, he tracks down Maverick, recruits him,



What else are they going to steal from "Hot Shots"

BTW, you can get Top Gun 3D at walmart for $6.88 right now.

If you have a 3D tv, you should absolutely do that, it's amazing.


But like I said earlier, my biggest problem with the idea of a Top Gun sequel staring Tom Cruise is the practicality of it. I LOVE the idea of seeing how these cold war fighter jocks are dealing with the new age of drone warfare and UAVs (even though that's mostly an Air Force thing and the Navy does very little, but whatever, details). But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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I can't remember the exact scenario, but something goes down internationally and Maverick is needed. Problem is, he's retired and no one knows where he is... except one man: Ice Man. Who now walks with a limp/cane. Not like an old man, but because he was injured somehow. Anyway, he tracks down Maverick, recruits him,



What else are they going to steal from "Hot Shots"

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Beat me to it

I thought this would be the plot.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xk75ps_iceman-the-later-years_shortfilms

Top Gun is good when in the air but pretty bad when it's not. The love story is about as bad as it gets, which is pretty much the case for all Tom Cruise movies of the 80s.

Iceman getting ready to go look for Maverick in his secret home under the sea.

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But like I said earlier, my biggest problem with the idea of a Top Gun sequel staring Tom Cruise is the practicality of it. I LOVE the idea of seeing how these cold war fighter jocks are dealing with the new age of drone warfare and UAVs (even though that's mostly an Air Force thing and the Navy does very little, but whatever, details). But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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Who cares? They need Maverick. That's all that matters. No one outside of military/Air Force aficionados cares what rank he is or isn't now. Also, like I said, he's long-since retired and they bring him back in (at least in the old draft). As cliched/unbelievable as that may be, for whatever reason, Maverick is only man for the job. I'm assuming there's only "one guy" who can tame/mentor/connect with Goose's son, and it's Maverick. No one's going to be arguing his rank at that point.

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But like I said earlier, my biggest problem with the idea of a Top Gun sequel staring Tom Cruise is the practicality of it. I LOVE the idea of seeing how these cold war fighter jocks are dealing with the new age of drone warfare and UAVs (even though that's mostly an Air Force thing and the Navy does very little, but whatever, details). But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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Who cares? They need Maverick. That's all that matters. No one outside of military/Air Force aficionados cares what rank he is or isn't now. Also, like I said, he's long-since retired and they bring him back in (at least in the old draft). As cliched/unbelievable as that may be, for whatever reason, Maverick is only man for the job. I'm assuming there's only "one guy" who can tame/mentor/connect with Goose's son, and it's Maverick. No one's going to be arguing his rank at that point.

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that might be a cool idea, but I'm not sure they're still going with that. The news coming out today seems to indicate that the new script has something to do with drones and the struggle of fighter pilots to deal with their diminishing importance to the military.

Good Kill touched on this as well. Ethan Hawke was a fighter pilot who became a drone pilot and struggled with the differences.

Is Val Kilmer going to step into a time machine before he plays this role? Dude is looking pretty gnarly these days.

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Top Gun is good when in the air but pretty bad when it's not. The love story is about as bad as it gets, which is pretty much the case for all Tom Cruise movies of the 80s.

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I completely and utterly disagree. Sure, it's all surface-level stuff, but the love story is one of the best aspects of the movie (in addition to when in the air). Guy hits on a girl in a bar in one of the most iconic pick-up scenes of all time. She ends up being his instructor, but he goes after her hard anyway. That's a great set-up. She finally falls for him, but has to pretend publicly she hasn't, at least for a while. Then his best friend dies, she's there to comfort him, but he can't connect. They break up, and he finally gets his mojo back after some soul-searching / learning the truth about his father, he kicks ass in the air, and the girl comes back for him in the end. Hell, the music alone makes the love story one of the most notable ever. From "Take My Breath Away" (I have and always will love that song - I don't care what anyone else thinks), to the fantastic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" set-up / payoff in the end, it's all super iconic stuff.

How does that negate anything from the draft I'm referring to? In fact, my buddy specifically mentioned the drone angle being a prominent theme in that draft as well. Sounds like it's a bunch of young / new pilots dealing with the drone stuff, and Maverick comes back to not only show them how it was done in the old days, but ultimately proves that nothing is more valuable/effective than a real live pilot in the air, at the controls.

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Is Val Kilmer going to step into a time machine before he plays this role? Dude is looking pretty gnarly these days.

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I think that's kind of the point. My buddy said they were actually playing off of that in the old draft, even amping it up a bit with the cane and what not.

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But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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Early rumors were that he is a test pilot for the F35 program. Completely plausible based on the age of other test pilots that program has had.

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But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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Early rumors were that he is a test pilot for the F35 program. Completely plausible based on the age of other test pilots that program has had.

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That would give them an out in having to explain how Maverick would be knowledgeable of the systems in an aircraft that is currently in the Navy's fleet since the F-14 has been retired since the mid 2000's.

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PS- I'm betting Top Gun 2 goes straight to laser disc.

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Mark my words, TG2 will be one of the top ten grossing movies of whatever years it's released. Especially after the success of Jurassic World this year and the sure-to-be-huge Independence Day sequel next year. This movie is going to be massive. It'll definitely be in IMAX, and you can bet Cruise is going insist all the flying be real/practical (not for close-up cockpit shots, obviously, but everything else), with some crazy stunts. And whatever it lacks in dinosaurs/aliens, it'll make up with the American Sniper-ness of it all. People are going to eat this sh*t up.

I'm with TCTTS in thinking you guys are crazy. Top Gun is one of my all time favorite films

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But after 35 years or more as a Naval Aviator, Maverick would have to be a Captain or an Admiral by now to even still be in the military.

What do you think the chances are that he is?

More likely he'll be a Commander at best, and they'll just completely ignore how little that makes any sense at all. He'll just be another pilot.

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Early rumors were that he is a test pilot for the F35 program. Completely plausible based on the age of other test pilots that program has had.

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That would give them an out in having to explain how Maverick would be knowledgeable of the systems in an aircraft that is currently in the Navy's fleet since the F-14 has been retired since the mid 2000's.

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That's a good angle.
TCTTS, I know you don't want to spoil it for yourself, but I believe you have a civic duty to get your hands on the new script.

Yeah, I think you're right. Especially since this newest draft is from a different writer / sounds like it's changed a bit now. I won't be able to say a ton - literally no one outside of Bruckheimer's camp has read it - but I'll be able to confirm enough. Next time I see my friend, I'll ask. Will probably hang with him again soon after the holiday. And just to reiterate, I think it's the older draft that Tony Scott was super-close to shooting before his death. It may be a rewrite or two after that, though. Regardless, they've kept the same basic premise, but brought on the new writer to get it in a place to to take to other directors. That draft isn't even complete yet.

I mean, count me in as thinking Top Gun is an iconic film. I think it was the first movie I ever saw in the theaters.

But, man... this just sounds like a bad idea, even before the Iron Eagle vibe.

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My old parents love this movie...I never got it. Even as a kid. Then I saw it as an adult and was like wow...mom and dad...guys...how in the **** did I come from you?

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Are you an American?

i hated stuff before you hated stuff therefore making me intellectually superior.

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...and you can bet Cruise is going insist all the flying be real/practical (not for close-up cockpit shots, obviously, but everything else), with some crazy stunts.

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I'm sure they will talk to the Navy, and the Navy will probably see it as a recruitment opportunity of some sort for a variety of reasons and do some practical stuff. They did actually shoot a couple of missiles for filming purposes for the original film, and IIRC the "flipping the bird" scene was practical as well.

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I mean, count me in as thinking Top Gun is an iconic film. I think it was the first movie I ever saw in the theaters.

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First movie I remember seeing in theaters as well - which, admittedly, might be one of the (many) reasons I love it so much. I was five years old, and can still remember exactly where we sat in the theater, what I felt as we walked out after, etc.

Conservative radio listenin, pickup truck drivin, big tit lovin America checkin in.

Think Ridley Scott steps in for this one?

I'm watching Top Gun in 3D right now, and it is magnificent. This is right up there with Jurassic Park in terms of incredible conversions.

Big Top Gun fan, I agree with all of TCTTS points, and we too saw it in the theater for 3D. Felt like I was in the cockpit

POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW... LOL
(What is the statute of limitations on how old a movie can be and no longer considered "spoilable"?)


I agree with everything that TCTTS wrote. Top Gun is an iconic movie.

I think that sometimes it is easy for people to criticize movies like this, but in my opinion Top Gun has merit on so many levels.

When people first saw this movie in theaters they were blown away. In 1986 Reagan was in office and Americans seemed to be a little more patriotic back then. Hollywood was not hating on our country as much as they are today. This was a slick movie all around. The visuals, the story, the music, the stars... everything about this movie was just tight. There was something in this movie for everyone - guys and girls loved it equally. I was a junior in the Corps when my friends and I saw this and we ate it up. Every guy I knew was infatuated with Kelly McGillis. She was a sex symbol for a fleeting moment in the 1980s.

A thought about the cheesy factor... about there being too much testosterone in the movie. If you think about it there is a little bit of truth to this. When you assemble the top pilots from across the country you are going to get some tremendous egos together... too many alpha males in the same room. Of course Hollywood played it up with the volleyball scene, the nicknames, over the top characters, and dialogue. In real life when you assemble the best young pilots in one place you are going to get some characters with self confidence to spare.

One of the many things right with this movie is that they make you care about a character before he dies. How many times have you seen a movie in the past few years where one of the main characters died and you really didn't care? You didn't care because the filmmakers didn't take the time to develop the character. When Goose dies in this movie you care. It is at this point that Maverick is tested and ultimately comes out a better person. The main character has an arc and we see him grow. This doesn't always happen in today's movies.

At the end of the movie when "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" plays on the juke box it brings you back to the bar scene where Maverick and Charlie first met. There is a little bit of a romantic in all of us. When Maverick walks around the diner there is no Charlie to be found... only that song playing... then she suddenly appears. That is a great scene and a great ending.

Top Gun - Closing Scene

VERY well said. Right there with you on all points. Especially in regards to that final scene. One of my favorite final scenes of all time.

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Think Ridley Scott steps in for this one?

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My buddy at Bruckheimer said that's a distinct possibility. Though I doubt it ends up happening. For one, I think they want this in theaters sooner rather than later - like summer 2017 or so - and Ridley has Blade Runner 2 hitting then as well. So it may just be a scheduling thing. My buddy actually mentioned another director I liked - someone more obscure - but I can't remember who. Will be sure and ask next time I see him.