Nearly perfect. Holy ***** So much good stuff. Going to give this thread a few minutes so people don't accidentally click in thinking it's the main thread.

Thank you, Tom Cruise.

That's how you make a sequel. This Scientology man knows how to make a perfect action movie

I can't wait to see it again. Thought the entire cast did well. Jennifer Connelly was a perfect casting decision. Miles Teller killed it.

The way they wrote Ice's story was very well done. Great timing with the laughs. And all the scenes in the air were just incredible. That's why you go to the movies folks.

Freaking incredible. Perfect amount of fan service, incredible cinematography, and flawless sound design.

Fan service felt a little heavy handed a couples of times for me. But that's a small nit

I completely get it because these guys seemed so determined to "get it right" when that was such a monumental task. They friggin killed it. A nearly perfect action movie.

All th training stuff was the best part for me. Hit so many great beats and the practical shooting will never be topped. Maverick popping on to the computer screen elicited gasps and cheers in our theater. Just another beat that could've felt cheesy but didn't.

Agree about the fan service stuff. Got a little too close to the sun a few times but I understand why they did it

How about the scene with the tomahawks passing over the Jets. Just so much good stuff.

I mean yeah, the F-14 which just happened to be fueled up, armed, and pre-flighted was a little ridiculous.

If we're nitpicking, it isn't the fact that the jet was fueled up but rather that their comms were working perfectly from an enemy jet once Hangman joined the fight.

Oh don't get me wrong I loved every second of it, I have no problem suspending belief in the face of something awesome, the campiness of it worked imo.

Then again my favorite movie is The Rock and I generally love Michael Bay movies, so take it for what it's worth.

The F-14 scene felt like Han stepping into the Falcon in The Force Awakens. I don't care about the specifics - just let me have this moment.

When Maverick shows the mission can be flown - it kind of reminded me of the scene in Pearl Harbor when Doolittle puts every man on the line. Love those kind of moments, even if it is Hollywood b.s.

The Collective said:

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When Maverick shows the mission can be flown - it kind of reminded me of the scene in Pearl Harbor when Doolittle puts every man on the line. Love those kind of moments, even if it is Hollywood b.s.

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Yep. This is the kind of suspension of disbelief that 99% of moviegoers have no problem with. It was maybe the best moment of the movie for me.

I think everyone needs to be prepared for a lot of people crapping on the movie in the next few days. It's inevitable. The Iron Eagle turn will be hard for big chunks of people to swallow. The Death Star-esque nature of the primary mission(not only the mission itself, but how it unfolded) is a strain.

Then you're going to have all the military types going nuts over the depiction of 5th gen air to air combat. That was even worse than the original.

In the end this is still an EPIC action movie and a breath of non-CGI fresh air. A better script than the original and great performances from everyone. It captured maybe the most important thing about the original . . . we'd never seen anything like it visually, and it took a sequel for us to see it again. The aircraft and what they can do are beautiful, and they shot it in a way that really let us see that.

I can't wait to see it again, and this time in IMAX.

Or maybe this would be a better answer to your question...

JB!98 said:

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The Collective said:

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The F-14 scene felt like Han stepping into the Falcon in The Force Awakens. I don't care about the specifics - just let me have this moment.

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So did the F-14 GCI look out of place in the movie? There are no flying F-14's in the US fleet or in private hands, only in Iran. So anything with and F-14 in the air was GCI.

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No, it's seamless as far as I could tell. The SU-57s are CGI, and I'm pretty sure any F-18 flying sequences that go beyond Navy safety requirements are, also.

Edit: Also whatever Mach 10 prototype at the beginning of the film was obviously CGI for the flying
scenes....but much like the planes in Midway, you really can't tell the difference.

yeah thinking back on it there were some scenes that looked absolutely gorgeous and you could fully tell it was 100% original.

Some others looked absolutely awesome and you could tell there may have been some CGI assistance but it was all seamless. And as mentioned...once the real battle gets going you're all in with the action so at least for me, trying to discern that wasnt even a thought in my mind.

"Come on Mav, do some of that pilot sh*t"

My wife and I lost it.

Miles Teller was phenomenal. Perfect casting

I thought the fan service/ callbacks were perfect. Heavy at the beginning, then settled in and became its own movie with a touch here or there.

I had a hard time imagining this Maverick as an older Pete Mitchell. He almost felt like an extension of his Mission Impossible character more than Maverick sometimes, but that was only moments here or there.

I would legit watch a 6 part documentary on how they filmed the flying sequences. Did they really have the actors go under the bridge? Etc. There were some scenes where you could see both pilots at the same time, but looking back I think they were very tame parts of flying, so they could have filmed that on the ground

I thought Penny and the daughter were completely unnecessary, but that might be a minority opinion.

Miles Teller played his role very well. No disagreement there.

I thought it was ironic that Ed Harris' character, a two star admiral, was questioning how Captain Mitchell could still be in the Navy when Harris, who is now 71, was portraying an 0-8 who would typically be in their early to mid 50's.

I thought Lewis Pullman was a hilarious foil to all the cocky pilots in the room.

I do have one legit complaint about the movie.

There was a funeral that featured prominently in the trailers. You knew someone was going to bite it.

Within like 3 minutes of screen time, you had :
- a pilot black out, and save the plane at the last moment
- a bird strike causing the plane to crash, but they eject at the last minute to an unknown fate
- new scene where you find out they're ok….but
- Mav learns that Ice dies off screen

It felt really weird. Like they were trying to fake you out in a sleight of hand type manner. Again, I loved the movie, but I think that one part of the movie is going to bug me.

I thought they handled Kilmer's illness and speech limitations really well.

CoachRTM said:

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I thought Penny and the daughter were completely unnecessary, but that might be a minority opinion.

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Jennifer Connelly is never unnecessary. Loved that just dance was playing she came into the movie, nice touch.

Man, this movie was brilliant, what more could you want from a top gun movie? It was predictable as all get out, but so so good.

they couldn't get Slider to show up? weak

Really liked it. My only complaint is I saw too much footage that would have been best saved for the movie. But I'm glad I didn't know hardly anything about the plot ahead of time.

H_ngman actor did an incredible job of capturing the spirit of the Ice Man role. Just nailed it.

They did a great job with Val and I was surprised Meg Ryan wasn't brought in... but I suppose it made more sense that Mav and Rooster were the only family they had left.

And it's really incredible that Maverick and Penny Benjamin not only found each other 30+ years later, but are the 2 best looking 50 year olds of all time. What a deal!