Top Gun Maverick - Review by an Old Fighter Pilot

XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
BLUF: Top Gun Maverick (TGM) is an excellent summer action movie. Highly recommend seeing it. A movie deserving to be seen on as big a screen with as an immersive an audio system as is available.

UP-FRONT DISCLAIMERS
:
1) We (wife & I) saw it at the Big Mo Drive-In Theater on a very large screen (but pretty far away) with sound transmitted thru a Chevy Silverado's stock sound system by FM radio (surprisingly good). She has 20+ years as a fighter pilot's wife and greatly enjoyed the show.
2) I am retired USAF, not USN. I flew F-15C Eagles, not F-18E/F Hornets. My fighter mission area was exclusively Air-to-Air, not Air-to-Ground.
3) I am nostalgic about the first TG movie (original) since it came out in 1986, while I was teaching pilot training in the T-38 Talon and aspiring to be a fighter pilot (got lucky and this came to pass).

POST-MISSION DEBRIEF (aka movie review):
Dash-1 CAUTION:
Below includes no intentional "Spoiler Alerts" but "You pay your Money, You take your Chances" :)

1) Pre-flight:
Watching or rewatching the original movie was very helpful in being able to follow several plot lines.

2) What Went Well: TGM, like the original, does a great job at portraying the fun, excitement, risk and challenges of flying fighters.
The directors did a superb job, best-seen-to-date IMHO, on capturing and displaying aerial fighter training and combat on a movie screen. That is a very tough ask.
The air combat mission scenes are pointedly more accurate than the original (i.e. original had silly aileron rolls and back-n-forth wing wagging, YGTBSM), BUT still have MANY things that never would happen in training or could happen in combat.
The aircraft-to-aircraft radio calls were markedly improved over the original. Comms were much more concise and less distracting than in the original. Fighter communications are highly standardized in a language all to its own; the writers did a good job of massaging the radio calls to adhere to the principles of fighter communications, yet be understandable to a wider audience. Kudos.
The movie producers reverted to using the original leather jacket back patch, and not the BS China sanitized one shown in a few trailers. China didn't/won't allow this movie to be seen in their autocratic, mind controlling, country anyways, so to H-E-double-hockey-sticks with them.
Soundtrack and music selections did a nice job of keeping continuity with the original.

3) Areas For Improvement: I could spend all day, and too much of your time, nit-picking the uncountable flight and combat inaccuracies, but that is not the point of the movie, nor this review.
If you go to see this movie to develop a technical understanding of fighter aircraft training or air combat you are watching the wrong show, go visit the Discovery Channel.

4) Lessons Learned: This is a solid choice for a fun, enjoyable, summer action movie that portrays the "emotional" highs and lows ("If you fly fighters long enough, you will lose somebody") of flying fighters and being in air combat. You will enjoy it a lot. I intend to get this movie on BluRay if/when it comes out, presentation in my HT should be a hoot.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver
 
Last edited:
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
BLUF: Top Gun Maverick (TGM) is an excellent summer action movie. Highly recommend seeing it. A movie deserving to be seen on as big a screen with as an immersive an audio system as is available.

UP-FRONT DISCLAIMERS
:
1) We (wife & I) saw it at the Big Mo Drive-In Theater on a very large screen (but pretty far away) with sound transmitted thru a Chevy Silverado's stock sound system by FM radio (surprisingly good). She has 20+ years as a fighter pilot's wife and greatly enjoyed the show.
2) I am retired USAF, not USN. I flew F-15C Eagles, not F-18E/F Hornets. My fighter mission area was exclusively Air-to-Air, not Air-to-Ground.
3) I am nostalgic about the first TG movie (original) since it came out in 1986, while I was teaching pilot training in the T-38 Talon and aspiring to be a fighter pilot (got lucky and this came to pass).

POST-MISSION DEBRIEF (aka movie review):
Dash-1 CAUTION:
Below includes no intentional "Spoiler Alerts" but "You pay your Money, You take your Chances" :)

1) Pre-flight:
Watching or rewatching the original movie was very helpful in being able to follow several plot lines.

2) What Went Well: TGM, like the original, does a great job at portraying the fun, excitement, risk and challenges of flying fighters.
The directors did a superb job, best-seen-to-date IMHO, on capturing and displaying aerial fighter training and combat on a movie screen. That is a very tough ask.
The air combat mission scenes are pointedly more accurate than the original (i.e. original had silly aileron rolls and back-n-forth wing wagging, YGTBSM), BUT still have MANY things that never would happen in training or could happen in combat.
The aircraft-to-aircraft radio calls were markedly improved over the original. Comms were much more concise and less distracting than in the original. Fighter communications are highly standardized in a language all to its own; the writers did a good job of massaging the radio calls to adhere to the principles of fighter communications, yet be understandable to a wider audience. Kudos.
The movie producers reverted to using the original leather jacket back patch, and not the BS China sanitized one shown in a few trailers. China didn't/won't allow this movie to be seen in their autocratic, mind controlling, country anyways, so to H-E-double-hockey-sticks with them.
Soundtrack and music selections did a nice job of keeping continuity with the original.

3) Areas For Improvement: I could spend all day, and too much of your time, nit-picking the uncountable flight and combat inaccuracies, but that is not the point of the movie, nor this review.
If you go to see this movie to develop a technical understanding of fighter aircraft training or air combat you are watching the wrong show, go visit the Discovery Channel.

4) Lessons Learned: This is a solid choice for a fun, enjoyable, summer action movie that portrays the "emotional" highs and lows ("If you fly fighters long enough, you will lose somebody") of flying fighters and being in air combat. You will enjoy it a lot. I intend to get this movie on BluRay if/when it comes out, presentation in my HT should be a hoot.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver
The problem with going to a cinema is all the other people in the same room: Invariably there are number of those having a negative impact on the experience.

Besides, my living room is decent enough for watching movies, including the sound.
 
Teetertotter?

Teetertotter?

Senior Audioholic
Thank you for your service and is just a movie for mass entertainment, as you know. I will see the movie, when is available on Neflix or Prime, late this year or next. I appreciate your comments and can only imagine the many things in the movie, that were not perfect, based on your experience. I recently watched the 1986 movie and was still enjoyable, on Netflix.
 
D

Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
BLUF: Top Gun Maverick (TGM) is an excellent summer action movie. Highly recommend seeing it. A movie deserving to be seen on as big a screen with as an immersive an audio system as is available.

UP-FRONT DISCLAIMERS
:
1) We (wife & I) saw it at the Big Mo Drive-In Theater on a very large screen (but pretty far away) with sound transmitted thru a Chevy Silverado's stock sound system by FM radio (surprisingly good). She has 20+ years as a fighter pilot's wife and greatly enjoyed the show.
2) I am retired USAF, not USN. I flew F-15C Eagles, not F-18E/F Hornets. My fighter mission area was exclusively Air-to-Air, not Air-to-Ground.
3) I am nostalgic about the first TG movie (original) since it came out in 1986, while I was teaching pilot training in the T-38 Talon and aspiring to be a fighter pilot (got lucky and this came to pass).

POST-MISSION DEBRIEF (aka movie review):
Dash-1 CAUTION:
Below includes no intentional "Spoiler Alerts" but "You pay your Money, You take your Chances" :)

1) Pre-flight:
Watching or rewatching the original movie was very helpful in being able to follow several plot lines.

2) What Went Well: TGM, like the original, does a great job at portraying the fun, excitement, risk and challenges of flying fighters.
The directors did a superb job, best-seen-to-date IMHO, on capturing and displaying aerial fighter training and combat on a movie screen. That is a very tough ask.
The air combat mission scenes are pointedly more accurate than the original (i.e. original had silly aileron rolls and back-n-forth wing wagging, YGTBSM), BUT still have MANY things that never would happen in training or could happen in combat.
The aircraft-to-aircraft radio calls were markedly improved over the original. Comms were much more concise and less distracting than in the original. Fighter communications are highly standardized in a language all to its own; the writers did a good job of massaging the radio calls to adhere to the principles of fighter communications, yet be understandable to a wider audience. Kudos.
The movie producers reverted to using the original leather jacket back patch, and not the BS China sanitized one shown in a few trailers. China didn't/won't allow this movie to be seen in their autocratic, mind controlling, country anyways, so to H-E-double-hockey-sticks with them.
Soundtrack and music selections did a nice job of keeping continuity with the original.

3) Areas For Improvement: I could spend all day, and too much of your time, nit-picking the uncountable flight and combat inaccuracies, but that is not the point of the movie, nor this review.
If you go to see this movie to develop a technical understanding of fighter aircraft training or air combat you are watching the wrong show, go visit the Discovery Channel.

4) Lessons Learned: This is a solid choice for a fun, enjoyable, summer action movie that portrays the "emotional" highs and lows ("If you fly fighters long enough, you will lose somebody") of flying fighters and being in air combat. You will enjoy it a lot. I intend to get this movie on BluRay if/when it comes out, presentation in my HT should be a hoot.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver
I loved this movie it was a lot of fun!!! Thank you for your service!!!! That was really cool understanding from someone with experience the things they got right and thr things they got off for the Hollywood entertainment factor
 

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