# Top Gun: Maverick (2022) — may have spoilers! No spoilers in OP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 29, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280 "2022-05-29T01:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/101 "2022-07-01T00:16:53Z")
Thanks for the correction! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/102 "2022-07-01T00:26:09Z")
Back to the topic… This is Hollywood. This is entertainment. This is not a documentary. You just buys your popcorn… and you enjoys your movie. Don’t look too closely. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Move along, move along. _Did you order the code red?_ _You don’t have to answer that question._ _I’ll answer the question. You want answers?_ _I think I’m entitled to them._ _You want answers?!?!_ _ **I want the truth!** _ _ **You can’t handle the truth!!!** _ Son, we live in a world that has fiction movies, and they are watched by all kinds of the public. Who’s gonna watch them? You? You, Just\_Asking\_Questions? You, silenus? You, Velocity? I have a greater responsibility than you can _possibly_ fathom. You weep for my movies, and you curse the technical advisors. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know — that Top Gun: Maverick, while farfetched, has **sold tickets** ; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, **sells tickets**. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you **want** that F-35, you **need** that F-35. We use words like taxiway, CGI, MACH 10. We use these words as the backbone of a fantasy to create Tom Cruise action movies. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who goes and watches a movie under the blankets of fiction and artistic freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather that you just said “thank you” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you buy a bucket of popcorn and shut the fuck up. **Either way, I don’t give a DAMN what you think you’re entitled to!** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MonkeysBrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MonkeysBrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeysBrother)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/103 "2022-07-01T00:27:26Z")
It was OK. My problem is that I’m an airplane fan and it didn’t feel like I got to see much of the airplanes. Seemed like most of the action was shot from the IMAX cameras in the cockpits. Yes, it’s cool that it was all shot practically and not in CGI, but I would much rather have seen exterior shots of airplanes flying around than watch the actors faces as they pull Gs. It didn’t help that the plot points were all so completely unbelievable. I did, however, love Jennifer Connelly giving Tom Cruise’s Maverick a hard time. And she looked pretty comfortable at the wheel of a sailboat driving to weather, while our hero Tom looked more than a little uncomfortable perched in the stern (not that anyone would ordinarily be sitting there going upwind in a breeze like that). Go, Penny. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/104 "2022-07-01T00:30:41Z")
Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/105 "2022-07-01T00:56:03Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I have a greater responsibility than you can _possibly_ fathom. Brilliant. When I saw TG:M, it opened with a shot of Tom (looking old) thanking everyone for coming to the theater. It would have made the movie 10x better if he’d instead opened with your soliloquy. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/106 "2022-07-01T01:17:45Z")
Speaking of that preceding video, did anyone else see that and wonder when Tom turned into Robert Redford? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/107 "2022-07-01T17:14:12Z")
Here’s an interesting conspiracy theory, > **['Top Gun: Maverick's' Ending, Explained](https://www.thebulwark.com/top-gun-maverick-review/)** > > A theory about the ending of TOP GUN: MAVERICK that could change how you see Tom Cruise's blockbuster forever. > Mav is then ordered by the drone-happy Admiral _Cain_ (Ed Harris)—who wants to bludgeon to death the program that Mav is able to do so well—to report to Top Gun, where he not only, as I mentioned above, is able to make peace with all that ails his soul, but also replays the events of the greatest, and worst, moments of his life, moments we saw in the first film. […] > > It’s _almost_ like Mav, rather than miraculously surviving an ejection at 7,000 or so miles per hour, perished in that test flight and before he could head on up to fighter-pilot heaven he had to work through his own personal purgatory. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/108 "2022-07-01T17:28:44Z")
Interesting theory that gives some depth to the movie. I’ll run it by the people I saw it with and see what they think. It **would** explain the inconsistencies. But I didn’t see Ambrose Bierce’s name in the credits. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/109 "2022-07-01T21:41:44Z")
> [@MonkeysBrother](#): > > It was OK. My problem is that I’m an airplane fan and it didn’t feel like I got to see much of the airplanes. Seemed like most of the action was shot from the IMAX cameras in the cockpits. Yes, it’s cool that it was all shot practically and not in CGI, but I would much rather have seen exterior shots of airplanes flying around than watch the actors faces as they pull Gs. It didn’t help that the plot points were all so completely unbelievable. Not all the shots. Behold the [L-39 CineJet:](https://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-will-love-top-gun-maverick-its-a-lot-more-real-kevin-larosa-ii/) an Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros that _Top Gun: Maverick_’s aerial coordinator Kevin DeRosa II modified into a flying camera platform, that could follow the Navy F-18s and capture the action in the air. DeRosa flew the plane while one of two directors of aerial photography sat in the back, framing and composting the shots. The camera platform was so stable, the DPs were able to get clear, crisp images even when the jet was pulling up to 3 gees. Really cool. > [@TroutMan](#): > > The biggest offender for me was Rich Parnell in _The Martian_ explaining to the NASA scientists what a slingshot maneuver is by getting them to act it out. I disagree. That scene wasn’t just exposition for the audience; it also established Rich’s character as a brilliant-but-clueless scientist. It was also funny. “Rich?” “Yes?” “Get out.” ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/110 "2022-07-02T13:32:14Z")
Penny and Maverick were going a lot faster before they deployed the spinnaker “afterburner” and ran with the wind. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/111 "2022-07-02T14:11:25Z")
Don’t even begin to question how the Bad Guys managed to build an entire uranium enrichment facility in the bottom of a canyon in the middle of nowhere. How did they get the heavy equipment in? What did they do with all the earth that was displaced? Where are they getting the power to run such a plant? How are the engineers breathing with only a little vent to outside? How is that shipment of uranium getting to the plant in the first place? It’s like Doctor Evil’s volcano lair - you just have to roll with it. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/112 "2022-07-02T22:45:29Z")
Question: after the Rogue Nation goes through the wreckage from Maverick & Rooster’s planes, will it be obvious they’re American? Or is everything relabeled if, say, Morroco buys one and so only a few places have stuff in English? Also, on a shallow note: Monica Barbaro. Ooof. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/113 "2022-07-02T23:35:48Z")
Oh, they’ll know. But since it was under the auspices of NATO, they are in the clear that way. Even without the English labeling - they are obviously carrier planes and nobody we ever sold them to has carriers. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/114 "2022-07-02T23:53:34Z")
Awesome. Bra-vo. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/115 "2022-07-03T00:48:42Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Either way, I don’t give a DAMN what you think you’re entitled to! “Did you direct this shitty movie”? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/116 "2022-07-03T02:21:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > they are obviously carrier planes and nobody we ever sold them to has carriers. Also a metric fucktion of sea-launched cruise missiles. Good ones, not like the shitjobs the Russians use. So, unless the Israelis\* suddenly got a first-class blue-water navy, it has to be the US. \*Don’t forget, this isn’t [the first time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera) someone carried out a surprise air strike on a nearly-finished nuclear production facility in this “unnamed adversary nation” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/117 "2022-07-03T03:11:17Z")
Plus they showed the planes with the pilots names and call signs painted under the cockpits. Very deniable. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/118 "2022-07-29T05:35:15Z")
Just saw this. Completely pedestrian movie. Thought I needed to see it on the big screen, but it wasn’t all that visually impressive. All of the emotional beats would have been called manipulative in most other movies. B- at the absolute most generous rating. The most fun I had was laughing at the lengths they went to avoid saying “Iran.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/119 "2022-08-06T20:44:04Z")
I just saw it, apparently months after everyone else. And I just skimmed the topic to catch up. Regarding the whole was-it-Iran-or-not discussion, the movie told us that NATO was involved so my guess was someplace in Europe. And Rooster was pissed that Maverick torpedoed his USNA application, but couldn’t he instead just have done Navy ROTC at university instead? Wouldn’t he be at exactly the same place in his career? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280/120 "2022-08-06T20:47:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And Rooster was pissed that Maverick torpedoed his USNA application, but couldn’t he instead just have done Navy ROTC at university instead? Wouldn’t he be at exactly the same place in his career? Yes and no. Could he have done it that way? Yes. Would it have put him on the same career path? Maybe. Would he be in the same place? Almost definitely not. There is a cachet to attending one of the trade schools that follows a person throughout their career. They get better assignments and shots at more rapid promotion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-maverick-2022-may-have-spoilers-no-spoilers-in-op/965280.md?page=7)