Three decades later, a sequel to the universally popular film Top Gun is ready for takeoff. A curtain raiser for Overlooked Films, Audio and Video at Todd Mason's blog Sweet Freedom.
The news is more or less confirmed. There will likely be a Top Gun 2, after all. Last week, Jerry Bruckheimer, who co-produced Top Gun in 1986, told Wired he was teaming up with Tom "Maverick" Cruise and David Ellison for a possible sequel. Ellison's Skydance Productions is developing the film. So far, Val Kilmer, who plays his rival in the original, is on board. There have been no further disclosures.
"There is an amazing role for Maverick in the movie and there is no Top Gun without Maverick. It is going to be Maverick playing Maverick. It is, I don’t think, what people are going to expect, and we are very, very hopeful that we get to make the movie very soon," Ellison told Wired in what I thought was a confusing statement. One Maverick too many, perhaps.
The timing couldn't have been better, as Tony Scott's Top Gun completes three decades this May, though it is not known when the sequel will be released.
Apart from Maverick's flying acrobatics in the sky, I remember Top Gun for the adrenaline-pumping and exaggerated masculinity of its fighter pilots and the award-winning song Take My Breath Away, written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock and performed by Berlin, and Top Gun Anthem, the instrumental rock-song composed by Harold Faltermeyer, of Beverly Hills Cop fame.
Sequels rarely live up to their originals. I hope this one does. Tom Cruise was only 24 when he played the reckless US Naval Aviator the first time. He is 54 now and I hope not too old for the Tomcat cockpit.
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"There is an amazing role for Maverick in the movie and there is no Top Gun without Maverick. It is going to be Maverick playing Maverick. It is, I don’t think, what people are going to expect, and we are very, very hopeful that we get to make the movie very soon," Ellison told Wired in what I thought was a confusing statement. One Maverick too many, perhaps.
The timing couldn't have been better, as Tony Scott's Top Gun completes three decades this May, though it is not known when the sequel will be released.
Apart from Maverick's flying acrobatics in the sky, I remember Top Gun for the adrenaline-pumping and exaggerated masculinity of its fighter pilots and the award-winning song Take My Breath Away, written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock and performed by Berlin, and Top Gun Anthem, the instrumental rock-song composed by Harold Faltermeyer, of Beverly Hills Cop fame.
Sequels rarely live up to their originals. I hope this one does. Tom Cruise was only 24 when he played the reckless US Naval Aviator the first time. He is 54 now and I hope not too old for the Tomcat cockpit.
Reality check: a 54-year-old man would not pass the flight physical for fighter jets.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, does anyone really want to see another film with Tom Cruise? Not me.
Of course, that is just me (a cranky old Navy veteran) talking.
R.T., I didn't think of that. I suppose, he could pass the test as a celluloid fighter pilot. I liked some of his films including WAR OF THE WORLDS, VALKYRIE, A FEW GOOD MEN, and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.
DeleteInteresting. I have fond teenage memories of the original, but a sequel...Hmm.
ReplyDeleteBen, I watched it in my late teens and I remember liking it at the time. Much later, I watched it a couple more times. A pretty slick film.
DeleteI think Tony Scott was an underrated director. He always put a good, professional film on the screen.
DeleteBen, I have enjoyed some of his films like ENEMY OF THE STATE, CRIMSON TIDE, UNSTOPPABLE and THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3. Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman seem to be recurring actors in his movies.
DeleteHow interesting, Prashant! I remember seeing the original, of course. I wonder how they will fit Cruise in, now that he is no longer, well, a young guy in his twenties...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margot. I can't imagine thirty years have passed since the film was released. It was entertaining.
DeleteI remember the first one. Liked it pretty well. I'll probably see the sequel though it certainly seems the time to make it would have been quite a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteCharles, I agree, the sequel should have been made in the nineties itself. Tom Cruise's character will have to come back as Top Gun instructor, for that's what he says he wants to be in the end.
DeleteI ditto R.T., above.
ReplyDeleteOscar, I guess Cruise will have to act his age.
DeleteI'll reserve judgement until I've seen it. I don't mind him to be honest.
ReplyDeleteCol, I'm not keen about the sequel but I will probably watch it since I quite liked the original.
DeletePrashant – Thanks for the post, but I have mixed reactions to a sequel. We have had too much real war for Hollywood to make a feel-good movie about fighter pilots. And Cruise and Kilmer are too old to play the parts they established in the 1980s. When I saw the original, I remember thinking Hollywood finally got it right, casting actors to play fighter pilots who are the same age as real fighter pilots. Perhaps the sequel will have them as drone pilots, sitting comfortably in front of computer screens. But then, news of drone attacks are nothing to laugh at. So, I guess I will be skipping this sequel. (Wow – looking over what I wrote it strikes me that while Tom Cruise may still be an optimistic super hero, I think I am slipping into cranky old curmudgeonhood.)
ReplyDeleteElgin, you are welcome. You raise some good points. The storyline of the sequel will have to be different considering Cruise and Kilmer's age. They may be cast as Top Gun instructors who still get to fly; or they may come in at the last minute, as substitute pilots for real fighter pilots who report sick or something like that. I have a hunch the filmmakers might set the film in North Korea or Syria. Maybe, I will just email my script to Bruckheimer and company!
DeleteI never saw Top Gun and most likely would not be interested in a sequel probably. But I liked Tom Cruise in the last few movies I have seen him in. So it would depend on the kind of role they gave him. And I do like Val Kilmer a lot too.
ReplyDeleteTracy, TOP GUN was an entertaining film with a decent storyline. I'm not so sure about the sequel myself.
DeleteI did see it when it came out but was never a fan (I preferred the spoof, HOT SHOTS) - but I daresay curiosity might get the better of me ...
ReplyDeleteSergio, I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise as I'm of the other Tom, Hanks. I am a fan depending on the films I like.
DeleteI liked the original, the times were right for such a movie, and the music was good. I've not liked any of the Cruse films I've seen since (I really have to disagree with you on WotW !!) including the Mission Impossible ones. Honestly, I think this will turn out to be too expensive to make, but we'll see. I see few movies these days, too busy reading, so I'd not be the audience for this one.
ReplyDeleteRichard, I liked WAR OF THE WORLD mainly on account of the special effects and less due to Tom Cruise, but it was one of his better films. I think, I have seen only one of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE films where Cruise's role, I thought, was along predictable lines.
DeleteWell that's a brave follow-up to try for - we're all so much older now...
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Moira. I doubt a TOP GUN sequel would hold up as well as the original did. Like Gibson's MAD MAX, for instance.
Deleteif Val Kilmer is to be there, i'll definitely watch it.
ReplyDeleteNeer, Kilmer is a good actor and though he has appeared in several films, I still think he never got his due.
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