Top Gun: Maverick is the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 1986 film Top Gun and it hit theaters last May 27, 2022. Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, the film follows Maverick as he returns to the Top Gun program after decades away from it. He is joined by a new batch of recruits, including Miles Teller as Bradley Bradshaw and Jennifer Connelly as Charlotte Blackwood. The film also features Jon Hamm as Commodore James D. Horowitz, Glen Powell as Jake Bowser, Lewis Pullman as Casey Seeing, Ed Harris as Bullseye, and Val Kilmer as Iceman.
Top Gun: Maverick is an action-packed drama that is sure to thrill audiences of all ages. The New Yorker published a review of the film describing the film’s similarity to the original saying, “Maverick” is less a sequel to “Top Gun” than a renovation of it. The framework of the story is borrowed from the original, nearly scene for scene; drastic changes, while updating it for the present time, leave it recognizable still. If you liked Top Gun: Maverick, here are five movie recommendations worth watching that offer good storylines and great action sequences.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
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If you enjoyed Cruise’s performance in Top Gun: Maverick, the action-packed sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout will be a treat. The movie sees Ethan Hunt and his team trying to track down missing plutonium, all while being monitored by the Apostles. With an all-star cast that includes Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Michelle Monaghan, and Alec Baldwin – plus newcomers Henry Cavill, Vanessa Kirby, and Angela Bassett – Mission: Impossible – Fallout is sure to be one of the best additions to this list.
The Guardian gave special mention to the film’s direction and Cruise’s stunts saying, “The charismatic Cruise commands motorcycles, helicopters, ropes, and rubber masks, as well as the fluttering hearts of two women from his past (Michelle Monaghan’s Julia and ’s former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust). Genre convention means it’s a foregone conclusion that this mission is not, in fact, “impossible”, but director Christopher McQuarrie cleverly controls the ticking clock quality that makes these films so much fun.”
The Right Stuff
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A film that centers on Air Force pilots in the plot like Top Gun: Maverick is the 1983 American epic historical drama film The Right Stuff written and directed by Philip Kaufman. The film follows the Navy, Marine, and Air Force test pilots who were involved in aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as well as the Mercury Seven, the seven military pilots who were selected to be the astronauts for Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight by the United States. The film stars Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, and Barbara Hershey; Levon Helm narrates and plays Air Force test pilot Jack Ridley.
The Right Stuff was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture; it won four for Best Original Score (Bill Conti), Best Film Editing (Glenn Hannsberry), Best Sound (Robert Minkler, Mark Berger, Randy Thom), and Best Sound Effects Editing (Ben Burtt). In 2013, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Guardian reviewed the film and wrote, “There are moments of dramatic licence, but overall The Right Stuff is a terrific historical film about the space race: accurately reflective of a complex reality, beautifully filmed, and done with wit, energy and an impressive sense of balance. Top marks.”
Thank You For Your Service
If you liked Miles Teller’s performance in Top Gun: Maverick, watching his performance in the 2017 war drama film Thank You for Your Service is surely worth watching. It is based on the book of the same name by David Finkel and follows a group of U.S. soldiers as they return home from Iraq and try to readjust to civilian life. Along the way, they struggle with PTSD and other mental health issues. The film stars Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer, and Scott Haze. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song “Freedom Cadence” specifically for the closing credits.
Thank You for Your Service is a powerful and moving portrait of the difficulties faced by many veterans as they transition back to civilian life. Variety commended the actors’ performances and wrote, “The camaraderie of these actors is rough, crazy, convincing. For once, you don’t feel like you’re watching actors portraying soldiers; they’re neither too macho nor too soft — they have just the right obscene bellicosity, baptized in hormones.”
American Made
Another great performance by Cruise as a pilot is in the 2017 American action comedy film American Made, directed by Doug Liman and written by Gary Spinelli. The film stars Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, a former TWA pilot who turned to drug smuggling for the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s. In order to avoid jail time, Seal became an informant for the DEA. The film tells the story of Seal’s involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, which was a secret U.S. government operation that sold arms to Iran in exchange for hostages.
American Made also stars Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Alejandro Edda, Mauricio Mejía, Caleb Landry Jones, and Jesse Plemons. The New York Times wrote a review of the film praising different aspects of the film saying, ”American Made” encourages and earns your laughter, although it also provokes skepticism, particularly in its attempt to portray Barry as a picaresque hero, one of those rogues tumbling and swaggering from adventure to adventure in a world that’s more corrupt than they are.”
Oblivion
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The last one on our list is the 2013 American post-apocalyptic action-adventure film Oblivion co-produced and directed by Joseph Kosinski, which also features Cruise but is set in a future where Earth has been devastated by an extraterrestrial war. The film stars Tom Cruise in the main role alongside Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in supporting roles. The film follows Jack Harper (Cruise), one of the last remaining drone repairmen stationed on the now abandoned planet. When Harper’s mission is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman (Kurylenko), he begins to question everything he knows about the war and his memory.
Oblivion was inspired by 1970s science fiction, namely Ray Bradbury’s novel The Martian Chronicles. The film was released to critical acclaim and was a box office success. The Hollywood Reporter gave particular praise for the film’s visuals saying, “There have been many films set on an Earth depleted of humans, but few as visually enthralling as this one. Shot by Claudio Miranda of Life of Pi, Oblivion shares that film’s lovely light, nuanced coloration and virtually seamless meshing of live photography and effects.”Amy Schumer
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