15 Facts About “Top Gun: Maverick” That Prove Tom Cruise Doesn’t Need a Green Screen

After 36 years of waiting, the classic is back. In 1986, we met Pete Mitchell, better known as “Maverick”, one of the first and most outstanding characters in the long and brilliant career of Tom Cruise. In this sequence, which for some fans surpasses the first film, the production team prepared even more surprises, with several aerial stunts that make us question whether everything that appears on the scene is real. We can say that the answer is yes.

O incredible.club I couldn’t wait to fasten my seat belts and embark on this adventure again. Check out in today’s article some details behind this classic that is back in theaters.

1. Said Goodbye to CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and Used Real Planes

It’s no secret that Tom Cruise loves to be in action scenes, and the sequel to Top Gun – Aces Hunting is no exception. According to the actor, the green screen was not an option because in this type of filming the distortions in the face caused by the force of gravity do not appear. For Joseph Kosinski, director of the film, it was important that the flight scenes were innovative, so he had all the actors record their scenes flying in real planes.

“I said to the studio, ‘You don’t know how difficult this movie is going to be.’ An aerial sequence like this had never been done before,” said the actor.

At first, Tom had no intention of making a sequel to the 1986 classic. However, Joseph Kosinski had some ideas for the return of the Maverick character and in just 30 minutes he explained to the actor what he had in mind for the new film. Tom Cruise grabbed his cell phone, immediately called Paramount Pictures and said, “I want to do another Top Gun.” It was from that phone call that it all began.

However, Tom Cruise had only one condition for the film to be made: that actor Val Kilmer return to play “Iceman”. “It was really exciting to see Val and Tom working together after 35 years,” said the director.

To prepare for a scene on a boat, the actress rehearsed on a coffee table, with her two children splashing and blowing as she ran through her lines. In this way, she ensured that the air circulation and rapid movement of the craft (the boat was real, after all) would not let her forget what was in the script.

For the sequel to this classic, more hours were recorded than for the three Lord of the Rings films. Joseph Kosinski said that of the 12 or 14 hours of recording that were done in a day, approximately 30 seconds were used.

“It took us a long time to get where we wanted to be. It was months and months of aerial shots,” she explained.

Top Gun: Maverick was released 36 years after the original’s debut. It is, therefore, one of the longest periods in cinema history that separate a film from its sequel.

7. The soundtrack is inspired by the 80’s

The highlights of the film’s soundtrack are Lady Gaga and BloodPop and the main song is inspired by sentimental ballads from the 80s, the debut decade of the first film. According to the composers, Hold my hand is a love letter to the world.

As the scenes where the actors are inside a plane are real, almost everyone threw up at some point during the aerial stunts. According to Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of the film, only one actress besides Tom Cruise did not vomit during the recordings; her name is Monica Barbaro.

“The expressions on the actors’ faces are not acting. When the plane is climbing, so are they; when the plane goes upside down, so do they. You can imagine the effort this took from each actor,” she explained.

In 1994, the actor took a license and was able to fly some planes and helicopters. During filming, he would occasionally fly a helicopter to take the director to the set and back again. In real life, Tom has already drawn some aircraft.

Miles Teller plays Bradley Bradshaw, son of Nick, Maverick’s best friend in the first film. For this new character, Miles chooses a codename whose reference is the name of a bird in English, as well as Nick: the father was called “Goose” (Goose) and Bradley is called “Rooster” (Rooster).

Tom Cruise didn’t think it was necessary to put a number in the name of the new film. Therefore, instead of Top Gun 2, the producers opted for Top Gun: Maverick.

As we’ve said before, one of the things that makes this movie so special is that it was actually shot in the heights. However, this caused the final result to have some “imperfections”, such as shaky scenes, almost imperceptible camera reflections and framing problems.

“All this made the experience much more exciting, real and human”, said Claudio Miranda, director of photography for the film.

So that the actors could perform in the heights, Tom created a 3-month training course for himself and his colleagues that included many hours of flying, swimming and how to deploy a parachute.

Actor Tom Cruise confirmed that the sequel kept the same tone as the first film, with a lot of speed and many fighters flying at all times. All of this made the sequence awaken a beautiful feeling of nostalgia in fans of 1986’s Top Gun – Aces Hunting.

Recording a movie inside a fighter jet is not simple. Tom Cruise worked for 15 months with the navy to find the best way to get the cameras on and off aircraft without affecting pilotage. That is, the actors themselves had to turn on the cameras and the director could only see the scenes when the aircraft returned to the ground.

“In order for them to understand what looked good on the shoot, I had to teach them cinematography and lighting,” says Tom.

Would you dare to fly a fighter jet if given the opportunity? If you were called to work as an extra in a movie, would you face the challenge? Tell in the comments.