Captain Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is ordered to train a new generation of fighter pilots ahead of an impossible mission where a rogue nation’s uranium enrichment plant must be destroyed. Three decades may have passed since the first Top Gun premiered, but neither Cruise nor Maverick have changed much. This time he brought onboard his Mission: Impossible partner Christopher McQuarrie and it’s a sequel that outdoes the original, in some part because of how playfully and emotionally it handles the nostalgia and inherent silliness of the concept. Touching reunion between Cruise and Val Kilmer, and the last half-hour certainly delivers the action. 

2022-U.S. 131 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Christopher McQuarrie. Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Screenplay: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie. Music: Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer. Song: ”Hold My Hand” (performed by Lady Gaga). Cast: Tom Cruise (Pete “Maverick” Mitchell), Miles Teller (Bradley ”Rooster” Bradshaw), Jennifer Connelly (Penelope ”Penny” Benjamin), Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman… Ed Harris, Val Kilmer. 

Trivia: Filmed in 2019 and delayed a few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oscar: Best Sound.

Last word: “I read the script, I had some ideas, and Jerry liked those ideas. He said, ‘You know what, you gotta go pitch this to Tom directly.’ So we flew to Paris, where Tom was shooting Mission: Impossible, we got about a half hour of his time between setups. And I basically had 30 minutes to pitch this film, which I didn’t realize when we were flying over. But when I got there, I found that Tom really didn’t want to make another Top Gun. It’s one of those moments as a director, you have one on every film, where you’re on the spot to make a case for why this movie should be made. I had 30 minutes to do it. And at the end of the pitch, he picked up the phone, he called the head of Paramount Pictures and said, ‘We’re making another Top Gun.’ It’s pretty impressive to see the power of a real movie star in that moment.” (Kosinski, Polygon)