Top Gun: Maverick

[PB]

I don't know, hence the question mark. Are there G forces in space?

Not if you're moving in a straight line with zero acceleration/constant velocity, but otherwise ......
And don't get me started on artificial gravity.

[dookeyXXX]

So, way back on 5/26, I mentioned how a large chunk of the plot seemed as if it were lifted straight from Star Wars: A New Hope (https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...15#post6623115).

Well, today I watched the 1955 British film The Dam Busters.
It’s a WWII epic based on the real life 1943 RAF Operation Chastise
And what do you know? The plot is eerily similar to those employed by both SW:ANH and Top Gun: Maverick.
I have to imagine that it had some influence on both films’ stories.

[waxman]

So, way back on 5/26, I mentioned how a large chunk of the plot seemed as if it were lifted straight from Star Wars: A New Hope (https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...15#post6623115).

Well, today I watched the 1955 British film The Dam Busters.
It’s a WWII epic based on the real life 1943 RAF Operation Chastise
And what do you know? The plot is eerily similar to those employed by both SW:ANH and Top Gun: Maverick.
I have to imagine that it had some influence on both films’ stories.

there is a video on youtube or somewhere that has the Dambusters raid dubbed over with the death star attack run, the timing is almost exact

[dookeyXXX]

there is a video on youtube or somewhere that has the Dambusters raid dubbed over with the death star attack run, the timing is almost exact

Trip this crazy connection:

Gil Taylor, who was the DP on The Dam Busters was also the DP on Star Wars: A New Hope…

[Supermoon]

Trip this crazy connection:

Gil Taylor, who was the DP on The Dam Busters was also the DP on Star Wars: A New Hope…

He was like, “I got this”

[dookeyXXX]

He was like, “I got this”

In the “Making of The Dam Busters” featurette included on the DVD, they have a film critic inferring that the raid on the Death Star’s resemblance to The Dam Busters was largely due to Gil Taylor.
He had trained as an air gunner on Lancaster planes. He went on to film aerial footage for the RAF during WWII for the Bomber Command Film Unit.

So, whereas I initially commented on how much alike some of the plot points are between SW:ANH and TG:M, I wish to amend that observation and point out how much The Dam Busters appears to have influenced those films…

[Supermoon]

I think I would have loved to have a beer with that dude. What a life

[waxman]

I think I would have loved to have a beer with that dude. What a life

yeah, no kidding, all the hidden "heroes" out there, James Doohan, Christopher Lee, Robert Clothier among others the list goes on.

[Brownski]

Two stars.

[subtle plague]

I don't know, hence the question mark. Are there G forces in space?

Or are there Gs in space force, getting their hustle on?

If you're serious: watch the expanse.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GOyfyFUqPzg

[jono]

What did he call them? "The forces of gravity"? Cringe.

I saw it with my wife and another couple. We don't do many movies in theaters, but we did go to a particularly awful one on our first date. And she's watched Top Gun a million times. So there's some kinda nostalgia there and I'm told that this was a good movie and that I liked it.

But am I the only one who just felt old walking out of there? Like this is my generation's On Golden Pond. Gotta make wrinkles, smile lines, dried up eustachian tubes, dusty old Ninjas, F-18's (not to mention 14's), air-cooled Porsches, P-51's and 80's movie themes cool. Because we're toooootally not too old to be cool and our nostalgic egos should write more checks our bodies can't cash. Ouch. I need to stretch more.

[DeepHelmet]

What did he call them? "The forces of gravity"? Cringe.

I saw it with my wife and another couple. We don't do many movies in theaters, but we did go to a particularly awful one on our first date. And she's watched Top Gun a million times. So there's some kinda nostalgia there and I'm told that this was a good movie and that I liked it.

But am I the only one who just felt old walking out of there? Like this is my generation's On Golden Pond. Gotta make wrinkles, smile lines, dried up eustachian tubes, dusty old Ninjas, F-18's (not to mention 14's), air-cooled Porsches, P-51's and 80's movie themes cool. Because we're toooootally not too old to be cool and our nostalgic egos should write more checks our bodies can't cash. Ouch. I need to stretch more.

You're as old as you think you are. The only difference between us and 20 somethings is we're a little smarter about most things, have more money (hopefully), and we when we eat shit on a bike or skis we don't bounce like we used to . FWIW I thought the movie was fantastic.

[jono]

I thought they achieved their goal pretty well, too. In fact, apart from the plot thinness,

SPOILER


my only quibble was that they left the formula by not trading in the second of the split-second saves for giving Hangman a little more dramatic redemption. In the 80's he'd have been on the radio coordinating--and it's not like we didn't know he was coming.

I just wasn't prepared for what that full onslaught of nostalgia implies. There's no money in pandering to the nostalgic youth.

[Not DJSapp]

I thought they achieved their goal pretty well, too. In fact, apart from the plot thinness,

SPOILER


my only quibble was that they left the formula by not trading in the second of the split-second saves for giving Hangman a little more dramatic redemption. In the 80's he'd have been on the radio coordinating--and it's not like we didn't know he was coming.

I just wasn't prepared for what that full onslaught of nostalgia implies. There's no money in pandering to the nostalgic youth.

Yeah, they could have extended the scene on the bridge when they picked up the F14 on radar and had the Captain call out to launch Hangman and (whoever the other on standby was), and had another moment of F18 launching from a Navy carrier porn.

[Dantheman]

How has no one mentioned the "surviving a catastrophic airframe failure at hypersonic speed" thing? The whole plot was dogshit but that stands alone.

But, what if the plot actually goes much deeper than it first appears? What if the plot is stolen not just from Star Wars and Dam Busters, but also from Lost?

Hear me out here. He died in the hypersonic crash. The rest of the movie was Maverick's afterlife, his soul's quest to find peace. It fixes everything that appears to be wrong with the plot when viewed literally.

"It's time to let go."

[NOLAjong]

Brilliant.

[dookeyXXX]

Hear me out here. He died in the hypersonic crash. The rest of the movie was Maverick's afterlife, his soul's quest to find peace. It fixes everything that appears to be wrong with the plot when viewed literally.

"It's time to let go."

So, basically you’re saying that it’s a modern day riff on Carnival of Souls?

[Not DJSapp]

How has no one mentioned the "surviving a catastrophic airframe failure at hypersonic speed" thing? The whole plot was dogshit but that stands alone.

But, what if the plot actually goes much deeper than it first appears? What if the plot is stolen not just from Star Wars and Dam Busters, but also from Lost?

Hear me out here. He died in the hypersonic crash. The rest of the movie was Maverick's afterlife, his soul's quest to find peace. It fixes everything that appears to be wrong with the plot when viewed literally.

"It's time to let go."

Hey, if Indiana Jones can survive a nuclear blast by hiding inside a lead lined refrigerator, Maverick can survive a hypersonic breakup.

[Dantheman]

So, basically you’re saying that it’s a modern day riff on Carnival of Souls?

I had to look that up. The consensus seems to be that it was Mary experiencing some kind of hallucinatory nightmare in the moments before her death, which isn't quite the angle I'm looking at. I see it more like Lost or maybe The Sixth Sense, where a soul has to find closure before they can fully let go of their flawed mortal life. Mav completes the impossible mission against an amorphous ill-defined "enemy" despite being at an age when he would never, ever have been assigned such a task no matter how tight he is with an Admiral, reunites with his lost love, reconciles with Rooster, and his soul can now rest.

Obviously, I'm being a bit facetious here. But, I'm running with it because otherwise the movie turns me into that Tommy Lee Jones eye-rolling meme from The Fugitive. The flight sequences were pretty badass, though. The whole movie should just have been Mav schooling young punks in flight school.

[detrusor]

Think maverick should have died saving rooster. If movie ended there it would have been a gillion times better


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[Ski to Be]

Hey, if Indiana Jones can survive a nuclear blast by hiding inside a lead lined refrigerator, Maverick can survive a hypersonic breakup.

Probably one of the funniest scenes in cinema history for me. It is the only Indiana Jones scene that I will go back and watch even now. Even the Rocket sled leading up to it is so over the top.

[Brownski]

How has no one mentioned the "surviving a catastrophic airframe failure at hypersonic speed" thing? The whole plot was dogshit but that stands alone.

yeah, good point, but the most ridiculous plot point was Maverick and Rooster sauntering unimpeded onto an enemy airstrip and stealing an F-14 that was conveniently gassed up and armed yet also completely unattended. Now that I think of it, both of them being shot down within walking distance of one another AND walking distance of the enemy airfield but not encountering any enemy ground forces on the way is pretty stupid too. Oh yeah, the rest of the plot was pretty thin also but I somehow still enjoyed it.

Here’s my pitch:
Maverick has finally been forced to retire and now works for a private sector dissimilar air combat training company (they actually exist believe it or not) flying - get this- an honest to god Mig-28. The same need for a surgical strike on an Iranian Nuke plant arises with all the same challenges (gps jammers, 5th Gen fighters, integrated air defense etc etc…) The F-14 has been long since retired by the navy. They decide to pull a half dozen out of museums and refurbish them for the mission because Iran is the last country in the world that still flies them. So the idea is that they’re gonna sneak in, pretending to be Iranian Air Force, carry out the surprise surgical strike and then fight their way back to the carrier. And who is the best former F-14 jock still flying fighters well into his dotage? Yup. Good old Maverick. He shows up as a civilian instructor to teach the young hotshots how the real men did it back in the stick-and-rudder days. Of course he encounters the dickhead admiral that forced him to retire along the way. They insult each other a couple times, slam doors, etc… Insert all the dick waving competition, beach volleyball, piano playing, adult day-drinking here. In fact there’s so much day-drinking going on that Payback rolls his ankle on a curb while stumbling home drunk and Mav has to step in at the last second to fly the mission. Just to keep it legal, they have to reinstate him in the navy (at a really low rank for, you know, humor). The rest of it goes more or less like you expect. They pull off the mission, shoot down some MiGs, somebody (Rooster I guess) get’s shot up and Mav refuses to leave them behind etc etc… And if they have to get shot down, they don’t sneak around and steal a plane. The whole fucking air wing launches to escort a company of Marines in helicopters to come pull off the rescue. And they blow up a ton of shit in the process. I mean like a shit ton of stuff. They bomb and blow up everything within eyesight. The Marines deposit Mav and Rooster and their backseaters back on the carrier amongst a wild celebration on the flight deck while the dickhead admiral watches from the bridge with a knowing smile. Roll credits

[Dantheman]

All of those things, while implausible, are theoretically possible and within my limit of suspension of disbelief. The original had its flaws but the mission was a totally realistic scenario. This one is a super hero movie. It's odd considering how committed they were to the flight sequences being real.

The pitch is brilliant.

[dookeyXXX]

^^
Only thing missing from that pitch is a skiing sequence.
Since Iran is supposed to have some killer skiing, toss in a crash in the mountains that forces Maverick to make some ad hoc skis out of the wreckage and then he shreds to safety…

[Brownski]

^^
Only thing missing from that pitch is a skiing sequence.
Since Iran is supposed to have some killer skiing, toss in a crash in the mountains that forces Maverick to make some ad hoc skis out of the wreckage and then he shreds to safety…

How about some 10th Mountain guys are inserted by ski to laze the target? then, when Mav gets shot down, they link up, lend Mav and Rooster one ski each and they all schuss for the border Better-Off-Dead style? Come to think of it, I think we could work in a cameo for John Cusack. He can play the owner of the private sector training company "Dammit Maverick. You're my best guy bit they need you back at Top Gun. Watch your ass." Then when they ski to safety, it will count as another 80s callback