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Top Gun: Maverick - surprisingly good

1.36.2.67
Posted on May 24, 2022 at 15:24:00
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
 No not good in a film art way but good in a summer blockbuster way. And I didn't much like the first one.

Basically, you come for the planes and hope there is enough storytelling and a plot holds together enough to make sense.

Basically, it's as this reviewer noted.

"The ultimate Gen X Dad fantasy, in which a 50-something gets to outsmart and outperform the younger generation's best and brightest."

I don't think it's as good as the rave reviews it's getting over at rottentomatoes: Many 4/4 and 5/5 star reviews. I'd put it more as a ***/***** which is my threshold for a recommendation.

Some of the music from the original film is back. There is no bad guy - you never know which country they are fighting - must keep everything PC but I suppose it doesn't much matter to the pilots - they have a mission to carry out - the target is irrelevant (I guess) and so it's a bit of an odd mix of 1980s mentality and modern-day enlightenment.

Still an enjoyable ride - deserving of a big-screen viewing - I went on Tuesday here for $65 HKD ($8 USD) and it included free popcorn and $15 ($2) for a soda/ So can't complain.

 

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RE: Top Gun: Maverick - surprisingly good, posted on May 24, 2022 at 16:20:15
beach cruiser
Audiophile

Posts: 7054
Location: so cal
Joined: September 24, 2003
 before covid, a movie of such stature would have me seeking out the biggest screen, best projection and sound to see the show, I had mental inventory of the quality movie houses in the L.A. area.

It will take more than this movie to get this old guy to return to that scene.

I used the excuse for attending mindless trash that they were cultural events, and one needs to know what's up with general society. Occasionally I would get a real treat, but I usually know what to expect by exposure to years of promotion. an understanding I first gained insight into when working at the movies while in high school.

the fighter plane sequence in the first movie was the unquestioned king of home theatre selling demonstrations, and I doubt the new one is shooting for second place. I expect it is quite a show, such spectacles hardly translate when seen in the home, like trying to run an indy car race in the front room .

I am curious as to how the fact that the top gun school has been closed for many years is handled, how the script manages to make it relevant.

I once worked, briefly, with a load of scientologists , a scurrilous lot, but clean and well groomed. I repeat a remark I once heard. "Well how could they not love tom cruise, you have an eight foot wide smile of a third level phetheion, I forget the whack rank he has in their organization, spread across the movie screen. apparently in that world , success is a given once you advance far enough up in their deal, and it isn't cheap.

I had a teenaged friend who never really turned the corner into adulthood, and needed a ride to Hollywood to give money give money so he could gain more Scientology insight. I talked with a very pretty recruiter while there, it didn't go well , and stopped altogether when I asked about Elron's finances, the name they used for the founder at the time.

For ten years after that, once a year, I would get a hand written recruitment letter from those kooks, sent to my childhood address, causing my mother to worry about her son. once when she handed me the letter, she asked me if there was anything I wanted to tell her, anything at all.

 

RE: Top Gun: Maverick - surprisingly good, posted on May 24, 2022 at 16:52:15
grantv
Manufacturer

Posts: 7724
Location: B.C.
Joined: January 15, 2002
 As much as I don't implicitly trust RT to make a movie going choice... it does provide a number of opinions with which we sometimes do.
Add a couple YouTube videos, that's enough.
I've watched movies on lesser quantity, supposedly higher recommended opinions, and regretted it. RT at least offers a wide variety of viewers, somewhat helpful...
That said, TG looks good, and I wasn't that much into the original either.

 

RE: Top Gun: Maverick - surprisingly good, posted on May 24, 2022 at 17:46:50
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
 I think it's better than the original - I never thought the original was all that well-reviewed. I looked it up and the original had just a 56% fresh tomato rating. I think this one is better but it's still a mix of young guy bravado, melodrama and flight sequences. More of them and better flight sequences.

 

It appears that this year, again we must look to "art," for our entertainment, BC. , posted on May 26, 2022 at 04:48:26
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 "Parasite." "Drive My Car." And the word this year is that, "Men, by the guy behind the under-appreciated, "Annhilation," and, "Ex Maquina," may be the year's best.

 

A brilliant remake of the original . . . , posted on May 29, 2022 at 11:32:29
Billy Wonka
Audiophile

Posts: 3761
Joined: April 25, 2013
Contributor
  Since: October 15, 2013
 It hit all the musical and thematic notes of TG1. The acting was better and the story more involving due to the maturity of the leads.

Sperler;


I thought I picked up a notion that it could continue with a "new" cast.

 

Beachcomber..., posted on May 31, 2022 at 18:22:00
troutbum
Audiophile

Posts: 386
Location: NW Ohio
Joined: January 14, 2001
 Oops....I meant Beach Cruiser

What was the point of your post? I saw no value in it for those wondering about whether the movie was worth seeing on the Big Screen.

My take was a very pleasant surprise. I liked the original...but more for the wonderful aerial action. Certainly not for Cruise, who I generally am so-so on. However, in the new movie, I thought that Cruise showed he has matured into a pretty good actor. My only negative on his performance was WAY too many smiles...just seemed overboard. I quite liked the inclusion of the son of Goose, from the original. It added well to the movie plot. Almost all the other actors were stellar in their performances. My only negative was seeing Cruise along with Val Kilmer....Cruise was in awesome shape...Val?..well I wonder if they didn't have to improve his looks for the movie. Certainly, if he looked in half the shape as Cruise he would have had a bigger role.

Bottom line....go see it....the flight visuals alone are worth it on the Big Screen. But, beyond that....damn good movie, plot and acting.

 

RE: Beachcomber..., posted on May 31, 2022 at 21:09:18
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Big fan of Val. He is lucky to be alive.

 

Have not watched, but probably will..., posted on June 7, 2022 at 13:25:41
Ross
Audiophile

Posts: 1814
Joined: January 24, 2000
 I heard one bad review, from someone who has a security clearance. Bad acting, and not at all realistic.

All other reviews have been favorable to outstanding.

We recently watched TG-1 on Netflix. I saw it back in the day, and few times since, but is have been a long time since my last viewing.

Re-watching the movie caused me to realize that it was designed as a product with something for everyone:

Summer Cheese for a Drive in Movie (where I first saw it)
Fighter Planes for testosterone and beer fueled young guys
Fighting the Ruskies for cold warriors
Meg Ryan and Kelly McGillis as eye candy for the guys
Buff Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and a few others for the GF and Wives of the guys in the audience
And it was surprisingly homoerotic- several locker room scenes of scantily clad buff guys, and of course the volley ball scene consisting of sweaty buff guys with a few muscle poses thrown in.

Its a product designed to appeal. Who cares about the plot or character development !

 

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