Top Gun Double Bill

“It’s too close for missiles. I’m switching to guns.” Classic. I feel like people usually love or hate Top Gun and I personally have never understood how you can fall into the latter group. I think both Top Gun films are such engaging movies, they’re your classic, action genre dad films and that’s what I absolutely love about them. The first film stood alone for 36 years, so when a sequel was released, I think a lot of people were expecting for it to fall flat. But with a solid foundation, Top Gun: Maverick built on the enjoyment of the franchise for a lot of people. So, I think this double bill is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself within the “elite school for the top one percent of pilots”. Top Gun follows egotistical, hot shot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) who gets a chance to attend Fighter Weapons School, or more commonly known as Top Gun. Maverick’s dad, also a pilot, had a bad reputation for a supposed failed mission, and so Maverick isn’t very well received amongst his peers. Now if you’re perhaps a physics or engineering student, word of warning, some lines and concepts in this are a little stupid but I think that’s the fun of it. I mean “Maverick going supersonic – I’ll be there in 30 seconds” when referring to a 200-mile distance is a little silly, but who cares! The film looks cool, has an awesome soundtrack and is so very 80’s— sounds like my idea of a good time! Top Gun: Maverick is an excellent sequel. It’s got a great cast, including Tom Cruise to reprise his role as Maverick among some other (at times tear inducing) cameos, and both subtle and not so subtle ties back to the original to appease the casual and hardcore fans alike. With an engaging story line and thrilling cinematography, even if you haven’t seen the original you can still appreciate this film on its own. But I would definitely recommend watching them together… Oh wait you can – it’s a double bill!

Victoria Beaumont