After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell continues to push the envelope as a courageous test pilot, deliberately avoiding the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he is ordered to the Top Gun program at Naval Air Station North Island to train a detachment of elite graduates for a specialized, nearly impossible mission, Maverick confronts both the ghosts of his past and an uncertain future.
The mission parameters are terrifying: a precision low-level strike on an enemy uranium enrichment facility located at the end of a narrow canyon, defended by next-generation surface-to-air missiles and fifth-generation fighter jets. The pilots must fly at extreme speed through the canyon, pull a near-impossible climb, hit the target, and escape — all within minutes. No GPS, no margin for error.
Among the Top Gun recruits is Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw — the son of Maverick’s late best friend Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, whose death in the original Top Gun has haunted Maverick for decades. As Maverick pushes the young pilots to their limits while battling a system that sees human pilots as relics in a world of drones, he must prove that courage, experience, and instinct still matter. The film’s breathtaking aerial photography, shot with real fighter jets and real G-forces, delivered one of the most visceral cinematic experiences in years.
Director & Cast
Director: Joseph Kosinski — working with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise, Kosinski created a sequel that honored the original while standing entirely on its own as a modern masterpiece.
Cast: Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin, Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Cyclone, Glen Powell as Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin, Ed Harris as Rear Admiral Chester Cain, and Val Kilmer as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky.
Behind the Scenes
The actors underwent three months of intensive flight training to handle the G-forces of real F/A-18 Super Hornets. Tom Cruise personally designed the training program. No CGI was used for the flight sequences — every cockpit shot is real. The film grossed over $1.49 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2022 and the highest-grossing film of Tom Cruise’s career.
