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The actors were actually in the jets pulling the actual G's. So the face sag is real. Also, Tom for real owns that P-51 Mustang.

Fun fact: Glen Powell (Hangman) enjoyed the training and flying for this movie so much that Tom gifted him flying lessons, and now Glen is a licensed pilot. Like Tom.

The students giving Maverick the side eye during his introduction were embarrassed because they threw him out the bar. It's similar to how Maverick was embarrassed when he found out the woman he was hitting on turned out to be his instructor.

I have to say, as a fellow aviation nerd, it's really nice watching a reactor who actually knows a bunch of the technical terms beforehand (like Mach) and was able to easily identify most of the planes just by sight. Now I guess I'll drop the knowledge bits that everyone else does on the reactions: All the shots of the actors in the F/18s are real (thought some shots where multiple planes were close together was enhanced with CGI). They really sent all of them up in the back seats of F/A-18s. All the actors who flew went through a three month training course, the only actor besides Cruise who didn't throw up in their plane at least once during filming was Monica Barbaro (Phoenix). Since the only F-14s that are still flyable are operated by Iran, a static F-14 is used for in cockpit shots, and the SU-57s are entirely computer generated. It is speculated that because of the flyable F-14s, the unnamed country the mission is being run against is Iran, however, if you plug the GPS coordinates of the airbase into a map, it directs you to Point Nemo, a spot in the Pacific Ocean which is the farthest point in the world from any land. That P-51 at the start of the end of the movie is Tom Cruise's actual P-51 Mustang. Also, that shot of him and Jennifer Connelly in the Mustang, he is actually flying the aircraft, since he has had a private pilot's license for many years.

No green screen in the world can create a more immersive feeling than following the actors on REAL jets, flying FOR REAL

19:38 Fun fact: the beach scene had to be filmed twice. After the first day, Tom looked at all the footage and felt it didn't look right. So they had to message the entire cast and announce they were filming it again the next day. Most of the cast were out at dinner celebrating because they finished the beach scene. They all quickly left to go hit the gym so they could get back their beach bodies. 🤣🤣

I love how passionate VKunia is with this movie, the planes, and the F-18. Mutual respect from a history/film nerd to a Plane nerd 🤓 Fun fact: The actors are actually in the F-18s in the flying scenes, being flown by real Top Gun Navy pilots! Tom Cruise wanted to fly his own F-18 (he's a licensed pilot) but instead just got to fly the Mustang (cuz it's Cruise's personal Mustang)

It’s such a huge bummer that you miss ones like this in theaters. Movies like this are incredible in theaters.

VKunia: "They did a phenomenal job making them look like they're flying." Do you guys want to tell her or should I?

In this movie, Val Kilmer, who plays Ice-Man, has throat cancer in real life and can't speak, so they used an AI voice for the part where he talks to Mav. Such amazing acting from Tom to make that scene so real and emotional

Penny didn't appear in the original Top Gun, but she was referred to a couple of times in the film. Once at the beginning, when Maverick and Goose were getting chewed out buzzing the tower (before being told they're being sent to Top Gin), they make a reference to Maverick messing around with an admiral's daughter. Then later in the film, Goose's wife says "He told me all about the time you went ballistic with Penny Benjamin."

"They did a phenomenal job making them look like they're flying" - They are actually flying. Most shots were of the actors in the actual cockpits performing the manœuvres. They had to undergo pilot training plus camera operator training. That's why it looks so real. IT IS REAL!

The reason Iceman can barely speak is because Val Kilmer had throat cancer and can barely speak, Tom Cruise fought for Kilmer to be in this movie

Penny Benjamin was the "Admiral's Daughter" from the first movie - just referenced in passing - a nice little Easter egg - and you get a call sign after you are qualified solo on a fighter at the OTU - you may have to switch careers 🛩

To answer your question: Penny wasn't in the previous film, but was mentioned (when being grilled by their CO before being told they're going to Top Gun, her name comes up when an "admirals daughter" is brought up, with Goose asking about it). Also fun fact: The way that you see the actors in the actual planes is what Tony Scott originally wanted to do in the first film. It wasn't possible at the time due to the incontrollable lighting, which would have made it impossible to clearly see the actors. So, they used the interior sets of the cockpit and filmed on a soundstage as a result. Due to the advancements in film tech, for this film, they were able to recreate what Tony Scott originally wanted for the cockpit scenes.

Dang Vicky, never would have taken you for an aviation enthusiast. It's great to see a young lady get as geeked up about planes as me, kudos to you.

Also the move that the bandit pulls off is because 5th generation fighters can do something called "Vector thrusting" which means they can adjust the angle of their thrust on the fly, instead of just pushing straight back. It allows for absolutely insane levels of agility. If you want to see it IRL, watch some F-22 Raptor footage. It literally looks like that plane is dancing mid-air.

The shot of Maverick being launched off the carrier deck is hailed as one of the best cinematic camera shots in movie history. I think they filmed it at least twice and Tom was the only actor that got to be launched for real off the carrier. His head going forward in that dip after the F-18 leaves the deck is realistically what happens which doesn't get showcased in movies/TV as much.

Imagine waiting 36 years for the sequel. Some of us, myself included, don't have to imagine. Not that we were expecting it all that time, but the nostalgia hits even harder because of the passage of all of that time.

In honor of your Polish heritage, your call sign "PoleKat". Penny was Penny Benjamin who was mentioned in the first movie as the Admiral's daughter he went "ballistic" over. So very impressed that you knew the P-51 Mustang, my favorite WW II era plane. With the death of Goose, it wasn't just the impact with the canopy but also the speed they had to eject at that increased the force of which he hit with. Much of this movie was passing the baton down to the next generation of fighter pilots which was made even more so with the passing of Iceman. Val Kilmer actually has fought throat cancer and had still been having problems during the filming of this movie.

It's so funny that the whole time you're like "they really made it look like they're flying", when they were :D Having seen some of the BTS stuff before going to the theatre added such an extra layer of appreciation to how everything looked.

This is one of the rare times when a sequel outstrips the original in every way. This film barely puts a foot wrong. You finally get to meet Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell. and he's kind of awesome. This was the biggest surprise of that year for me!

Penny is actually mentioned in the last movie. The fact that they found the only other girl mentioned & brought her to life is genius. Tom mentioned penny to his superior when goose & maverick were called to scold by their superior.

One thing you missed, the bartender is Penny Benjamin referenced in Top Gun just before Mav and Goose sing great balls of fire

Not going to lie as I was watching the movie with my friends in my theater where I live, I was starting to cry because the scenes were very emotional, the action was amazing, and of course the performances were so brilliant, Fantastic reaction to this fun film VKunia.

You probably know by now, but I'll say it again: The actors were actually in the back seat of real F-18s, they chose their own callsigns, and directed the cockpit cameras by themselves. Watch a behind the scenes documentary on KZfaq, it shows the training Tom Cruise put them through. Lastly, the Mustang jet is Tom Cruise's private plane. Great reaction, as usual. :)

Seen this in the theatre with 4D with moving seats, air, water, snow and even rubber/gun powder smells, absolutely incredible.

Before today, the biggest laughs I've gotten in Top Gun Maverick reactions were from watching real fighter pilots dissect the movie. They all love it but also see TONS of detail that we don't, making their commentary super fascinating and at times, hilarious. However, you had me hooting today with that "texting the wrong Iceman" joke...OMG! I had to pause and just let the huge belly laugh out 😃

"Goose came back" best accidental line anywhere! This movie is up there w/ The Shawshank Redemption and A Fist Full Of Dollars! What a great sequel!

The cockpit shots are great because theyre actually in the jets filming them! All the actors actually had to go through training in order to get those shots.

Hearing you talk about planes and calling them out as you see them makes me so happy. You calling out the P-51 right away made me smile ear to ear xD

Easily the best movie that’s been out in a very long time

Seeing you get so emotional an passionate about the F-18 really was heart warming for me. :) I share same enthusiasm for certain planes and I often get just the looks from people like 'it's just a plane, so what?'...

One of the best movies I’ve seen in IMAX, the flying landscapes shots are beautiful

It looks like they are really flying because THEY ARE!! There was very little cgi, they all were flying in them the whole movie. In one scene Rooster comes up out of his seat, his actual harness came loose and he said it scared the shit out of him and they kept it in the film for more authenticity.

9:18 You want a call sign? You got it. Since you love the Super Hornet so much, from this day forward you shall be known as, "Queen Bee"

When you said that's a P-51, I was like, dahum she knows here aircraft. Also, your callsign is Hornet.

My cousins and I all started laughing when we realized the mission they were training for was just the trench run from Star Wars: A New Hope

Just FYI, almost every scene of them flying was recorded with them in the back seat of a Super Hornet with 6 cameras facing back and 2-4 cameras facing forward so they could composite it all together in post-production to make it look like the actors were flying the missions, but there were Navy pilots REALLY flying the missions. The 'attention to detail' of the face sagging when pulling Gs is because they were actually pulling Gs. Much like James Cameron went to extraordinary lengths to film underwater, Joseph Kosinski went through similar lengths to put us into the plane, feeling the speed, as it were, and the gyrations. When Rooster gets that negative G bounce in his plane in the final mission, it's because it really happened when they went inverted, he wasn't strapped in as tightly as he should have been. This was a great homage film to all who fight and fly. As a former Air Force guy myself, I appreciate your enthusiasm of them and their aircraft.

When someone ejects from a fighter the seat has propellent beneath it he was going up with some force, so when he hits the canopy he breaks his neck from the force of being shot upward, because of the flat spin the canopy was directly above, in most ejections the canopy ends up behind you. By the way, Penny Benjamin is Sara from Labyrinth

20:07 - Smoothest move ever leaving the door open.

A few comments: My first memory, when I was not quite 3 years old, was holding my dad's hand, he in his AF uniform, in late 1950, (he flew back seat in an F94), we are at Wright Patterson Air Base, and suddenly there in front of me, on the flight line, was a silver P-51, my jaw just dropped. The flight jacket Tom Cruise wears has a 'Marvin The Martian' patch - which is not only a call back to the original "Top Gun", it was the unit patch William Holden wore in 1954's "The Bridges At Toko-Ri". Not only did I see the original "Top Gun" in the theater, I remember seeing the 1954 movie during its theatrical run, at a drive in.

The Intensity of this Movienand Having His Actors ATTEND FLIGHT SCHOOL..Made it WORTH the 30ish Year Wait!🙏😎🌹👍

Maverick was so incredible that I wanted to go back to see it in theaters another few times but I didn't because I wanted to give myself some time to at least forget it a little. So the next time I see it can be like watching for the 1st time again.

Penny (bartender) is the Admiral daughter that Maverick got docked for giving a ride in his f-14 in the first Top Gun. She is mentioned a couple times in the first movie.

It took far too many years to see this sequel. I'm forever amazed/impressed, and grateful they *NAILED IT!*

12:47 This was my exact same experience when I was a kid, just a year or two after Top Gun came out. Right as the guy on the speakers introduced the F-14 (MY favorite, thanks mostly to the first movie, lol), it came up from below the horizon. I couldn't believe how huge it actually was. He flew off, turned around, and then broke the sound barrier on his second pass. It was one of the coolest things I ever saw, lol.

26:47 They're literally flying. :) That's one of the reasons why this movie is so good.

Fun facts: The F-35 that Maverick references as his first choice for the mission is featured in the opening carrier sequences. But the story had to be written for the F-18 because... the cockpit was built so that the actors could ride in the backseat and it had enough space for the special camera rigs to be outfitted in there. The F-35 is only a single seat fightercraft. Also, the inside of the F-35 cockpit and many of its parts are classified so the interior couldn't be shown in the movie.

The reason it looks so real is because it is. Most of it was filmed with actual jets. The actors/pilots in this movie were actually in the Hornets when flying. The cockpit shots were shot with specialized cameras. The actors actually had to go to flight school and a little navy training. Of course the there were actual Topgun pilots flying, but they were in the jump seat. Also the actor who played “Hangman” actually got the hours to get his pilots license making this movie. And last Tom cruise actually flys his own Mustang in this movie.

Your swooning over the F/A-18 Super Hornets (especially at 12:20, and again at 25:25) is my favorite part of this reaction. Thank you for caring so much about aircraft.

What I love about this movie is that it helps complete Maverick's character arc. It looks back at the growth he had in the first film, and instead of making the typical mistake of just doing the same thing again, they took the next step and that's why it works so well. Mav had a movie, and had character growth, but he's still not perfect, and that's okay, because he's still growing. So in this movie, they give Maverick the chance to do the one thing he failed at in the first movie, and gave him the closure he needed: He brought Goose home.

Joseph Kosinski was the reason why I went to see this movie I'm a fan of his work, since TRON LEGACY

My brother had just joined the Navy when my dad took me to see the first Top Gun movie. He wanted me to follow my brother, it didn't work, I joined the Marines. I still love both of these movies.

the 5th Gen fighters in that fight were Sukhoi Su-57's, in reality if plot armor didnt exist, then Maverick's F-14 would've been blown to bits.

I seriously can't stop rewatching this movie! It's just so fricking good!!! It's this movie and it's prequel that made me interested about Air Force. Btw if you didn't know, Tom does own the plane he works on in this movie. 11:31 this was a callback to the first film and I loved every part of it! 29:36 imagine Goose actually came back (which is impossible) and said something like, "you SOAB, that kill is mine."

Vkunia always looking like she just got back from an opera

The two Foxtrot teams were made to look like they were flying the F/A-18F which is a two-seater variant while the one "Mavrick" and "Rooster" were made to look like they were flying was the E model which is a single seat version of the hornet. An aviator hornet qualified is capable of flying either model, it all depends on the squadron they go to.

I’m so happy Tom can wear his old jacket Despite Chiina’s objection

I absolutely LOVED your reaction to this film! And the fact that you have so much love for the aircraft was such a wonderful delight that sweetened up the entire experience! 10 out of 10 reaction, because it was GENUINE!! Thanks so much, V!!

As impressive as the Hornet is, it still isn't the same as a TOMCAT!!!!!!

F18 Superhornets are from the 90s. First flight in 95, but wasn't put into service until 99. So 20+ years old planes put up against 5th generation fighters, and even worse in the F14 that was built in the 70s

You were wondering how much an F 18 costs. This is what i found. "The advertised flyaway cost of the F/A-18F is about $65 million. With an expected life of 6,000 flight hours, the amortized capital cost of the asset is $10,800.Feb 15, 2023"

Been a follower for awhile now, and you just gained major points for being a fellow aviation nerd! My first time seeing an F-18 was seeing the Blue Angels at our local air show. Several years ago we had the F-22 demonstration team here and the maneuvers that plane can pull are insane to witness firsthand!!! Keep up the good work on your reactions!

4:03 Holy ****, she knows the P-51 Mustang!! 😍 Edit: Wow, she knows a whole lot about aircraft! Probably more than I do about the F-18. Respect!

The love interest in this one is the admiral's daughter briefly referenced in the 1st top gun

They weren't being judgemental, they realised that their instructor was the guy they threw "overboard"

This is the only movie I’ve ever seen in the theaters twice. It was that good.

I never knew you were such an aviation enthusiast. We should get you your private pilot's license. Thumbs up from me! 👍

13:32 Funny story, almost every Tom Cruise film has a character named Bob.

just for the people that are still not believing that Goose broke his neck against the canopy in the first movie : a fighter pilot can only do 3 ejection in his life time, cause if he does a 4th, the only thing he'll be able to pilot is a wheelchair for a few month and then never be air worthy ever again. The ejection rockets under the seat are giving enough G forces to tamp your spine and doing that 4 times is causing irreversible lesions. Now, that's taking in account that everything goes well, that the only thing you meet during the ejection procedure is air. Goose met a solid canopy and the impact point was the top of his head

Jason Bourne series and Mission impossible series need to be seen by you!

@VKunia You have to watch Mission Impossible (1996) to catch up with that franchise

Actually, that strange "high-alpha" maneuver the Su-57 pilot did is supposed to be a function of the plane, which is a "fifth-generation" fighter. It's something the plane can normally do that most other fighters cannot (the F-22 can and maybe the F-35, along with Flanker variants with thrust vectoring), so it's not about the pilot in this case. In combat, though, you wouldn't want to do that because it costs too much speed, but of course this is a movie, so it actually worked. The same pretty much goes for the "cobra" maneuver that Maverick keeps doing.

Years ago I worked on updating the planning books for several planes including the F-15 and F-18 E/F. My favorite part was going down to the hangar to watch them do test flights after the updates were done. It was so cool because my grandparents lived by the airport and we would always watch the planes take off and land. It was 1,000 times cooler seeing them up close.

I wasn't into the first movie because of how technical everything was. Since I don't know anything about aviation, it was hard to understand what the characters were doing This movie on the other hand was a lot easier to understand. They had a mission and they had to know how to perform each stage to complete it.

You know what I love about watching sonic booms? Everyone's clothes. Next time you get a chance, try to remember to look down at everyone's clothes. They shudder simultaneously with the boom. It's so cool looking. :)

I love how Hangman's helmet is missing letters. that's genius

26:47 They don't "look like" they are flying. They are ALL flying. In co-pilot seats, but it's still 100% real flight!~ 31:45 That is one the things Maverick was talking about when he mentioned going up against 5th gen fighters. That is called thrust vectoring. It's not a move but a feature of the plane itself. Scary shit.

Penny wasn’t physically in the last film, but she was referenced in the first 15 mins when Maverick and Goose were getting reamed by their CO, Stinger. Stinger: “With a history of high speed passes over 5 air control towers and one admiral’s daughter!” Goose leans over and whispers: “Penny Benjamin…?”

Ignore the critique on the ejection from peeps, ejection seats have rocket motors in them so he was being fired into the canopy thus breaking his neck. Alot of reactors didn't catch it and didn't know what was goin on.

Had no idea you were so into planes like that! Your excitement was infectious, it honestly brought a smile to my face. Possible Kunia callsigns: *Flygirl* is maybe too on the nose, but makes sense. Something with movies or shows, given your KZfaq career, maybe *Showtime* ? Feels too flashy? My favorite I came up with was *Yellow Jacket* , since the F/A-18 is your favorite - it's a close family member of the common hornet! Loved watching this one, it was really fun with you! Thanks for your time and effort!

Penny was not the love interest from before, but she was mentioned, she was a admiral’s daughter that him and Goose had referred when they got in trouble.

I feel like Hangman behaves like how Maverick would have if he didn’t have a Goose to help keep him in line.

"They did a phenomenal job making it look like they're flying" That's because they are. Cruise insisted that the actors were taken up in the f18s to film the shots to make it look and feel as realistic as possible. This way you can see them react to all the vibrations and turns. It's why it feels so real. The lighting can be challenging with green screens to make it perfectly match the backdrop. This is using actual real world lighting so it feels very real and integrated.

in 1989, the Blue Angels were in town. The day before the airshow they were practicing and one of them did a slow low altitude fly by my house. I was buzzed by an F-18 and I have been in love with the legacy Hornet ever since.

The reason the aerial shots in this movie look so real is because IT IS. The actors are ACTUALLY in the air in the backseat of real F/A-18's being flown by naval aviators seated in the front seat. So any time you see an actor on-screen experiencing G's, those are REAL G's. Tom Cruise launching off the deck of a carrier was a real shot. This movie is incredible.

Fun fact, that Mustang is Tom Cruise's actual plane! The flying scene at the end of the movie was Tom taking Jennifer flying for fun so they could test the new aerial camera system.

Penny Benjamin wasn't seen in the first film, but she was mentioned twice. Once by the Aircraft Carrier commander when he's chewing out Maverick "With a history of high speed flyby's over 3 air control towers and one Admiral's daughter!"-...Goose *whispers "Penny Benjamin?" Maverick nods. And then by Goose's wife. "Goose told me all about the time you went ballistic with Penny Benjamin!"

"Such beautiful Super Hornets being... lowered." HAHA! This cracked me up!

I'll never claim I wrote papers about the F-18 for fun, but I have had a special relationship with them. Over 40 years ago (yes, I'm dating myself) I was a college intern working to support the F-18's we sold to Canada, the CF-18. The next summer I was on a slightly different assignment, but I was in an office in the assembly building and right next to the hanger with the test planes. I got to walk around and see the F-15's, F-18's and Harrier jump jets up close, and meet some of the people who had worked on those projects for years. Many years later, in 2008, I was hired as a contract technical writer to write instructions outlining the procedure to fabricate wings for the F-18. My first thought was, "How long have we been building this plane? And they don't have instructions written down yet?" They didn't, at least not a concise summary. There were blueprints and a scattering of technical documents, but nothing that wrapped it all together. I ran into a little resistance on the shop floor, the union workers had the attitude these were their trade secrets. It's amazing to see how the composite wings start off as rolls of cloth, laid out on a molded table in layers in particular patterns, cured in a massive oven, then to a room to have ports cut by water jets, etc. It's fascinating.

I spent 11 years in the U.S. Navy and i worked on the F-14 for 7 of those years, you want to know the force of a person during an ejection hitting the canopy the ejection seat comes out of the cockpit at 450 Feet Per Second, or half the muzzle velocity of a pistol bullet, hitting the canopy at that speed causes more than enough blunt force trauma on the human body to pulverize internal organs such as the liver, kidneys, heart, lings, spleen ECT. it was included in the first movie because in the early days of development of the F-14, there was a crew that did get into a flat spin, and while trying to eject, because of the aerodynamics the canopy hovered above the plane and BOTH crew were ejected into the bottom of the canopy killing them both, after that incident, Grumman redesigned the canopy and added a pair of rocket motors in the canopy rails to throw the canopy away from the plane no matter the circumstances, when the original top gun was filmed, this change had already been 100% installed in every F-14, even the earliest planes had their canopies replaced, it was put in the movie as a tribute to the 2 men that lost their lives while testing a new fighter plane.

The woman in the bar is Patty Benjamin. In the first movie, CAG chews on Mav for, among other things, "a hidtory of high speed passes over five air control towers, and one Admiral's daughter!" Goose whispers "Patty Benjamin?" Most of the actors playing pilots had leeway in choosing their callsigns, Miles Teller chose Rooster, because it was a bird, close to Goose, but enough not-Goose he could make his own character. And he played the piano for himself.

the thing with goose hitting the canopy in the first movie. the ejection seat basically has little rockets under it so he hits the glass head first at like 200 mph, the seat is trying to get you up and away from the crashing aircraft as fast as possable. I have heard it takes a heavy toll on your spine even with a good safe ejection.

That 5th gen fighter was an SU-57 Russian fighter. That maneuver can’t be pulled off by any US fighter. The SU-57 is extremely maneuverable and has a strong enough frame to push that kind of g-force

Watching as a pre-teen when this came out, in the theatres... I can confirm. When you saw him hit, even while floating in the green locator dye, hoping it was going to be a survivable injury... then they tell you it's not. I can't RECALL other people acknowledging that, but I a clearly remember hopin'... "Come on... no more than a coma."

The actor who played Bob is the son of Bill Pullman, who played the President on Independence Day. And he also flew an F-18 in that movie. And Bill Pullman played Lone Star in Spaceballs.😮

Call sign "Gorgeous " fits like a glove

"They did a really good job making them look like they were flying." Plot Twist Tom Cruise Trained them to fly f-18s and to film themselves in the cockpits since there wasn't room enough for traditional film cameras. Those actors were REALLY flying those f-18s.