The WhatsApp message arrived on May 10th. And in the weeks that followed, “Top Gun: MaverickAnd after finally opening, Strike also signed all the messages from my father.
He wasn’t the only one excited. It’s been a summer for dads, and for daughters, moms, brothers, and sons this year, but most dads just can’t get enough of the new “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise.
The classic-style Hollywood tale of a Navy fighter pilot nearing retirement is brought home for one last flight, with redemption shots now approaching $700 million at the box office. This is the movie I raised.
But director Joseph Kosinski didn’t expect it to be so popular. Kosinski’s credits include “Tron: Legacy” (2010) and “spider head” Earlier this year, I have mainly worked on films and smaller projects with a lot of special effects. Still, he loved his 1986 “Top Gun,” and it was part of that film’s sepia-toned spirit that he wanted to capture in the sequel.
From his home in Santa Monica, Calif., he said via video, Greatest movies of 2022.These are edited excerpts from our conversation.
How many times have you seen “Top Gun Maverick”? And I’m not alone. Why do you think it was so popular this summer?
When I was 12, I definitely had the first experience of seeing it in the back of my head. I wanted to make that big summer movie experience and a movie that had to be seen on the big screen.
I also wanted to capture the experience of what it’s like to be on one of these planes. made a movie of— [wanted] Seeing and feeling real things in movies. A lot of people come up to me and say, “For her last 40 minutes, I was holding onto the edge of the sheet.”
More importantly, people liked you when you asked them why you went three times. They say I go back for the emotional experience of it.I think it’s because the themes of the film are so universal. It’s family, friendship, sacrifice, regret, death, something we all face.
Can you tell us a little more about the flight scene?
It’s like three-dimensional chess, so it’s very complicated. Before meeting Tom, I saw online that some Navy pilot posted a video on YouTube of him filming a training exercise with his tiny GoPro next to the canopy.
And then there was this kind of off-kilter angle that was capturing their training flight. [I wanted to] I got the dogfighting choreography, and I did it on a two-seat plane, and Tom was behind me, [actual] The top gun pilot is front and [a real] The Top Gun pilot is the same one Tom wears.
Then, when you shoot Tom with these cameras, it looks like he’s flying an airplane. That was my inspiration. Then we went to Top Gun and worked with the world’s best pilots flying these sequences.
Tom came up with a training plan to get all the actors to have the same aerobatics as him. they all did. They fell ill, but continued filming. The result of all that effort is an image that cannot be forged.
You can’t fake what it’s like to be in one of these planes.You can’t fake the image of going 600 miles an hour 30 feet above the ground through a canyon. As an audience member, I think something in your brain tells you it’s real and you have a visceral response, so I’m glad we did it.
What did you like about the original and what would you like to change about it?
Tony Scott created this fantasy world on screen. It’s always magic hour. And he’s having an affair with his teacher, right? A little childhood fantasy. There is something timeless about ‘Top Gun’. I wanted this movie to feel the same way. This is a modern day story, but little actually sets him in 2022. If you look closely, the only modern device is Mab’s mobile phone. Not very modern. from his plane [his girlfriend] Penny’s cars draw from different eras.
We approached every day trying to figure out how we could shoot a scene that needed to be shot at 5:30pm to get that light. I grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa, so hopefully I was the right person to do it.
The film has a strong sense of nostalgia and patriotism. Do you think that’s part of the appeal at a time when the country is in such a precarious situation?
I certainly took advantage of all that.Listen, it’s not a political movie at all, but after pitching the crux of the idea to Tom, what I did next was Career of Teddy Roosevelt a few days. A technical adviser — Yank is his call, his signature — introduced me to all the naval personnel. That patriotism is highly contagious. You meet a wonderful American who gave his life to serve, and you begin to incorporate that into the story quite naturally.
What was it like working with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer?
This is the second movie with Tom [after “Oblivion,” from 2013], so I knew a little bit of what I was in for and that’s all you hear. . Val Kilmer, whom I always looked up to, and being able to bring him back to one of his most iconic roles, the scene with him and Tom was one experience I’ll never forget. The two guys at the top of the are acting out a scene that I think is very authentic.
Vague, but who are the enemies in ‘Top Gun’?
We got a great pointer from the first movie — it’s this faceless, nameless villain. You can’t really connect to real-world enemies. The mirrored and masked pilot also contributes to this feeling that it’s a bit in an alternate reality.Creating untrackable enemies was a fun exercise as a director.
How do you feel about being called a savior? Dad Cinema?
As a father of three children, I take that as a compliment.made a movie about firefighters [“Only the Brave”], also known to make adult men cry. I wear that badge with pride. What makes me the happiest is not only to see young children having wonderful experiences, but also to be able to experience it with their dads, grandpas and grandmas.
This summer, Netflix’sspider head’ What was it like to release these two films at the same time?
It was five years of work compressed into two films released three weeks apart. It’s unique and I hope it never happens again.”Spiderhead” has a completely different tone and was filmed in the middle of a pandemic. So from a creative standpoint, it’s been a great experience for this guy to be able to make two films. But in terms of releases, it was a lot.