Same. I was obsessed with the first movie, to the point where I wore out the VHS tape as a kid multiple times, wanted to fly for the Navy, etc. I'm a total fuckin' Top Gun fanboy and nearly as big a fan of Tom Cruise.
Obviously, the flight footage in this is a million times better, simply because of Cruise's dedication/expectations and advances in technology. But, other than that, almost everything about the first movie is better. The humor, the pacing, the soundtrack (ESPECIALLY the soundtrack - the only good addition to this one was the timing of The Who's "We Don't Get Fooled Again"), structure, etc. Honestly, in the first 20m or so of the movie, I was worried that everybody calling this "great" were out of their fucking minds. I realize you have to include a way to bring Maverick "back in", but the whole Darkstar shit needed to be cut/changed. In fact, just have him buzzing the tower in his P-51 and being a general PITA and you save 10-15m. The opening stuff was pretty much completely unnecessary as a way to show Maverick still "breaking rules" - hated how that was handled.
That said, they pulled it out in the end and still made a
great movie, but compare Maverick's "dogfighting" sequences with the new pilots to when they fought Jester, and
especially when they fought Jester + Viper. It's just not even comparable. I really think people are gushing over this so hard purely because of the huge leaps in camera tech, and the fact that Cruise is a dedicated nut that forced the actors to actually go through training and be
in the actual jets.
Like I said, it's still a great movie and something I'll watch every few years, but it just doesn't compare to the original IMO. And to prove my fanboyism, me at a Halloween party in 2019..
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