It's been 36 years since Top Gun was the Top Grossing Movie of the year. (1986)

Made on a budget of  just 15 million dollars, the movie went on to make 357 million dollars worldwide.

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Same Smile & High Flying Action

Tom Cruise and company's jet fighter pilot flick certainly left a mark on our culture with a 9X platinum soundtrack, the sale of aviator sunglasses climbing 40% and interest in Naval Aviation soaring 500%!

Now Cruise is back as call sign "Maverick" with a somewhat larger 170 million dollar budget, some homage to the past characters and previous action, and delivering an exciting new and action packed movie that critics are loving, unlike the mixed reactions first filed in 1986!

.Variety Magazine says:

For Cruise, even the lower end of projections would land as the biggest opening weekend of his career. Though he’s probably the biggest action star of his generation, none of his movies have opened to more than $65 million at the domestic box office. The actor’s 2005 science-fiction epic “War of the Worlds” currently stands as his best debut with $64 million

"Top Gun: Maverick" Japan Premiere Red Carpet
Getty Images for Paramount Pictu
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Projections are for a 100+ million dollar weekend as Cruise (as Captain Pete Mitchell) returns to train a new class of high-flying hotshots.

 

Washington Cascades Star

The show opens on Friday 5/27 and apparently at times the distinct look of Washington State's snow-capped Cascade mountains are on display!

 

 

 

The Royal Film Performance & UK Premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick"
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Location was everything for the flight scenes, and the movie's third act was shot in Washington State. The Navy flies low-level training routes out of NAS Whidbey Island, through the Cascade Mountains — an ideal setting for critical battle scenes.
Actress Monica Barbaro,Top Gun pilot “Phoenix” recalls, "pilots themselves said they were getting kind of emotional on the flights because the mountains there are so stunning,” 
"Top Gun: Maverick" New York Special Screening
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We all know and appreciate that ... and we can all anticipate that as the movie plays out there will be drama, perhaps some tragedy, Cruise will get the girl (Jennifer Connelly)  and the good guys will win in the end.  It's been a winning formula for decades and there isn't anybody slingshotting off a carrier in this one that's going to change that now.
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CHECK IT OUT: The Best Movie Character Names of the 1980s

 

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