Tom Gun remains one of the biggest movies of Tom Cruise’s brilliant career. Counted among the top movies of the 1980s, it is a thrilling masterpiece that excellently combines intense action with breathtaking shots and a captivating storyline.
With its sequel releasing after a total of 36 years, the Top Gun movies have become among the highest-grossing movie series ever. However, these movies have not been without negative comments and critical reviews. Even Tom Cruise’s fellow actors and workers have not shied away to throw shade at them.
Tom Cruise Defends His $357M Top Gun
The majority of Top Gun viewers would call the movie a cinematic masterpiece with stunning visuals and memorable characters. While others would describe it as an emotional rollercoaster within an epic storyline. But there are also people who call it simplistic, cliched, and even shallow as well as having an unrealistic storyline that glorifies militarism.
However, these comments have failed to affect the movie’s lead and star Tom Cruise. In an interview, the Mission Impossible star spoke up about how Top Gun wasn’t just a movie about wars and planes but rather held an emotional depth exploring the mystical lives of pilots.
“But ever since I got involved in Top Gun, I didn’t want to make a warmonger movie. I wanted to get into the personality of these guys, what makes them fly. What makes my character, Maverick, want to fly? I wanted to give him a sensitivity. And I think in the dogfights, before he goes up, you see he’s nervous. I mean, you’re not a fighter pilot just because you want combat.”
Despite such critical reviews, both the Top Gun movies went on to become one of the most successful movies of Cruise’s career, with Top Gun: Maverick culminating a total of $1.5 Billion worldwide.
Matthew Modine Once Called Top Gun Jingoistic
Tom Cruise could not have been more perfect as Pete Mitchell. As some say the role was made for Tom Crusie to star in and nobody else could have played it better. However, Tom Cruise was never the first choice for the movie Top Gun. The role was originally offered to the Stranger Things star Matthew Modine.
One would think that missing out on such a legendary role would have brought the 64-year-old actor much regret and remorse. Surprisingly, Modine has never once felt such. When asked if he regretted turning down the $357 million movie, he stated,
“Not at all. Not for one second. Cruise said that he felt that ‘Top Gun’ was a movie about individualism and personal strength. I just thought the movie was jingoistic.”
Well whatever Modine felt about the movie, it remains irrelevant to the audience since both movies became the highest-grossing movies of their times.
You can stream Top Gun on Paramount+.
Source: Interview Magazine
