Released this Wednesday, May 25, “Top Gun: Maverick” pays tribute to two of the masterminds of the first opus. Including its director Tony Scott, who died in 2012.
Thirty-six years after the release of the first Top Gun, Maverick is back in theaters since May 25 in France. Always in the guise of Tom Cruise, while Val Kilmer, alias Iceman, also appears. But several people are missing, in front of and behind the camera, starting with director Tony Scott, who tragically died nearly a decade ago on August 19, 2012.
Also author of Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise, in 1990, he had also found Val Kilmer for the needs of True Romance and Deja vu. And we also owe him films such as Man on Fire, Domino or Unstoppable. Top Gun: Maverick is obviously dedicated to him, and this explicitly, since his name is mentioned at the beginning of the end credits.
But another tribute is undoubtedly hidden in the film, and in a more discreet way. If his “call-sign” (nickname used for radio transmissions) is Cyclone, the character played by Jon Hamm is called Beau Simpson. And it’s a safe bet that this refers to Don Simpson, producer of the first film with his partner Jerry Bruckheimer.
Died on January 19, 1996, at the age of 52, this extravagant producer contributed to take off Tom Cruise towards the heights of Hollywood with Top Gun then Days of tonerre. But also Michael Bay, thanks to Bad Boys and Rock. We also owe him The Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel, as well as USS Alabama, his third and last feature film with Tony Scott.
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We will also note a funny coincidence during the end mission, when the weapon of Tom Cruise’s plane crashes after firing thirty-three times. Is this a nod to the fact that Top Gun: Maverick was, before various postponements (due to preparation and then pandemic), to be released in 2019, thirty-three years after the first opus?
“Top Gun”: in search of Maverick on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle