Hey everyone, I'm The Canadian Lad, and today I watched Top: Gun Maverick at 0.25x speed
and found 23 new details that I'm sure you've never noticed in your first viewing!
Now, I took my time while working on this video.
I didn't know much about the Navy or fighting Aircrafts, but for this video I studied and
researched as much as I could, so that I could pick up the hidden details and easter eggs.
And guess what?
The details and easter eggs I'm about to reveal in this video will blow your mind and you'll
fall in love with this movie all over again!
Please make sure to watch till the end, as the details keep getting better as I move
forward.
So without any further ado, let's begin!
Number 1: the P-51 Mustang that appears in the movie actually belongs to Tom Cruise.
He's been a fully licensed pilot since 1994 and it's his favourite aircraft.
Now, fully licensed means Tom can fly planes at any time he wants, doesn't matter if it's
daytime or night.
Number 2: The opening caption describing the Top Gun program is almost identical to the
original film, except now it says “men and women” to show that there are now also female
pilots.
They also corrected "insure" to "ensure".
Number 3: At the beginning of this film, we get one camera angle that we've never seen
in the first film.
I'm talking about this shot of the front wheels.
In Top Gun 1, they filmed this shot as usual but in this film, it's more of a POV and gives
us a much more realistic experience.
So, within the first couple of seconds, it's already established just how much technology
and camera work have improved over the years!
Number 4: Right at the beginning of the film, when we are yet to see any other characters
other than Maverick, we could still see the photos he has in his hanger.
Now he has a photo of a young Rooster, aka Goose's son!
Which makes sense.
But notice, he also has a photo of Penny Benjamin, meaning he never stopped loving her!
Number 5: Notice when the camera focuses on this framed picture of Goose's family, it
slowly loses focus from Goose and his wife, and the only focus is on little Rooster, foreshadowing
how this film is gonna be all about him.
Number 6: Inside Maverick's locker, we can see a book about the P-51 Mustang.
Now as I've already told you this P-51 belongs to Tom Cruise in real life, so we can assume
this book must be his as well.
Number 7: When Maverick buzzes the tower while taking off, Admiral Cain doesn't flinch at
all, well, he flinches a lil bit but that's nothing compared to this guard or the one
inside the room.
Now notice, because Admiral Cain didn't move or cover his face, his glasses and his suit
both were covered in dust.
I actually didn't notice it in the theatre, so I apologize if I'm including an obvious
detail in this video.
Number 8: When we see Maverick edging towards Mach 10, now I should tell you Mach 10 is
10 times the speed of sound, meaning he was approaching 7,672 miles per hour.
So when he was close to reaching that, notice the camera gets blurry as we see the numbers
on the flight deck.
But when we see Tom, the camera is perfectly clear.
Meaning, this shot has been blurred deliberately in order to make the audience see what Tom
is seeing from his perspective, but when we see Tom, we see him from our POV and that's
why it's not blurry anymore!
Talk about camera-work in this film eh!
Now I should also tell you, the aircraft SR-71, was simply too expensive for the U.S. Air
Force, to continue to run, after the end of the Cold War.
So this aircraft is currently not used anymore.
Number 9: Hangman chooses Slow Ride by Foghat on the jukebox.
The track number is 8 and 6, 86, the year of release of the original Top Gun movie.
Hangman also chose this song "Slow Ride" to take a jab at Rooster, who has a reputation
Rooster "not to think, just do"
Number 10: Maverick's credit card even though has his name on it, but the number couldn't
be more fake.
It literally says 12345678 and then 9010.
Number 11: When Maverick helps Penny sail her boat, Penny asks Maverick to crank the
winch of the boat.
Now notice, Tom Cruise almost falls off before doing it but then he quickly recovers like
Tom Cruise always does!
Jennifer Connelly, the actor playing Penny, even verbally asks him "if he's okay".
I'm pretty sure this part wasn't intended.
But, I like the fact that they kept this scene in the film without re-doing it, just like
Tom did in Mission Impossible, where he broke his foot in one of the scenes and still kept
filming, and that's the shot they ended up using as well.
I guess these are normal when you have Tom Cruise playing the lead role.
Number 12: During one of the training routines, Rooster listens to the radio to know how the
team is doing against Maverick.
Now notice behind him, there's a Rhinoceros mount on the wall.
And if you're wondering what sort of symbol this could be, well, the F-18 that they all
fly in this film has another name which is Rhino!
Because that plane has a rhino-like protrusion on the front part.
Number 13: At one point during their training, Maverick or I should say Tom Cruise here,
has his right hand on the windshield.
Now, this shouldn't be possible unless you're in the backseat.
Because you can't maneuver an F-18 with just your left hand unless you're flying on a straight
level.
And over here Tom wasn't flying in a straight line, so the only way he could get that much
space to put his right hand around the windshield, would be if he's in the backseat.
And that indeed was the factor as the actors were not allowed to fly such expensive aircraft
by themselves, they are always sitting in the backseat but the movie magic made it look
as if they're the ones piloting it.
Even though Tom does fly his jets in the film but even he wasn't allowed to fly this one.
My research finally paid off eh?
Number 14: When Maverick and Rooster go head to head and they start doing a roller, this
entire shot was definitely CGI.
Because no studios would take such risks of having two fighter jets be so close to each
other.
However, the way they CGI'd this shot, is perfection at its finest.
Because this is how a roller would actually develop in the real world.
And when they start going downhill in a spiral, we get a close-up shot of the pilots, it gets
even better here!
Notice the direction Rooster is looking at, and the way Tom Cruise looks up and down,
this indicates they really filmed the scene while doing a downhill spiral but they were
not this close to each other while doing it, that's all.
And that's why they had to CGI this outer shot, in order to make this whole scene more
dramatic without taking any risks.
Number 15: Maverick gives Rooster the same advice he received from his superior aka Viper
in Top Gun 1.
It's a great parallel that shows Maverick isn't all about ego, he did learn from his
superiors.
Number 16: Now in this same scene, Rooster tells Maverick that it's easy for him to say
that "when you fly long enough, you will lose your wingman" because Maverick has got no
family, no wife, no kids.
Now the acting from Tom Cruise here was just brilliant!
You could see it in his eyes that he really considers Rooster as his own son, just like
he considered Goose his family!
Number 17: When Maverick shows everyone in the team that this particular mission is actually
doable, everyone was happy or shouting in excitement.
Except for Rooster, his expression shows us that he's still thinking something!
And what I think this means or what I think the writers intended here is that Rooster
is thinking to himself "A pilot so good, who just did the impossible, could he have possibly
killed my father?
no! he couldn't.
It must be an accident then" And that's the moment Rooster began to see
the other side of the story.
Number 18: After Admiral Cyclone decides to risk his own career by appointing Maverick
as the team leader as opposed to firing him, Maverick got way excited and couldn't really
hide his emotions.
But what happened here exactly is this: Admiral Cyclone, after seeing Maverick complete
the mission successfully, understood that if anyone had to die in this mission, it should
be Maverick, because Maverick was so willing to do it!
The Admiral understood that if he sends Maverick in this mission as a team leader, he not only
will ensure the mission is a success, but he will also sacrifice himself if needed to,
to save his team!
Which Maverick eventually did as well.
And this brings my next detail, number #19: After Maverick gets appointed as the Team
Leader, everyone was happy, except for Penny.
Because she understood what it all really means.
She understood that if anything goes south, it will have to do with Maverick.
If anyone dies in this mission, it will be Maverick.
Man, the writing of this movie is so fucking epic, it didn't need a lot of dialogues to
tell us what's going on, the writers trusted us the audience, to figure everything by ourselves.
Number 20: The coordinates for the unnamed enemy country actually correspond with Point
Nemo.
Now if you're wondering what Point Nemo is, well, it's basically the point in the ocean
furthest from land.
Its literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by more than 1,000 miles of ocean in every
direction!
So they really made sure the enemy remains a nameless, vague, threat.
But still they showed us that the enemy has an old F-14 parked there and the only country
right now in the real world that has a functional F-14 outside the US, is Iran.
It's actually surprising how well Iran has been able to keep at least a few of them flying
this long using whatever parts they could get their hands on.
Because Iran no longer has access to modern aircraft factories where they could work on
these planes.
Number 21: This movie has plenty of references to Lockheed Martin's secretive Skunk Works
division.
Lemme explain what that is: The aircraft that Tom flies at the beginning
of the film, aka The Darkstar was designed by Daniel Simon with help from Skunkworks.
Now Skunk Works is another fictitious name for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development
Programs.
They're basically a manufacturing company, who makes Aircrafts for the United States,
that will beat any technology while keeping it a secret for the rest of the world.
The fact that this company exists is not a secret, but what they do and how they do it
are classified.
So having the logo of Skunkworks hidden so neatly in the film, really goes to show the
makers know what they're doing.
Number 22: At the end during the dogfight, Maverick and Rooster had to fight two 5th
Gen Fighters.
Now, Maverick takes down both of them and we can quite clearly see the second 5th Gen
Fighter eject.
But we never see the first 5th Gen Fighter ejecting.
So does it mean Maverick killed the enemy pilot as well?
Well, not really.
Because, if you watch it in slow motion, we can very briefly see the first enemy pilot
ejecting his doomed aircraft.
So no, Maverick didn't kill anyone, he just took down their planes.
Number 23: Now, this detail doesn't have anything to do with slow-motion but it's something
that I observed from the film, that really is why the movie worked!
For instance, take a look at how Maverick and Penny fall in love again!
First, they enjoy a boat ride together, goes home but Penny doesn't invite Maverick in.
Now even though she didn't ask him to come in, but the movie still made sure to show
us what they're feeling.
One where Penny closed the door and is doing everything she can to stop herself from falling
for Maverick again!
And over there outside the house, Maverick is thinking "Is it gonna happen again?
Are we gonna be together again?"
Now cut to the 2nd date, Penny just simply leaves the door open, giving Maverick the
signal to come in!
And Maverick picks it up instantly!
So the point I'm trying to make is, love stories that touch your heart need no jokes in between
them, they just come along naturally!
Like this one: And the 2nd thing I wanna talk about is this:
At the end before Maverick goes for his final mission, he thanks Hondu for always being
there for him!
And Hondu says it's been a great honor!
Now notice what just happened here: They only had 1 line of dialogue here but
they kept looking at each other for so long, making us, the audience feel what they're
feeling.
Giving us the feeling that it might be the last time these two talk to each other, this
might be the last time Maverick ever goes on a mission again!
And that's the point, this film wasn't flying all over the place like some of the recent
Marvel films, no pun intended.
You have to write scenes like this where you don't write any dialogue but just simple expressions
between actors!
Otherwise how am I supposed to have any empathy for the characters we're being shown on screen?
Think about how many dialogues Tony Stark had after he sacrificed himself?
Almost none!
And yet it was the most impactful death in the MCU history!
When a scene is written properly, it doesn't need to be dumbed down for the audience, it
doesn't need to be spoon fed.
Let the audience think, let the audience feel what the characters in the movie are feeling!
Don't rush it!
And that's how you write a good movie that also does incredible business in the box office!
And that's it, this would be my breakdown of Top Gun: Maverick at 0.25x speed.
I tried to do something different this time other than Marvel and I hope you lads enjoyed
it.
If you did, then please grab the subscribe button, I really need that.
And I would be so grateful if you hit thumbs up on this video.
Till then, I'll see you lads in the next one!