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Tom Cruise Did His Own Stunts For Top Gun: Maverick

The Hollywood icon was behind the cockpit in all those action shots.

By Lan Pitts on May 5, 2022 at 10:39AM PDT

It looks like the passage of time or going several g's can't stop Tom Cruise from doing what he wants. The 59-year-old actor arrived for the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in only the way he can, on a helicopter aboard the retired aircraft carrier USS Midway.

It's been 36 years since the original Top Gun and pitching a sequel had almost taken a decade. Originally scheduled for a 2020 release, and delayed due to the pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick returns to tell the story of Cruise's Pete Mitchell confronting his past and helping his late friend's son, played by Miles Teller, train as a pilot.

Cruise, a licensed pilot, has been preparing for his return as Maverick for years now and producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that was indeed the actor inside the cockpits for those action scenes.

"Every time you see him flying, that’s him in that jet", he told The Hollywood Reporter . "You can't pull Tom Cruise back. He’s going to do what he’s going do."

Cruise's fellow castmembers also said that he doesn't shy away from doing the harder stuff. Glen Powell, who plays Lieutenant "Hangman" Seresin, mentioned that he's very much hands-on when it comes to stunt work.

"Tom does not half-ass anything, as we all know, and Tom put together a flight program for all of us so that by the time we graduated to the F/A18, we wouldn't be passing out or puking in Naval assets," he said. "When you have Maverick training you how to fly and that enthusiasm, it really rubs off on you."

Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters on May 27.

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How Tom Cruise and Miles Teller pulled off those insane, high-flying stunts in Top Gun: Maverick

According to the aviation website Aerocorner , in today's money, a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet — the fighter jet du jour used by the U.S. Navy since 1995 — costs the American government $67.4 million. That isn't a bulk deal, folks: it's per plane. It should come as no surprise to anyone with a sliver of critical thought, then, that Tom Cruise , Miles Teller and Co. didn't actually pilot the vehicles we see in Top Gun: Maverick .  

“But it looks real!” Yeah, it does. That's movie magic, baby.

Nevertheless, Tom Cruise knew from experience on the first Top Gun just how physically taxing the face-melting forces of extreme flight can be: on his debut test run, rocketing up to double the speed of launching astronauts, he hurled inside his oxygen mask. While they might not have actually hit the throttle and handled the joysticks, Cruise did insist that they actually go up into the air, albeit as passengers, not pilots. 

Ergo, he put the ensemble of Top Gun candidates through an intensive training course in the run-up to production. Going from smaller prop planes to, eventually, actual F-18s — loaned to the filmmakers by the Department of Defence for a measly $11,000 an hour — they learned not to fly the things, but how best to mitigate the ill effects of jet flight. In part, this was a three-month boot camp to avoid air sickness en masse. 

But it worked: “There was never a time on Top Gun: Maverick where we had to delay or stop filming because somebody felt sick,” says Kevin LaRosa II, the movie's aerial stunt coordinator. Sitting down with LaRosa for just under an hour, we got all the goss from the making of the Top Gun sequel.

The first rule of Top Gun: Maverick ? It had to be real, even when it couldn't be

"We had what I like to call rules on Top Gun: Maverick as far as aerials were concerned. And the first and foremost rule, it all had to be real. However: not every aircraft we used in the movie is readily available in the United States, or they're not flyable here, and we show their aircraft flying. 

“So here's the other rule: there has to be an aircraft in front of the lens, but a subject [stand-in] aircraft could be used — like another F-18. And then visual effects comes in, they tweak or retexture it to look like a different aircraft. [See: the ambiguously-defined ”fifth-generation jets" the equally nebulous bad guys fly.]

“But the beauty of that is the audience should know that there really is an aircraft out there — the vapour's going to be real, the flight dynamics are going to be real, it's simply a digital reskin of a real fighter. When it came to VFX plane shots? Always a real aircraft.”

And yes, that includes the cast actually being inside the cockpit

"Our cast had to be in the aircraft for every shot. So when they're delivering those epic performances, they are really in there pulling those Gs. Production went to great lengths to design that in-cockpit IMAX camera set up so those actors could be in there, doing that.

"This was a process that was built in and heavily driven by Tom Cruise. They had me build the training programme: we started them in Cessna 172s — my father and I were actually the first cast flight instructors — and those little single-engine aeroplanes are entry-level aircraft that anyone would learn to fly. 

"This gave the actors spatial orientation, and an understanding of what flying was all about, where to look where, where to move their hands, what all of the gauges do, the basic things. How to turn, land, takeoff.

"We graduated from there to an aircraft called the Extra 300. Their new instructor there was Chuck Coleman, a great friend of mine — again, this is all being heavily monitored by Tom Cruise every day, every step of the way. [Cruise earned his pilot license in the mid ‘90s.]

"This is the aircraft the general public would’ve seen in Red Bull Air Races or other stunt shows. It's a single-engine, piston-driven aeroplane that's extremely manoeuvrable and capable of pulling a lot of Gs. This part was to build up their G tolerance.

"From there, we moved on to the L-39 Albatross, a Czechoslovakian fighter trainer jet imported to the US — it's readily available, very manoeuvrable, very fun. And this was for the cast to learn how to pull heavy Gs. By the time they graduated from this one, and got into the F-18s, they were seasoned pros.

“This process lasted for three months, all in parts of Southern and Central California. That's why even for a guy like me, who can watch something and pick it apart, I watched Top Gun: Maverick and it looks like they're real naval aviators.”

Before Top Gun: Maverick , the technology to shoot it didn't exist

"The Cinejet platform is something that I dreamt up: I needed a camera platform that would match the story quality of Top Gun: Maverick , something that'd really let us get in there, into the dogfights and canyon runs, really put the audience through a thrill ride.

"I was struggling to find the right platform and, again, I landed on the L-39 Albatros. I put a picture of a camera gimbal over the nose of the jet — in an old programme called Microsoft Paint — and said, you know what, that's it. We had to work with the manufacturers to make it a reality but, a year later, the L-39 Cinejet was a real thing.

"Previous jet-based platforms worked with partially stabilised camera technology, meaning that if I'm flying that aircraft, and I rock my wings at all, it could disturb the shot. It was a lot harder for the aerial director of photography, or the camera operators sitting in the back of the jet — they'd have to stabilise my movements, which is very difficult to do.

“With the Cinejet, the gimbal is fully stabilised. It doesn't matter what I do while I'm flying, that thing's gonna be rock steady. Now you can get very aggressive, really get the camera in there so we're shoving the audience in the face of these afterburners.”

In the cockpit, the actors became their own directors, make-up artists and cameramen

"We were working with F/A-18 F Models, which are two-seat F-18s — basically a pilot up front, and typically a weapon system operator in the back seat. They look very, very similar. So we'd have forward-facing cameras over the shoulder of actual naval aviators in the front seat at the controls, and four rear-facing cameras [facing the cast] in the back.

"For the exterior sequences — say when we see Tom flying an F-18, we're enhancing that F-18 with CGI to change it from a two-seat to a single seat. The beauty is that really is a shot of Tom in the back seat of that F-18, so he is there, being piloted by a genuine naval aviator.

"The cast would have an hour and a half to two hours in the morning, and another period in the afternoon, but typically no more than four hours a day. But that's a lot of flying. When you're pulling those days and doing the type of manoeuvres that we were doing, that's a lot.

“Obviously everything in the cockpit needs to be stowed away. They would unzip their flight suit, pull out whatever they need to do their own hair and makeup — you know, spray their face if they needed extra sweat, make sure their mask was centred, their googles were clean.

“Once that was all done they'd stow all that stuff, hit the big red button and start rolling the camera. This is where they became like a [director of photography]: they'd tell their pilots, 'Hey, I need the sun back here at five o'clock, I need a thirty-degree right bank, and I'm gonna hit these lines!'

"Remember, in a jet, you're moving really fast, you're covering a lot of terrain — it's not like you can just get the perfect background and leave it there, you have to hit it, say your line, and come all the way back to get [another take]. By the time we'd get to the debrief, we'd sit there and watch maybe ten takes, and two would be perfect.

“So it's a lot of work — not just sitting there taking a joy ride!”

Top Gun: Maverick looks set to be Tom Cruise's biggest movie ever

Top Gun: Maverick is the greatest blockbuster of the decade

How Tom Cruise created Top Gun: Maverick 's bittersweet Val Kilmer cameo

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‘He has an iron stomach’: Meet the man who put Tom Cruise in the sky for Top Gun 2

One man had the unenviable task of helping tom cruise defy gravity in this summer’s biggest blockbuster. he tells tom murray about stunt work, sick bags and getting so close to a fighter jet that you could feel the heat of its engines, article bookmarked.

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T om Cruise is carving through a canyon at 450 miles per hour. He rears up his F-18 fighter jet, all eight Gs visible in the lines of his face, before inverting the aircraft and diving. This is just one of the exhilarating action sequences that have made Top Gun: Maverick one of the most lauded films of the year. Fans and critics alike have sung its praises, and since its release a week ago, it’s so far grossed an estimated $176m (£140m) in North America alone. It also had Cruise’s biggest opening weekend as a movie star – a maddening statistic considering his storied career.

Most importantly, though, it’s shown the continued strength of Cruise himself. While other stars turn to superhero franchises for big box office returns, here’s one man able to carry the weight of an entire blockbuster solely on his shoulders.

Cruise repeatedly touches the sky in the film, but who actually put him there? That job fell to Kevin LaRosa Jr, Top Gun: Maverick’ s aerial coordinator and lead camera pilot. FaceTiming from his house near an airfield just north of Los Angeles, he detailed how the film pulled off its gravity-defying stunts – little of which used CGI – and what it was like being responsible for one of the most famous men on the planet. And a man who – just to add a bit more pressure to LaRosa’s job – insists on doing his own stunts.

No stunt double required

Cruise is known for being a physical actor, preferring to jump off buildings himself rather than have someone else do it for him. He famously broke his ankle while jumping from one building to another in Mission: Impossible – Fallout , after which he got up and finished the scene. While hanging onto the side of an Airbus A400 plane in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation , Cruise was hit in the chest by a rock. He’d remark it “felt like a bullet”. “If a larger rock hit him in the chest, or smaller debris hit him in the face, then the show’s over,” director Christopher McQuarrie told New York Daily News in 2015.

It’s this kind of devotion to his craft that’s helped Cruise become an industry legend. However, with Cruise busy barrel-rolling through the sky in a fighter jet, LaRosa admits to sometimes wishing that Hollywood’s biggest star didn’t quite have to do all the work himself. “We all think that way, right? Tom absolutely does things on this movie where I’m sitting there going, ‘Oh boy, that was crazy’.”

A pilot with pedigree

LaRosa is a second-generation stunt pilot and a third-generation pilot, with a CV that includes the likes of Iron Man, The Avengers and Transformers . His father had even worked with Cruise before on Mission: Impossible III.

When he was initially offered the job on Maverick , LaRosa let out a yell so loud that he scared his own family. Initially brought on as just the camera pilot, LaRosa impressed producers so much that they promoted him to coordinator, which involved briefing the cast and crew before and after each flight. LaRosa led hours of briefings with the Navy before and after every stunt was performed. “Everything in aviation has inherent risk,” he says. “But those risks are negated with excellent briefings, risk-mitigation plans and rehearsals. We call it excellence in repetition.”

The pressure of a sequel

From the off, Cruise made it clear to the Maverick team that they were at a “disadvantage”. The original Top Gun transformed Cruise into the superstar he is today. Despite mixed critical reception, the film made over $350m (£279m) at the global box office off a $15m (£11m) budget, and, thanks in part to an inescapable soundtrack, became as synonymous with the Eighties as shell suits. “When you want to make a sequel to a movie such as Top Gun , you’re going to have all the critics, all the eyes, all the attention on you,” LaRosa says.

Basically, they needed to hit a home run, and Cruise gave a number of speeches on set to invigorate the crew. According to LaRosa, Cruise told them: “We’re making a sequel to a very historic and iconic movie and we need to obtain a level of perfection with Top Gun: Maverick that has not been seen in the cinematic world before.” LaRosa pauses – “Those are big words!” he says with a laugh.

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The training programme

LaRosa also helped Cruise put together the rigorous, three-month flight training programme for the rest of the cast, which included being rotated underwater in an ejection seat to prepare for emergencies. “Aside from training them to be pilots, they needed to check the boxes to be able to fly in the navy aircraft and go and do the same training that those naval aviators do,” LaRosa says. Ultimately, they needed to know how to survive in the event of an emergency taking place on a fighter jet.

As for being rolled around underwater: “It’s not something you look forward to doing.” However, LaRosa added that actor Monica Barbaro (Phoenix), who previously said her training as a ballerina gave her a “high pain tolerance”, impressed the most during training. “Monica just did incredible, [she was]really good with G-forces.”

“It looks like you’re right there because we are literally right there,” LaRosa says. Filming in the sky, he’s the one in the camera jet, lining up the shot just “10 to 15 feet” behind the F-18s flown by Navy pilots. That means being close enough to “feel the heat from the afterburners”, or the burning fuel that comes out the back of a jet engine.

Anyone who’s seen the movie will know that the stunts are breathtaking to watch. In one memorable scene, the Top Gun pilots must perform a death-defying slalom through a canyon at tree-scraping altitude to avoid detection by the enemy. The low-level flying, LaRosa recalls, was as real as it looks in the movie – in fact, it felt even hairier from the cockpit. “I think that it’s difficult to tell just how low and fast we’re going,” La Rosa says, who adds that the pilots had “a target number of 100 feet above the trees and rocks”. “When you’re doing three, four or 500 knots through canyons, that’s up there.” He added that some Navy pilots were able to drop below that floor of 100 feet.

Unlike Marvel movies, Maverick didn’t rely on the use of CGI for its aerial stunts: “Everything was actually shooting a real aircraft.”

Pass the sick bag

Due to the extreme G-forces the cast were subjected to, there was a lot of vomiting involved in filming, but LaRosa noted that actor Glen Powell (Hangman) had a knack for “handling his business” with the sick bag and carrying on. “Most people when they get air sick, you’re kind of done. You’re out for the count,” LaRosa says.

“Glen would be in the back seat of an F-18, dogfighting and would feel it. He would take care of his business and then he’d be like, ‘Ok, let’s go!’ and he’d be right back. That’s a whole skill set, I don’t even know how you get there.”

The Cruise effect

Of course, Cruise has an “iron stomach”. “He’s in better shape than I am, mentally and physically,” LaRosa, who looks like he’s in his thirties laughs about Cruise, 59. “He’s just sharp and focused and it really makes you want to get on your A-game.”

LaRosa, who receives – like apparently everyone Cruise works with – a Christmas cake from the star every year, used the word “perfection” four times in the space of around 10 minutes while discussing Cruise’s work attitude. It’s all part of the Cruise lexicon, which has been forged by decades of anecdotes about the star’s intensity.

“Working with Tom, the best way I can put it is...” LaRosa pauses, perhaps wondering if what he’s about to say sounds a bit too much like a Cruise in-joke. “If there’s something impossible, if there’s something that can’t be done, he’s the guy who’s gonna figure out how we’re going to be able to do it. And there’s nobody better for that.”

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is in cinemas now

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Tom Cruise reveals how the amazing flight stunts in Top Gun: Maverick were shot

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Top Gun : Maverick is a ‘barrier-breaking sequel’ whose real-life jet-flying scenes will, ahem, ‘take your breath away’, according to rave reviews. But just how real is real?

Fans had demanded a sequel to the 1986 classic for decades but star Tom Cruise had held off until the studio could meet his non-negotiable requirement.

‘If I’m ever going to entertain this, we’re shooting everything practically,’ Cruise told them. ‘I’m in that F/A-18 [jet], period. So we’re going to have to develop camera rigs. There’s going to be wind tunnels and engineering. It’s going to take a long, long time for me to figure it out.’

Then came the small matter of convincing the US Navy to let them shoot a film live in $67.4 million military jets. Initially the Navy was resistant – couldn’t the studio just use CGI special effects like everyone else?

But Cruise was determined. Every time you see an actor in an aeroplane in Top Gun: Maverick, there is an actor in an aeroplane.

The only visual effects used were for manoeuvres involving safety considerations.

‘There will be speculation that, “well, there was no way an actor was in that airplane at 50ft inverted, going over the ridge at 580mph at seven Gs.” But there was!’ confirms the US Navy’s technical adviser for the film, Captain Brian Ferguson.

That was fine for Cruise, an experienced pilot who flies warbirds for fun (the vintage silver Red Tail plane Cruise flies with Jennifer Connelly in the movie is actually his), but he then had to enlist and train his young cast to fly planes.

‘You had to sign a paper basically saying you weren’t afraid to fly,’ Danny Ramirez, who plays new character Fanboy, said. ‘And I was like “Well, I’m definitely terrified of being in the air, but I can’t pass this up.”’

‘I wouldn’t let an actor walk my dog, let alone fly a plane,’ Miles Teller, who plays the son of Top Gun character Goose, has joked. ‘Everybody thought it would be impossible and that’s what drove it.’

Cruise created an intense five-month aviation programme for his cast, complete with daily targets. Each evening they had to record their progress so Cruise could adjust their training.

‘I read every form, every night,’ Cruise has attested.

It was all necessary. The cast had to withstand extreme G-force without throwing up or blacking out. The G-force distortion of the actors’ faces is unfaked.

More than that, they were required to act under those conditions, with no margin for error.

The US Navy was keen to collaborate – after all, the original Top Gun boosted recruitment by 500% in the year after the movie’s release.

But it’s not like Hollywood had them at their beck and call. Time in the air was limited and if they looked through the rushes and realised the lighting or make-up wasn’t right or the actors fluffed lines, it’s not like popping back up to do reshoots was an option.

Each flight demanded hours of briefing. Ground-to-air units shot simultaneously and there were days where 27 cameras were constantly deployed to ensure full coverage.

So where to go from here? With Cruise collaborating with Elon Musk and Nasa on a movie that will be shot in space, the only way is up, up, up.

Top Gun: Maverick is out in cinemas on Friday.

MORE : Top Gun: Maverick cast praise sequel’s ‘awesome’ diversity: ‘It was great to see folks who look like you’

MORE : Tom Cruise opens up on powerful reunion with Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick after going head-to-head with Iceman in original film

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It’s no secret that Top Gun: Maverick was one of the biggest hits to fly into theaters over the summer. The decades-in-the-making sequel drew in audiences all around the globe, snatching up and destroying previously set box office records since it dropped in theaters back in May. Three months later, the film is still picking up speed as it heads to small screen viewing on platforms like digital, Vudu, and Prime Video. To celebrate the feature’s arrival to at-home theaters, Fandango released a featurette that shows how the action packed, high octane scenes were orchestrated by the one and only Tom Cruise .

If the behind-the-scenes look teaches us anything, it’s that when you sign up to shoot a film with Cruise, you’re expected to do a lot more than just memorize your lines. As producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed, each day started with a three-hour-long briefing and flight planning before the actors were given the all clear to jump into their cockpits and begin filming. A seasoned pilot and stunt coordinator, Cruise walks viewers through what exactly goes into working out every move before a scene can be shot. We also hear from Cruise’s co-stars Glen Powell and Miles Teller as well as Maverick director Joseph Kosinski on what it was like to film with the legendary actor and support his vision of how he saw the intricate scenes laid out.

Top Gun: Maverick picks up 30 years after the events of Top Gun and sees Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) grappling with ghosts from his past while simultaneously trying to move on with his future. When Maverick is charged with training a new set of TOPGUN recruits, he soon hits those memories head on when he comes face-to-face with Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Teller), the son of Maverick’s late friend Goose.

RELATED: F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton Reveals Why He Turned Down 'Top Gun: Maverick' Role

With a well penned script that ties the stories of the past in with those of the present, along with the over-the-top action sequences the original film was known for, it’s no surprise as to why Top Gun: Maverick has become Paramount’s highest-grossing film of all time . It also certainly didn’t hurt that the film hired some of the biggest names in the biz to bring the sequel to life. Along with Cruise, Teller, and Powell, the feature also starred Jennifer Connelly , Jon Hamm , Val Kilmer , Lewis Pullman , and Monica Barbaro .

While you wait for your opportunity to pick up a hard copy of Top Gun: Maverick , complete with all the extra bells and whistles, when it arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray in November, you can get your speed fix from the behind-the-scenes featurette below.

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Winning the Skies Without Losing Your Lunch: Filming ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

The makers of the “Top Gun” sequel discuss the challenges of filming practical aerial stunts.

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By Amy Nicholson

Before Tom Cruise signed on to star in the original “Top Gun,” he asked to take a test flight in a jet. Cruise wasn’t yet world famous, so when he arrived at the hangar, his long hair still in a ponytail left over from “Legend,” the pilots, according to one of the film’s producers, Jerry Bruckheimer, decided to give this Hollywood hippie the ride of his life. Zipping at 6.5 G’s — more than twice the G-forces some astronauts endure during rocket launches — Cruise felt the blood drain from his head. He vomited in his fighter-pilot mask.

He agreed to make the film.

Cruise continued to fly so fast, and so frequently, that he learned to squeeze his thighs and abs to stay conscious. His stomach adjusted to the speed. When the director Tony Scott put a camera in the cockpit, Cruise could smile for his close-ups. His castmates weren’t as prepared.

“They all threw up and their eyes rolled back in their heads,” Bruckheimer said in a phone interview. The original footage “was just a mess,” he admitted. “We couldn’t use any of it.”

“Top Gun” made Cruise a superstar — and the experience of shooting it stuck with him so much, he was convinced he needed to lead a three-month flight course for the cast of “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel, now in theaters, that has had 35 years to build up suspense. In the new movie, Cruise’s Capt. Pete Mitchell (known as Maverick) readies a dozen young pilots for a dangerous mission to destroy an underground uranium plant in an enemy land. Behind the scenes, Cruise did roughly the same thing, gradually raising the actors’ aerial tolerance, and confidence, from small prop planes to F-18 fighter jets. “He’s got every kind of pilot’s license that you could possibly imagine — helicopters, jets, whatever,” Bruckheimer said.

In essence, “Top Gun: Maverick” is a 450 mile-an-hour flying-heist caper. The mission leaders devise a difficult set of challenges for the pilots: zoom low and quick, vault a steep mountain, spin upside-down, plummet into a basin and survive a near-vertical climb at 9 G’s while dodging missiles.

Cruise, a contender for the most daredevil actor since Buster Keaton, was adamant that every stunt be accomplished with practical effects. Each jet had a U.S. Navy pilot at the controls, while its actor spun like a leaf in a windstorm. The deserts and snow-capped peaks in the background are real, and so are many of the performers’ grimaces, squints, gasps and moans.

“You can’t fake the forces that are put on your body during combat,” the director Joseph Kosinski said by phone. “You can’t do it on a sound stage, you can’t do it on a blue screen. You can’t do it with visual effects.”

From the safety of theater seats, the audience faces its own challenge: unlearning the computer-generated complacency that’s turned modern blockbusters into bedazzled bores. The imagery of the sky and ground spiraling behind the actors’ heads in “Top Gun: Maverick” looks like it must be digital wizardry. It isn’t.

The movie’s aerial coordinator, Kevin LaRosa II, and its aerial unit director of photography, Michael FitzMaurice, filmed from above using three aircraft: two types of jets with exterior cameras mounted on wind-resistant gimbals, and a helicopter, which proved best at capturing the speed of actors whizzing by. One specialized jet could film the same scene using two different lens focal lengths to double the footage captured on a single flight. Once LaRosa heard that the long-anticipated sequel was finally going to become a reality, he also developed his own aircraft, a shiny black plane with cameras that can withstand up to 3 G’s.

“That had never been done before,” LaRosa said in a video interview. As he flew next to the cast, LaRosa dodged trees while keeping an eye on the monitors to make sure FitzMaurice, controlling the cameras from the back of the plane, had gotten the shot.

Kosinski, the director, also spent 15 months working with the Navy to develop and install six cameras in each F-18 cockpit, which meant passing rigorous safety tests and securing the military’s all-clear to remove its own equipment. Luckily, Kosinski said, there were “Top Gun” fans among the commanding officers. “All the admirals that are in charge right now were 21 in 1986, or around there when they signed up,” he said. “They supported us and let us do all this crazy stuff.”

Usually, the Navy forbids pilots from flying below 200 feet during training. One of the film’s most staggering images is of Cruise in an F-18 whooshing just 50 feet above the ground, a height roughly equal to its wingspan. The plane flew so close to the earth that it kicked up dust and made the ground cameras shake. The pilot landed, turned to Cruise, and told the superstar that he’d never do that again.

The actor Monica Barbaro didn’t know how nervous she should be when she agreed to play the pilot Natasha Trace (nickname: Phoenix).

“When I met Joe in my callback, first thing he had me sign a waiver saying that I didn’t have a fear of flying,” Barbaro said by phone. “I just got goose bumps. I was so excited.”

Each flight day kicked off with a two-hour briefing for the pilots and film crew to go over every upcoming shot, movement and line of dialogue. Next, that sequence’s actors and pilots would rehearse the maneuvers in a wooden mock-up of the jet cockpit until the motions were ingrained. Then, they took to the sky to film as many takes as possible before the jet, or the performers, ran out of fuel. In the afternoon, they did it again.

Soaring above the crew, Barbaro and the rest of the cast took on a Swiss Army knife of skills. Instead of hitting her mark on the ground, she had to hit it in the air. The sun was her spotlight. A pilot’s kneeboard on her lap displayed her script, her movements and her necessary coordinates, plus reminders to check her parachute and shoulder straps, fix her hair and makeup, adjust her flight visor, flip on the bright red switch that controlled the cameras, and note down the time codes. Finally, Barbaro had to do her actual job: act.

“Tom just really encouraged everybody, if you are going to throw up, just learn how to do it and move past,” Barbaro said. “We would applaud when anyone threw up, so it became celebrated.” Glen Powell (he plays the hot shot Lt. Jake Seresin, who is called Hangman) even brandished his barf bag while gliding upside-down and flashing a thumbs up.

Barbaro held onto her lunch. But after her first dailies, she said, her face appeared so calm, it gave the impression that the clouds whooshing behind her were simply a green screen. Cruise’s training had prepared her too well.

She was sent back into the sky for a retake.

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Top Gun: Maverick’s Fighter Jet Stunts Push the Boundaries of Physics

An aerobatic pilot—who’s also an aeronautical engineer—tells us where the sequel outstrips what real pilots can do.

At an elite U.S. Navy fighter jet training school in “Fightertown USA,” students compete to outperform other pilots in the class. That means not only following orders, but showing off their most daring flying skills. After all, this is Top Gun , the 1980s big-screen hit.

Now, Paramount Pictures Studios will bring the familiar fighters and their brash pilots back to the silver screen on May 27 with Top Gun: Maverick , the sequel. But how realistic are the amazing aerial acrobatics depicted in the two films? Are maneuvers like rolling backflips, shooting straight up into the sky, and flipping upside-down over another airplane actually doable in real life?

The Original Top Gun Planes Performed Realistic Moves

“You may be surprised to learn that the first [film] is actually pretty realistic when it comes to physics and maneuvering,” aerobatic pilot Bernardo Malfitano tells Popul ar Mechanics by email. “They did shoot the vast majority of the movie with real airplanes doing real flying, not models or CGI.”

Pilots can perform most of the airplane scenes, including the air combat maneuvering, known as dogfighting. One example seen in the film is the “ rolling scissors ” maneuver, meant to gain a positional advantage against an enemy plane.

Malfitano has been an aeronautical engineer and private pilot since 2011, meaning he knows the ins and outs of flying aerobatic style . He flies stunt airplanes with technically precise moves that push the limits of what a small plane can do.

Riding along in U.S. Navy aircraft, Tom Cruise —who plays the eponymous Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell—and his fellow actors didn’t have to become stunt pilots themselves, of course. However, they did actually fly in the airplanes alongside trained pilots during Top Gun filming. For the sequel, actors spent three months training to withstand the G-forces they’d experience in the air so they could shoot scenes in real F-18 fighters .

According to the movie’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Cruise was the only one able to withstand the G-forces of flying a fighter plane, which can experience up to eight or nine Gs, meaning pilots feel eight to nine times the force of gravity. Trained pilots can withstand even higher forces if they wear special G-suits that constrict the legs and abdomen with an air bladder to keep blood in the upper body during high-G maneuvers.

“Although Top Gun ’s depiction of the life of a naval aviator might not have been exceptionally well-written, the flying is almost all very realistic.”

Malfitano knows the risks of stunt maneuvers. Making your airplane enter a spin is something real pilots could do intentionally, though it carries the risk of the aircraft stalling and crashing . So when Maverick is shown falling in a flat spin, it’s not a real plane you see on screen, but a model.

This was one of a few scenes that were impossible to film with real planes, since people’s lives would be in danger. For example, airplanes explode, an F-14 goes into a spin, and missiles are fired at planes in the first film. The Navy didn’t want to release much footage of missiles at the time, either, Malfitano says.

“The glaring exception [to a real maneuver] is the scene where the F-14 rolls inverted right on top of the F-5/MiG-28, so close that the F-14’s vertical stabilizers would be on either side of the other airplane’s. Even if that’s physically possible, it’s so precarious that the situation could probably get away from the pilots (e.g. sucking the airplanes closer together) more quickly than the pilots would be able to react,” explains Malfitano, who offers a “mini degree” in aeronautical engineering.

In airshows, two pilots simulate this maneuver by keeping one airplane further away than the other, he says; in other words, it’s faked , because it’s too perilous to actually perform.

“So, although Top Gun ’s depiction of the life of a naval aviator might not have been exceptionally well-written, the flying is almost all very realistic,” he says.

The Sequel Upgrades to F/A-18s, But the Moves Are Less Realistic

Not so in the sequel, though. Between the first and second Top Gun films, Tom Cruise became a real pilot. So Malfitano was surprised to see that the airplane maneuvers depicted in the sequel’s trailer are less realistic.

Hollywood has become obsessed with fighters doing backflips, he says. Yet it’s “barely possible today with thrust-vectoring,” or an aircraft’s ability to change the direction of the thrust from its engine in order to control the altitude or angular velocity of the plane. That technology didn’t crop up until the 1990s, either. While the new Top Gun: Maverick film is supposed to take place in contemporary times, it’s still a difficult feat to do a backflip.

One of the previews for the sequel depicts a Sukhoi Su-57 airplane performing a move called a Pugachev Cobra and a spin in horizontal flight, both of which are possible with the right airplanes, like the Su-57 and the F-22 . During this move, first performed by Soviet test pilot Viktor Pugachoyov in 1989, the pilot takes the nose of the plane completely vertical, or even beyond. Pulling that far back in an airplane with no thrust vectoring means the pilot relies on the drag toward the tail of the plane in order to pitch the nose forward again. So, the plane needs to have a thrust-to-weight ratio higher than one. With thrust-vectoring airplanes, it’s a little easier, but still, the engines must fire hard enough the entire time to maintain the jet’s altitude, despite the loss of speed and lift.

In the sequel, F/A-18s are also shown performing a move similar to a Pugachev Cobra, which is not possible unless the F/A-18s have had thrust-vectoring nozzles added to the back, Malfitano points out.

To him, the most intriguing scenes from the second film portray Maverick wearing a pressure suit and flying what looks like a hypersonic airplane. Lockheed’s SR-72, Boeing’s Mach 5 passenger transport, and Reaction Engines’ Skylon, all have somewhat similar configurations to the mystery jet in the preview, Malfitano noticed.

Multiple companies are working on engines that combine a jet and ramjet, or a jet and a rocket. These engines can push a vehicle fast enough to power a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle, “a true ‘ spaceplane ’ that does not need to be dropped from a mothership and does not need to shed booster stages on its way up,” Malfitano explains.

Perhaps Top Gun: Maverick introduces an innovative new airplane design that’s still a bit futuristic in order to inject even more excitement into the sequel. It’s an intriguing scene in the trailer, Malfitano says. So maybe it’s okay, or even ideal, for this movie’s airplanes to defy physics. In any case, it sure will elicit a lot more oohs and aahs.

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Before joining Popular Mechanics , Manasee Wagh worked as a newspaper reporter, a science journalist, a tech writer, and a computer engineer. She’s always looking for ways to combine the three greatest joys in her life: science, travel, and food.

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Samuel L. Jackson Reveals His Favorite Pulp Fiction Line (& It Doesn't Contain Any Cuss Words)

"there's three more movies": star wars stunt coordinator confirms sheer scale of george lucas' unused prequel footage, gives details of cut scenes, tom cruise’s infamous horror reboot with 15% rt score climbing streaming charts 7 years later.

Tom Cruise's need for speed returns in Top Gun: Maverick , and the movie features an incredible amount of real stunts and flying instead of fully Top Gun: Maverick CGI scenes. Over 30 years after he originally played Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 1986's Top Gun , the release of the sequel comes at a point in time where Cruise has reinvented his Hollywood persona. Once it finally came time to make Top Gun: Maverick , one of the biggest questions surrounding the film was just how far Cruise's long-awaited sequel would go to make everything as real as possible. The original Top Gun featured great dogfights in the skies, and director Tony Scott captured much of the action in real life by using professional pilots.

The film easily could have tried to replicate the Top Gun dogfights by relying heavily on the advancements in visual effects over the last 36 years. However, the minimal Top Gun: Maverick CGI used to create its aerial scenes is unsurprising — with Tom Cruise leading the charge, Paramount went all-in on keeping up with the star and producer's penchant for realistic action scenes. As the movie follows Maverick as he trains a group of young pilots — led by Goose's son Rooster (Miles Teller) and his rival Hangman (Glen Powell) — Top Gun 2 is filled with thrilling flight sequences that were accomplished mostly through practical effects. Here is what is known about which parts of Top Gun: Maverick are real and what was achieved with special effects.

Does Tom Cruise Really Fly In Top Gun 2?

Tom Cruise does fly a plane for real in Top Gun: Maverick . The actor got his pilot's license in the years after Top Gun was released in 1986, so it was one of his mandates to make a sequel that he'd get to fly a real fighter jet in the sequel. While Maverick is often seen flying in a Boeing F/A 18F Super Hornet jet and the fictional Hypersonic "Darkstar" jet, Cruise was not in control of either aircraft.

Tom Cruise flew backseat in these real planes with another pilot, experiencing incredible g-force and flying at high speeds, but he was not piloting them for the most part. Although Cruise is a licensed pilot, the limits of his skills, insurance, and military regulations meant that another Navy pilot needed to be in command of these planes. Otherwise, there's not much Top Gun: Maverick CGI to speak of.

While Tom Cruise does really fly in several jets for Top Gun 2 , he also was given the chance to pilot one for real. The sequence comes during Top Gun: Maverick 's ending after Pete is reunited with Penny (Jennifer Connelly). He takes her for a flight in his rebuilt P-51 propeller plane, and this was the one instance where Tom Cruise was actually serving as the pilot. The P-51 Mustang used in Top Gun: Maverick is owned by Tom Cruise in real life, which allowed him to really fly it for the film's conclusion.

Do Top Gun: Maverick's Other Cast Members Really Fly?

The Top Gun: Maverick CGI use was minimal, and since most of Top Gun 2 was real the other cast members also flew in their jets just like Cruise. However, none of the Top Gun: Maverick cast flew the jets by themselves. All the cast member's jets were piloted by trained Navy pilots for their aerial sequences. Even though flying in a plane as a passenger might sound a bit easy, it required significant training from the cast.

Tom Cruise developed a three-month, intensive training program for Miles Teller's Rooster and his co-stars that they had to go through prior to filming beginning. This included various tests and physical training meant to prepare them to be in a real F/A 18 Super Hornet for production. All the Top Gun: Maverick cast members who had to be in a jet for the movie participated in the grueling process, which ended with them being more than ready for the real experience.

Beyond the flight training, capturing Top Gun: Maverick 's aerial sequences meant the cast members essentially became their own crew and cinematographer. A typical day on set when flying was involved saw the individual actors leave for an hour or two at a time and film their aerial scenes. However, director Joseph Kosinski couldn't communicate with them during this time or see the footage that was being filmed inside Top Gun 2 's fighter jets . So the crew of the sequel invented new camera rigs to go inside the cockpit with the actors, which required them to properly frame and light the shots. Their only aid during this time was the real pilots in the cockpit with them, but they were focused on flying the jets.

How Much Of Top Gun: Maverick Is CGI?

Putting the cast in real flying scenes doesn't mean that everything in Top Gun: Maverick was done practically. The movie certainly thrives on the realism created by these believable sequences, but visual effects were used in other ways. One area that seems to be partially aided by Top Gun: Maverick CGI is the dogfights, as the missiles launching and bullets shooting at the planes are surely fake.

Doing any of that practically would put the actors, real pilots, and crew in great danger. With that in mind, it also seems that the bombing of the underground uranium facility belonging to Top Gun: Maverick 's villains was aided by CGI. There are surely other smaller examples of visual effects being used in Top Gun: Maverick , but it was all done to service the real aerial sequences happening throughout the rest of the film.

Why Top Gun 2 Uses Practical Stunts Rather Than CGI

Beyond Tom Cruise's thrill-seeking persona, Top Gun: Maverick uses practical stunts rather than Top Gun: Maverick CGI to give viewers a more believable experience. Everyone involved with the movie agreed that it would be far too noticeable if the actors were faking what it felt like to experience almost 10-gs of force, traveling at over 600 knots, and everything else that comes with actually being in a fighter jet.

This wasn't the easy route to take by any measure, as Top Gun 2 could've played it safe by placing the actors in front of green screens and inside fake cockpits to tackle its aerial sequences. But Tom Cruise's history of real stunts meant this shortcut was incredibly unlikely. Doing the flying practically brings an even greater sense of danger to Top Gun: Maverick — on top of it just looking incredible — as audiences can clearly see what the actors endured to deliver these mesmerizing action scenes.

How The Top Gun: Maverick Stunts Were Filmed

Top Gun: Maverick 's stunts were filmed through real U.S. Navy pilots taking actors on top-of-the-line fighter jets. They were followed by three different aircraft mounted with specialized cameras that can withstand the G-forces involved. This includes a helicopter, a specialized jet equipped with two different lens focal lengths for doubling the footage on one run, and a custom camera drone plane that can withstand up to 3 Gs, developed by Top Gun: Maverick aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa.

While LaRosa dodged trees and other aircraft on the controls, it was aerial unit director of photography Michael FitzMaurice's job to ensure that they had the shot. The Top Gun: Maverick cast , after training with Tom Cruise, became well-equipped at withstanding the same G-forces that threatened to break the crew's highly-specialized gear. As director Joseph Kosinski said in interview ( via The New York Times) " You can’t fake the forces that are put on your body during combat... You can’t do it on a sound stage, you can’t do it on a blue screen. You can’t do it with visual effects."

Top Gun: Maverick's breathtaking stunts were made possible mainly by two factors: the extreme dedication of its actors and the extensive experience and expertise of the entire film crew. Indeed, Kosinki even reportedly spent around 15 months developing and installing cameras in the F-18s used in the movie, working with Navy officers who were huge fans of the original Top Gun . Considering the massive, record-breaking box office success of the sequel, the incredible dedication that even allowed the stunt-heavy movie to be captured in the first place, and how audiences have been clamoring for Top Gun 3 , Top Gun: Maverick is definitely just the beginning of this promising franchise's long-awaited comeback.

How Much Top Gun 2's Real Stunts Cost

The budget for Top Gun: Maverick was exceptionally high, and often using real stunts versus a Top Gun: Maverick CGI stunt ended up costing more money. The final budget for Top Gun: Maverick was $171 million, and thankfully the film's box office made it the biggest movie of 2022, more than making up for any money lost. The exact amount spent on aerial stunts isn't known, but is assuredly astronomical.

According to a report by Bloomberg , the U.S. Navy charged production a whopping $11,374 per hour to access the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. Cruise flew none of these planes, as the Pentagon bars anyone outside of the U.S. Military from using their jets. However, he did fly plenty of other planes in the movie. Either way, Top Gun: Maverick had a massive budget , and while it wasn't used towards CGI, plenty was definitely put toward the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

Tom Cruise Wouldn't Have Done Top Gun 2 Without Real Jets

Top Gun: Maverick was a successful return to form for both the Top Gun IP and Tom Cruise in 2022, and the incredible use of real stunts and jets over CGI was partially responsible. However, it seems from past interviews with Tom Cruise that the Top Gun sequel couldn't have happened any other way. Speaking to Extra all the way back in 2015, Cruise was adamant that a then-hypothetical Top Gun 2 wouldn't have his blessing if it opted for CGI over real jets.

"If I can figure it out, if all of us can figure it out, it’d be fun to do, I’d like to fly those jets again, but we got to do all the jets practical, no CGI on the jets,” Cruise said at the time when asked if he'd return to Top Gun, “I’m saying right now no CGI on the jets. If we can figure all that out, and the Department of Defense will allow us to do it, that would be fun. ” Clearly, Tom Cruise got his wish, as in 2022 Top Gun: Maverick emerged, completed with minimal CGI and the real jets he'd dreamed of flying again in 2015.

• Top Gun: Maverick

For 'Top Gun: Maverick,' Tom Cruise flew a jet, experienced up to 8 G's: 'You can't act that'

Tom Cruise is no slacker when it comes to doing his own action movie stunts . But does he really need to be flying his own fighter jet as six cameras record his every move inside of the cockpit for a film?

Yes, absolutely he does!

And that's what the star, and some of his cast mates, have done for "Top Gun: Maverick," the highly anticipated sequel that arrives 34 years after the original. 

In a featurette for the movie released Wednesday, Cruise defends his decision to eschew CGI for actually piloting a jet. "You can't act that, the distortion in the face. They’re pulling 7½, 8 G's. That’s 1,600 pounds of force," he says.

So it's no surprise that the video shows actor Danny Ramirez nearly vomiting in the cockpit.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

"It is heavy duty," says Cruise. No kidding.

Adds new co-star Miles Teller, who plays Goose's son, "Rooster": "Putting us up in these jets, it's very serious. That's why everybody thought it would be impossible. I think when Tom hears that something's impossible or it can't be done, that’s when he gets to work." 

Trailer: Tom Cruise is training the next generation in new 'Top Gun: Maverick' sequel

In "Top Gun: Maverick," Cruise's character, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, is a test pilot who finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission, "the likes of which no pilot has ever seen," according to a release from Paramount.

But Cruise, 57, seems up for the challenge of acting as the leader for such a mission. Even if it makes him woozy and out of breath, as we see in the new promo clip.

"Top Gun: Maverick" is set for theaters in June.

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‘top gun: maverick’ aerial coordinator shares behind-the-scenes secrets.

He’s got a need for speed!

Kevin LaRosa II, 36, is the aerial coordinator and camera pilot who trained all the actors and captured all the action-packed shots for “Top Gun: Maverick,” which premieres Friday.

LaRosa was born in 1986 — the year the first movie premiered — and comes from a long line of aviation experts. He’s a third-generation pilot and second-generation aerial coordinator and stunt pilot.

“My father is a well-known stunt pilot. And growing up in a house where your dad does something cool like that, you’re just hooked,” he told The Post.

“But I do love telling people there was one thing that almost derailed me. And that’s the first ‘Top Gun’ movie, believe it or not. I almost changed courses because I wanted to be an F-14 Navy pilot.”

Ultimately, LaRosa followed in his father’s footsteps and now, he’s fulfilled his “Top Gun” dreams while working with Tom Cruise on the highly anticipated sequel.

“I can tell you right now, that man can fly an airplane,” LaRosa said of Cruise, who reprises his role as Navy fighter Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, once a young hotshot pilot turned trainer who is grappling with his past. “Tom is already an incredible aviator,” he said, adding that the 59-year-old actor (who is confirmed shirtless in the movie) is “an accomplished pilot” and motivation “to go work out.”

The original “Top Gun” became a classic after it was released, celebrated for its lust-worthy cast, amazing aerial stunts and portrayals of everlasting bonds. The first film, directed by Tony Scott, inspired a spike of US Navy registrations, which increased 500% the next year and catapulted Cruise to box office fame.

Cruise is known for doing most of his own stunts . For this film he does them all zipping through the clouds and pulling up to eight Gs — a measure of gravitational force experienced through acceleration — which is comparable to 600 pounds pressing against your body. “So just to put it in perspective, it’s a level of power that most people never get to experience,” LaRosa said.

The “Top Gun” star owns his own P-51 Mustang (a World War II fighter jet) which LaRosa said the actor flies “like it’s an extension of himself.” Cruise came onto the set with a love for and understanding of aviation, LaRosa said, and really wanted to inspire that passion in his new co-stars, including Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro and Glen Powell.

‘I can tell you right now, that man can fly an airplane. Tom [Cruise] is already an incredible aviator.’ Aerial coordinator and “Top Gun: Maverick” camera pilot LaRosa

“I remember in the beginning of the movie, he gave us an incredible speech,” LaRosa said. “We felt the pressure. But that pressure, I feel like, was our motivation.”

The actors in the new film went through extensive and intense training both on the ground and in the air with LaRosa, his father (also named Kevin) and US Navy pilots to get them comfortable in the cockpit. The newbies began training in a 172 aircraft to learn spatial awareness, what the gauges do and how to take off and land before jumping into fighter jets.

“That’s why they looked so good on camera because they’re not up there for the first time,” LaRosa said. “They’re not afraid of it. They get in those things and they’re focused on what they need to do to make the scenes great.”

By the end of training, Cruise and LaRosa weren’t the only ones flipping through the clouds.

“There’s nobody else that’s doing it for them, that is 100% the cast in those aircraft doing everything,” LaRosa confirmed, adding that the film doesn’t use stunt doubles or CGI effects.

Not only did the actors have to become pilots for the film, but they also had to be their own personal lighting crews, hair stylists, makeup artists and directors, pulling out mirrors in their cockpits to make sure they were camera-ready after each G-force blast.

And it wasn’t always pretty.

LaRosa said that some of the actors got air-sick, but remained professional, even if it meant filming a scene with a bag full of vomit on their lap. Powell, he added, did some of his best work with his sick bag discreetly sloshing around.

“There’s no pulling over on the side of the road and waiting it out,” he said. “You get right back into it.”

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Tom Cruise Surprised A Crowd During A Top Gun: Maverick Screening And Totally Ended Up Giving A Cinema Lesson, Because Of Course

No one but Cruise pulls this sort of cinema lesson off.

Tom Cruise has always been more than just one of the best '80s actors -turned-modern-day action movie icons. He's also a cinema lover, a theatrical experience champion, and a master at giving his fans memorable moments, like with this year's iconic Olympic entrance stunt . His latest surprise appearance at a Top Gun: Maverick screening in London’s Royal Albert Hall proved just that. He not only delighted audiences but, in classic Cruise fashion, he delivered an impromptu history lesson on cinema and music because, of course, he did.

Always eager to share some knowledge, the A-lister appeared at a Maverick screening held in London's Royal Albert Hall that included a live orchestra. Some of those in attendance took to X to post about the experience, sharing their excited feelings. Based on their comments, the audience of 2,900 truly had no idea that the star would show up to be a part of the special screening of the 2022 box office juggernaut .

Per a report (via Entertainment Weekly ) , the Risky Business actor's unannounced visit kicked off with a deep dive into the evolution of live music in film. He began by explaining how live orchestral performances have been a part of the moviegoing experience since the early 20th century. The Mummy star had this to say to the waiting audience:

Live music has been available for silent film accompaniment since moving pictures were first presented in vaudeville theaters over 120 years ago.

Tom Cruise went on to trace the origins of synchronized orchestras with film, explaining how this tradition began around 1914 and became essential in enhancing the grandeur of movie palaces during the silent film era. The Jerry Maguire star's passion for cinema was palpable as he explained how leitmotifs—musical themes associated with characters or ideas—revolutionized movie storytelling:

And the use of leitmotifs redefined cinematic storytelling, and large symphony orchestras became a necessity at fancy movie palaces. So it set the standard for the ultimate at that time in theatrical grandeur. The silent movie era lasted about 30 years until 1927, the talkies came in, and orchestras now perform the score, and it's coupled to the actual picture. Now, this evolution set a new standard for the ultimate theatrical experience at that time.

The 62-year-old Hollywood legend finished his cinema history masterclass by demonstrating how much he loves what he does—and how deeply he understands the power of film to connect with audiences:

The power of music and its use in cinema to deepen our experience of the story and our connection to the characters is absolutely magical… And the music you're about to hear live tonight, I want to personally thank the extraordinary talents of Harold Faltermeyer, Hans Zimmer, Lady Gaga, OneRepublic, and the gentleman who's here this evening who also produced the score, Lorne Balfe. I also want to thank tonight's orchestra and all of your exceptional talents.

This wasn’t just a typical movie promo moment, to say the least. The Jack Reacher veteran’s comments showed his sincere appreciation for every element of the filmmaking process, specifically in regard the sound and score that helped shape Top Gun : Maverick .

We really shouldn't be surprised by these remarks from Tom Cruise, given what's known about him up to this point. His commitment to the movie industry and the art of filmmaking are matched by very few of his peers. It's honestly inspiring that he not only wants audiences to enjoy feature films but also understand the artistry that goes into making them. One would hope that other stars take a cue from him in that regard.

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For fans who had gathered for what they thought was a standard live music screening, it seems like the unexpected lecture was an unforgettable experience. The Mission: Impossible instance presence instantly elevated the evening, and his thoughtful words only reinforced why he’s long been one of Hollywood’s most beloved figures. Here's hoping that this won't be the last time that the icon decides to dish out some filmmaking wisdom.

Fans can revisit Top Gun: Maverick –sans a live orchestra and Tom Cruise waxing poetically about film history–by streaming it with a Paramount+ subscription . Cruise will next star in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 , which is set to hit the 2025 movie schedule on May 23.

Ryan graduated from Missouri State University with a BA in English/Creative Writing. An expert in all things horror, Ryan enjoys covering a wide variety of topics. He's also a lifelong comic book fan and an avid watcher of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. 

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Tom Cruise's Wildest Stunts in His Movies, from 'Top Gun: Maverick' to 'Mission: Impossible'

Stunt double, who? Tom Cruise has become synonymous with the dangerous stunts seen in his action-packed movies because he performs all of them himself. Between running down the world's tallest building in Mission: Impossible  to flying a jet in Top Gun: Maverick , here's a roundup of the adrenaline junky's most intense scenes

Tom Cruise's Cliff Jump in Mission: Impossible II

There's nothing that amps Tom Cruise up more than doing his own dangerous stunts , which he has done numerous times throughout the Mission: Impossible franchise.

In the second installment, one memorable and nail-biting scene involved a 2,000-foot cliff in Moab, Utah.

Not only did Cruise scale the cliff with his bare hands, but he jumped a 15-foot gap from one side of the cliff to another with nothing but a thin rope holding him for safety. (Oh, he also hung onto the cliff's side by only his fingertips before pulling himself up.)

"I was really mad that he wanted to do [the stunt], but I tried to stop him and I couldn't," director John Woo told Entertainment Weekly . "I was so scared I was sweating. I couldn't even watch the monitor when we shot it."

Tom Cruise's Knife to the Eye in Mission: Impossible II

Cliff climbs and frightening jumps weren't the only hard-to-watch stunts in the second installment of Mission: Impossible . While our eyes were nearly shut watching this next stunt, Cruise insisted his be wide open.

The infamous "knife-to-eye" scene involved a real knife being propelled full force at his eye, stopping precisely one quarter-inch away from his eyeball, as opposed to somewhere vaguely near his eye like director Woo had suggested, per the Mission: Impossible II Blu-Ray behind-the-scenes clip.

Tom Cruise's Skyscraper Run in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

One of Cruise's most famous stunts took place in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol when he scaled down the side of a building. But not just any building! He scaled the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai.

To complete this daunting task, Cruise's character Tom Hunt sported special suction gloves in order to reach the 130th floor of the 2,722-foot skyscraper before rappelling down and concluding with a giant leap of faith.

"One night, after one of the earliest shooting days, I bolted up in bed realizing that we had our star dangling about a mile up in the air on a thin wire and my brain was screaming, 'What the hell are we doing?' " director Brad Bird told the New York Daily News .

Tom Cruise's Exoskeleton Armor in Edge of Tomorrow

While the stunts in Edge of Tomorrow were nonetheless next-level, it was the costume that posed even more of a challenge ! Cruise sported metal exoskeleton armor, a detail that's typically added via CGI in post production.

But naturally, the daredevil actor opted to wear the heavy suit — with one version weighing roughly 85 pounds, costume designer Pierre Bohanna told Entertainment Weekly .

"They're brash, quickly-made pieces of equipment. So you've got to see the guys struggling in them," Bohanna said. "But it's a massive worry when you take something like this and put someone like Tom in there. It's a massive ask for anyone to put up with, let alone somebody that important."

Tom Cruise's Plane Hang in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation

The Top Gun alumnus is no stranger to action-packed air travel, but his stunt in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation is incomparable to say the least.

While Top Gun had Cruise daringly fly and pilot fighter planes, Rogue Nation saw the actor cling onto one from the outside!

Using only his fingertips, he dangled 1,000 feet in the air from the side of an Airbus A400M at a speed of 100 knots for six to eight minutes, the film's photography director, Robert Elswit, told The Hollywood Reporter .

In order to safely accomplish the stunt, Cruise was attached via a wire that was later erased in post production. He also wore protective contacts to shield his eyes from flying debris and intense gusts of wind, per CNN.

Tom Cruise's Zero-Gravity Stunt in The Mummy

Ever wonder how actors recreate a cargo plane plummeting to the ground? Ask Cruise, who did just that during the infamous plane crash sequence in The Mummy .

In true Cruise fashion, the actor opted for 64 takes in zero gravity, as opposed to the suggested sound stage alternative, per Variety .

Tom Cruise's Helicopter Hang in Mission: Impossible Fall Out

Cruise was offered to shoot this daunting Mission: Impossible Fall Out scene on a backlot with a green screen, but that's just so out of character.

To complete the stunt, the actor endured 16 hours of intensive helicopter training every day for more than a month in order to pull off the scene's difficult maneuvers and climactic downward spiral, per the Los Angeles Times .

"It's all Tom flying, 100 percent of it. There's a lot of jeopardy," the film's stunt coordinator, Wade Eastwood, told the outlet.

As for the crash sequence, "It's kind of like being in a theme park ride but really dangerous because your limbs are flying everywhere and all you need to do is catch your wrist in the wrong place and that's a permanent injury," costar Henry Cavill added.

Tom Cruise's Building Jump in Mission: Impossible Fall Out

Did you really think hanging off the side of a helicopter, plummeting 40 feet to the ground , and doing a downward spiral were the only missions accomplished by Cruise i n Fall Out ? In the film, he also had to leap from one building's rooftop to another.

To film the chase scene, Cruise was attached to two safety harnesses as he sprinted off one building, leaped off, and crashed against the side of the other before hoisting himself up (only to then keep running again).

Unfortunately for Cruise, the "easy" stunt did go wrong, resulting in a broken ankle for the actor, he told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show .

Tom Cruise's Cockpit Scene in Top Gun: Maverick

In the blockbuster sequel to Cruise's 1986 Top Gun , the cockpit scene in Top Gun: Maverick was — you guessed it — extremely dangerous.

All of the actors were professionally trained to pilot their individual fighter planes themselves.

"We worked with the Navy and the Top Gun School to formulate how to shoot it practically because if we're going to do it, we're going to fly in the F-18s," said Cruise in a behind-the-scenes Paramount Pictures video clip.

Tom Cruise's Motorcycle Jump in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning

The seventh installment of the Mission: Impossibl e franchise, Dead Reckoning Part One , which is set to release in 2023, will see Cruise take on one of his most daring duties to date .

In the film, he rides a motorcycle off a massive ramp, flies into the sky, and parachutes his way down to safety — all while cameras are rolling and helicopters are following him to get the shot, per Today .

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Tom Cruise Surprises Crowd at “Top Gun: Maverick” Orchestral Concert: ‘Always Wanted to Experience a Film Like This’

The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and composer Lorne Balfe performed the film's score at London's Royal Albert Hall

Mike Coppola/WireImage

Tom Cruise just experienced one of his blockbuster films like never before, alongside a crowd that didn't expect him to be there in person.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the 62-year-old actor surprised the audience at London's Royal Albert Hall during its Top Gun: Maverick concert, which featured a showing of his 2022 movie set to a live performance of the film's score from the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and composer Lorne Balfe .

In fan-recorded footage from the event shared to X (formerly Twitter) , the Top Gun star could be seen standing in a suit in front of the large orchestra as he introduced the film and commended the presentation of it with a live score.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

Related: Tom Cruise Did His Daring Skydiving Stunt at Olympics Closing Ceremony for Free

While onstage, Cruise referred to Balfe — who composed the Maverick score alongside Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer — as a "dear friend" who he considered "brilliant."

"I also want to thank tonight's orchestra and all of your exceptional talents," Cruise said. "I've always wanted to experience a film like this with a live, full symphony orchestra, synchronized to picture, in front of a packed audience in the grandeur of a classic movie palace."

"Thank you all for being here and thank you for making this dream come true," he added, before telling the crowd to "enjoy" the experience and that he'll be watching along with them.

According to the Royal Albert Hall's website, the Top Gun orchestral performance was part of its Films in Concert series, which also features forthcoming showings of Avatar , Gladiator, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Home Alone . The venue's next Live in Concert show will be Ghostbusters on Oct. 26, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by original composer Elmer Bernstein's son Peter Bernstein.

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Cruise's latest surprise appearance comes after the actor closed out the  2024 Paris Olympics in August by swinging from atop Stade de France in Paris and landing on the stadium's field. Once on the ground, he was greeted by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and gymnast  Simone Biles , who presented him with the Olympic flag, four years ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

During a panel on Sept. 10, Casey Wasserman, president and chairman of LA28, revealed that Cruise actually made his appearance at the Olympics for free.

“The original idea was a person in the stadium as a stunt double,” Wasserman explained, per   The Hollywood Reporter . “About five minutes into the presentation [Cruise] goes, ‘I’m in. But I’m only doing it if I get to do everything.' "

As Wasserman shared at the event presented by CNBC and Boardroom, the actor "got more involved and more engaged" every "step of the way."

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Tom Cruise surprises Top Gun: Maverick fans, jams out on pipe organ at London concert

The star geeked out about film history and music in cinema in his introductory speech at Royal Albert Hall.

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire.

Tom Cruise made a rare public appearance Friday night to surprise fans at a screening of Top Gun: Maverick featuring a live orchestral performance at London's Royal Albert Hall. The event had not announced that the War of the Worlds star would pop up for the festivities, so the 2,900 viewers in the audience were shocked and delighted when he took the stage to introduce the film.

Cruise began his unexpected remarks with a history lesson. "I'm very excited to be here with you all tonight to share in this unique cinematic orchestral experience with Top Gun: Maverick ," he said. "Live music has been available for silent film accompaniment since moving pictures were first presented in vaudeville theaters over 120 years ago. But it wasn't til 1914, around then, where a full symphony orchestra, precisely synchronized with the picture, played a live score that was conceived on the operatic composition of leitmotifs."

The Minority Report actor also defined his terms. "Leitmotifs are, for those who don't know, themes throughout a musical or literary composition associated with a particular person, idea, or situation," he explained. "And the use of leitmotifs redefined cinematic storytelling, and large symphony orchestras became a necessity at fancy movie palaces. So it set the standard for the ultimate at that time in theatrical grandeur. The silent movie era lasted about 30 years until 1927, the talkies came in, and orchestras now perform the score, and it's coupled to the actual picture. Now, this evolution set a new standard for the ultimate theatrical experience at that time."

The actor went on to romanticize the way that music can transform moviegoing and show his appreciation for the Maverick musical team. "The power of music and its use in cinema to deepen our experience of the story and our connection to the characters is absolutely magical," he said. "And the music you're about to hear live tonight, I want to personally thank the extraordinary talents of Harold Faltermeyer, Hans Zimmer , Lady Gaga , OneRepublic , and the gentleman who's here this evening who also produced the score, Lorne Balfe. I also want to thank tonight's orchestra and all of your exceptional talents."

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Cruise concluded his introduction by sharing his personal excitement about watching the movie under such fancy, pristine conditions. "I've always wanted to experience a film like this with a live full symphony orchestra, synchronized picture, in front of a packed audience in the grandeur of a classic movie palace," he said. "Thank you all for being here, and thank you for making this dream come true."

After the screening concluded, conductor Ben Palmer and organist Anna Lapwood posted photos of Cruise messing around on the venue's massive pipe organ, which, with its 9,999 pipes, is the second-largest in the United Kingdom.

Although Cruise isn't generally thought of as a musical performer, he has starred in a musical movie, 2012's Rock of Ages , and many of his most memorable moments across his career have close associations with music: His underwear-and-sock slide set to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" in Risky Business , his swooning to Berlin's love theme "Take My Breath Away" in Top Gun , his jamming out to Tom Petty in the car in Jerry Maguire , the cast's rendition of Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" in Magnolia , and Les Grossman's grotesque dancing in Tropic Thunder all come to mind.

Cruise will next star in Mission: Impossible 8 , set to hit theaters on May 23, 2025. After that, he will headline the next film from Birdman auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu .

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Tom Cruise surprises crowd at 'Top Gun: Maverick' live orchestral screening in London: 'dream come true'

Tom Cruise sure knows how to make a grand entrance.

During a live orchestral concert and viewing of "Top Gun: Maverick" at London's Royal Albert Hall on Friday, the 62-year-old actor surprised the crowd when he walked on stage prior to the film's start, which featured a live performance of the film's score by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. 

In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) , Cruise addressed the audience and gave a shutout to his "dear friend," composer Lorne Balfe.  

‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE' STAR TOM CRUISE DEFIES AGE WITH DANGEROUS STUNTS: EXPERTS

"I also want to thank tonight's orchestra and all of your exceptional talents," Cruise said. "I've always wanted to experience a film like this with a live, full symphony orchestra, synchronized to picture, in front of a packed audience in the grandeur of a classic movie palace."

"Thank you all for being here, and thank you for making this dream come true," he concluded.

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"Maverick" became the most-watched film in the world during its opening weekend release on the Paramount+ streaming platform in 2022. 

The Joseph Kosinski-directed film stars Cruise alongside a long list of Hollywood celebrities, including Miles Teller , Jon Hamm, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer. "Maverick" also received numerous accolades, such as two Golden Globes nominations for best motion picture of a drama and best original song.

Earlier this year, ahead of the film's 38th anniversary on May 16, Cruise took to Instagram to share a series of photos that feature behind-the-scenes snapshots of him and various cast members on the set of the original film and the 2022 sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick." 

In his Instagram post, Cruise wrote in a caption, "It’s incredible to look back on the thirty-eight years of ‘Top Gun.’ To the fans who have been with us since the start, there wouldn’t be a Top Gun Day without you."

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While it's up in the air, "Top Gun: Maverick" actress Jennifer Connelly, who portrayed Penelope "Penny" Benjamin in the film, is on board if it does happen. 

"I'll be there. I'm ready," Connelly told "Entertainment Tonight."

"I haven't seen anything," she said. "I had a casual chat with my friend, Joe Kosinski, who directed it, who I worked with twice now. I'm his biggest fan. I think he's so great. [I talked to him] about the possibility of it, but I don't know anything concrete."

Original article source: Tom Cruise surprises crowd at 'Top Gun: Maverick' live orchestral screening in London: 'dream come true'