407 Comments
Aug 3, 2022·edited Aug 3, 2022

I was blown away by this film. It wasn't ruined by any "messages" and it didn't try to be anything it wasn't. I subsequently watched some Tom Cruise interviews (very interesting guy even if some of his personal views are strange) and one quote hit me: "My job is to entertain you. It's a privilege to be able to entertain you." I think it's that attitude that drives the success of this film. Hollywood should -- but won't -- take notes on what audiences actually want. They didn't learn anything from Mad Max: Fury Road so I'm not holding my breath.

Edit: Also wanted to note the irony that a Scientologist created one of the LEAST cult-like/ideological messaging in a movie in recent memory. I can't call the obvious propaganda cult-like but others might disagree.

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Just to put this in perspective, of the top 20 highest grossing films of all time (not adjusted for inflation; there Gone with the Wind still rules) Top Gun is currently sitting at number 9 and is about to beat Jurassic World. It's the only film other than Titanic that sits in the top 20 and isn't a superhero movie. It's massive haul sits at a whopping $650 million. The audiences are screaming from the rooftops: this is what we want. Just give us this. And yet Hollywood has become fused with the Democratic Party -- and thus, movies have taken a massive fall.

Hollywood has become 1930s Soviet-style propaganda by now. If it always has to broadcast a specific message and is always monitored carefully for "mistakes" how can it ever be any good? Top Gun just works. It isn't challenging or memorable in the least bit but it does what movies are supposed to do in times of stress: take us away from our troubles, as you illustrate. Good stuff.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?ref_=bo_cso_ac

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This was freaking laugh out loud funny--deserving more than the LOL acronym. "we’re nearly a decade into a crippling fun shortage. We have complexes about every holiday from Christmas to Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July, the president has been severely disordered or clinically dead for at least six years, and the most famous standup performance in a generation involved Chris Rock getting man-slapped by the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." I'm glad you got to let loose, Matt. Who knew what kind of movie review maniac was hiding underneath the cub reporter demeanor?

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I saw the film in the IMAX and I was blown away. I feel like there’s never been a dude more made for a role than Cruise as Maverick. He really is that character. I’m sure some snowflakes found the movie jingoistic. I thought it was American exceptionalism in a totally fun and harmless way.

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Aug 3, 2022·edited Aug 3, 2022

You know what I liked? Outside of the well-deserved homage to the women in the service of this country, not one damned shred of Woke. Tom's a weirdo but I thank him for this film.

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The vast majority of content coming out of Hollywood these days is just reflective of a desire for psychological satisfaction. Woke writers have certain political convictions or affiliations through which they spin all storylines, and they pass this formulaic proselytizing off as “entertainment.” Maverick is the opposite.

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Last night I watched "The Comey Rule" on Netflix and was horrified to see this film treat Russiagate as a legitimate investigation rather than the costly scam it was. Another time I halted viewing a sci fi film that also seemed to be written by the CIA in conjunction with the FBI. You have to wonder who is funding these propaganda films and when will Oliver Stone make a new movie that unmasks the lies.

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The “lighten up, Francis” message of this movie review is great. I disagree the movie was “an ad for military hardware.” If anything, the DNA of this movie is “human man (and woman) over machine.” This is why the star piece of hardware turns out to be an obsolete F-14 Tomcat that is made tenacious only through the skill and daring of its human operators. This is not a movie about sophisticated military hardware. It is a movie about the American warrior spirit.

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Matt, I think you're unable to admit what you really liked about this film: It made you remember American pride.

There is nothing wrong with American pride. We have shameful things in our past and some linger to the present, but no more than any other country. Our sins are the sins of the human condition, no less but no more. And we have so much to offer. We created the modern world.

Leftist flagellation is based on hyperbole and distortion, but worse, it's gray and boring and destroys our life force. Let it go. Embrace the pride. It feels great.

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What Trump winning did was uncover the rot that is elitist governance. The media is just the most visible manifestation of the lib elites running for the hills to figure out how to win back a working class that literally hates them (and vice versa). They know their policies suck on almost every issue which is why they are for allowing illegal immigrants and 16 year olds to vote. They figure those demos won’t do as much research as say a white high school educated truck driver who lost his job or has to pay $1000 for a tank of gas. As far as our cultural decline or the decline in fun in media, don’t expect that to change in the near future. Hollywood has literal social justice quotas that cause every movie to resemble an episode of Paw Patrol. The quota doesn’t require talent or looks just…ya know…social justice - whatever the fuck that is…depends on which DIE coordinator they hired to oversee the film.

So yes FUN is dead in 2022 and if you’re over 30 thank your lucky stars you got to experience American media before they went 100% insane. I’d say the movie biz has about 5 years to turn things around after that, much like the music biz, they will zero out as a cultural or financial force. As it stands Youtube will continue to grow as the go to media for the next gen so it’s probably a moot point. As a filmmaker myself, I hate to see it go, but as long as Hollywood puts politics above entertainment they don’t really deserve to survive…do they?

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Nice review as always, Matt, but I paused at this line: "the best candidate for the enemy described is Iran, which not only didn’t violate our joint agreement with them..." You must be the only person in the world who believes that, I've seen dozens of pieces describing their flagrant and continuous violations of this supposed 'agreement'.

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Lucky for us Cruise has accepted his patriotic role as fun machine. Highly recommend The Edge of Tomorrow for brainless stims, it’s is the Maverick of alien movies.

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Aug 3, 2022·edited Aug 3, 2022

I started reading in a state of high dudgeon: how dare Taibbi praise an obviously mindless, jingoistic film like this?

By the time I finished reading I wanted to see the movie.

He's right about Americans being fun-deprived. That needs to end.

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I'm guessing you meant "...behind Top Secret! and Real Genius." :) And yes, I completely agree that those Val movies were the best. And much like Chris Knight, I too regularly reflect on the immortal words of Socrates when he said "I drank what?"

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Yeah, I’m dumb enough to have enjoyed the movie as well. I had to go by myself because my friends and family thought the movie would be a complete waste of time. For me it was a couple of hours of fun, which was exactly what I needed.

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"I’d argue it wasn’t near the second-best Kilmer movie of the period, being clearly behind Top Secret! and Real Genius. If drunk enough I might even argue for Willow)" Someone obviously has not seen Tombstone which was his part of a lifetime.

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