Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Ending / spoiler

(21 votes)

The team destroy the processing plant, but Maverick is shot down when he puts his plane in the path of a SAM destined for Rooster. Believing him killed, the team are ordered back to the carrier. Having ejected, Maverick is approached by a helicopter which fires on him, but just as the killing shot is lined up the chopper explodes, shot down by Rooster who returned against orders, who is himself then shot down and ejects to safety. They approach the nearby destroyed airbase and discover an intact F-14, manage to get it airborne amid the chaos, albeit destroying their front landing gear in the process, and start to fly back to the carrier.

Two enemy fighters approach them, not initially realising who the pilots are. Maverick uses the element of surprise to destroy one, and after a protracted low-level dogfight shoots down the other. En route to the carrier a third fighter appears - Maverick evades as best he can but with no flares and no ammunition left, and with the ejection handles not working, they both seem doomed until Hangman arrives in the nick of time and shoots down the fighter. They land/crash on the carrier, and celebrate their victory, with Maverick and Rooster clearing the air. We later see them both working on Maverick's P51 together before Penny appears, and she and Maverick fly off into the sunset together.

Jon Sandys

Factual error: The radar guided SAMs are consistently evaded/triggered by the pilots' flares, which in reality only work against heat seeking missiles. Radar guided missiles would be defended against using chaff, basically clouds of aluminium foil strips. It was mentioned in some interviews they didn't want use chaff as it wouldn't really be visible for the audience - hence why they only deploy flares.

Jon Sandys

More mistakes in Top Gun: Maverick

Amelia: Captain, still?
Maverick: Highly decorated Captain.

More quotes from Top Gun: Maverick

Trivia: Despite long being one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, this was the first Tom Cruise film to earn more than $100 million at the domestic box office on its opening weekend. It also went on to become his highest grossing film, as well as his first film to gross $1 billion worldwide.

Phaneron

More trivia for Top Gun: Maverick

Question: Isn't Hangman's ammo still full after he hits the bandit chasing Mav and Rooster? Shouldn't it be short of the fired rocket?

Answer: You're correct - when you see Hangman's loadout before he lands back on the deck - he still has all weapons on the rails - it should be that he is short an AIM-9 or an AIM-120 AMRAAM depending on what was fired.

In all shots of Hangman's F/A-18E after the final battle (especially in the close-up right before he lands on the carrier), it is shown that there is an AIM-120 loaded onto the right air intake weapon station. The left air intake station is empty - indicating either no weapon was loaded or an AIM-7/AIM-120 was fired.

You can see that all his missiles are still intact and even if one is missing it would be very unlike to only load on the right and not the left as well. But where he says "This is your savior speaking" you can see all missiles are still on the plane and unfired.

More questions & answers from Top Gun: Maverick

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