Neil deGrasse Tyson Reveals Gruesome ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Truth, Fans Aren’t Having It
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson finally got around to seeing Top Gun: Maverick. The film accomplished a feat far beyond a history-setting box office. The sequel managed to exceed all expectations as an addition to a classic that many audiences held dear, but it also created new fans around the world. Nevertheless, Tyson pointed out a gruesome inaccuracy in Top Gun: Maverick that irritated the movie’s large fan base.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ boasts plenty of mid-air stuntwork
Top Gun: Maverick saw the return of actor Tom Cruise as Maverick, but it also added a new cast of characters. New recruits have to work together to complete a seemingly impossible mission that could spell death for the lot of them. Maverick is in charge of preparing them for a task that he knows they potentially won’t make it back from.
The Joseph Kosinski-directed sequel boasts an impressive camera rig to film inside the cockpit. The aerial stunts are impressive, but they also required a lot from the cast. They had to engage in thorough training that pushed them to their limits. However, some cast members got sick in the process. Tyson used his expertise to explain how Top Gun: Maverick didn’t account for one scene in particular.
Neil deGrasse Tyson said ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ opening scene would kill Tom Cruise’s character
When Tyson finally got around to watching Top Gun: Maverick, the opening sequence stuck with him. The lead character is now a test pilot 30 years after graduating from Top Gun. He hears that there are plans to cancel the program to fund drones, so he pushes limits in an upcoming test from Mach 9 to Mach 10 to meet the contract. Tyson had a big issue with this scene.
“Late to the party here, but in this year’s Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s character, Maverick, ejects from a hypersonic plate at Mach 10.5 before it crashed,” Tyson tweeted. “He survived with no injuries. At that speed, his body would splatter like a chainmail glove swatting a worm. Just sayin’.”
Social media think Neil deGrasse Tyson is a ‘buzz kill’
Top Gun: Maverick fans responded to Tyson, calling him a “buzz kill” for pointing that out. Additionally, they didn’t like that he suggested killing off the fan-favorite, Maverick, in the process. Several tweets explained that Cruise’s stunt ability knows no limits and that ejecting at hypersonic speeds is possible for the actor.
However, an article is circulating in response to Tyson’s tweet contradicting his science that Maverick would die at those speeds. The Aviation Geek Club wrote that there was a way to eject a pilot at hypersonic speed in the 1960s at Mach 6.7. Additionally, technology continued to advance over that time.
Other fans simply didn’t like Tyson breaking the illusion of Top Gun: Maverick. It’s one of the biggest movies to hit IMAX screens in quite some time, and they were never taking every bit of it as scientific fact to begin with.
