Where Was ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Filmed?
When most of us hear the songs “Take My Breath Away” or “Danger Zone,” there is only one movie that comes to our mind. Top Gun was released on May 16, 1986. It is a film that virtually put Tom Cruise officially on the map of recognizable stars, along with many others who were lucky enough to join him in the film.
In the spring of 2022, we will once again see Cruise take to the skies in a much anticipated, long-awaited, Top Gun 2, officially Top Gun Maverick. With all the notability of the original, most fans are curious about how well part two will live up to our expectations. For some fans, it may boil down to where it was filmed, for realism. For others, it may depend only on the quality of the storyline.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ premieres in 2022
True to the real time-lapse between Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) plays the part of a test pilot to avoid making the ranks that may tie him down to one area. He is assigned to train for a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a special mission.
While training the group, he meets Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller). “Rooster” turns out to be the son of Maverick’s best friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (played by Anthony Edwards), who died in the original Top Gun.
Maverick also reunites with Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazatsky (Val Kilmer) formerly his biggest competition and rival in Top Gun. Iceman is now a four-star admiral who currently serves as Chief of Naval Operations.
This mission is unlike anything that has ever seen before. It is one that promises to test him, and all who join it, to the max, perhaps requiring the ultimate sacrifice from all who are a part of it. There are also hints of our more technology-based world, complete with drones and the “end of an era” in regard to dogfighting.
Bringing ‘Maverick’ to life
Like the original movie, a good portion of Top Gun: Maverick was filmed, in part, at the military base Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, and in San Diego, California. However, it was not the only filming location.
Since Cruise wanted realism, a lot of the actual flight scenes were filmed using real aircraft. These maneuvers over land were not CGI enhanced. Instead, the action was captured at NAS Fallon in Nevada using ground-mounted cameras according to Express.
One of the final fight scenes was filmed in and around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, according to Tahoe Trail Guide. This is the assumption based on the movie trailer and a witness who managed to capture images of filming.
‘Maverick’ has a lot to live up to
Tom Cruise was very much a part of every aspect of this film. It is a project that he wanted to see come to fruition and has been in the works for a while. Maverick was originally supposed to be completed already, but the pandemic slowed it down.
With his involvement, he had a hand in most parts of the movie. He heavily influenced production, casting, and filming. He also chose the new actors that would be reprising original roles from the previous Top Gun movie.
This is one of the biggest reasons that CGI was not used for any of the flight scenes in the movie. Cruise used his flying skills to perform his own stunts, even those with massive G-forces like he would feel during flight scenes.
Overall, it is a movie that should be ultra-realistic. Therefore, many fans are now excited to see what it is all about in May 2022.
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