Jerry Bruckheimer is the prolific producer behind many blockbuster action films and he’s got another big hit on his hands. After 36 years, the long-awaited sequel to “Top Gun” has finally hit theaters.
The movie has received rave reviews from fans and a six-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
“The audience is much smarter than we are,” Bruckheimer explained. “They’re loving this movie, they’re applauding at the end, which is the best you could ask for.”
This film is a welcome sight for moviegoers after the film was held for two years due to the pandemic.
“I think it’s what the theaters need, it’s what the public needs to come back and enjoy great entertainment on those big screens,” he said. “I love watching movies in theaters and that’s what we made this movie for.”
When it comes to the decades-long gap between the two films, Bruckheimer promised it’s worth the wait especially considering how much the lead, Tom Cruise, has grown over the decades.
“‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has all the benefit of all of Tom’s experience of the last 36 years,” Bruckheimer explained. “When you see it, you’ll understand why we waited. It was the right time to make the picture.”
The filmmakers and actors made sure to do this movie justice by literally putting their all into this project. It took three months to train the actors of the film to get into an F-18. So everything you see the actors doing, they’re really doing it.
“When the plane’s going up, they’re going up. When the plane’s going sideways, they’re going sideways,” Bruckheimer said. “What they went through was extraordinary. A lifetime of filmmaking in one movie for these actors.”
While the high-flying stunts and nonstop action is highly anticipated, it’s the films message that may really hit it home. “It really is a movie you will cheer for, it’s exactly what the world needs,” explained Bruckheimer. “It’s about character, and sacrifice.”
With the success of the sequel, Bruckheimer isn’t looking ahead to another installment of the film. “Let’s enjoy this one,” he laughed. “If it takes that long, I won’t be around.”
If you hit the theater this weekend to catch the film, you may see the iconic producer in the seat next to you. While he awaits the box office numbers, he’s going to the movies to get see the reaction from the crowds.
“My thrill is watching them applaud, laugh, cry, whatever,” he explained. “If we can give an audience two hours of entertainment where they can forget about what’s going on in the world, or their families or anything that’s bad in this world- because the world is sort of upside down as we all know — we’ve done our job. “
“Top Gun: Maverick” is in theaters now.