Cruise Is In For Top Gun 2 - But F-35 Is The Scientology Star! (CoolPix + Video)
Friday, March 9, 2012 at 11:03AM 
(click pic for hi-res) VTOL F-35B during carrier suitability testing in October 2011
The confirming news is now a little over a week old about the reality of a Top Gun 2 movie project with Tom Cruise coming back as Maverick. And with the 'anytime baby' F-14 Tomcat smoking cigars in an easy chair these days, the F-35 Lightning II gets a chance to show off its ability to turn cash into an incredibly slow fighter jet. Of course I'm speaking of its VTOL capabilities.
Tom Cruise as Maverick waaaay back in 1986 in the original Top Gun movie
Regardless of how you feel about the whole F-35 project (cost, schedule, capability), when you watch the video below, it's pretty hard not to be exceedingly impressed with what this little beast can do. I love watching the control surfaces and the vectored thrust nozzle on those rolling, short carrier takeoffs! (the 1:50 mark is a good example) - I hope the onboard computers have chips that are well cooled as I'm guessing there's some serious processing going on there.
So, whenever the Top Gun 2 movie actually hits the big screen, the scientology star for me will be the F-35, not Tom. The F-35 is all about applying science and technology to produce the ultimate fighter, so I figure if I'm gonna have to talk about scientology, I'm gonna apply it all to the Lightning II.
I'm guessing Tom is hoping people focus on the F-35's scientology too : )
(click pic for hi-res) Another awesome CoolPix view of the F-35B doing carrier VTOL
(F-35 images from Lockheed Martin)
Reader Comments (4)
Aviation needs a blockbuster movie since a long long time ago. Top Gun, with all its inaccuracies, actually made aviation, and especially naval aviation, hugely popular in a way no other movie has donde ever since. Yes, the plot is not really that good, the acting is not Oscar material, BUT, you can't go wrong with fast jets and rock 'n roll.
Hopefully, Top Gun 2 will do something similar. There are very few sequels that master the success of the original, so I don't have high hopes for this.
But then again, I paid to see Red Tails, so I may as well pay to see this one.
Back in '86 I thought Tom Cruise, the F-14, and Kelly McGillis were blazing hot. Now all you hear about Tom is Scientology, the Tomcat is retired, and have you seen Kelly lately?
For me, having Cruise in TG 2 is a major put-off. ...and I bet Lockheed is sweating it, too - with the troubles the F-35 has had so far, will they be able to fly enough for the action shots? Or will this be more computer graphics than reality?
I nearly ran to my Navy recruiter after TG 1. If this movie is even half as successful, I bet a bunch of young folks will come running again. But imagine their disappointment - "uhh, no, sorry son, we, uhh, don't actually HAVE any F-35s yet... Can I interest you in a 30-year-old Hornet?"
Hi! I think that THIS is MORE cool than Top Gun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etBphxIl37I
When the F-35 can do this, please call me! hahaha! ;)
Grüße!
noemkr
It's incredibly slow? The F-35B is a lot faster than the Harrier that it will replace. It's not replacing F-22' s or F-15's. The F-35 isn't a "fighter jet". It's a "multi-role" jet. It's not focused on air-superiority. There is no aim to make it the fastest, because they want it good at other things, and not break the bank in the process with maintenance costs. Would you expect a VSTOL-capable plane to be able to compete with the speed capability of a top-of-the-line non-VSTOL aircraft?