Maverick’s final mission serves as a harrowing climax to Top Gun: Maverick, but is it really possible for pilots to complete this flight? In Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s character, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, and his team of aviators are tasked with bombing a country’s unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, which is located in a canyon and being defended by both surface-to-air missiles and fighters that are operating from a nearby air base. Maverick’s proposed attack involves two pairs of fighters, which will fly through the canyon at a low altitude to avoid being spotted and bomb the plant. Next, they must make a steep climb out of the canyon to avoid the mountain. They are expected to complete the full task in two-and-a-half minutes. The other aviators are incredulous as to whether Maverick’s proposed plan is possible. But he proves them wrong by conducting an unauthorized flight of the simulated course within the originally proposed parameters, and is then named the strike leader for the final mission.
The stunts involved in Top Gun: Maverick’s final mission flight might be technically possible, but whether they are probable are another matter. Typically, the Navy does not allow pilots to fly below 200 feet in training, something pointed out in the movie by Jon Hamm’s character, Cyclone. The aviators are also seen repeatedly missing their target during training, which confirms the difficulty of their task — until Maverick proves it is indeed possible. Additionally, according to expert Fred Kaplan, “F-18s don’t have the range to pull off this stunt, especially at fuel-draining high speeds” (via Slate). The fact that the final mission flight that Maverick performs involves altitudes normally not approved in the Navy, speeds that push the F-18’s boundaries, and high precision to hit the target makes it improbable that a pilot could pull off Maverick’s final mission flight.
Maverick's Stunts Prove The Final Flight Was Technically Possible
Of course, suspension of disbelief is integral when viewing the Top Gun movies, both of which feature incredible, improbable maneuvers. That said, a unique feature of Top Gun: Maverick is its commitment to practical stunts over CGI, which makes the final mission at least appear as real and believable as possible. Top Gun: Maverick’s cast were flying in jets, though they were not piloting them, in order to perform their aerial stunts, and this lends some authenticity to the onscreen visuals. As actor Glen Powell, who plays Hangman in the movie, puts it, “If you were using CGI, audiences are very smart, they can tell the difference. When you are whipping through canyons at 650 knots, you can’t fake that, and you can’t fake the Gs on actors’ faces” (via Entertainment Weekly).
Top Gun: Maverick features many incredible stunts, including Maverick’s final mission flight. The movie’s usage of practical effects for its aerial stunts suggests that the Gs, altitude, and speed seen in Maverick’s flight are technically possible to pull off. Stringing all those stunts together to be performed in one take the way Maverick had to in his last mission involves high precision and low altitudes that not only test the boundaries of the F-18, but of the pilots as well. So, while Top Gun: Maverick’s final mission flight is technically achievable, it is highly unlikely that any pilot could complete it besides Maverick — that is to say, it's a stunt that would only ever exist in the movies.
Why Maverick Should Get A Pass On Its Ending's Realism
The stunt seen at the end of Top Gun: Maverick itself may not be entirely possible. However, one should remember that at the end of the day, it is just a movie. The Top Gun franchise has worked incredibly hard to make sure that the realism of the film is there. From the aerial stunts to the limited CGI, Maverick tries its best to make sure that everything looks as real as possible. Therefore, Tom Cruise's final flight plan in the film should get at least some type of pass since the cast and crew worked so hard to make the movie look real. At the heart of Top Gun: Maverick is Goose's death in the first movie, new trainees, and cool jet-setting stunts. To bring into question the authenticity of Maverick's final flight pattern misses the point entirely, and also takes away some of the best parts of movie magic. Ultimately, it's not about how real the stunt is in Top Gun: Maverick, it's about how cool it looks.
Check out a video going behind the stunts of Top Gun: Maverick: