Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski reveals that the hardest scene in the movie to film didn't involve airplanes. Coming more than 35 years after the release of Tony Scott's original Top Gun, Kosinski's sequel sees Tom Cruise's hotshot pilot, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, training a new batch of recruits for a dangerous mission over enemy territory. Top Gun: Maverick was a huge success with audiences and critics alike, earning near-universal praise for its thrilling aerial combat sequences and commitment to practical filming methods. As the cast has previously described, all the pilot actors had to go through what has been dubbed "Tom Cruise Boot Camp" in order to prepare for their intense fighter jet sequences.

In a recent interview with The Wrap, director Joseph Kosinski reveals that the hardest scene to film in Top Gun: Maverick may not be what audiences expect. Despite the difficulty of practically filming Top Gun: Maverick's aerial sequences, the director reveals that it was actually the movie's boat scene that was the hardest due to certain elements that were outside his control. The scene in question features Maverick and Jennifer Connelly's Penny on a sailboat, aggressively cutting through the ocean's waves. Check out Kosinski's full comment below:

“That sequence was in some ways the hardest to get because it was largely out of our control. We’re relying on wind to make the sequence great, and we had to go find wind.

“I think the audience feels that effort when they see the film. That’s why I think people respond to it, because it wasn’t shot on stage. It was a movie where we went out there and tried to capture as much as we could for real. And you can feel that when you’re watching it.”

Related: Why Top Gun 2 Didn't Kill Maverick (Despite The Perfect Opportunity To)

Why Top Gun 2 Will Stand The Test Of Time

Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly on a sailboat in Top Gun: Maverick.

The original Top Gun remains a beloved film for many, but the sequel has arguably surpassed it in almost every way. Top Gun: Maverick ups the action significantly and puts a big focus on capturing everything in-camera. Cruise and the other cast members, including Miles Teller, Glenn Powell, Monica Barbaro, and Lewis Pullman, among others, took hundreds of flights in real fighter jets in order to film all the movie's aerial combat sequences, lending Top Gun: Maverick a thrilling visceral quality. Combined with the fact that the movie features a genuinely moving story involving Maverick as a character and his relationship with Penny, the Top Gun sequel, for many fans, leaves little to be desired.

Much of the success of Top Gun: Maverick at the box office is due to strong word of mouth and fans taking repeated trips to the movie theater to see it. Although the movie hasn't even been out a year, it's already shaping up to stand the test of time, much like Scott's original. Visual effects can quickly make a movie feel dated since CGI technology is constantly evolving and improving, but Top Gun: Maverick's practical effects mean the movie will still look good and feel thrilling even years down the road. The sequel does of course feature a great number of visual effects shots, but they are often used to complement practical filmmaking methods.

Will Top Gun 3 Happen?

Tom Cruise about to remove his sunglasses in Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick being a hit with fans and achieving immense success at the box office has already generated a great deal of hype for a prospective Top Gun 3. Teller has previously revealed that it will all be up to Cruise whether a third movie happens, but the actor's busy schedule for the next few years suggests that it's likely not going to be anytime soon. Hopefully, if Top Gun 3 does get the green light from Paramount, it maintains the same commitment to practical effects as Top Gun: Maverick.

More: Top Gun 2: All 6 Jet Fighter Planes That Appear In Maverick

Source: The Wrap