Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell passes all the tests of his quest — in a new film that makes deep references to classic storytelling. It reaches back to the universal pleas of children at bedtime, or by the members of an ancient community seated around the ...
Some years ago, I snared a ride on a US Navy aircraft carrier. True, it was only one day’s sailing, but it was enough to watch, close-up, the frenzied choreography of dozens of sailors and airmen, all of whom were in a seemingly effortless dance on the carrier’s deck as aircraft were launched, recaptured, or conducted aerial manoeuvres directly overhead.
Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is one of the last of the dying breed of naval test pilots, preparing to fly a prototype jet up to the speed of Mach 10 . He has been in the Navy for decades and while he is the best pilot in the Navy, because he has an unerring tendency to rub his superior officers the wrong way through both word and deed, years after he should have obtained at least one admiral’s star, he remains a captain.
This mission will require precision timing, beyond just brilliant flying skills, and sheer, unshakeable nerve. The deliberately unnamed country is probably Iran. Although we never know for sure, that seems most likely since it still has a few US F-14 fighter jets left over from an earlier, friendlier era between the two nations and it does have nuclear ideas.
In this version, Pete Mitchell is searching for career redemption, for love and respect — via the successful destruction of a dangerous nuclear plant. The script writers follow the ancient road, to the temptations and obstacles appearing in Mitchell’s path, and even the more personal challenge of reaching reconciliation with his dead RIO’s son.
One answer is that this film is marvellously entertaining fiction. Fiction. It is a story, not a depiction of real life. Of course, they had the full cooperation of the Navy in the making of it, including time on two actual aircraft carriers. But virtually every American film ever made that shows the military as less than a demonic force gets — and acknowledges and pays handsomely for — such assistance, even if they don’t need to borrow an aircraft carrier or two.
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