Why Tom Cruise is not allowed to fly an F-18 fighter jet

Given the actor’s reputation for wild stunts, it’s no surprise that many viewers have wondered if Tom Cruise actually flies in TOn Gun: Maverick. Joseph Kosinski’s sequel is superior to the 1986 original Top Gun With its box office success and a Best Picture nomination. Much of this has to do with how the movie prioritized practical effects over CGI, adding authenticity to the aerial action. That said, while it’s no secret that Tom Cruise does a lot of his own stunts, some of the tricks proposed for Top Gun: Maverick They were a little too ambitious, even by Cruz’s standards.

Cruise signed on to the project only with the assurance that the film’s effects would not rely on CGI. Cruz was so ambitious that he initially hoped to fly a real Boeing F-18 fighter jet. A certified pilot, Cruz is well accustomed to high-octane aviation stunts. Many Cruz fans will know He performed many of the most impressive helicopter stunts in 2018 Mission: Impossible – Fallout. However, Bruckheimer believes that the US

Why it makes sense that Tom Cruise isn’t allowed to fly a fighter jet

The Navy denied his application

The Super Hornet jet is in the sequel, but Tom Cruise didn’t fly them in Top Gun: Maverick like The scenes were all completed with the help of Navy pilots. According to producer Bruckheimer, Cruz flies a P-51 propeller-driven fighter planeAs well as some helicopters. With the help of skilled editing, the action sequences are convincing even the best-trained eye.

There is no confirmation as to why the US it. Navy may have denied Cruz’s aspirations to pilot a Super HornetAlthough the actor has experience flying Top Guns supersonic military aircraft. However, the most logical reason would be insurance concerns, which is always enough of a consideration to prevent actors from doing their own stunts.

The price of the plane also figures in this – a real F-18 Super Hornet would make half of Top Gun: MaverickS$152 million budget. This would likely create logistical nightmares for the insurance film. This is not even to mention the insurance of Cruz himself, who, although already a certified pilot, may not have the specific training required to fly the F-18 safely.

Aside from insurance, if an inexperienced pilot such as Cruz were to lose control of a high-speed aircraft, it could also mean danger to civilians and/or military personnel on the ground. Besides, while Tom Cruise does his own stunts to great effect, The real Navy pilots in Top Gun: Maverick Brought more than enough authenticity to the sequel.

Why does Tom Cruise like to do his own stunts?

A passion for storytelling is why Tom Cruise doesn’t use stunt doubles much

The real reason Tom Cruise does his own stunts is simple: It’s the best way to tell whatever story is at hand. In the actor’s own words, “It has to do with storytelling … It allows us to put cameras in places that you wouldn’t normally be able to do.” Indeed, if the main actor in an action movie is able to physically perform the stunts of the character, it removes the need to shoot from strange angles or use editing tricks to make dangerous scenes appear real.

This ultimately translates to smoother action sequences and scenes closer to the vision of the writer, stunt coordinator and director. Moreover, when Cruise puts himself in danger for a risky stunt, everyone involved – from the film crew to the audience – is much more invested in the results, a level of authenticity that cannot be achieved in any other way. Out of these Top Gun series, this stunning effect can also be observed in the trick-filled Mission impossible Franchise.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet requires an advanced pilot

The aircraft in top gun: Maverick are among the hardest to fly

While Tom Cruise did fly in Top Gun: Maverick With certain aircraft, confirm his exceptional pilot skills, The F/A-18 Super Hornets are not the kind of plane just anyone can jump in and take off. It requires specially trained pilots to operate the aircraft because of their immense power and the danger involved. Some of the impressive specifics about the plane (via: Military.com) include its maximum speed of 1,190 mph and the ability to climb 45,000 ft per minute.

Such power is necessary because the Super Hornets have a 30,500 lb weight when empty which can increase to 66,000 lbs with its maximum weapons load.

It seems like Tom Cruise will do anything for his stunts, and that probably includes the necessary training to handle an aircraft like this. However, even if he was denied the opportunity, the Super Hornets did not come at a discounted price. It is reported (via Bloomberg) That the movie REnter the US Navy’s Super Hornets for over $11,000 an hour. However, given that Top Gun: Maverick More than surpassing box office expectations, it seems as if it was a price worth paying.

Top Gun: Maverick isn’t the only movie with Tom Cruise actually flying a plane

Cruise really flew in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and American Made

While Tom Cruise did not get to fly an F18 in Top Gun: Maverick, He got to pilot his own P-51 in the Top Gun Sequel, and Maverick is not the only movie that used actual footage of him in the cockpit. He’s flown helicopters and planes over the Mission: Impossible Franchise. Notably, he spent hours learning to become an expert helicopter pilot for a single trick in Mission: Impossible: Fallout in 2018. Marc Wolff, the air coordinator on Mission: Impossible – Fallout, revealed that Crews spent upwards of 2000 hours in the cockpit training for the sequence (by Quartz):

“Flying a helicopter takes a lot of skill, to put someone like Tom in a situation like this is almost impossible to imagine.”

Another added:

“Most pilots wouldn’t attempt this. You make a mistake, someone will die from it.”

However, it is not only in his franchise movies like Top Gun: Maverick And these Mission: Impossible franchise that Tom Cruise flexed his skills as a pilot. In the 2017 action-comedy american made, Tom Cruise played Barry Seal, a real-life airline pilot turned drug smuggler for a cartel. While playing Seal, Tom Cruise performed several stunts flying with a twin-engine Piper Smith Aerostar 600.

Tom Cruise’s Stunts In American Made Came with some controversy though. While he was not directly involved in the incidents, two stunt pilots on set unfortunately died during a plane crash while filming. A lawsuit followed, and although Cruise was not directly implicated, the family partly blamed him and director Doug Liman for encouraging a culture of pushing boundaries at the expense of safety in order to get the best shots possible.

Tom Cruise’s wildest stunt

Top Gun: Maverick is not his most dangerous filming experience

By Tom Cruise’s own account, the wildest and most dangerous stunt he ever performed was when he hung from a moving plane in Mission Impossible: Rogue NationThe fifth movie in the MI series. Not surprisingly, for Tom Cruise, flying a Super Hornet would qualify as a less dangerous stunt, because it would have at least required the actor to be in the plane.

Although Cruz is harnessed to the plane in Mission Impossible: Rogue NationNo amount of safety precautions can account for all the inherent dangers involved with a person wearing virtually no protection while hanging onto a moving aircraft. This just goes to show the level of sheer dedication that Cruise brings to his movie projects.

But recently, Cruz suggested a new trick Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 May be his wildest stunt yet, which involves Cruise jumping a motorcycle off a cliff and then parachuting to safety. It’s a stunt that took years of planning and training to get right and promises to be another spectacle from the dedicated actor. Clearly, even if Tom Cruise didn’t actually fly the F-18s in Top Gun: MaverickHe is not slowing down at all when it comes to his onscreen stunts.

Safety precautions taken for Tom Cruise stunts

Tom Cruise is still taking care of his movies

Even though Tom Cruise does a lot of his own stunts, that doesn’t mean the production team just sends him and tells him to do it. Cruise is the main star in most of his movies, and if he gets hurt, which has happened before, it hurts the film and costs the production a lot of money. Cruz has things in place to protect him from serious injuries, just like with regular stunt people. likely, The most dangerous trick was Rock climbing in Mission: Impossible IIWho only held him with a safety cable.

One of the most impressive stunts was in Mission Impossible: Rogue NationWhere Tom Cruise dangled on the outside of an Airbus 400 as it took off. While it looked dangerous, the production did a lot to keep him safe. Director of Photography Robert Elswit explains how they keep Cruise safe (via THR):

“Tom was in a full body harness and he was cabled and wired through the plane [its] Door. Inside the plane was an aluminum bundle that was carefully bolted to the plane, that held the wires that went through the door, that held that… They were very careful to clean the stairwell so that there were no No stones. And we set off in certain weather conditions; There were no birds. And he’s kind of protected by the way the air moves over the wing.”

Of course, not every trick was good. in Mission: Impossible – FalloutTom Cruise was determined to jump from one high-rise to another. He was supposed to miss the landing and hit the side of the wall. However, he slipped and broke his foot on the landing. He was tied to two safety wires so he wouldn’t fall to his death, but he still broke his leg, which was still healing when he did the press tour for the movie. Do in Top Gun: Maverick Or Mission: ImpossibleEvery production has plans to keep Tom Cruise safe.