Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise’s Exciting Reunion in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

[This story contains spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick]

Top Gun: Maverick It’s packed with the latest movies, bringing viewers to the F18 booth. But amid the excitement, there’s a much more intimate scene that also provokes a strong reaction.

Halfway through the movie, Tom Cruise Maverick brings together Val Kilmer’s Iceman from the events of 1986 and past years. best weapon He became an admiral. In his office and during an emotional conversation, Iceman tells Maverick why he brought him back to Top Gun.

For filmmaker Joseph Kosinski, the sight of Kilmer and Cruz coming together was the main event of filming. After all, it was Maverick and Iceman’s controversial relationship that forced the film to remain in the pop culture consciousness for decades to come.

“Seeing how much they respected each other as actors and seeing the friendship that developed over 36 years really reflects what you see on stage,” Kosinski said in this week’s episode. THRyea beyond the screen podcast. “It’s just two actors at the forefront of their play playing this really beautiful scene for the movie, which is really important. It was a very emotional day on set.”

Kilmer is open about fighting throat cancer, which he reveals in his acclaimed 2021 documentary OK That her voice has never been the same since her tracheotomy in 2014.

“Wal and Tom played the scene and then we amplified the debt sound by mixing it with another sound, mostly for clarity,” says Kosinski as Iceman addresses Maverick.

in the new episode beyond the screen Kosinski also describes in detail filming the flight scenes and how Sony prepared the prototype Venice Expansion System, Rialto, to film the actors in flight in the F18s.

“It was a 15-month development process to figure out how to take a prototype system and mount it on an $80 million military aircraft and handle 7g. “At an altitude of 35,000 feet, it had to be evacuated and safe for the pilots,” Kosinski said.

While working with Cruise (they used to work in 2013) forgotten), notes the director, “is not just an actor in his film. Obviously he’s a producer on this track, but it’s definitely a partnership. He is involved in all aspects of filmmaking and this collaboration is what he really feeds and enjoys. “It just came to our attention then.

Below are excerpts from the conversation, to edit for length and clarity, followed by a link to the podcast.

Let’s talk about filming actors in F18.

Cinematographer Claudio Miranda and I were testing a prototype Venice camera made by Sony, and he told me that they were working on a prototype Venice called the Rialto that would allow you to separate the lens from the recorder. Body. So you can take this high-end IMAX certified 6K camera, you can split it in two with a fiber optic cable connecting the two parts, and finally you have a very small lens and sensor that can. Fits in very small spaces.

Claudia sat down with the naval engineers and went through the F18’s cabin and pointed out all the equipment that was installed there and asked if they needed it for the flight. And when they said no, we asked if they could remove it. It was amazing how many items they were able to remove. It’s like a game of Tetris. We figured out how to place six Venice cameras in the booth: four cameras facing the cast and then one on each side facing the shoulders. We were then able to install two additional cameras that were aimed at the Top Gun pilot.

It is important to give credit to Claudio and his film crew for discovering this camera system. It was a 15-month development process to figure out how to take a prototype of the system and integrate it into an $80 million military aircraft and support 7Gs. At an altitude of 35,000 feet, and it should have been ejected and safe for pilots… And for actors, everything is simple.

Would you talk about filming a very emotional scene with Val Kilmer?

It is one of those memories I will never forget, where this actor, whom I have admired throughout his career, owes him and the role of one of his most characteristic characters who still brings together on screen one of the most cult characters of the tribe. For the first time in 36 years. Just to see how much they respected each other as actors and to see the friendship that developed over 36 years. It’s just two actors at the top of their game that are doing this really wonderful scene for a movie that is very important. It was a very emotional day on set… It’s not often that a scene is shot in a summer tent with such an emotional charge.

What moment do you remember most during this shoot?

My favorite part of this scene is the button at the bottom where the feeling of competition is always there. Even though they’re friends, it’s still the mix that exists, I think, between all these riders, and I think between Tom and Val as well. I think the competition is what made their relationship feel so energetic and realistic in the first movie, because there was a little bit of rivalry between the young actors. So that moment at the end, that hug and that little bit of humor for me is what really makes the scene work.

Unfortunately, Val was diagnosed with throat cancer. I thought he meant some kind of work in her voice.

Yup. For this scene, Debt and Tom acted out the scene and then we amplified Debt’s voice by mixing it with another. Mainly for clarity, more than anything else.

The original has many stylistic features.

There are moments that are so cultured, stylistically, that really define what makes a Top Gun movie something. So, of course, there are moments where there is a subtle stylistic touch, but also history repeats itself in its own way, for example when Maverick, who was one of those students in the first film, introduces himself as a teacher.

Another touch of the original is the beach soccer scene, reminiscent of a volleyball scene.

When I was making the movie, that’s what they asked me the most: would there be a volleyball scene? – which surprised me. As soon as The challenge was that if we were going to do a beach scene, we would have to resolve it into our narrative. We’re just not going to do that. Our writing team came up with a clever way to integrate this scene into Maverick’s training. There’s a reason: this football notion of dogfighting attacking and defending at the same time is a good precondition for what we’ll see in the third action.

Once we found that we were able to create a story and continue the narrative, it could be fun to shoot a scene on the beach. best weapon And I made the best version I could. Obviously, we have a lot of respect for our actors who worked so hard to prepare for this scene.

Are you thinking of cooperating with the Navy?

We couldn’t have made this movie without the collaboration. The first thing I did after meeting Tom and Jerry [Bruckheimer] And the beginning of the project was hanging out with Teddy Roosevelt at the airline and connecting with these men and women and figuring out how to tell this story. The Navy really helped you complete the whole mission.

They were involved in the concept, ideas and execution. It was Top Gun pilots who flew our actors and these planes were doing real world tactics. They gave us access to all of their databases, including some places that are so secret no one has ever seen them on camera before. It was a really amazing collaboration with them. I was simply impressed with their professionalism, dedication and mastery in taking every step.

Would you talk about collaborating with Tom Cruise?

This is my second film with Tom. He’s not just an actor in his movie. Obviously, he’s a producer on this track, but it’s really a partnership. He is involved in all aspects of filmmaking and this collaboration is what he really feeds and enjoys. To me, it’s wonderful when you have a person who is so motivated and has made 50 movies, many of them with my characters in terms of other directors. There is always something to learn from him. And he just has this energy that is contagious. All the team members are fed up with this and everyone is inspired to do their best work, which we obviously still do, but you know, this creature best weaponWe all knew the bar was high and we wanted to do something special. You can see that every section of this film has taken great care to deliver the best film we could.

For a full conversation, beyond the screen The episode continues below.