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It's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's world and we are all living in it, as "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel to the 1986 classic continues to soar high on the silver screen to great box office success all over the world. The movie has also been a great success in Japan, surpassing 11 billion yen at the box office.
Much like when the original film was released, the movie's popularity has sparked a lot of interest in the world fighter pilots.
A certain misconception about the film has vexed the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, however, so much that they took to their official Twitter account (@CNFJ) to express gratitude for interest in national defense--with a little bit of a snarky correction they've been wanting to make:
"We saw on today's news that the number of people who are interested in becoming a pilot in the Self-Defense Forces has doubled due to the influence of 'Top Gun: Maverick.' We think it is very good that more people are interested in and wanted to be involved in national defense, even if it's not with the U.S. Navy." #Justsoyouknow. #TopGunistheUSNavy #That'simportantsowe'llkeepremindingyou
A confusion that likely arose back in 1986 has resurfaced again, with many fans assuming that the movie is about the U.S. Air Force due to its huge aerial action scenes. While clarified at length in the film, it can sometimes slip through the cracks that Maverick and his fellow pilots are actually Naval Aviators.
This was also noted when the U.S. Naval Forces Japan Twitter account Retweeted a meme of a woman attacking a man over the head with flowers saying "I thought I told you Top Gun is the Navy not the Air Force!" saying jokingly that they get the feeling.
While all done in good fun, quite a few Japanese fans on Twitter only just learned of the truth, leaving apologies for the misunderstanding in replies to the post.
"I didn't know that. I was blown away by the hashtags revealing real feelings."
"...really? I'm so sorry, I had no idea."
"That's an important distinction, so you have to repeat it a lot."
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- External Link
- https://grapee.jp/en/
28 Comments
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TokyoLiving
Again, a way to use the pathetic Hollywood movies to romanticize the colonialism of the 21st century..
virusrex
Never fail to surprise me how bad the memes become when translated from Japanese to English (and the opposite).
nukkuheddo
well...going with the air-force vs. the Navy - I think that is a photo of an F-15 Eagle - which I don't think was used by the navy. However - the movie (both the original and this one) is extremely entertaining - you might also consider watching the Graham Norton Show where Tom Cruise was talking about his 1st Pilot - "Bozo" - funny
noriahojanen
I'm afraid that few can even tell between the USAF, USN and USMC.
Mickelicious
Few care, either.
Yawn.
Tom San
An F-15?
Gee. I thought the plane was an F-18 Hornet.
Jimizo
I agree but this is so stunningly uninteresting it becomes quite funny.
I have an uncle who bores us with his encyclopedic knowledge of cars and can’t pick up on the smirks as he rattles on.
Nostalgic
Jimizo
The woke films generate far better conversations.
Make more woke films.
wallace
Watched it last night. I was more interested in the filming techniques than the storyline. I didn't understand who the enemy was. Cruise looks very good for his age.
Algernon LaCroix
If you're going to have a story about the US Navy, at least make the effort to use a photo of a Navy plane.
This is an Air Force F-15.
JTC
Foreigners can still apply to join the JSDF:
https://www.mod.go.jp/nda/english/admissions/requirement.html
JTC
The US Navy Aviation arm experienced a spike in recruitment following the release of the original "Top Gun" Movie...
As to "Top Gun - Maverick".... it's a Movie... although backseat flying for all the Actors, it is still, a good experience to watch, updated with current tech, etc.
Sadly, this version lacks the attraction of its predecessor, so I doubt another remake will be made, never the less, still worth watching as a Sequel. Maybe, in future we will see a "Top Drone" Movie being made, along the line of "Hackers", which if done well, may encourage said youngsters to join the Military in that role - drone pilot/Cyber Specialist... type of role.
MilesTeg
It's made $1.4bil, is the highest grossing film this year, and still rising even without being released in China. I'd say it's more attractive than its predecessor.
rcch
“ A confusion that likely arose back in 1986 has resurfaced again, with many fans assuming that the movie is about the U.S. Air Force due to its huge aerial action scenes. While clarified at length in the film, it can sometimes slip through the cracks that Maverick and his fellow pilots are actually Naval Aviators. “
Navy… Air Force… who cares (?) … it’s a GREAT movie … that’s all that matters;
..
wallaceToday 10:22 am JST
“ Watched it last night. I was more interested in the filming techniques than the storyline. I didn't understand who the enemy was. “
they didn’t wanna say it out loud but it was Iran.
painkiller
Algernon LaCroixToday 11:08 am JST
Good call.
The photographer is Japanese; could be a plane making a landing at Kadena; taken outside the base on Route 58.
Jet fighter+flying over the ocean=Navy plane
Nemo
wallaceToday 10:22 am JST
It was extra good in 4-D.
Don't fuss over the storyline. That's not why we went. Admittedly there were plot holes that one could fly a much larger jet through (And one wonders just how Iran got it's hands on the SU-57, or any other 5th Gen fighter for that matter), but it was still great fun.
The Mrs. said the same thing while giving me the side-eye. My protestations that he was being paid millions to look like that and had trainers, cooks, time to devote to it, etc. seemed to fall on deaf ears....
Alfie Noakes
One has to admire the skill with which Hollywood propagandizes millions, and gets them to pay for it.
BeerDeliveryGuy
What was the BS excuse for not using stealth F35s again?
I remember in the mission analysis, Maverick saying that F35s could get passed the SAMs but couldn’t….
MilesTeg
All variants of the F-35 are single seat making it impossible for the actors and cameras to film from a 'inside the cockpit' perspective. The actors were actually in the back seat of the F/A-18F Super Hornet which produced the fantastic aerial footage.
BeerDeliveryGuy
MilesTeg
I am aware of that, I was just trying to remember what the excuse was in the movie.
Mav was saying something like, F35s can make it past the SAMS without maneuvering through the canyon, but,… something-something.
tora
Is four letters. Starts with an "I" and ends in an "n".
starpunk
All those armchair generals are rah-rah ing over this while they piss and moan over the unwinnable wasteful Afghanistan war. Feast on it, you cheerleaders! Wave those pom-poms!
The 1986 original wasn't the least bit realistic, either. But too many Americans took it for gospel and it stoked the engines for the jingoism and commercialization of war (necessary and not) that was to come, starting with Desert Storm in 1991.
Iran is nobody's friend. Not during the Cold War, not now.
You wanna really fly jets? First you get a college degree, ROTC and/or Naval Academy can assist you, if you qualify. Then you MIGHT get accepted for jet flight school, if you meet the academic and physical standards - IOW, if you qualify. Have a happy 5 or 6 years.
As for a career of 36 years in the military, let alone flying - don't insult my intelligence. As a military veteran who's been in on the inside, and covid or no Covid - you couldn't pay me to go see this piece of trash.
Gaijinjland
It’s pretty clear in both films that they’re navy aviators. You don’t even need to understand English or read subtitles. They’re taking off on aircraft carriers. That’s kind of an indicator of the navy.
itsonlyrocknroll
Top Gun Maverick, first and foremost was never going to escape a familiar strained Tom Cruise vehicle, feigned and contrived.
I enjoyed The Firm.
Maverick I found to ape mission impossible, Cruise ego with wings.
I admittedly didn’t make it to the end, so it would be disingenuous to judge the film.
At least I guess this film has a redeeming feature, the Biggles flies again wannabes are again queuing up round the block.
OssanAmerica
China refused to allow Top Gun Maverick to be played in China unless his Jacket with the US, Japan, Taiwan, UN flags (which was in the 1986 film) was changed. Honestly, the world should just stop buying anything made in China unless they agree to grow up.
"Top Gun changes patches on Tom Cruise’s jacket to avoid pissing off China"
Tom Cruise's Tom Gun Patches Changed to Keep China Happy (consequence.net)
starpunk
That's how totalitarian dictators act. Screen out what they don't like. When Trump visited the Orient the name 'USS McCain' was covered on a US Navy vessel as not to offend the Mussolini.
Dictators around the world want to have everything centered around themselves. From the CCP to trump, this censoring just shows the egotism and failure of those so-called 'leaders'.