Who is actually the enemy in Top Gun: Maverick? – Culture

While “Top Gun: Maverick” lures those weary of the cinema back in front of the screens and Tom Cruise is allowed to celebrate the best US opening weekend of his long career, a key question of the film is slowly asking for an answer: who should actually be the enemy in this uninhibited spectacle? The answer is more difficult than expected and requires the analysis of certain plot points, so a warning: If you still want to see the film, please do not (!) continue reading here.

No one wants to be caught openly warmongering, and that goes for the makers of “Top Gun,” too. The naming of the enemy combatants is therefore omitted, their origin veiled. That was also the case in the first “Top Gun” film from 1986. Although everyone assumed at the time that it was against the Russians, the enemy jet fighters were identified as “MiG-28”, which put a Russian aircraft manufacturer under product liability. However, with a fictional model, real MiGs have long only carried odd numbers.

Then the false MiGs were doubled by American planes, which had been painted with strange national symbols, a red star in a yellow circle. This was reminiscent of Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean markings, but didn’t exactly match any of the real symbols. Also, considering that MiGs have always been big exports, with more than thirty countries buying them over the years, and that the crucial dogfights (aka hostilities) took place in the middle of the Indian Ocean, making them territorially difficult to pin down, the villain question becomes increasingly unclear.

But what about the new movie “Top Gun: Maverick”? He has a story that makes it much more difficult to wriggle out of it. It’s about a tricky attack mission that Tom Cruise and his student pilots train for throughout the film and then actually fly at the end, with bombing, dogfighting, kills and all the bells and whistles. It serves to destroy a uranium enrichment plant in an unnamed country. The attack comes from the sea, from a US aircraft carrier, then it goes a few miles through very mountainous, snow-covered terrain.

The rogue state has no nuclear bombs, but the most modern jets. Is that possible?

Geographically, that could fit any country the US isn’t particularly friendly with, including Russia and China. With these long-established nuclear powers, however, it would be pointless to destroy a nuclear weapons production facility. According to the script, the underground nuclear factory is not yet fully operational, and it is important to prevent it from starting up. This means that only nations whose nuclear program could still be decisively slowed down are considered, above all Iran, and with a lot of imagination North Korea as well.

However, the rogue state has a state-of-the-art air force for the counterattack. The film speaks of “fifth generation” fighter jets, which this time appear without any national emblems or other markers. The “fifth generation” refers to new aircraft developments of the 21st century that have “stealth” technologies and other complex systems. Apparently only the Americans, the Chinese and the Russians currently have such jets, which makes everything more unclear again. At best, one could assume that the secret services have missed out on some technological development in the enemy country.

Interestingly, Tom Cruise and his comrades also prefer not to fly the latest fifth-generation US bombers, preferring an older model, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Why? Presumably because with this “super hornet” it really depends on the skill of the pilot in the disciplines of low-level flight and maneuvering. The film is a single ode to the craft of flying, like so many crafts in this world of course threatened with extinction. Additional kick: The enemy bombers are technically even superior to Captain Maverick & Co., which increases heroism.

So, in the end, is there no state that could be clearly identified as the target of the attack? It seems so until the finale comes with a surprising twist: Tom Cruise and his protégé are shot down in enemy territory, but survive thanks to the ejection seat and parachute and fight their way to the enemy airfield, where – oh wonder – an unattended Grumman-type fighter jet F-14 Tomcat standing around. Isn’t that the exact model Cruise flew in the first Top Gun? But yes, but bingo! In no time the jet is stolen and taken off, and the fight continues.

If the title “Top Gun” deserves anyone, it’s him – Iranian fighter pilot Jalil Zandi.

(Photo: Wikipedia (public domain))

And now the prize question: Is there a nation on this earth that used to be Grumman F-14 Tomcats got from the Americans? But yes, but bingo! And only one – it’s Iran. Shah Reza Pahlavi had ordered the things in the mid-1970s before he was chased out of the country by Ayatollah Khomeini and Iran and the USA became enemies. the F-14 but stayed. They are held in high honor by the Iranian Air Force, are constantly being upgraded and repaired and are still flown to this day.

Which leads to a certain punch line: The most successful fighter pilot in one F-14 is neither Captain Maverick aka Tom Cruise nor an American at all, real or fictional, but an Iranian. Jalil Zandi is credited with shooting down 11 enemy jets in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, more than anyone else F-14-Pilot. Very handsome fellow, by the way. You should shoot a blockbuster about him straight away.

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