8.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Bashir SalahuddinAction | 100% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1, 1.90:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 0.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Top Gun seemed prime for some sort of sequel the minute it launched in theaters in May 1986. Fortunately, that sequel never materialized until 2022 (earlier Covid delays notwithstanding) with Top Gun: Maverick, a toned and total package film that propels the franchise forward while still holding to the essential characteristics and underpinnings from the original picture. The film does what it needed to do some 35 years later: offer a more mature lead character training the next generation of Top Gun pilots for a dangerous mission. The film capably looks forward and backward, taking the best of what made the original film a landmark of its time while constructing firmer drama and deeper characterization around it. Cruise has repeatedly stated that he would refuse a sequel were it not spot-on for story and characterization, and he has delivered a practically perfect cinema experience that pushes boundaries while holding fast to the Top Gun character and charisma that has made that original one of the most beloved films of its, or any, time. This one is sure to follow in those giant shoes.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Top Gun: Maverick soars onto the UHD format with a stellar 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation (with shifting aspect ratios). The picture is
particularly bold and sharp,
more so than the companion Blu-ray, which is itself a master class for that format. Here, however, there is
no
mistaking a fairly sizeable boost to sharpness and there is no missing the gains to object clarity, whether odds and ends in a packed bar, instruments
in
a cockpit, or training materials and graphics on the ground. The picture is a dazzling display of intricate, clear detailing that far surpasses the 1080p
counterpart. Just like the Blu-ray, there are no issues with the source or with the encode.
The Dolby Vision grading certainly renders the film a good bit darker overall. Look at the scene when Maverick is speaking with Cain at the 14:02
mark.
The UHD is significantly daker here, giving the picture a more ominous perspective, with more shadowy details that make the shot look like it's taking
place in a room with the curtains drawn rather than the Blu-ray where the curtains look open. The same holds true during the scene when Maverick
meets with Iceman in the latter's home office at the 57-minute mark; there's a different mood to the color grading but also far more tonal precision
across faces and shadows. Look at a shadowy profile at the 53:58 mark. the UHD's blacks are deeper and offer a more striking silhouette shape.
During
daytime exteriors, the Dolby Vision grading proves far punchier and more vivid than even the Blu-ray, though still certainly a shade darker overall as
well. There is no denying that, even if the image looks darker overall, that it is also heathier, more vivid, more capable of handling stark contrasts
and
difficult shots with a commanding ease and realism that the Blu-ray cannot match.
Please note that this disc would not play on my primary playback device, a Panasonic DP-UB9000. The player's firmware is up to date. This review is
based on playback via Xbox Series X.
The Atmos track is likewise perfect. That's unsurprising for a film that is the biggest release of 2022, which is also a big budget spectacle with countless opportunities for sonic excellence. It's the mach-10 equivalent of home theater sound mixing and Atmos audio presentation. The entire thing is a marvel, and it nearly defies review. It's simply perfectly balanced through the full range, from subtle sound cues to thunderous bass. Jet engine roars are deep and potent, hitting for all it's worth without falling into unbalanced, wonky rumble. Jets scream across the stage with pinpoint placement and seamless movement one end to another. Gunfire late in the film is terrifyingly and dangerously intense. Overheads carry a number of necessary supports that further draw the listener into the skies and the cockpits. There's always a perfect sense of weight to the whole aircraft dynamic, and the same is true of score: it's seamlessly immersive, perfectly clear, and presented with incredible bass. Dialogue is clear and front positioned for the duration. It just doesn't get better than this.
Top Gun: Maverick's UHD release includes five featurettes, one of which is exclusive to UHD, and all which are great. It also includes two
music videos. The film screams for more, but what is
here is great. No Blu-ray copy is included. However, Paramount has bundled
in a digital copy code. Also included is an embossed slipcover.
Top Gun: Maverick is really something else. In a world of cookie-cutter, generic, bland cinema, this is what movie making is all about: it's a sequel, yes, but it's a sequel with heart, determination, focus, and visual and aural wonder. It's comfortable but groundbreaking, fast but absorbing, heartfelt yet still willing to fly by the seat of its pants. Credit Tom Cruise for his insistence on making a movie right, for caring about building a true, thrilling experience that is surprisingly one of the best movies of the year and one of the best entertainment escapes in many, many decades. Paramount's UHD delivers perfect picture and sound. Supplements do well to capture the essence of the behind-the-scenes story. Watch for this film and disc to be at the top of my best-of list for 2022. Top Gun: Maverick earns my highest recommendation.
2022
2022
with Lenticular Magnet
2022
with Lenticular Magnet and Signed Poster
2022
Remastered
1986
2022
2023
2016
2021
Collector's Edition
2021
2023
2019
2018
2024
2019
2017
2023
2018
2015
2018
2017
2022
2016
Extended Cut
2017