10 Movies Way Better Than They Have Any Right To Be

Though Top Gun has gone down in history as a darling of the mainstream cinema crowd, remembered like many of its contemporaries from within a fog of nostalgia, it doesn't actually stand up to scrutiny. A re-watch highlights its lack of plot, its leading lady's (Kelly McGillis) lack of agency, and a distinct lack of continuity in all of its extensive aerial sequences; planes whoosh, pilots holler, but little of the action makes sense.

Its sequel, then, did not leave us with high hopes. Sure, they got Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer back as Maverick and Iceman, but how good could a three-decades-late sequel to a flawed movie about the training of US Navy fighter pilots really be?

Pretty damn good, actually.

This time they showed Cruise the money, with a $170 million budget, set against the original's paltry $15 million. As a result, most of the flying is for real, with Tom Cruise in the pilot's seat, and the shots were laboriously collected to provide extensive in-cockpit and exterior sequences that allow audiences to feel, understand and locate every single beat.

While it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Rebel's Death Star assault in Star Wars (1977), Maverick also benefits from actually having a plot – a visible end-point to work towards, with relevant challenges along the way. But, while Cruise is major franchise-bait these days, it may not work a third time.